It has been a long journey for Scorchio Cycling Management (SCM) to reach the pinnacle of the MG universe known as the PT division. Operating under various guises, first Grupo Nutresa, then World Cycling Centre and now ISA - Hexacta there have been various ups and downs, and even a (very brief!) hiatus. Twice CT division champions (2014 + 2017), 2019 delivered the PCT division title in emphatic style, a left-field surprise nowhere on anyone's radar pre-season following what had been a solid but unspectacular 2018 season getting established in the PCT.
After the PCT title success of 2019, all of our existing sponsors have returned, with many having signed multi-year sponsorship agreements:
* Primary sponsor ISA (Interconexión Eléctrica S.A. E.S.P. - ISA -) is a Colombian based corporate group focussed on various electric energy transmission, road concessions, and Information and Telecommunications Technology businesses active throughout South and Central America.
* 2nd named sponsor, Hexacta are a nearshore and offshore software development company that service a global client base from their HQ in Argentina and expandign network of offices across the Americas.
* Banque Populaire du Maroc is our final major financial sponsor
* Equipment sponsorship and logistics partnership arrangements with Scott Bicyles, Campagnolo, Skoda and Pearl Izumi continue uninterrupted.
The 2019 PCT title run even took Scorchio Cycling Management somewhat by surprise, and organisationally we feel the step to the PT has come perhaps a year too soon, or certainly sooner than expected. Both team management and sponsors are acutely aware that the majority of 1st time PCT promoting teams drop straight back down again. Some of these teams bounce straight back up, and others fall away for a number of lacklustre seasons having over-commited to that first PT season. ISA - Hexacta will be striving with every fibre of our being to avoid the ignomy of a first ever relegation for the SCM organisation but are not willing to tear down the strong foundations that form the core of our team and its ethos. The foundation of SCM managed teams has always been combining roster depth while supporting internal rider development. Hence in 2020 we will continue building a platform for long term PT involvement, with a bit of luck at this first attempt, or at the very least having continued to put all the pieces in place for a rapid return and then long-term PT stability.
With all this in mind, it is important to SCM and our sponsorhip partners to maintain our interest in a core of Colombian and Argentian riders, and offer support for the development of riders from across the Americas and Africa. With an extended budget and the arduous nature of the gruelling 193 RD PT calendar to come we will also continue to engage riders from other regions as is appropriate where suitable riders from our focus regions are absent or unavailable.
Edited by Scorchio on 02-10-2020 16:24
Previous rosters are provided in the team history section above. Entering the transfer window (post-renewals), the ISA - Hexacta roster is as follows:
(click for bigger image that is actually readable!)
The finalised roster that will ride the 2020 season in ISA - Hexacta colours will be presented after the upcoming transfer season is complete!
Edited by Scorchio on 01-10-2020 23:43
A surprise PCT winner at least for me personally, but certainly a very popular one!
You've proven yourself to be a very good manager just in the way you analyzed certain aspects of the game in the past, and you continue on that path right away here with that level-headed strategy call.
It's great to see that ability being rewarded with promotion!
I'm very much looking forward to battling you on the road this season, and will follow your transfer adventures with interest.
I would assume you consider it quite excellent timing that the two best available climbers just happen to originate in exactly where you'd want them to!
I'm really excited to see how you navigate PT. With how savvy you are as manager, I have no doubt you'll manage to finish top half in your first season, maybe even better. Best of luck!
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy
SportingNonsense wrote:
Congrats on the PCT title - great to see Berhane playing such an important role. An interesting transfer period ahead for you no doubt.
Thanks SN, appreciated coming from one of the 'godfathers' of the MG. Berhane was a model of consistency (apart from at the teams WIN goal at the Tour of America where he was under-whelming, as was the last week of the GC 'battle' where a cease-fire seemed to have generally been agreed in what should have been his key terrain!). I think 2019 has been the highest point scoring season in his career to date, following managing the same feat in 2018. Thankfully his wages had come somewhat under control after his 2018 recruitment from the FA, so his ppRD conversion really ballooned!
cio93 wrote:
A surprise PCT winner at least for me personally, but certainly a very popular one!
....
Thank you kindly sir! Not the only one to be surprised for sure. The stars certainly aligned somewhat. Taking the lessons from the 2018 seasons mediocrity, we really focussed on calendar selection to avoid (and take advantage of!) calendar clashes which was beneficial I reckon. Also important was having identified a trend of races that had previously delivered at or close to zero ranking points for us, hence the focus of recruitment and training on Eduardo Sepulveda who delivered fantastically above all expectations across terrain that had previously been barren for us. The other really pleasing thing was to see in-house developed riders like Mraouni and Contreras really stepping up and filling important roles after numerous season out on loan.
Finally it cannot be denied that PCM18 AI was somewhat kinder to us than PCM2015 AI. Philisophically throughout the Nutresa, WCC and now ISA - Hexacta years I have avoided 'one-stat-wonder' type riders as it just grated with my personal sensibilities and IRL experience. Hence some riders that traditionally under-performed suddenly started delivering more sensibly (from my perspective at any rate!). Jianhui Ji was a great example of this: 2018 struggled to just break the 100 points barrier, 2019 he delivered over 400, and finally looked like an 80 rated mountain stat stage racer should (unfortuante that it took until his final maxed season!).
I too look forward to the battles to come, although perhaps my horizons don't extend quite as far as yours are likely to (this season at any rate ... ).
baseballlover312 wrote:
I'm really excited to see how you navigate PT. With how savvy you are as manager, I have no doubt you'll manage to finish top half in your first season, maybe even better. Best of luck!
Thanks BBL, although lets not get ahead of ourselves! Given the limited FA options this season (in comparison to many previous seasons re: disbandments), plus what looks like healthy growth in CT team numbers, the ability to do a massive turnaround looks quite tough. Given this, to be honest I'll be very impressed if more than 1 of the promoting PCT teams manages to survive in PT through to 2021. Will this include ISA - Hexacta? At this stage all things look pretty equal, with transfers of course likely a crucial decider!
Was great to continue the World Cycling Centre legacy with our joint Amateur team last season, and I really enjoyed our interactions putting the team together. Hence I will be watching with great interest how you set yourself up for an immediate bounce back to the PCT this season. The potential is there to really set the course for Carlsberg - Danske Bank for the next half a dozen seasons, so exciting times! I note you've listed some riders that would be of genuine interest to me to discuss as options during transfers, although perhaps my interest might be a bit of a hint that you should instead be hanging on to them!
Very cool to see you win the rankings and moving up. A big team already and above 1mio to juggle with in wage cap I think. That should give you every opportunity to make a good signing or two to secure your position in the PT. I reckon you'll probably need to slim your batch of riders however as it's rare to see very big teams (28-30 riders) succeed at PT level.
Cool to see you move up to PT by taking the PCT title no less. I'm sure your savvy analysis will secure your PT spot - will keep an eye on your transfer season.
If you'd like to slim down your batch of riders as SotD suggests, I'll be very welcoming of some African signings
I look forward to seeing how you do in PT. I also very much enjoyed doing transfer business with you last year, so I hope we can do some similar deals this year as well
Congratulations on winning PCT, I fear we´ll be trying to sign some of the same talents/riders in the coming transfer window, but I wish you best of luck
@ SotD: Cheers! Let's see where transfers takes us. Expect a knock on your door at some point early in proceedings by the way . Last couple of season have managed a bigger roster than most and has been part of the philosophy. Don't expect to pare down as far as to 20 riders even although it has been well demonstrated as a successful PT approach. Hopefully goods use of loan-outs will enable us to cover a number of bases to be in a good position for a future 2021 season whether it be in PT or PCT; managing to keep the development pathway running rather than have to sacrifice it in a do-or-die attempt to chase success/survival.
@ aidanvn13: Great to see you back amongst us fella. Their might be a couple of our African contingent made available for transfer, but I'd guess those that currently look most exciting to you are highly unlikely.
@redordead: Always interested in transfer discussions, or even just general MG discussions during the transfer window. Senor Martinez speaks highly of his 2019 season spent out on loan with you, so good will has already been established between our two organisations. If Beltran starts to get itchy feet looking for a new home, you always know who to contact - one of the great regrets of the disasterous end of the Nutresa chapter of our team was the loss of Beltran
@cunego: Great to have you back among us, although with the prolific reporting output last season feels like you've never been away! Similar to aidan, you should keep an eye out for an upcoming availability statement prior to the transffer window officially opening; think you may well have some interest.
@ DubbelDekker: One of the great things of the MG is that a number of different approaches can bear fruit as you have so ably demonstrated yourself, crowned by this years PT title - my congrats to you. RP and the internalised connection you build with your roster is also a separate branch of the MG experience that can offer just as much reward as achieving success. Blending both together however is a fine balancing act that I for one am striving to achieve.
@Nemolito: Welcome, is great to have additional presence in the Latin American sphere. When I got started in the MG there were at least half a dozen teams with roots in the region, so the last couple of seasons have been quite fallow with just Azteca and ourselves based here if my memory hasn't forgotten anyone. It does mean that a large majority of Latin American riders are now scattered throughout the MG universe on pretty much every continent. It is inevitable that we will have (probably many!) over-lapping names on our respective short-lists. Hopefully we don't step on each others toes over much, and instead work towards enhancing the overall rider base from our region. Worth keeping in mind that there may well be a couple of existing ISA - Hexacta riders looking for a transfer who'd like to stay close to the home region due to family reasons, so keep an eye out!
It definitely came as a surprise that we are competing in the same division this year as i didnt trust your leaders to deliver and usually am more of a fan of a more top heavy approach whereas you or Generali have proven that a large roster can be a fantastic strategy too as long as it is not filled with mostly junk.
I hope that with all the talk about longterm development you also can be competitive this year already.
We will certainly be endevouring to do so. Statements should definitely not be read as throwing in the towel and focussing only on talents. An appropriate balance is required. Just not intending to throw everyone out and try a complete re-build solely focussed on this 1 PT season at the expense of efforts invested in building the roster in recent years. .
With 5 returning loan riders and 26 riders (including 2 stagiares) from the 2019 season, it was necessary for ISA - Hexacta to rationalise our resources somewhat as we prepare for the 2020 transfer season. There is also the step up in racing quality that is to be expected in the PT which also weighed in the decision-making process when deciding on contract renewals. Released to Free Agency were Emerson Santos, Farzad Khodayari, Evgenvy Russo, Sven Vandousselaere, Ricardo van der Velde and Jesus Villegas. In a couple of cases the situation would have been different if we were still in the PCT, and we do not discount the potential that 1 or 2 might re-sign from Free Agency depending upon just how crazy transfer season works out this time around (who am I kidding, it is CRAZY every season!).
We are delighted to welcome back our cohort of loaned-out riders, some of who may again be looking for a further loan period to assist their development. We thank our 2019 loan partners Aegon, T-Mobile and Swisslion for their input. Now at full strength we are particularly pleased to finally have CIV NC Abou Sanogo and Colombian puncheur Jhonatan Restrepo now onboard for the long haul having maxed out in 2019.
Without further ado, we present the pre-Transfer roster with initial availability indicators (* of course subject to change as the Transfer season evolves):
Name
Main Stats
Wage
Availability?
Carlos Betancourt
80 Hill, 73 Mtn
€ 215,000
MAYBE
Michael Rodriguez Galindo
76 hill, 74 Mtn
€ 60,000
YES
Issac Bolivar
77 Cob, 73 Flat
€ 50,000
NO
Jhonatan Restrepo
75 Hill, 72 TT
€ 50.000
NO
Daniel Felipe Martinez
72 Mtn
€ 50.000
LOAN
Eduardo Sepulveda
77 Hill, 75 TT+Mtn
€ 215,000
NO
Emiliano Contreras
80 Acc, 78 Spr
€ 135,000
NO
Daniel Juarez
74 FL, Hill, Sp, Acc
€ 50.000
MAYBE
David Boily
78 Hill, 76 Mtn
€ 240,000
YES
Natnael Berhane
81 Mtn, 75 Hill
€ 285,000
NO
Sam Harrison
81 Acc, 78 Spr
€ 120,000
MAYBE
Robert Bush
78 Cob, 74 Flat
€ 110,000
NO
Ilnur Zakarin
77 Hill, 73 Mtn
€ 100,000
MAYBE
Jianhui Ji
79 Mtn, 74 Hill
€ 90,000
MAYBE
Abou Sanogo
76 Cob, 73 Flat
€ 59,000
NO
Murilo Affonso
76 Mtn, 73 TT
€ 50,000
NO
Souheil Khederi
76 Hill, 74 Mtn
€ 50,000
YES
Ilia Koshevoy
76 Mtn, 73 Hill
€ 50,000
NO
Flavio De Luna
75 TT, 74 Mtn
€ 50,000
YES
Chun Kai Feng
EVERYTHING!
€ 50,000
MAYBE
Getachew Sendeku
74 Mtn, 72 TT
€ 50,000
NO
Ahmad Arissol
74 FL, 72 Co,TT
€ 50,000
YES
Nicholas Dlamini
74 Flat, 73 TT
€ 50,000
NO
Salah Eddine Mraouni
77 Flat, 72 TT
€ 50,000
NO
Jeff Cepeda Hernandez
Lvl 1 dev
€ 50.000
LOAN
Look at that beautiful array of flags!
For clarification: YES means immediately open for trade discussion, potential to close deal near start of trade window. MAYBE means strong potential for trade, but unlikely to finalise in 1st 48 hours or so to get a feel for the FA and trade dynamics in 2020, or alternatively move into the 'keep' box as a better picture of our squad evolves. LOAN means looking for a season out on loan. Standard ISA - Hexacta approach is a 50/50 wage split, but open to further discussion. NO means unless you have recently robbed a bank, best not waste your time sending through communication unless you have a particualrly enterprising swop deal to propose.
Obviously the availability of Canadian David Boily is the headline here. In 2017 he lead us to the CT title by finishing 3rd in the CT individual rankings, and this pre-dated the latest PCM AI's predilection for puncheurs with good mountain stats! Also a significant contributer at PCT level, we just feel that David is not best suited to the PT calendar in the way that we intend to re-shape the squad. The potential availability of the likes of Sam Harrison, Carlos Betancourt and fan favourite Chun Kai Feng is also expected to drum up quite a bit of interest early in the window.
As in previous transfer seasons, open to transfer discussions via PM here on Daily, via Skype and even carrier pigeon if necessary! Other than when asleep, I'm likely to be online pretty much round the clock.
Robert Bush
David Boily
Michael Rodriguez Galindo
Salah Eddine Mraouni
Eduardo Sepulveda
Natnael Berhane
Sven Vandousselaere
Jianhua Ji
Sam Harrison
Illa Koshevoy
Flavio De Luna
Murilo Affonso
Ilnur Zakarin
Evgeny Russo
Chun Kai Feng
Ahmad Arrisol
Souheil Khederi
Farzad Khodayari
Jefferson Cepeda Hernandez [Stagiare]
Ricardo van der Velde
Jesus Villegas [Stagiare]
Getachew Sendeku
Nicholas Dlamini
Abou Sanogo
Heiko Redecker
Saulo Lay
Clément Venturini
Giovanni Visconti
Andriy Vasylyuk
Kasper Asgreen [Loan]
Brenton Jones
Goodnews Clifford
Thanawut Sanikwathi [Stagiare]
Georgios Bouglas
Muhammet Eyüp Karagobek
Dominique Mayho
Domenik Klemme
Sergio Ortega
Cesar Andre Fonte
Armands Becis [Stagiare]
Michal Golas
Ruben Ibanez 
Nariyuki Masuda
).
