Welcome to the Head Quarters of Kraftwerk Man Machine Cycling Team riding in PCM Daily's Management Game 2022 Season.
Kraftwerk managed a surprising 9th place in PCT in 2021. Dominik Nerz doubled up in the Tour of America last season but he has declined. How will manager DaveTwoBob cope with his top rider past his best?
Kraftwerk and Trivago are back for another year of sponsorship and we will be riding in the same iconic shirt.
Kraftwerk Man Machine are based in Dusseldorf riding on a German licence. The team is comprised of an international squad to reflect the international appeal of Kraftwerk's music, although Germany will always be the best represented nation. The management will look to recruit riders from Germany, France, Japan, Russia and Great Britain. This reflects the fan base and mix of languages sung on various Kraftwerk songs as you can hear on the track Numbers from their 1981 album Computer World.
Here is a live version from the Minimum-Maximum tour (its playback restricted if embedded). https://www.youtu...3f-JwOGO1A
Concept and Icon
The Kraftwerk Man Machine team name is taken from Kraftwerk's 1978 album The Man Machine. The concept of the Man Machine is of humans, technology and nature combined in harmony with the Rider, Bicycle and Parcours being a prime example. The youtube link below is the live version of The Man Machine from the Minimum-Maximum tour (its playback restricted if embedded). https://www.youtu...kd7LbQnfIQ
Kraftwerk are as much about image as music and the shirt design was inspired by the iconic cover of the same album.
A BIG thankyou to the_hoyle for the shirt design and for his guidance in keeping the design pure and elegant.
Pre Renewals Squad
Thanks to Knockout for his roster listing tool.
Our Squad before Renewals looked like this.
Nat.
Name
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
Age
Wage K
Nikias Arndt
71
79
76
56
77
76
72
63
71
75
61
64
56
31
280
Rick Zabel
74
60
69
55
74
70
79
65
81
79
66
52
55
29
255
David Boily
67
76
78
70
72
72
69
56
68
74
69
79
61
32
175
Marco Haller
72
61
65
56
72
71
76
58
80
79
66
64
71
31
160
Pello Bilbao
71
67
79
65
77
71
71
51
71
75
67
66
61
32
135
Michel Koch
66
77
73
68
69
74
74
51
67
76
57
61
70
31
100
Arvin Moazemi
67
73
78
69
72
72
75
62
65
73
65
63
67
32
100
Dominik Nerz
69
79
71
72
73
70
72
55
63
66
64
59
72
33
200
Josip Rumac
71
72
75
64
72
70
68
55
74
76
66
69
66
28
50
Willi Willwohl
73
53
64
56
71
67
78
65
79
78
61
64
56
28
90
Eugert Zhupa
75
56
67
65
78
74
67
77
74
68
67
59
65
32
120
Sasu Helme
69
75
74
69
71
72
74
62
60
76
73
67
69
26
55
Gennadiy Tatarinov
69
75
74
63
71
71
68
57
65
73
76
63
63
31
55
Florian Scheit
66
72
76
58
72
71
69
50
64
71
77
66
58
31
60
Sachin Dulanjana
67
74
72
74
75
71
77
63
62
61
60
75
75
27
60
Jan Dieteren
67
70
77
58
75
70
68
51
63
66
80
73
58
29
50
Teodoro Costagli
61
77
69
68
67
68
73
50
49
64
74
65
68
34
50
Burr Ho
68
73
73
73
68
73
71
61
65
71
65
66
71
30
50
Marcel Kittel
73
53
62
79
71
67
63
55
58
70
70
62
79
34
200
Max Walsleben
72
59
67
67
72
68
61
74
68
70
70
72
70
32
50
Sang Hong Park
71
60
71
66
71
68
70
65
74
74
60
66
69
33
55
Jetse Bol
74
67
75
67
69
68
72
61
61
65
72
63
67
33
50
Klemen Stimulak
73
59
66
77
71
72
69
57
72
74
65
61
66
32
50
Gabor Kasa
69
70
71
73
72
68
69
57
62
64
66
64
73
33
50
Post Renewals Squad
Thanks to Knockout for his roster listing tool.
DaveTwoBob was quite firm with his offers and got some decent settlements. Of the senior riders only Nikias Arndt got a pay rise.
That wage rise on Arndt was probably unavoidable. Very nice set of reductions overall though, will be interesting to see if you can get this turned into a contender for promotion this season!
Good business done in renewals it looks like. Good to be back racing with you once again
24/02/21 - kandesbunzler said “I don't drink famous people."
15/08/22 - SotD said "Your [jandal's] humour is overrated"
11/06/24 - knockout said "Winning is fine I guess. Truth be told this felt completely unimportant." [ICL] Santos-Euskadi | [PT] Xero Racing
Very good renewals. Haller and Koch might be slightly overpaid in terms of the points they'll likely provide, but everyone else is certainly on point or even below. Arndt imo is on a very good wage as is Nerz and Boily!
Almost 600K to toy with in the wage cap (I think). Atleast one very hefty rider could be incoming. With a bit of reshuffling maybe even two.
Have always followed your team building approach because I do associate with it, and this off season will be no different. Interested to see how you offset the declined Nerz, who has been the cornerstone of your team's success in the past coupe of seasons.
@cunego59 Thanks, I have some space to work with which is a good start
@whitejersey My Arndt offer was in Round 3, a few nervous moments waiting for the reply! Contender for promotion, or bumble along in mid table, I am quite relaxed about both results mainly due to not wanting to give up my Tour of America love-in
@Marcovdw Give that wolf a banana
@jandal7 Welcome back to PCT with mega-talents ready to spring you back to PT.
@SotD Haller & Koch got a German speaking pass for wage negotiations Pleased with Nerz & Boily wage, hoping they can attract some interesting offers. Good figure work, 555k wage cap available, talking of hefty riders we could do with someone like Magnus Backstedt
@baseballlover312 I went fishing once, all I caught was a cold Better luck this season I hope.
@AbhishekLFC Replacing Nerz will be my primary challenge this transfers. My approach is about trying to have some interest in every race, cobbles being my obvious failure. I have tended towards depth rather than big scorers which may mean I will forever be in PCT and I am OK with that. Promotion will be a pleasant surprise rather than a burning ambition, I am a bit too casual and short term looking TBH. No 3/4 years developing youngsters for us, far too much planning required
Riders for Cash Sale
Double Tour of America winner Dominik Nerz is still a strong climber even after his decline and with a wage of only 150k he can fit into any teams plans.
Good puncheur Arvin Moazemi was key to Dominik Nerz winning the ToA, able to close down attacks with his decent acceleration. Would make a great CT lead on only 100k wage.
Max Walsleben is a Cobbles domestique on minimum wage.
Riders for Swaps
Kraftwerk need a Tour of America contender, a time trialist and a cobbles scorer to fill their squad. One or two of the following riders are available for swap deals to make that happen. We can go to about 700k wage and are looking for riders 30 years old or younger.
David Boily is a great hybrid puncheur scoring 156 points in PCT and has agreed a super low wage of 135k.
Pello Bilbao scored 139 points in PCT over the hills using his sprint to finish strongly. His mountain stat didn't seem to hold him back. He is asking only 115k in wages.
Sachin Dulanjana is our stage race star from last season scoring a massive 237 PCT points for a mere 65k wage!
Riders classed as Maybe could be available depending on other deals and whether the deal contributed to filling our gaps.
Looking forwards to transfer negotiations with you marvelous Man Game Managers.
Main Target
With two time Tour of America winner Nerz declining Kraftwerk’s only target was to replace him with a younger rider. Top of the list was Suranga Ranaweera who at 27 is very young for a Kraftwerk leader and who had a very disappointing 2021 season which we hoped meant Sauber Petronas would make him available. Sammyt93 was up for the deal and Sachin Dulanjana left as part of the deal to bring Suranga in. Obviously we hope his 2021 season was a one off and he can be more competitive this year.
Transfer Objectives
Target
Achievement
Comment
Younger leader
Suranga Ranaweera (80 Mo)
Youngest ever Kraftwerk leader
Squad average age reduction
Reduced from 30 to 29.3
Loan in Vernon adds to this
Cheap 100 point scoring stage racers
Alex Ariya Destribois
55k
Younger Puncheur
Fail
Hybrid Leadout & Younger Cobbler
Jasper De Buyst (SP76 COB75)
135k Age 29
Teams Competition (3 good riders in Mountain Hill & TT)
Mountain & Hills
TT squad decimated in training money scramble
Breakaway riders
Thanakhan Chaiyasombat
Competed for ToA KOM in 2021
Replacement for Dulanjana (MO74, TT74)
Tobias Ludvigsson (MO76, TT76)
Improvement on Dulanjana but 170k wage
Hire some unmaxed riders
Marco Mathis LVL3.80, Antti-Jussi Juntunen LVL1.52
Hire German riders
1 German hired
Reduced from 38% German to 35% German
We achieved our main target but a lack of interest in our adverts meant we couldn’t offer on Düsseldorf rider Ruben Zepuntke or much needed German TT star Jasha Sütterlin who both went for a ridiculously low price, it was heartbreaking to watch.
Early Trade
Suranga Ranaweera
Kraftwerk are keen to continue our winning ways at the Tour of America and needed a rider to take over from two time winner Dominik Nerz. Based on his stats Sri Lankan Suranga Ranaweera is the ideal young replacement with only his low flat speed being a concern. He has better Hill, TT and Resistance than Nerz in his prime. His low acceleration can be covered by teammates who can close gaps as seen last season with Nerz. Suranga had a terrible 2021 which is why we could entice him away from Sauber Petronas, Kraftwerk are hoping a change of teams will inspire him to better things. Fellow Sri Lankan Sachin Dulanjana left for Sauber Petronas as part of the deal.
Surprisingly I had no offers for Nerz which meant I had Wage Cap but little cash. I needed to fill my team places from Free Agency.
Settling an old score
A couple of years ago I was overbid on Alex Ariya Destribois with less than an hour to go. Every time I see his name in reports I am reminded so when he was back in free agency I tried again and was successful at a bargain 55k wage. Alex will bolster our stacked Mountains and Hills roster and has good acceleration to chase breaks for his less lively team leaders. Now when I read his name in reports I will be cheering him on.
Alex Ariya Destribois | | 4.100 | € 55,000 | Age 31 | Climbing Domestique
Nat.
Name
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
Age
Wage K
Alex Ariya Destribois
69
76
75
68
68
69
74
52
61
75
77
78
67
31
55
TT Hybrid
Sachin Dulanjana was sold and I didn’t renew Marcel Kittel (looks like a mistake after the scramble for TTers) who didn’t score as well as I hoped. Therefore I was looking for a TTer who was not one dimensional. Ludvigsson fitted the bill with superior Mo & TT stats to Dulanjana but at a far greater wage.
Lead Out Hybrid
Following the hybrid theme I needed to replace leadout Willwohl who refused our miserly offer. We tried to land Bert Van Lerberghe but he got too expensive and we switched to Jasper De Buyst. Jasper will mainly be supporting sprinters Rick Zabel and Marco Haller and will eventually replace veteran cobbler Eugert Zhupa in our few compulsory trips over the pave.
Jasper De Buyst | | 4.100 | € 135,000 | Age 29 | Lead Out/Cobbler
Nat.
Name
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
Age
Wage K
Jasper De Buyst
73
61
70
68
73
75
75
75
76
76
70
70
68
29
135
Loan In Ethan Vernon
After failing to convince Mre to place Biniam Girmay with Kraftwerk (BBL was always going to be a tough act to beat) he kindly offered us young TT Brit Ethan Vernon. This brought in a late injection of 325k cash and prompted an idea to train Ranaweera.
Ethan Vernon | | 1.00 | € 225,000 | Age 22 | Time Trial
Nat.
Name
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
Age
Wage K
Ethan Vernon
68
60
64
70
68
71
63
66
71
68
63
64
71
22
-
German TT
With 60k wage cap left we found a German time trialist who needed levelling up and Marco Mathis joins Kraftwerk. The levelling plan keeps Marco C2 eligible with a nice resistance.
Marco Mathis | | 3.80 | € 50,000 | Age 28 | Time Trial
Nat.
Name
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
Age
Wage K
Marco Mathis
69
60
65
73
65
72
61
62
68
70
64
60
71
28
50
Marco Mathis
73
63
68
76
69
76
65
63
69
73
67
61
74
30
50
Stagiare who can level up
Our last 10k went on a Stagiare who we might be able to level up. The final stats assume Climberv1 training.
I had 500 odd cash and no wage cap left and thought it was worth trying to train up new recruit Suranga Ranaweera. We needed 850k to level up his Flat and TT. I got no offers for my riders but I had some good negotiations with Bikex to improve his TTT which saw Klemen Stimulak and Burr Ho leave for King Power and we took Thanakhan Chaiyasombat on loan.
Unfortunate to not be able to sell Nerz, as being strapped for cash does always limit things. But Ranaweera is a very capable leader and still very young, so he's someone you can build around. And with Nerz still on the roster, that's very good depth. De Buyst is a great signing too. Hard to get that versatility for a reasonable price, and you did.
Glad that Antti-Jussi Juntunen got a ride this year! To be honest I was considering an overbid to get him back, but then decided it wasn't worth it for a stag. Makes more sense in universe that he'd be mad we released him anyway.
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy
Cool to see your hope of a new young leader and project be realised with Ranaweera, hope he can learn a lot from Nerz and be a real asset for you this year and repay your trust and desire to get him
24/02/21 - kandesbunzler said “I don't drink famous people."
15/08/22 - SotD said "Your [jandal's] humour is overrated"
11/06/24 - knockout said "Winning is fine I guess. Truth be told this felt completely unimportant." [ICL] Santos-Euskadi | [PT] Xero Racing
@BBL Thanks, hope Ranaweera can fill Nerz's shoes. Pleased with De Buyst, he will take over from Zhupa as our token cobbler while being a handy lead out. Noticed you had Antti-Jussi Juntunen as a stagiare last year, hope he can earn a full contract next season after leveling up.
@jandal I am very pleased to get a younger leader which means less pressure during future transfers. Looking at the depth of PCT climbers this year it will be tough for Ranaweera to equal Nerz for results.
@Laurens I am very pleased to get De Buyst, and Ludvigsson who I hope can repeat Dulanjana's great season last year.
Last season Kraftwerk climbed to 9th in PCT after Nerz won his second Tour of America. Nerz has declined this season, can new recruit Suranga Ranaweera take over where Nerz left off?
Whats playing on the Kraftwerk Man Machine Team Bus
SPRINTS Rick Zabel (SP 81) had a solid season last year. New recruit Jasper de Buyst SP 76 will act as Rick’s leadout.
Marco Haller (SP 80) is our second sprinter, he will have lots of opportunities in stage races with a couple of flat stages as well as a return to the Tour of America to try and add to his 7 stage wins from last 2 years.
HILLS
Our aging hill depth led by David Boily (HIL 78) and Pello Bilbao (HIL 79) will have good opportunities in this year’s weaker PCT field.
COBBLES Eugert Zhupa (COB 77) is joined by versatile Jasper de Buyst (COB 75). Zhupa will be more use as part of the sprint team.
TIME TRIALS Tobias Ludvigsson (MO 76 TT 76) replaces Sachin Dulanjana (MO 74 TT 74) who had a great season last year and was traded during transfers. We hope Tobias will have an even better season. We didn’t go for a top time trialist and had to trade two of our TTT squad to fund training leaving our TTT capability pretty weak.
STAGE RACERS Suranga Ranaweera (MO 80) transferred from Sauber Petronas and is joined by Nikias Arndt (MO 79). Suranga will cover stage races with time trials and Nikias the ones without. In addition we will try to give Nikias opportunities to use his sprint after a mountainous route. They are supported by Dominik Nerz (MO 79) who didn’t attract any offers in transfers and Michel Koch (MO 77) . These four have lots of race days and can combine in every mountain race making race planning fairly simple however with such strong climbing depth in PCT they will struggle to make an impact.
C2 races are led by new recruit Alex Ariya Destribois (MO 76 HIL 75).
LOANS
Kraftwerk are looking after Ethan Vernon for Zwift Pro Cycling and Thanakhan Chaiyasombat for King Power. They are both useful additions to the squad and will gain valuable experience while riding with Kraftwerk this season.
Kraftwerk Man Machine 2022 Calendar
Format courtesy of Fabianski. Goal races in red.
Start
End
Race
Cat
Leader
09-Jan
Down Under Classic
HC
Zabel
09-Jan
Gisborne GP
C2
Destribois
13-Jan
18-Jan
Tour Down Under
HC
Bilbao, Zabel
30-Jan
Clasico San Jose
C2
Destribois
---
04-Feb
Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
HC
Zhupa
10-Feb
Le Samyn
HC
De Buyst
22-Feb
26-Feb
Circulo de Juarez
HC
Zabel
---
02-Mar
05-Mar
Jelajah SKL
C2
Destribois
13-Mar
18-Mar
Vuelta a Colombia
PTHC
Arndt, Tatarinov
21-Mar
Coppa Placci
C2
Destribois
24-Mar
Strade Bianche
HC
Bilbao
---
06-Apr
10-Apr
Baltic Chain Tour
C1
Haller
12-Apr
18-Apr
Tour de Pologne
HC
Boily
15-Apr
Berlin ProRace
C1
Zabel
20-Apr
Badaling International
C1
Bilbao, Arndt
23-Apr
Roma Maxima
PTHC
De Buyst
28-Apr
Veenendaal - Veenendaal
PTHC
Zabel
28-Apr
Lisbon Classic
HC
Haller
---
03-May
08-May
Tour de Romandie
C1
Ranaweera
12-May
14-May
Tour of Chile
C1
Arndt
27-May
31-May
Tour of Norway
HC
Ludvigsson
---
03-Jun
Pro Hallstatt Classic
HC
Ranaweera, Arndt
05-Jun
08-Jun
Tour of East Java
PTHC
Arndt, Zabel
27-Jun
Apex Mountain Classic
C1
Arndt
---
10-Jul
14-Jul
Tour de Vineyards
C1
Ranaweera, Zabel
13-Jul
Philadelphia International Championship
PTHC
Haller
16-Jul
19-Jul
Tour of Lithuania
PTHC
Boily
25-Jul
29-Jul
Tour of Slovenia
PTHC
Ludvigsson
25-Jul
29-Jul
Tour d'Andorra
C1
Arndt
---
01-Aug
05-Aug
Deutschland Tour
PTHC
Ranaweera, Arndt
01-Aug
06-Aug
Benelux Challenge
HC
De Buyst
09-Aug
13-Aug
Post Danmark Rundt
HC
Ludvigsson, Haller
---
01-Sep
Paris Tours
PTHC
Zabel
03-Sep
23-Sep
Tour of America
C1
Ranaweera, Haller
04-Sep
09-Sep
Balkans International
PTHC
Arndt
17-Sep
20-Sep
Bayern Rundfahrt
HC
Ludvigsson
26-Sep
Rheden GP
PTHC
Zhupa
28-Sep
GP Lugano
C1
Rumac
---
01-Oct
06-Oct
Tour du Maroc
HC
Arndt, Zabel
14-Oct
Grand Prix Cycliste de Montreal
PTHC
Rumac
18-Oct
Giro dell'Emilia
HC
Bilbao
Goal Races
Berlin ProRace (C1) (Win) is our compulsory win goal, got to hope Ahlstrand misses this race.
Vuelta a Colombia (PTHC) KOM where we hope to see Gennadiy Tatarinov repeat his KOM win of last season.
Tour du Maroc (HC) Top 10 is a chance for Suranga Ranaweera or Nikias Arndt to achieve a goal.
Pro Hallstatt Classic (HC) Top 5 a more challenging opportunity for Suranga Ranaweera or Nikias Arndt to achieve a goal.
Team Standings Top 10 will be a stretch with the extra competition at the ToA.
Tour of America
The PCT Grand Tour has been the highlight of the Kraftwerk season in the past 2 years. We recruited Suranga Ranaweera with this race in mind but he didn’t do well last year and faces stiffer competition this year. Can 2 time winner Dominik Nerz mentor the younger man and will the strong team lift Suranga’s performance to deliver 3 wins in a row?
Marco Haller has made ToA sprinting his own but again faces strong competition this season. Will the addition of Jasper De Buyst help Marco defend his green jersey?
Really looking forward to finding out the answers to these questions.
Here is our “all in” squad.
Nat.
Name
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
Age
Suranga Ranaweera
67
80
73
75
75
75
74
52
58
65
57
69
73
27
Marco Haller
72
61
65
56
72
71
76
58
80
79
66
64
71
31
Michel Koch
66
77
73
68
69
74
74
51
67
76
57
61
70
31
Arvin Moazemi
67
73
78
69
72
72
75
62
65
73
65
63
67
32
Dominik Nerz
69
79
71
72
73
70
72
55
63
66
64
59
72
33
Jasper De Buyst
73
61
70
68
73
75
75
75
76
76
70
70
68
29
Josip Rumac
71
72
75
64
72
70
68
55
74
76
66
69
66
28
Alex Ariya Destribois
69
76
75
68
68
69
74
52
61
75
77
78
67
31
Conclusion
For a successful season Kraftwerk will depend on depth scoring again especially in the relatively weak hilly competition in PCT. A repeat of the Tour of America win from last season would be great, however I expect a stronger start list at ToA this season with such strong climber depth in PCT. A mid-table result seems likely but anywhere between 8th and 18th would not be a surprise.
).
| 4.100 | € 55,000 | Age 31 | Climbing Domestique 
| 4.100 | € 170,000 | Age 31 | Stage Racer 
| 4.100 | € 135,000 | Age 29 | Lead Out/Cobbler 
| 1.00 | € 225,000 | Age 22 | Time Trial 
| 3.10 | € 60,000 | Age 23 | Climber 
Down Under Classic
Gisborne GP
Clasico San Jose
Circulo de Juarez
Jelajah SKL
Coppa Placci
Baltic Chain Tour
Tour de Pologne
Badaling International
Lisbon Classic
Tour de Romandie
Tour of Chile
Tour of Norway
Tour of East Java
Philadelphia International Championship
Tour d'Andorra
Benelux Challenge
Post Danmark Rundt
Paris Tours
Balkans International
