PCM.daily banner
12-12-2024 13:49
PCM.daily
Users Online
· Guests Online: 29

· Members Online: 0

· Total Members: 162,021
· Newest Member: Zacharymyday
View Thread
PCM.daily » PCM.daily's Management Game » [Man-Game] Teams HQ
 Print Thread
[PT] Minions '23
Marcovdw
INTRODUCTION


This is how we introduced ourselves:
Spoiler
Once upon a time, a little yellow single-celled organism was searching around for some food for his friends, the other little yellow single-celled organisms. He found a tree full of bananas, and it became the most holy food for them; only apples (or babbles, as they would pronounce them) came close afterwards, but the bananas stayed on top forever. They could continue to eat bananas without anyone noticing, until capitalism.

A bunch of Americans found out about the bananas, and decided to eat them as well. The organisms weren't too happy about that, but the Americans only wanted to sell bananas to them for ridiciously high prices. The organisms agreed on the deal, because they just couldn't live without bananas. The Americans founded a company called United Fruit Company, which would later be known as Chiquita Brands International.

After the deal, the little yellow single-celled organisms were living in peace again, even during both World Wars and the Cold War, but their rest was disturbed again in the 21st century when an American/French film crew decided to use them for a movie. The company, who named theirself Illumination Entertainment, had a big plan with them, and they even gave them a name that will always be recognized, the Minions!

Illumination Entertainment became a subsidiary of Universal Studios, a rich and famous American company. The film, called Despicable Me and released in 2010, became a hugh success, and the Minions became rich. A sequel would follow 3 years later, and that made them even richer. In 2015, the Minions will finally get their own movie, suprisingly called Minions, where they will finally be main characters. Despicable Me 3 is scheduled for 2017.

One of the Minions was a big fan of cycling, and decided to found a cycling team with the money he earned from the movies and the bananas. He, however, did not have enough money to it, neither did all the Minions together. They first asked Universal Studios to sponsor them. They decided to help, but they didn't offer enough money to fund the entire team. Then Chiquita came to rescue, and offered an amazing amount of money for the team, accompanied by a giant raise in the price of the bananas. Team Chiquita-Universal was born!


This is how the story continued:
Spoiler
The Minions began strong, designing jerseys, making goals and selecting races. Riders were signed, but they made one critical mistake. Instead of human currency, the riders were paid in bananas. This did not only effect their health, but it also resulted in some angry Minions who had to either go to rehab or switch to babbles. And things didn't get better when a film crew showed up to make a new movie about them, which is to premiere soon.

This slight controversy resulted in a big mess. Minions weren't motivated to watch races or write about it, riders weren't performing due to the lack of support from the Minions and organizers threatened to take our license away. Our season marked just four highlights, though that's more than none. The victory of Chad Haga in a TT in Algarve resulted in a mass celebration in our lab and a daily pilgrimage to Portugal. Carter Jones won the mountain jersey in the Tour de Beauce, but those 2 wins were all there would be last season. There were some minor celebrations when Jakob Rathe achieved our goal in a for Minions impronouncable race (Cigar City Brewing Twilight GP) and some decent performances in our home tour: the Tour of America.

It didn't look good for the Minions though. 24th out of 26 was definately a big bummer, though higher than most critics expected. It was a nail-biting offseason, but their but-jokes, banana-bribery and cute smiles managed to secure a new license for this season. We managed to keep both our main sponsors and secondary sponsors aboard (Chiquita, Universal, Illumination Entertainment and Gameloft). To keep the Minions happy, we decided to change our name to Chiquita - Universal powered by Minions, after we were already informally called Team Minions last season. We were given a new appearance as well, with a new jersey designed by renowned artist Bikex. Last season was trial-and-error, this season will be trial-and-succeeding!

The Minions aren't dead. The Minions are alive. The Minions are more fond of cycling than ever and extremely driven to perform this season, and of course gain more bananas. Or babbles. Or both.


And then, all this stuff happened:
Spoiler
Now, the Minions cycling team is in their third consecutive season in the lowest level of cycling. The Minions are losing hope, but is there a Minion who can stand up and lead them to promotion, finally?

Where did it go wrong last season? The start was promising, with our license renewed and Minions being added to the official team name. However, there was some controversy regarding the not very child-friendly abbreviation. We would like to maintain a good relationship with children, and therefore we rectified our error immediately. We also found out that Piamonte didn't like bananas. He was thrown out of the HQ immediately.

Transfers went better as the year before. The PR-Minion didn't mess up the validation process and got it right in one go. Some star riders were signed, such as Martinez and Kinney. Yet, there were also failures. Jones was loaned out to a even worse team where he couldn't progress. 500,000 bananas were invested in sprinter Tolleson, but his stack of top 10's were limited, if there were any. The old and decreasing Duggan was signed to provide experience, but can he be useful for another season? And in the closing stages we signed the overpriced Italian fighter Santambrogio. Our 200,000 bananas donation to Festina might have been the key to their ProTour victory.

Resultwise the season also went better. Our first season resulted in 1 stage victory, the second season that increased to 3! Kinney won a stage in Pologne, Haga the TT in the USA Pro Cycling Challenge and Montenegro won from a breakaway in our favourite race, the Tour of America. He and Haga also fought for the mountains competition, but where a few places away from victory. The race has given us some great memories, and we will certainly return this year. Martinez had some great stage race results, including a sixth place in the prestigious Vuelta a Tachira.

On the other hand, Tolleson couldn't impress in the sprints. At one point, Santambrogio managed to outdo him on a regular basis. The lack of points in sprinters races is the reason we couldn't compete for promotion positions. It will now be a Mexican standoff between Carlsberg, Lierse and us to decide who will be the last team to promote from the 2014 entrants.

We lost 16th place in the standings on the final race, yet 17th out of 26 is much better as our 24th place. If we can improve by the same margin this year, promotion will be within reach!

For the Minions themselves, 2015 was quite successful. The eponymous film was a box office hit, and grossed billions worldwide. The Minions now have some time of before they start working on their new movie, Despicable Me 3. Kevin the Minion was knighted by the Queen of England, and is now known as Sir Kevin. He will replace Dave as general manager, who has decided to move on and seek new challenges in the world of the yellow single-celled organisms.

In 2016, the team will revert to its 2014 name, but without the Team prefix. Due to new restrictions by the MGUCI, a character lenght was introduced, which made our team name too long for their administration. The team will officially be known as Chiquita - Universal, but as always the media will always associate us with the Minions, who will not leave the world of cycling in the near future! The team is now officially based in Guatemala, because the Minions want to be in a banana republic. This will mean an increased focus on Central America, but we will not forget the most important market on the earth, the United States of America!

However, we must be realistic. Some Minions are getting depressed. Promotion has to be achieved, otherwise who knows what will happen. Complete Minion breakdown? The apocalypse? It is up to Sir Kevin, team manager Stuart and the directeurs sportifs, including Bob, to find the most despicable master to... ehh sorry, that's the plot of the movie.

To get the team to the top of the world of cycling, that's it!


And then, this stuff happened as well:
Spoiler
They say third time's the charm. Well, it certainly was the case for us. We are now allowed to add a P in front of our opening abbreviation because we promoted to the Pro Continental Tour in the MGUCI system. But it's a miracle we got to this place at all. Here's a quick reconstruction:

On the bike things went pretty well. We managed to sign two great sprinters in Drapac and Manarelli, and three cobblestones specialists in De Haes, Marcos and Matthews. This meant that we were able to participate on all terrains for once. Yes, there were also some less successful acquisitions this season but far less so than the previous years. Haga and Selander were send on loan to a ProTour squad, and would come back to us having gained valuable experience.

Over the first two season we scored a total of four victories. However, we knew very quickly that this season would be much better, as we had already won three stages when we came to March. Barton and Sarmiento, two new riders as well, both won a stage in the Tour of the Middle East, and De Haes won us our first classic: the prestigious Geraardsbergen - Bosberg. But the big fish came from New Zealand, the Tour of Southland, where Martinez won the fourth stage and consequently the general classification. You could imagine the celebrations, fireworks and Minions who drank slightly too much at the headquarters.

And it didn't stop there, as our sprinters delivered on their promises as well. Drapac won a stage in Circulo de Juarez and came close to the overall victory. He also won the opening stage in the Tour of Denmark, taking the leader's jersey before losing it on stage three to our very own Kinney, who won that stage as well. Unfortunately he also couldn't win the overall classification. Manarelli managed to rack up four victories over the season, one in the Tour de Pologne, one in the Herald Sun Tour and two consecutive stages in Ruta America del Sur. Martinez also won a time trial in the USAPCC, the exact same one Haga won the year before.

This did us well in the rankings. We were within reach of automatic promotion all season, and although we couldn't challenge for the title which went to Ferrero, we still finished in fourth place, one place ahead of our rivals Carlsberg, after Lierse chickened out of a battle of the last team of the 2014 generation to promote. Fourth place means we could finally kiss goodbye to the bottom depths of the CT, and start mixing us in the midfield of the PCT.

However, off the bike things went a little bit less well, understatement of the year. First there was a bit of a miscommunication with Esmaeli regarding his future, and he left the team midway through the season after only participating in two races. Then, our sponsors started to withdraw, all for the silliest of reasons. Universal withdrew because they though we favoured Chiquita, and that wasn't true, and they knew it, but they wanted a way out for something else. Because our operations were moved to the glorious banana republic of Guatemala for tax reasons, our team became, let's say a lot less liked by some organisations. The people of Guatemala noticed their bananas became extremely expensive due to some of our employee's habits, and soon we had some major riots outside our building.

We knew we had to bail when even Chiquita, our most beloved sponsor (sorry Universal, you had this coming), left us and joined the side of the protestors. We took our stuff and got the hell out of the country, before they burned our HQ to the ground. Back in the US of A we couldn't find a place to stay, we couldn't find a sponsor to work with and we couldn't eat bananas because we didn't have them anymore.

Then, as an angel descended down from heaven, Tareq Esmaeli came back with money from his dad, who apparently is a super rich oil Sheikh from Qatar. He bought the license and saved the Minions from bankruptcy and most likely prison. This means we're once again on the move, towards Qatar, with our new sugar daddy paying for everything we need (including apparently a mountain made of oil for a new race). We have no sponsors who could direct where we go and what we do, it's just the Minions from now on. And Tareq the banana lover is back with the team, and we will never ever threat him the way we did last season.

Long story short: we're on the most wanted list of the CIA, FBI and Interpol, we have both Chiquita and Universal suing us, the governments of the United States and Guatemala want to see us extradited, and for some reason the Walt Disney Company has send mercenaries to kill us. But that won't stop us. We're going to continue were we left off: to conquer the world of cycling, whether you like it or not!


Another season, more stories:
Spoiler
Let's start with the good news (pun intented): we survived our first season in PCT! How? Well, read below.

We realised our squad was in need of a major make-over, since our CT leaders would not be good enough to lead PCT. Our two major signings were Úran for the mountains/stage races, and Betancourt for the hills. Albert was brought on to lead at the cobbles, and Drapac remained sprint leader though we knew he would struggle more. A leader in every discipline, what could go wrong?

A lot, actually. We spent over a million bananas on helping Betancourt lose weight so he would be in top shape going in this season, but his performances were not what we expected. We wanted constant scoring while he only delivered a few good result contrary to many bad results. Albert didn't have the best of seasons either but at least he tried. And our support riders didn't really get themselves inside the break or in a low points-scoring position for them to be of any help for the rankings.

We made mistakes, we'll admit. We left over 150k in our wage cap to afford Betancourt's training, money we could have used to sign better riders. And the riders we did sign weren't scouted that great either. We signed Goodnews Clifford purely because of his first name and the laughs we would have, not because of his skill. Jeandesbosz had previously been signed by us but never raced, so we brought him back to close the chapter, but his age had already caught him and he wasn't as good as he used to be. Albourdainy was signed because he's friends with the Sheikh's son and while he wasn't too bad, we could've signed someone with more pedigree.

That still doesn't answer our earlier question though. How did we survive? Well, a large part of it is down to one man: Úran. He scored well in every race he participated in, but in August he delivered big-time when he won Deutschland Tour in the PTHC category, against ProTour opposition, and single-handedly pushed us out of the relegation zone we'd been spending in since January. A statue for him has already been erected outside the HQ.

Other two silver linings were Drapac, who caused an upset when he won Nahakon Rahamanakon Classic in Thailand (that's not how it's spelled but we've never done it correctly and you probably never noticed), and De Haes, who won three stages in three different races from the breakaway. Those fringe points proved to be just enough to stay above the five bottom places.

In the end it's twentieth place, two places and just 237 points ahead of relegation. This year we have to do better, this year we have to sign riders better, this year we have to plan races better, this year we have to race races better, this year we have to be better!

Because we're not going down, we're going up!


Season six went as follows:
Spoiler
And so we made it to our sixth season. Can you believe it, six years already. We started on this adventure knowing absolutely nothing, which showed in our first seasons, but now we're at a spot where we know what's going on and how to improve.

Take our fifth season. We barely avoided relegation in our debut in PCT, and improvements were necessary to improve on our ranking position. We knew we had some additional cap space held behind by Betancourt, but selling him for a record fee opened up some real possibilities. In response we bought Zepuntke for a record fee and assembled a strong cobblestone squad. Additionally, we focussed on time trials to avoid the painful moments whenever they took place.

The season indeed went a lot better than before. Not only relying on Úran to score points, but he was still our top scorer. Despite not winning a stage race this season he was a lot more consistent and finished second and third almost every stage or race. This brought him to eighth place in the individual rankings. The cobblestone squad also took a lot of points, including Zepuntke and Albert as second- and third-best scorers respectively.

But it were the little guys who made it into a great season. Loanee Moulingui finished third in Omloop het Nieuwsblad. Third for an unmaxed, 23 year old in the highest category possible is a wonderful performance, and meant he finished sixth on our end-of-season rankings. Drapac also picked his race where he overperformed, winning a stage and finishing third in the GC at Baltic Chain Tour.

Not everything was bright though. We made our GT debut in the Vuelta, but largely remained anonymous except Úran taking seventh place in the GC. Betancourt's replacement, Quevedo, was not up to standards and scored even less. This means we have to look for a new lead puncheur for the third year in a row. But you know what they say, third time's a charm.

Put everything together and we have a solid midtable finish of thirteenth. Way ahead of the relegation spots but also behind the (disband) promotion spots. For a while we looked to battle for the promotion spots, placing sixth or seventh midway through the season, but with less racedays in the latter months we dropped back a bit. That's not a shame, it shows we have a great base and with a little tweaking, we can promote to PT this season.

Third time's a charm, we'll promote to PT!


Nothing interesting happened here:
Spoiler
And here we are in season seven, still with the unwanted C in our division prefix. Our triple three-years plan ([CT] learning - building a base - promotion - [PCT] survival - building a base - promotion - [PT] survival - building a base - champions) is now officially one year behind schedule. Whereas we managed to get through the Continental division in three years as planned, the ProContinental arc of our team history will have at least four chapters.

For the third year in a row Uran was our highest scorer, elevating his status as team legend even further. A few stage wins here and there, and a lot of GC top fives, but his big win came in the Corsica International, a race he had won before for a different team but always fell just short of in our colors. He once again finished in the top ten of the individual standings, in exactly tenth place with a total of points similar to the previous season.

We brought in Claeys to tackle our persistent puncheurs problem, an unlike his maligned predecessors, he actually got some results. Two wins in GP Wallonie and Tour of Southland early in the season were his highlights, but after those two he thought he did enough and couldn't achieve the same results for the rest of the season, only occasionally making the top ten.

The cobbles squad, though slightly dismantled compared to the previous season, also did a good job, with Zepuntke and Albert being our third- and fourth-best point scorers with some decent results, though no stand-out Moulingui-like performance. Janse van Rensburg also surprisingly had some decent results where we did not expect him to perform well. In all honesty, there were multiple riders which scored more points than anticipated. Marcos and Ivanov scored more than 100 points, Martinez had a top 25 in a PTHC stage race. Even Esmaeli picked up six points during the season!

Yet we only finished in fourteenth place in the final rankings, a place lower than the previous season despite scoring an additional 156 points. We wanted promotion but ended up far, far away. As scapegoat we labeled the sprinting department as biggest failures. Drapac did not have a win this season but did finish second once, whereas Vantomme, whom we signed with the explicit goal of participating and scoring high in sprints, did not participate or score high in sprints. At least the performance in the other departments was good enough to avoid relegation.

So, we are a year behind schedule. Does this mean a major revamp? Doing this differently from now on? A fresh breath in management and the squad? Behind the scenes we have been negotiating contracts, planning the schedule, infiltrating rival teams and blackmailing the MGUCI to make sure this year we will get what we deserve, a top five finish and promotion to the highest echelon of cycling!

And finally get rid of the bloody C!


Someone give this Minion a banana:
Spoiler
People following our progress ever since our baby steps will have seen our lack of updates for the 2020 season. No race previews or reviews were posted during the season, there were no answers to press question or fan mail, yet the manager was spotted all over the world doing everything but writing for his own team. Only after the season there was a Minion (read: a Minion who was forced to do so, otherwise he wouldn't get a banana) who provided minimal statement on the races of the season.

The season itself wasn't one we had hoped for either. We had hoped to get rid of the C in our division title, but in fact we have not gotten any closer. We finished in fourteenth position again, and thus will be heading into our fifth season in the ProContinental division. It could be worse, as relegation is also avoided with some wiggle room, but the progress has stagnated drastically.

Uran went into the season as undisputed leader again and got out as our top scorer, but not to the levels he had shown in previous years. This can be attributed to this age. The Colombian is in the autumn of his career, with the next generation to take over the reins. An important acquisition turned out to be Vesely, who would score very close to Uran's tally and proved to be our first ever consistent sprinter. Haga also rode some good races with his dangerous combination of climbing and riding against the clock.

There were some major disappointments as well. Zepuntke did not really get to fight for podium positions but still scored points in the races where he participated. Claeys on the other hand was clearly not giving everything he had and would often be one of the first "favorites" to get dropped. The biggest disappointment occurred before the season however, with the teams minutes away of signing legendary time trialist Coppel before being snatched away by a rival outfit.

So what's in store for the upcoming season? Uran and other subleaders are only getting older, and the talents such as Bjerg and Hodeg are not ready to take over yet. The transfer season will be an important one to take in fresh blood which will push us further up the rankings, as we are sick and tired of this time loop where we are stuck in the boring mid-tables.

We want to conquer the world of cycling, remember?


Yum yum yum:
Spoiler
The 2021 season was the season where the Minions should finally have achieved promotion to the ProTour. Things didn't quite turn out that way though.

The star signing was Hagen, earning a record fee of close to a million bananas. We were delighted to have a superstar sign for us with multiple monuments and a World Championship on his CV. He would be the one to break the puncheurs curse. Even though he ended up as our highest scoring rider his performances were somewhat disappointed, especially in the early part of the season. So the puncheurs curse continues.

Other riders also failed to impress. Vesely continuously started his sprint 500 meters too early. Uran's best days are far behind him and we really started noticing the effects this season. Haga could not pull some miracle performances like he was able to in the past. Zepuntke received expensive training which did not lead to noticeable better results.

The positives are hard to find. An obvious one is Hodeg, who sprinted to two stage wins in his home race. Kalaba also looked like a more consistent sprinter. Future time trial star Bjerg won a time trial in the Tour de l'Avenir. Haga scored a WC-bronze medal, but given it was in the team time trial it will hardly be remembered.

Despite the negative tone we were never in real relegation danger. Seventeenth place and three-hundred points above the line is not enough for angry door smashing, but it is our worst result since our first season in PCT. We keep on saying we want to achieve promotion but we seem to be on a more downward trajectory, which needs to be reversed to avoid going back down to CT.

Oh, and most important of all, almost our entire organization was arrested at the end of the season, casting doubt over the future of the team. While we maintain our complete innocence, the evidence fabricated by the intelligence agencies seems enough to be locked up for life. We cannot run a cycling team from prison, where there are no bananas.

Will we see the Minions again?


The C is gone from the division abbreviation. This is not a mistake. This is not a drill. This is real, we made it to the ProTour!

In our sixth attempt to get out of the PCT midfield the team were joined by celestial superstars Subwoolfer, who aside from wanting to dominate cycling finished tenth in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022, representing Norway with "Give that wolf a banana". Our headquarters were based on a remote tropical island in Bermuda, with every facility available to get our riders in tip top shape.

A notable omission this season was our legend Uran, who could no longer be entrusted with leadership duties. Hagen's failure of the past season saw him kicked out of the door with a lot less emotions. Fan favorite Zepuntke's departure did make a lot of us cry, but we knew he was going to a good home at Los Pollos Hermanos. Replacing them as leaders were Cattaneo and Dennis, two riders with PT experience to boast their big paycheck, but also not the youngest anymore.

The sprinters core remained consistent with Vesely, Kalaba and Hodeg. While the trio did not achieve any victory in terms of classics and general classifications, they did win nine sprints between them. Kalaba became the king of the hilly sprints and sprints in stage races, winning five in total. Vesely finished in the top thirty of the individual PCT rankings with two stage wins, while Hodeg continued to be underestimated with two stage wins as well.

We finally gave up on getting a star puncheur, as we'd rather be absent than disappointed each race. That did not mean we closed the book on hilly races entirely, on the contrary in fact. Dennis and lost son Brown were brought in for the common combo of hills with time trials, where they could challenge for the GC by being decent at both. The Australian had a stellar season, winning the Tours of Norway and Britain and was the fourteenth-best rider of the PCT.

But that's not all. It's hard to fill Uran's shoes but Cattaneo did everything we could dream and more. Fourth in the Tour of East Java and second in the Criterium du Dauphine, as PTHC races, were already great achievements, but taking home the yellow jersey in the Tour de Vineyards and Bayern Rundfahrt were icings on the cake! Ahlstrand, Areruya and Dunbar were the only three riders to score more points that season. Even Uran never finished this high.

Before the season most pundits predicted another boring mid-table finish for us, perhaps even putting us towards the relegation fight, but we once again proved those pundits have no clue what they're talking about. We finished on the podium of the 2022 ProContinental Tour. Third place behind runaway favorite Amaysim Cervelo and fellow surprise package Zara - Irizar. And you know what third place means, right? Promotion to the ProTour!

Now we're here, but we're not done yet. Step one: remain in the ProTour division. Step two: move towards the top of the ProTour division. Step three: win the ProTour division. If it takes another six seasons, so be it, but stay tuned for a heck of a ride!

Spoiler
This story is completely fictional. All characters appearing in this work are fictitious as well. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental, but I hope the little yellow single-celled organisms are real Pfft

Edited by Marcovdw on 09-02-2024 07:17
Manager of Minions
 
Marcovdw
SQUAD


Nat.NameFLMOHITTSTRSRCCBSPACFGDHPR Age Wage
T. Kinoshita73728366807773596877737166 32 1 mil
J. Ahlstrand73596659737277668281586371 33 500k
M. Cattaneo69816978757978535069616378 33 500k
D. Kalaba74656970707276577979586878 27 185k
R. Dennis71737477717365526466685580 33 300k
A. Vosekalns66787562697372516771816862 31 110k
M. Bjerg75646879737773636870716779 25 110k
N. Brown68757376747372605871656477 32 110k
A. Hodeg72536567697470517978536473 27 100k
R. Barbier75506756727176687779656460 31 50k
J. Dakteris75556462747073727777636162 32 50k
L. Sweeck73626868717262767071677571 30 60k
I. Bolivar73616669747069776469687569 32 50k
T. J. Slagter66767764687069505968807764 34 70k
D. Quintana69767170737276506163676470 31 50k
L. Marcos74627363716570746570736465 32 50k
E. A. Rubio66757264757373606071716464 25 Loan
M. De Witte74606861757267757169646561 30 50k
N. Alexander72727271717071606167666871 25 Loan
Y. Voisard66737062686973606165716964 25 Loan
C. Perez71636674727171696668746974 24 Loan

Edited by Marcovdw on 26-08-2023 21:20
Manager of Minions
 
Marcovdw
CALENDAR


StartEndNation(s)RaceCategory
09-Jan11-JanTour of TasmaniaPT
17-Jan22-JanTour of QatarPT
30-JanGreat Ocean Road ClassicPTHC
---
02-FebCopenhagen - Malmo TTTPT
12-Feb18-FebTirreno - AdriaticoPT
13-Feb20-FebParis - NicePT
13-FebClassique du Grand-DuchéPT
22-Feb24-FebTour of UkrainePTHC
28-FebMilano - San RemoPTM
---
01-Mar03-MarRonde van NederlandPT
05-Mar08-MarPraha - Karlovy Vary - PrahaPT
20-MarStrada Appia AnticaPT
23-MarMacskako KerekparversenyPT
25-MarRonde van VlaanderenPTM
27-MarE3 PrijsPT
---
01-AprParis - RoubaixPTM
03-Apr23-AprGiro d'ItaliaPTM
20-AprGP LiechtensteinPT
23-AprRoma MaximaPTHC
28-AprVeenendaal - VeenendaalPTHC
30-AprAmstel Gold RacePT
---
03-MayFleche WallonnePT
07-MayLiege - Bastogne - LiegePTM
11-May31-MayVuelta a EspanaPTM
11-MayRund um KolnPT
13-May16-MayTour of LithuaniaPTHC
---
08-Jun14-JunTour de SuissePTHC
26-Jun28-JunScandinavia Open Road RacePT
---
03-Jul23-JulTour de FrancePTM
25-Jul29-JulTour of SloveniaPTHC
---
02-Aug06-AugDeutschland TourPTHC
08-AugClasica San SebastianPTHC
17-AugChrono des HerbiersPT
19-AugEast Midlands Cicle ClassicPT
---
08-Sep13-SepBalkans InternationalPTHC
15-Sep21-SepTour of Northern EuropePT
26-SepRheden GPPTHC
---
02-OctGP MoscowPT
09-OctGrand Prix CyclistePTHC
18-OctGiro di LombardiaPTM

Edited by Marcovdw on 26-08-2023 21:21
Manager of Minions
 
TheManxMissile
It's just not right to have no C!

You and arlsberg in the Pro Tour, just razy! Wishing you all the luk to ompete suessfully. Maybe beoming hampion is too muh to ask, so i'll be heering you towards a state of ontinuation and avoiding relegation.

I'm sure transfers will be busy. an see you needing to make some hanges, but not too many. Minions in the Pro Tour! Maybe you don't need to keep that uban N jersey...
i.imgur.com/UmX5YX1.jpgi.imgur.com/iRneKpI.jpgi.imgur.com/fljmGSP.jpgi.imgur.com/qV5ItIc.jpgimgur.com/dr2BAI6.jpgimgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpgi.imgur.com/C1rG9BW.jpgi.imgur.com/sEDS7gr.jpg
 
redordead
TheManxMissile wrote:
It's just not right to have no C!

edevita will also join you, but no worries we will not get in the way of your three step plan to dominate PT.

pcmdaily.com/images/mg/PCMdailyAwards2018/mgnewmanager.png
pcmdaily.com/images/mg/Awards2020/mghq2.png
pcmdaily.com/images/mg/Awards2021/mgmanager21.png


"I am a cyclist, I may not be the best, but that is what I strive to be. I may never get there, but I will never quit trying." - Tadej Pogačar
 
Marcovdw
@TheManxMissile - an't believe we're without a now. Maros is happy to stay with in his uban overalls and rok the ProTour.
@redordead - Thanks, we wish you all the best in finishing just behind us

RENEWALS


We are allowed to discuss our contract renewals now. In the ProTour we are given an extra million to our wage budget, but we would like to have a large chunk of that left going into the transfer season. We renewed twelve riders for the combined bill of 1.83 million bananas, leaving 1.67 million bananas on the table:

RiderAgeOVLWage+/-Status
Mikkel Bjerg2575,37110000+15000
Nathan Brown3275,28110000-15000
Mattia Cattaneo3377,73500000-50000
Mathias De Witte3073,55500000
Rohan Dennis3375,77300000-200000Transfer listed
Alvaro Hodeg2774,951000000
Dusan Kalaba2776,28185000+35000
Luis Enrique Lemus Davila3174,1175000-20000
Leandro Marcos3273,75500000
Dayer Quintana3173,8650000-15000
Laurens Sweeck3074,09600000
Daniel Vesely3177,15240000-10000Transfer listed


Bjerg and Kalaba are the only riders to receive wage increases, and they deserve it. The former has graduated from the academy and the latter moves up to an even more prominent leadership role. Dennis is the biggest loser (for himself, not for us), nearly halving his wage for the good of the team. He is transfer listed though, meaning we will be listening to offers for his services next season. Cattaneo also loses some wage but is still our highest paid rider at the moment at half a million. Minor changes for Brown, Lemus Davils, Quintana and Vesely in our advantage. The Czech sprinter joins the Australian on the transfer list, which makes it possible for him to move somewhere else, but we'll keep him if no acceptable offer comes. The cobblestone trio of De Witte, Marcos and Sweeck stay on their previous wage bill, as does underdog sprinter Hodeg. As for the cobblers, they might be the support crew for a new leader, remain the makeshift leadership squad or move to teams with more focus on that department.

Eight riders did not see their contract renewed, for a variety of reasons:

RiderAgeOVLReason
Jerome Coppel3767,43Age
Felix English3171,73Not good enough
Mulu Hailemichael2466,38No permanent contract
Kazushige Kuboki3471,55Age
Didier Merchan2470,66Out of academy
Laureano Rosas3369,67Age
Jan Stöckli2370,12Out of academy
Jasper Stuyven3173,54Not good enough


Coppel, Kuboki and Rosas have reached the decline phase of their career and we do not feel they have anything to offer in the ProTour. English and Stuyven are still in the prime of their career, but for them we also do not see any opportunity in the ProTour. Merchan and Stöckli have been unconvincing in their debut seasons, and are kicked out of the academy. Hailemichael is not offered a professional contract after joining as a stagiare, nor could be given a place in the academy.

(Novikov and Tikhonin return to Tinkoff - La Datcha Team after their loan period, both have been renewed there.)

Manager of Minions
 
knockout
1.67 million in cap space and another 540k in two transfer listed riders? Someone has free choice in a prefered FA target...

In completely unrelated news: What is your opinion on Phinney not riding a GT? Pfft
A Big Thank You To All MG Reporters!

pcmdaily.com/images/awards/2015/Manteam.pngpcmdaily.com/images/mg/Awards2020/mgmanager.png
 
AbhishekLFC
Looks like the team is in for an overhaul as you tackle the PT for the first time. Looking forward to how it goes Smile
 
jandal7
Wow, going to be a busy transfers for you clearing all that cap space. Can't wait to see the Minions assemble their first PT squad, hopefully with a big name or two to lead the way Grin
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] i.imgur.com/c85NSl6.png Xero Racing

i.imgur.com/PdCbs9I.png
i.imgur.com/RPIlJYr.png
5x i.imgur.com/wM6Wok5.png x5
i.imgur.com/olRsxdu.png
2x pcmdaily.com/images/mg/Awards2021/funniest21.png x2
2x i.imgur.com/TUidkLG.png x2
 
kandesbunzler26
Congratulations to your promotion! Though I'm not that sure I like it that you finally got that woolfs their bananas so they're leaving ...

Your renewals should have freed you lots of salary cap to chase some PT leaders (at least I've heard there are some available - that's not quite my hunting ground ...).
i.imgur.com/77VDWQo.jpeg


i.ibb.co/PC3Kfz9/Signature2020.pngi.ibb.co/Hpc4z3S/FINALUSER.pngpcmdaily.com/files/Awards2023/mostimproved-bk26.png
 
Ad Bot
Posted on 12-12-2024 13:48
Bot Agent

Posts: Countless
Joined: 23.11.09

IP: None  
Fabianski
Bad news for Stöckli that he wasn't retained after his stint at the academy - maybe good news for some Swiss teams?
Although I'm not really after declining riders, I had some hope that Cattaneo would be listed for transfers after his level-down, but it looks like you're fine with all those bananas he still eats. I might still get in touch for some other rider - if I choose to be fine with some roulette Pfft
 
SotD
Interesting choice to let Merchan and Stöckli go. I'm sure those could have had some sales/swap value. I'll likely target both from the FA Smile

Can't wait to see what kind of riders you are going to target.
pcmdaily.com/images/mg/Awards2022/mghq.png
pcmdaily.com/files/Awards2016/manager.png
pcmdaily.com/images/awards/2015/Manmanager.png
pcmdaily.com/files/Awards2016/teamhq.png
 
Marcovdw
@knockout - You might very well think that; I couldn't possibly comment.
@AbhishekLFC - Overhauls seem to be a yearly occurrence but doesn't make things less fun.
@jandal7 - As long as those big names don't act like Hagen did.
@kandesbunzler26 - It's weird to look at the top available riders and not think of them as unreachable.
@Fabianski - Right now there are still many plans for transfers, perhaps one of those will suit your needs.
@SotD - Didn't really see them as valuable for sale, the motivation for non-renewal is giving me more cap space for the big scorers.

CALENDAR


As a ProTour team, our calendar flexibility is limited. We get access to the big races and will make our debuts in the monuments in Grand Tours (excluding our Vuelta wildcard in 2018), and today our calendar was finalized with the PTHC bands. We got our three top choices and look forward to riding against our rivals, including those in the PCT.

StartEndNation(s)RaceCategory
09-Jan11-JanTour of TasmaniaPT
17-Jan22-JanTour of QatarPT
30-JanGreat Ocean Road ClassicPTHC
---
02-FebCopenhagen - Malmo TTTPT
12-Feb18-FebTirreno - AdriaticoPT
13-Feb20-FebParis - NicePT
13-FebClassique du Grand-DuchéPT
22-Feb24-FebTour of UkrainePTHC
28-FebMilano - San RemoPTM
---
01-Mar03-MarRonde van NederlandPT
05-Mar08-MarPraha - Karlovy Vary - PrahaPT
20-MarStrada Appia AnticaPT
23-MarMacskako KerekparversenyPT
25-MarRonde van VlaanderenPTM
27-MarE3 PrijsPT
---
01-AprParis - RoubaixPTM
03-Apr23-AprGiro d'ItaliaPTM
20-AprGP LiechtensteinPT
23-AprRoma MaximaPTHC
28-AprVeenendaal - VeenendaalPTHC
30-AprAmstel Gold RacePT
---
03-MayFleche WallonnePT
07-MayLiege - Bastogne - LiegePTM
11-May31-MayVuelta a EspanaPTM
11-MayRund um KolnPT
13-May16-MayTour of LithuaniaPTHC
---
08-Jun14-JunTour de SuissePTHC
26-Jun28-JunScandinavia Open Road RacePT
---
03-Jul23-JulTour de FrancePTM
25-Jul29-JulTour of SloveniaPTHC
---
02-Aug06-AugDeutschland TourPTHC
08-AugClasica San SebastianPTHC
17-AugChrono des HerbiersPT
19-AugEast Midlands Cicle ClassicPT
---
08-Sep13-SepBalkans InternationalPTHC
15-Sep21-SepTour of Northern EuropePT
26-SepRheden GPPTHC
---
02-OctGP MoscowPT
09-OctGrand Prix CyclistePTHC
18-OctGiro di LombardiaPTM

Manager of Minions
 
Marcovdw
A MILLION BANANAS


To get PT-worthy leaders you need to bring the big bucks. A rider we will refer to as Toilet Paper refused our humungus offer of 1.6 million bananas, but instead we found ourselves a leader earning exactly one million bananas, a new team record. Who is this rider, you might ask?

Janis Dakteris

www.procyclingstats.com/images/riders/bp/ab/janis-dakteris-2016.jpg

FLMOHITTSTRSRCCBSPACFGDHPROVRXPAge
7555646274707372777763616274.34.10032


No, not him, he'd wish. This Latvian sprinter will earn minimum wage of 50,000. We tried to sign him last year as well but went to Bianchi instead, but as that team has now folded he was free to join us. He will be part of the lead-out train for "lead sprinter to be determined", and as he is better than average on the cobblestones he'll likely be forced to race those as well.

Tomohiro Kinoshita

pcmdaily.com/images/mg/2022/Reports/GTM/Liege/PCM0024.jpg

FLMOHITTSTRSRCCBSPACFGDHPROVRXPAge
7372836680777359687773716679.844.10032


This definitely is the guy who earns one million and probably needs no introduction, but for those who have been living under a rock: 32 years old from Japan, winner of Liege - Bastogne - Liege last year and a legendary puncheur for Voyagin and predecessors, who sadly went out of business. Wait, a puncheur, didn't you guys hate those? We did, back in the PCT, but this is the Pro Tour and time for a clean slate. If it does go south we only have to drop his last letter to get his future nickname.

Manager of Minions
 
Croatia14
Go Kino!
pcmdaily.com/files/Awards2019/moty.png
 
TheManxMissile
Up and running, not the singing i was expecting you to target, but it's a good pick-up for sure.
i.imgur.com/UmX5YX1.jpgi.imgur.com/iRneKpI.jpgi.imgur.com/fljmGSP.jpgi.imgur.com/qV5ItIc.jpgimgur.com/dr2BAI6.jpgimgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpgi.imgur.com/C1rG9BW.jpgi.imgur.com/sEDS7gr.jpg
 
knockout
Love it for you but hate to see him in PT Grin
Should be a great leader for you!

And Dakteris of course also a cool rider Smile
A Big Thank You To All MG Reporters!

pcmdaily.com/images/awards/2015/Manteam.pngpcmdaily.com/images/mg/Awards2020/mgmanager.png
 
Nemolito
Opposed to KO i don't hate seeing Kinoshita go to PT Pfft Congratulations on your first big signing! (also on Kinoshita ofc, not everything has to be about Dakteris for once)
www.pcmdaily.com/images/mg/Awards2020/newmember.png
pcmdaily.com/images/mg/Awards2021/mgreporter21.png
pcmdaily.com/images/mg/Awards2022/mgtoty.png
pcmdaily.com/files/Awards2023/moty-cunego.png
 
Marcovdw
@Croatia14 - Go Kino!
@TheManxMissile - Not our plan a, but at least it was a plan.
@knockout - Hope so too!
@Nemolito - Dakteris 2023 Individual PT Champion Pfft

LOANEES OF THE CARIBBEAN


The Minions add four more riders to their roster. Two riders from Caribbean nations come on loan from Podium Ambition while two others from outside the Caribbean join on a permanent contract with the team. We've also reached an important milestone, more on that during the presentation.

Cristian Perez

i.imgur.com/PkvSu44.jpg

FLMOHITTSTRSRCCBSPACFGDHPROVRXPAge
7163667472717169666874697470.514.024


Yasmani Martinez, Fulgencio Bru, Leandro Marcos. All legends of Cuban cycling, and now we add a future one: Cristian Perez comes over on loan from Podium Ambition to develop his skills. Added bonus: we have both the RR (Marcos) and TT (Perez) champion of Cuba, so they can share the same design. His role in the team will be varied, but we foresee an important role as team time trial member for him.

Nathan Alexander

newsday.co.tt/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/7523563.jpg

FLMOHITTSTRSRCCBSPACFGDHPROVRXPAge
7272727171707160616766687171.594.025


The second Caribbean loanee from Podium Ambition comes from Triniad and/or Tobago. And by virtue of signing his contract a few seconds later than Perez, Nathan Alexander becomes our 100th rider in history! Time for a celebration! Like his Cuban counterpart Alexander will ride a variety of races, but mostly in races with hills or mountains. At 25 years of age he is also eligible for young rider classifications.

Isaac Bolivar

upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6c/Isaac_Bolivar_2014.jpg/266px-Isaac_Bolivar_2014.jpg

FLMOHITTSTRSRCCBSPACFGDHPROVRXPAge
7361666974706977646968756974.034.10032


As ProTour team we no longer have to take C2 restrictions into account, so we could sign a slightly better cobblestone leader. We didn't want to allocate many funds to this position so went for the cheap option: Isaac Bolivar, Colombia's best cobbler. He was part of Isostar's title winning squad last year, so we hope he is our lucky charm. And if we relegate, he should be C2 eligible anyway, so a second season is almost secured.

Rudy Barbier

upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f1/Lillers_-_Grand_Prix_de_Lillers-Souvenir_Bruno_Comini%2C_6_mars_2016_%28B111%29.JPG/1200px-Lillers_-_Grand_Prix_de_Lillers-Souvenir_Bruno_Comini%2C_6_mars_2016_%28B111%29.JPG

FLMOHITTSTRSRCCBSPACFGDHPROVRXPAge
7550675672717668777965646074.814.10031


Bonduelle - Eesti Energia ceased to exist, but Rudy Barbier jumps from the lowest to the highest level of professional cycling. Admittedly, he has a very low chance of leadership and will have to lead-out "lead sprinter to be determined" most of the time, but at least he has a contract at minimum wage in one of the best teams around. His acceleration should help "lead sprinter to be determined" get a good lead over his rivals.

Manager of Minions
 
Marcovdw
TRADING UP


Going to the ProTour means improvements are needed in every department. In the last two days we signed a new primary sprinter and secondary climber, trading away our previous primary sprinter and secondary climber. In the process we spend almost all our cash and wage cap, but it's worth it.

Andris Vosekalns

upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/58/Leuven_-_Grote_Prijs_Jef_Scherens%2C_14_september_2014_%28B034%29.JPG

FLMOHITTSTRSRCCBSPACFGDHPROVRXPAge
6678756269737251677181686275.594.10031


The second Latvian addition after Dakteris, Andris Vosekalns joins from Sony, who had previously acquired him from Evonik in a huge game of musical chairs. The 31 year old finished 153rd in the individual PT rankings last season, and sees his 110,000 wage paid out in bananas now. A two-time stage winner in the Giro, we see a perfect stage or KoM hunter in the Grand Tours.

Jonas Ahlstrand

upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Dunkerque_-_Quatre_jours_de_Dunkerque%2C_%C3%A9tape_1%2C_7_mai_2014%2C_d%C3%A9part_%28A202%29.JPG

FLMOHITTSTRSRCCBSPACFGDHPROVRXPAge
7359665973727766828158637177.934.10033


"Lead sprinter to be determined" is no more, we have determined it to be Jonas Ahlstrand. The 33 year old Swede has multiple stage wins in the Tour and Vuelta as well as minor races. Last year he won the individual PCT rankings, scoring more than 1000 points. His team Volcania - Fox (rebranded Manada Coyote) relegated and couldn't afford his half a million wage anymore, but the Swede finds his way back to the top leagues.

---

The deals saw two riders depart the team:

For Ahlstrand we traded in Luis Enrique Lemus Davila and 1.5 millions in cash. The Mexican's stint on the team stays at one season. We wish him all the best at Manada Coyote in the Continental Tour.

To Sony - Force India we sold Daniel Vesely for 200k and Vosekalns. The Czech was the protagonist of our sprint train for three seasons, with the highlight being his GC win in the Circulo de Juarez 2020 as well as many stage wins. We hope he replicates these results at his new employer.

Manager of Minions
 
Jump to Forum:
Login
Username

Password



Not a member yet?
Click here to register.

Forgotten your password?
Request a new one here.
Latest content
Screenshots
Promo : Skil-Shimano
Promo : Skil-Shimano
PCM 08: PCM.daily's 2009 DB
Fantasy Betting
Current bets:
No bets available.
Best gamblers:
bullet fighti... 18,576 PCM$
bullet df_Trek 17,574 PCM$
bullet Marcovdw 15,645 PCM$
bullet jseadog1 13,752 PCM$
bullet baseba... 10,539 PCM$

bullet Main Fantasy Betting page
bullet Rankings: Top 100
ManGame Betting
Current bets:
No bets available.
Best gamblers:
bullet Ollfardh 21,890 PCM$
bullet df_Trek 15,720 PCM$
bullet Marcovdw 15,100 PCM$
bullet jseadog1 13,700 PCM$
bullet baseball... 7,432 PCM$

bullet Main MG Betting page
bullet Get weekly MG PCM$
bullet Rankings: Top 100
Render time: 21.1 seconds