IMAX
The Canadian's who created the best film format provide a unique partnership. Global reach, constant evolutions, a great sponsorship that returns after a long break. They would love a strong North American representation on the team as we shift more back to our roots.
Caribbean Tourism
A region wider sponsor consisting of numerous stake holders from small shacks selling Piragua, up to major Government departments. A major player on the team and heralding our major focus shift to the great Islands with the white beaches and incredible sporting passion.
Mount Gay Rum
The Barbadian alcohol firm is the oldest producer of Rum in the entire world. It's a huge global brand with interests in all markets, especially the Americas. For them growing brand awareness against other Caribbean companies is key, doing this on a platform of local riders could be fun.
Mauritius Commercial Bank
The Mauritian bank is the largest and oldest in the country. In the last few years it's been a real innovator and grower in the African market. A great opportunity for them to begin growing more globally and for us to get a unique partner. They love marketing one of the two females in the peloton.
Hincapie Sportswear
The American sportswear manufacturer continues with the team this year. Steeped in cycling history the famous Hincapie name is well known in the top echelons of cycling. A growing market globally they want more North American rider presence to market from.
Cervelo
The Canadian bike manufacturer joins us as an official partner. Tieing into our connections with the mainland to the north we wanted to find a partnership that was also ecologically beneficial. Produced in Canada, shipped down the road to our working base in Seattle. And pioneering together on an all-new carbon negative bike range!
SRAM
Back together with a previous partner out of the USA. All part of our push to try to make the team more environmentally sustainable, as well as putting components together that really are suited to the bike.
Sea Turtle Conservation
Our primary NC sponsor. Cycling is one way to save the planet, so at the same time we want to boost our eco footprint. We are raising awareness of a range of projects across the Caribbean to try and protect as many of these amazing animals as possible.
Kraken
Our partnership management unit handling the day-to-day running of the franchise. The revolutionary partnership will help drive the teams counter-culture concepts and boost us to a new age!
Results 3rd GC - Tour Down Under - Chris Lagane
6th - Great Ocean Road Classic - Jesus Roniel Marte 3rd - Tour of South Africa Stage 1 - Chris Lagane 1st - Tour of South Africa Stage 6 - Chris Lagane 1st - Tour of Norway Stage 5 - Cristian Perez
5th - Tour of Lithuania Stage 3 - Podium Ambition 1st - Tour de Pologne Stage 4 - Andrew Norbert 3rd - Olympias Tour Stage 3 - Jay Major 2nd - Olympias Tour Stage 5 - Jay Major 1st - Tour de Romandie Stage 6 - Jesus Roniel Marte
4th - Tour de Romandie Stage 6 - Nathan Alexander 2nd - Baltic Chain Tour Stage 1 - Akil Campbell 1st - Vuelta Pais Vasco Stage 2 - Chris Lagane
Breakaways
Down Under Classic - Jesus Roniel Marte
Great Ocean Road Classic - Jesus Roniel Marte
Omloop Het Niewusblad - Nathaniel Forbes
Tour of South Africa Stage 3 - Kim Le Court
Tour of Norway Stage 5 - Cristian Perez
Tour de Pologne Stage 4 - Joshua Gayral
Tour de Pologne Stage 7 - Nathan Alexander
GP Wallonie - James Morris Berroa
Veenendaal Classic - Nathaniel Forbes
Tour de Romandie Stage 3 - Kim Le Court
Olympia Tour Stage 2 - Nathaniel Forbes
Tour de Romandie Stage 4 - Jonathon Croes, Jesus Roniel Marte
Tour de Romandie Stage 6 - Kim Le Court, Nathan Alexander, Jesus Roniel Marte
Baltic Chain Tour Stage 3 - Akil Campbell
Edited by TheManxMissile on 06-02-2025 06:32
Obviously a fully deserved promotion built off the back of a ton of home scouted, home grown talents! So very many goal points banked which will lead to major budgetary rewards!
Thus the question is - will TMM continue to stick so strictly to this insane team concept?
#NoSpoilers - but yes, i will. Mostly because we return to the PCT with a raft of newly grown riders!
Nat.
Name
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
OVR
XP
Age
Wge
Pot
Andrew Norbert
75
67
71
70
75
77
70
55
77
75
70
69
76
74.40
4.100
26
.
6
Nathan Alexander
72
74
73
72
72
71
73
60
61
67
66
68
72
73.48
4.100
26
.
3
Jonathan Croes
66
73
73
75
73
72
71
56
62
65
66
69
75
73.21
4.100
27
.
3
Cristian Perez
73
63
67
76
73
73
72
69
66
68
75
69
76
72.97
4.100
25
.
4
Jacob Morales Ortega
66
74
74
61
70
71
73
55
63
73
74
73
62
73.33
4.13
25
.
5
Abner Gonzalez
67
75
71
61
70
72
64
60
63
68
73
70
62
72.50
4.04
24
.
5
Jacob Kelly
72
63
69
70
69
72
61
67
73
75
74
66
73
72.16
4.02
25
.
4
Tyler Cole
74
64
69
74
69
70
66
66
72
72
72
69
73
71.52
4.07
25
.
4
Kaden Hopkins
68
60
64
67
71
66
65
55
74
75
63
67
73
71.06
3.13
24
.
5
Jesus Roniel Marte
68
65
70
65
70
70
67
71
66
68
69
66
62
70.34
3.13
23
.
4
Connor White
73
66
68
71
69
71
66
63
69
69
71
72
73
70.24
3.64
25
.
5
So many developments i can't talk you through them all. Andrew Norbert is the highlight of course, but will need some training in future years to really blossom into a continuous threat. Nathan and Croes had strong early years but settle now into support roles, for a GC rider we don't yet have. Perez is an exciting TT prospect still and we can turn him into a fun rider too.
Then there's a handfull of guys needing PT Loans, and some Lvl3 riders we're still growing.
Look, we'll be honest. As it stands this team would do well to not finish last in the PCT. However, throw some cash at Lagane and scout out a couple of worthy options and we can certainly make a fight of things. Plenty of off-season fun to come as Podium Ambition returns to the PCT with fire in our hearts and rum in our bellies! It may be a fairly fruitless campaign in the end, but this now Award-Nominated HQ series (yes, you read that right, y'all are mad!) will always be a fun spot to vibe!
Some very interesting talents there with some decent ages to work with in the future. Also you should have the wage cap available (unless you want 25 of these nations) to build for some leaders to keep you steady in the midtable - or higher.
Really cool to see your project take the next step, and some of these talents look really great! Good luck to take the right decision in transfers - as you say, some additional firepower will be needed to stay afloat in PCT!
@Sotd - Depends who gets added to the DB where our wage cap goes. And if i can be sensible, but i love too many of the Caribbeans i want to sign all of them always
@red - Croes learned a lot, and we're going to need all the points we can get. For the 2025/26 seasons he's a perfect training candidate to make a nice CT level GC leader.
@Fabi - There is only one decision - are they Caribbean? I'm enjoying the possibilities from our talents, not sure if they will translate into points at PCT leve however.
The Great Big "Already Winners" Post
You lot are all nuts! And that's coming from me... For some reason you've decided the Podium Ambition HQ to be the MG's best of the past year/season. (Un)shockingly this the teams first Awards win, and the first for me as a user in a long time. That's really freaking cool!
Not much else to say but thanks! We did manage to complete Renewals on time, and that post is going to be a wild wild ride... Our pre-transfers planning is coming along nicely, and we feel confident in some of the talents we think could make the peloton this year. And we're running through a lot of training scenarios! Excitement is building, even though we know it's going to be an incredibly difficuly season ahead sticking to our regional focuses.
But even if we return to 0/5 Goals, finishing last and just making up numbers in most races - we have already won something this year - a very special award we will work hard to honor!
That's an award winning title right! And yes, i'm going to try to mention we were voted Best Team HQ in every post this year! You all did this to yourselves...
Nat.
Name
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
OVR
XP
Age
Pot
Wage
Christopher Lagane
70
70
77
66
70
71
68
65
75
77
70
63
65
75.95
4.100
26
6
175,000
Alexandre Mayer
68
69
77
70
65
72
71
61
72
77
76
60
71
75.27
4.100
26
2
100,000
Andrew Norbert
75
67
71
70
75
77
70
55
77
75
70
69
76
74.4
4.100
26
6
75,000
Hasani Hennis
69
67
70
76
71
72
75
69
75
76
69
68
76
74.02
4.100
27
5
85,000
Akil Campbell
74
63
68
76
69
68
68
74
68
73
67
66
75
73.71
4.100
28
4
85,000
Nathan Alexander
72
74
73
72
72
71
73
60
61
67
66
68
72
73.48
4.100
26
3
60,000
Jacob Morales Ortega
66
74
74
61
70
71
73
55
63
73
74
73
62
73.33
4.13
25
5
50,000
Jonathan Croes
66
73
73
75
73
72
71
56
62
65
66
69
75
73.21
4.100
27
3
50,000
Cristian Perez
73
63
67
76
73
73
72
69
66
68
75
69
76
72.97
4.100
25
4
55,000
Joshua Gayral
74
65
72
71
70
71
72
71
71
72
75
62
71
72.89
4.100
27
3
50,000
Kim Le Court
70
70
76
60
67
70
68
62
64
66
76
70
61
72.72
4.100
28
4
50,000
Abner Gonzalez
67
75
71
61
70
72
64
60
63
68
73
70
62
72.5
4.4
24
5
50,000
Jacob Kelly
72
63
69
70
69
72
61
67
73
75
74
66
73
72.16
4.2
25
4
50,000
Kristian Vanderpool
68
64
64
77
63
64
61
60
60
63
62
62
76
72.14
4.100
29
3
70,000
Tyler Cole
74
64
69
74
69
70
66
66
72
72
72
69
73
71.52
4.7
25
4
60,000
Kaden Hopkins
68
60
64
67
71
66
65
55
74
75
63
67
73
71.06
3.13
24
5
50,000
Jesus Roniel Marte
68
65
70
65
70
70
67
71
66
68
69
66
62
70.34
3.13
23
4
70,000
Connor White
73
66
68
71
69
71
66
63
69
69
71
72
73
70.24
3.64
25
5
50,000
The Mauritians
The Pre-Training, yes if it wasn't obvious by now we intend to train, Chris Lagane has taken a nice little wage bump. Unsurprising really, the extra 30k is well earned courtsey of sealing our promotion with a huge C1 stage race win. Alex Mayer, zero change! We're very happy with that but he's still a 6-figure wage and needs to step up his racing. Kim Le Court, no change, but she's still a legend.
The Returners
Max-ing riders usually get a wage bump, no exceptions here. Andrew Norbert is now a truly key part of this team and sees his costs go up by 15k. Nathan Alexander sees a 10k rise, for reasons we can't quite figure out but it's fine. Cristian Perez has a smaller 5k increase. Whilst Jonathan Croes bucks the trend to remain at 50k.
Other Raises Hasani Hennis continues to leverage his unique stats, claiming an extra 5k, but given we also really want to train him that's reasonabl value for now. Akil Campbell earns an additional 25k, a massive jump! To be fair he did perform well but this is a lot for a very meh-PCT calibre rider. Kristin Vanderpool has turned loyalty into a paycheque with a huge 20k pay rise, there is no justification for this beyond our love for the Barbadian female. Jesus Roniel Marte, the breakaway king, the Dominator from the Dominican Republic, has gained a massive 20k rise too. We could not risk losing a team legend, so we payed up. Tyle Cole somehow also got a 10k pay rise we cannot even get close to understanding.
Availability
Jacob Morales Ortega - PT Loan
Abner Gonzalez - PT Loan
Jacob Kelly - PT Loan
Tyler Cole - PT Loan
Nothing else, no interest in selling or buying - Our budget is for training, and our wage cap is for #no spoilers.
Summary
It's a good CT Team, but we knew that given we promoted with nearly this exact squad. You will see a couple of notable absences such as O'Connor and Canty. But a few others too were Wage Demand casualties as we really had to work hard to get these figures nailed down.
Happy going into transfers with very little to worry about.We've got a couple of Free Agents in mind to sign and some training to do - did we mentioned we're going to finally properly train our home grown talents!
Maybe my favorite team to follow, it's a shame that no one wants to depart for a home in CT. Think you should be really happy with where the team is heading into the year, but you're right to be looking for a big-named free agent or two.
Oh and those trainings?! Really happy to see continued development of these folks as you've got some interesting paths to explore!
You have got some pretty awesome riders through the system since the Caribbean project started, very cool statlines and to do it all in a regional focus and now achieve promotion with it is very special, congratulations on that and of course your award win!
Looks like a very fun squad to manage and project to run, interested to see what building on it for a PCT year looks like. Will be impressed by the discipline to the project if you stick to your principles and it's just a change of direction on the Carribean Cruise The long-term looks very exciting if you can keep finding these gems from your region!
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." [PT] Xero Racing
As always I love your team and its regional focus. I love how the squad looks too and I cannot wait for next year when I can say, and I quote here, did we mentioned we're going to finally properly train our home grown talents!
Your team looks as good as it gets with your rather exotic focus, but I'm curious which riders you target in Free Agency (apart from the more obvious talents). Will you rather aim to stay in PCT or use the higher budget to already build a dominant CT squad for next season to really attack PCT in two years? I'll closely follow your team either way as I really like the more role-playing and story-telling approach of your HQ, so I'm not to surprised it's been voted the best. Oh, and because of the GIFs
Norbert has the potential to be dangerous and Hennis should score well with his unique skillset, but the real star is Lagane. The only question is whether you plan to lean into the puncheur aspect or go for a true Démare-style hybrid.
I love this concept still! The goals of sticking to a region is awesome! I hope you are successful and can stay in the PCT with your home grown talent! such a young squad as well!
@sean - We're very close now (next off-season) to having a surplus of riders, so come back in a year and we'll be allowing departures
@jandal - Thanks for all the compliments! No spoilers, but you'll see which way we went on focus-vs-compeititve
@wolf - Thanks!
@kandes - Love your HQ too, and thanks.
@lief - I know which way i'm going, and it's one that will pay off eventually.
@Jakstar - I hope so too, but...
The Great Big "Confirmed Insane" Post
Transfers! For many managers it's a time of stress, of Plans A through Z, of panic and just generally being a little manic and all consuming. Here at the Caribbean project, as you might expect, things are far more chilled out and relaxed. We made the decision months ago that we would not chase outsides to secure PCT survival. So spotting the few talents we really wanted was easy, and the rest of the planning has been many many many variations of how to best use our training funds.
So onto the big news. After suffering through the Altur years (quick reminder, he holds the MG record as 'Worst Training Spend of All Time' which turned us, a hardcore cobbles loving team, into completely adverse rock skeptics, apparently we didn't learn our lesson. We signed the biggest Caribbean talent of all time (so far) - and he's a Cobbles rider.
Nat.
Name
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
OVR
XP
Age
Pot
Wage
James Morris Berroa
67
68
67
60
69
66
70
52
65
69
74
79
60
68.5
1.0
22
4
50,000
Ricardo Delgado Gonzales
65
68
67
58
70
66
62
60
67
69
68
66
62
68.28
1.0
23
5
50,000
Nathaniel Forbes
69
63
67
63
67
65
67
70
66
69
69
66
63
69.87
1.0
22
6
160,000
Nathaniel Forbes! Representing yet another new nation in the MG, the Cayman Islands. $160,000 is, in our opinion, a bargain. Think Chequan Richardson, but actually good. We're so excited to develop his skills and really build up a future way to score well at PCT level.
Not to ignore James Morris Berroa or Ricardo Delgado Gonzales. Two more fun little climbers from Anguilla and Cuba respectively. Not going to set the world on fire, but both are more talented than any climber currently on our roster.
Three great signings for the future all tied up with frankly no stress. We've also sent out Morales Ortega, Gonzalez, Kelly and Cole on Loan - all four to MOL Cycling Team, so thank you jaxika!
We're not done yet with transfers. We still have roster space & cap room to spare, as well as finalising exactly what training we're going to conduct. So lets hope we can do a Transfers Part 2 in another couple of days.
Forbes obviously as one of the better talents in this years DB pool. Berroa is a really cool CLv1 rider as you don't have to focus one bit on his already ridiculous downhill, and he's not all that slow in a small group either.
And Delgado is a brilliant attacking climber. I love those 77MO 75HI strong ACC riders. I actually toyed around a bit with him to see what he would look like as an allrounder type also because of that decent sprint stat of his. But I had to conclude that he was "just" a sweet ass climber.
I'm excited to see how you go with surviving the PCT with this group. The training I know will be good and hopefully that pushes you over the edge and gets you to a competitive squad in some disciplines
Good signings for the future though! Love the 3 talents and good signs for the future!
@wj - A good 1mil less than i budgeted for Forbes, so i'm happy
@SotD - Spot on with the two climbers, super fun types to develop and hopefully see active in the future. Contuing to flesh out the regional options.
@Jakstar - Surviving, doubtful. But we're getting closer and closer, another 4-5 years i think
The Great Big "No Hard Feelings" Post
Nat.
Name
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
OVR
XP
Age
Pot
Wage
Jay Major
74
50
66
57
74
70
74
70
77
78
62
66
64
74.39
4.100
29
4
65,000
He's back! Jay Major returns to Podium Ambition after being cut in renewals. Frankly his demands were insane (asking for notably more than Hasani Hennis for example), so we said good luck and we'll see how much you get in Free Agency. The answer is a far more reasonable contract to return the Bahmanian. We doubt he'll do much at PCT level, but with our still bonkers regional restrictions we didn't have any other option.
This concludes our transfer dealing. No more need to target Free Agency with the good talents and rider signed up. No more deals to make (but we did try, sort of). All that's left is to present the full team - and that training we keep talking about - arn't I a tease!
