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[CT] Kraftwerk Man Machine 2025 - Calendar
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| DaveTwoBob |
Posted on 12-07-2025 16:41
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2541
Joined: 07-07-2013
PCM$: 200.00
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 Kraftwerk Man Machine
Welcome to the Head Quarters of Kraftwerk Man Machine Cycling Team riding in CT Daily's Management Game 2025 Season.
Kraftwerk relegated from PCT in 2024, finishing 22nd after a failed attempt to rebuild the squad.
Fortunately for the team long term sponsors, Kraftwerk and Trivago, are back for another year of sponsorship and we will be riding in the same iconic shirt.
Main Sponsors
Kraftwerk https://www.kraftwerk.com/
The Dusseldorf based Pioneers of Electronic Music and big cycling fans are stepping up from their cycling club Radsportgruppe Schneider, to sponsor a professional team. Here is a great article by Jack Thurston from 2005 that describes Kraftwerk's history and love of cycling following the release of Tour de France Soundtracks in 2003 (eagle eyed members will have spotted my avatar is from the cover of this album  ).
Trivago https://www.trivago.com/
The travel tech company also based in Dusseldorf.
Dusseldorf base with international mix
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 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 is the record label version of The Man Machine.
https://www.youtu...HIsGqJaXXw
Renewals
With a big drop in budget, who from the squad will understand the new reality, accept a lower wage, and stay in the team?
| | | | | | Rider | 2024 Wage | 2025 Wage | Difference | Availability | | Rick Zabel | 300,000 € | 240,000 € | -60,000 € | No | | Fausto Masnada | 180,000 € | 160,000 € | -20,000 € | No | | Maximilian Walscheid | 135,000 € | 115,000 € | -20,000 € | Maybe | | Felix Gall | 150,000 € | 80,000 € | -70,000 € | Unlikely | | Alexander Evans | 150,000 € | 90,000 € | -60,000 € | Maybe | | Sasu Helme | 65,000 € | 75,000 € | 10,000 € | Maybe | | Marco Mathis | 50,000 € | 50,000 € | 0 € | No | | Sirak Tesfom | 80,000 € | 50,000 € | -30,000 € | No | | Henri Uhlig | 100,000 € | 60,000 € | -40,000 € | PT Loan | | Burr Ho | 50,000 € | 50,000 € | 0 € | Yes | | Tim Torn Teutenberg | 150,000 € | 90,000 € | -60,000 € | No | | Anthony Turgis | 330,000 € | 0 € | -330,000 € | Released | | Josip Rumac | 90,000 € | 0 € | -90,000 € | Released | | Jaime Roson | 125,000 € | 0 € | -125,000 € | Released | | Jasper De Buyst | 95,000 € | 0 € | -95,000 € | Released | | Nicolay Cherkasov | 75,000 € | 0 € | -75,000 € | Released | | Lennard Hofstede | 50,000 € | 0 € | -50,000 € | Released | | Dan McLay | 55,000 € | 0 € | -55,000 € | Released | | Michel Koch | 50,000 € | 0 € | -50,000 € | Released | | Tobias Ludvigsson | 90,000 € | 0 € | -90,000 € | Released | | Alex Ariya Destribois | 60,000 € | 0 € | -60,000 € | Released | | Matvey Zubov | 50,000 € | 0 € | -50,000 € | Released | | Moritz Kretschy | 10,000 € | 0 € | -10,000 € | Released | | Gunnar Dahl Olsen | 10,000 € | 0 € | -10,000 € | Released | | 2,500,000 € | 1,060,000 € | -1,440,000 € | |
Edited by DaveTwoBob on 16-09-2025 23:08
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| DaveTwoBob |
Posted on 12-07-2025 16:42
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2541
Joined: 07-07-2013
PCM$: 200.00
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FINAL 2025 TEAM
| Nat. | Name | FL | MO | MM | HI | TT | ST | RS | RC | CB | SP | AC | FG | DH | PR | Age | Wage K |  | Cees Bol | 76 | 64 | 67 | 70 | 67 | 75 | 77 | 81 | 68 | 79 | 77 | 68 | 67 | 69 | 30 | 155 |  | Fausto Masnada | 71 | 77 | 77 | 76 | 73 | 76 | 75 | 73 | 60 | 63 | 73 | 69 | 71 | 70 | 32 | 160 |  | Daniel Habtemichael | 67 | 78 | 76 | 74 | 74 | 74 | 73 | 76 | 52 | 59 | 66 | 68 | 69 | 74 | 28 | 125 |  | Josip Rumac | 71 | 72 | 74 | 75 | 64 | 72 | 70 | 68 | 55 | 74 | 76 | 66 | 69 | 66 | 31 | 65 |  | Sam Harrison | 71 | 61 | 64 | 66 | 71 | 72 | 69 | 74 | 72 | 77 | 80 | 59 | 61 | 71 | 33 | 50 |  | Felix Gall | 67 | 77 | 77 | 76 | 63 | 70 | 71 | 72 | 58 | 61 | 72 | 70 | 64 | 62 | 27 | 80 |  | Alexander Evans | 66 | 77 | 75 | 72 | 74 | 70 | 72 | 73 | 61 | 57 | 67 | 67 | 62 | 71 | 28 | 90 |  | Michael Christodoulos | 72 | 68 | 68 | 68 | 78 | 75 | 69 | 70 | 53 | 53 | 64 | 73 | 65 | 79 | 28 | 83 |  | Abou Sanogo | 73 | 62 | 67 | 71 | 64 | 71 | 72 | 64 | 76 | 69 | 70 | 76 | 73 | 70 | 31 | 60 | | Marco Mathis | 72 | 62 | 65 | 68 | 77 | 68 | 76 | 64 | 62 | 68 | 71 | 66 | 60 | 75 | 31 | 50 | | Sirak Tesfom | 75 | 62 | 64 | 65 | 77 | 70 | 74 | 68 | 53 | 63 | 67 | 72 | 64 | 76 | 31 | 50 | | Christian Mager | 69 | 73 | 75 | 76 | 61 | 66 | 68 | 69 | 55 | 59 | 69 | 67 | 69 | 61 | 33 | Free | | Jonas Koch | 73 | 64 | 67 | 70 | 66 | 71 | 74 | 69 | 69 | 72 | 73 | 71 | 64 | 67 | 32 | Free |  | Burr Ho | 67 | 72 | 72 | 72 | 72 | 66 | 71 | 69 | 60 | 64 | 69 | 64 | 65 | 70 | 33 | 50 | | Tim Torn Teutenberg | 72 | 58 | 63 | 67 | 66 | 68 | 71 | 70 | 68 | 73 | 74 | 66 | 62 | 71 | 23 | 90 |  | Robin Donze | 66 | 69 | 68 | 66 | 58 | 69 | 70 | 67 | 57 | 69 | 69 | 65 | 65 | 57 | 22 | Loan In | | Nils Aebersold | 68 | 65 | 67 | 69 | 60 | 69 | 68 | 67 | 60 | 63 | 66 | 65 | 66 | 62 | 22 | Loan In | | Luis-Joe Luehrs | 67 | 68 | 68 | 68 | 64 | 67 | 66 | 69 | 60 | 61 | 63 | 67 | 70 | 62 | 22 | 50 |
LOAN OUTS
| Henri Uhlig | 70 | 57 | 60 | 63 | 62 | 70 | 73 | 75 | 76 | 65 | 75 | 68 | 72 | 60 | 24 | Loan Out | | Jason Osborne | 75 | 60 | 65 | 70 | 74 | 73 | 74 | 67 | 65 | 58 | 63 | 77 | 62 | 75 | 31 | Loan Out |
Edited by DaveTwoBob on 31-08-2025 22:19
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| DaveTwoBob |
Posted on 12-07-2025 16:42
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2541
Joined: 07-07-2013
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We present the Kraftwerk race calendar for 2025.
The table features race leaders and the race days per month including an assessment of point scoring potential.
March and June should be our best months, August & September not so good. To win the division it looks like we will need a healthy lead by the end of July.
Goal races are highlighted in Red and we have a Goal to win the CT division.
| Start | End | Race | Cat | RD/Pts | Leader | | 08-Jan | |  Clasico San Jose | C2 | 2 | Masnada | | 12-Jan | 17-Jan | Tour Down Under | C1 | 6 | Masnada | | 30-Jan | | Great Ocean Road Classic | C1 | 2 | Bol | | | January Total | | 10/+ | | | ------- | | | | | | | 01-Feb | |  Coppa Placci | C2 | 2 | Masnada | | 03-Feb | |  Viana do Castelo | C1 | 2 | Sanogo | | 16-Feb | |  GP Yekaterinburg | C2 | 2 | Masnada | | 18-Feb | 26-Feb |  Vuelta al Tachira | C2 | 9 | Habtemichael | | 28-Feb | |  Gent - Wevelgem | C2 | 2 | Sanogo | | | February Total | | 17/++ | | | ------- | | | | | | | 01-Mar | 05-Mar | Herald Sun Tour | C2 | 5 | Christodoulos | | 07-Mar | |  GP Izola | C1 | 2 | Bol | | 16-Mar | |  Monterrey TTT Win | C2 | 2 | Christodoulos | | 22-Mar | 26-Mar | Tour of Britain | C1 | 5 | Masnada | | 25-Mar | 28-Mar |  Tour of Guadeloupe Win | C2 | 4 | Bol | | 31-Mar | | Geraardsbergen - Bosberg | C2 | 2 | Sanogo | | | March Total | | 20/+++ | | | ------- | | | | | | | 01-Apr | |  GP Herning | C2 | 2 | Sanogo | | 19-Apr | 21-Apr |  Tour du Faso | C2 | 3 | Sanogo | | 25-Apr | | Lincoln GP | C2 | 2 | Sanogo | | 30-Apr | | Dwars door Vlaanderen | C2 | 2 | Sanogo | | | April Total | | 9/+ | | | ------- | | | | | | | 07-May | 10-May |    Tour of the Middle East | C2 | 4 | Habtemichael | | 13-May | 16-May |  Tour of Luxembourg | C2 | 4 | Masnada | | 27-May | |  Isle of Man ITT | C2 | 2 | Christodoulos | | | May Total | | 10/++ | | | ------- | | | | | | | 05-Jun | |  Betonexpressz GP Top 5 | C2 | 2 | Bol | | 10-Jun | | Frankfurt Eschborn | C2 | 2 | Bol | | 20-Jun | | Berlin ProRace | C1 | 2 | Bol | | 22-Jun | 28-Jun |  Tour of Vancouver | C2 | 7 | Habtemichael | | 26-Jun | 28-Jun |  USA Pro Cycling Challenge | C1 | 3 | Masnada | | | June Total | | 16/+++ | | | ------- | | | | | | | 01-Jul | |  Torshavn GP | C1 | 2 | Bol | | 06-Jul | |  GP Plouay | C2 | 2 | Masnada | | 15-Jul | 18-Jul |  Euskal Bizikleta | C2 | 4 | Masnada | | 25-Jul | 28-Jul |  Uppsala Classic | C2 | 4 | Christodoulos | | | July Total | | 12/++ | | | ------- | | | | | | | 01-Aug | 05-Aug |  Tour of San Luis | C2 | 5 | Habtemichael | | 07-Aug | |  Gisborne GP | C1 | 2 | - | | 09-Aug | 11-Aug | Giro del Trentino | C2 | 3 | Habtemichael | | 15-Aug | 20-Aug |  Tour of Japan | C1 | 6 | - | | 23-Aug | 31-Aug | Tour de l'Avenir | U23 | | | | | August Total | | 16/+ | | | ------- | | | | | | | 05-Sep | | Olympia TTT | C1 | 2 | Christodoulos | | 10-Sep | 14-Sep |    Baltic Chain Tour | C1 | 5 | Bol | | 16-Sep | 22-Sep | Int. Osterreich Rundfahrt | C2 | 7 | Habtemichael | | 25-Sep | 30-Sep | Vuelta al Pais Vasco | C1 | 6 | Habtemichael | | | September Total | | 20/+ | | | ------- | | | | | | | 01-Oct | | Hong Kong Challenge | C2 | 2 | Masnada | | 10-Oct | 15-Oct |  Tour of South Africa Top 5 | C1 | 6 | Masnada | | 17-Oct | | Zuri Metzgete | C2 | 2 | Masnada | | | October Total | | 10/++ | |
Edited by DaveTwoBob on 16-09-2025 23:08
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| DaveTwoBob |
Posted on 12-07-2025 16:42
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2541
Joined: 07-07-2013
PCM$: 200.00
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Final Reserve
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 05-12-2025 20:46
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Bot Agent
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Joined: 23.11.09
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| Ulrich Ulriksen |
Posted on 12-07-2025 19:20
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 3914
Joined: 02-11-2010
PCM$: 300.00
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Good luck with the CT. Good to see the iconic ties will still grace the peloton.
Man Game: McCormick Pro Cycling |
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 13-07-2025 08:30
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 12681
Joined: 27-07-2015
PCM$: 1961.50
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Unfortunate to see you go down last season. Looking forward to the rebuild and hoping you can bounce back!
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| kandesbunzler26 |
Posted on 13-07-2025 13:51
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Sprinter
Posts: 1809
Joined: 07-07-2013
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Hopefully you'll get back up immediately! But it will be hard enough with quite some rebuild incoming.
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| redordead |
Posted on 14-07-2025 07:37
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Team Leader
Posts: 5511
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I felt like you were postponing a much needed rebuild for a while now. I guess now you are mostly forced into it. CT might be a quite fun and lively division this upcoming season so good luck in your attempt to bounce back to PCT
"I am a cyclist, I may not be the best, but that is what I strive to be. I may never get there, but I will never quit trying." - Tadej Pogačar
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| Heine |
Posted on 14-07-2025 07:52
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4463
Joined: 08-04-2007
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Will be very interesting to see what you do. With your starting point you should be one of the favorites for promotion. Great to see a rider like Zabel still around and for a German team.
You got some riders that might fit well in my future plans aswell, don't know if I want you to release them or if I want to have a shot at buying them 
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| Laurens147 |
Posted on 14-07-2025 08:40
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Sprinter
Posts: 1524
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PCM$: 900.00
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I think your stay in CT will limited to one season, if you really want to promote right away. Good luck with the rebuild!
MG - Lotto - Caloi
[MG] New Manager of the Year - PCM.daily Awards 2022
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| DaveTwoBob |
Posted on 15-07-2025 23:03
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2541
Joined: 07-07-2013
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Thanks for the encouragement, I did consider giving up but I found myself thinking about developing my talents and realised it was too early, if Ralf Hütter can still tour at 78 years of age I can do a little bit of man game managing.
@UU The shirt is the best thing about the team
@Abhi Hoping to have a more interesting season at least
@kb Can an old dog learn some new tricks?
@red After the initial disappointment I am looking forward to CT racing
@Heine Great to have you back and I am always open to talks
@Laurens Its a tricky one, is a rebuild easier with a bigger budget next year if we promote, but with a declining squad?
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| Fabianski |
Posted on 15-07-2025 23:41
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 5234
Joined: 29-09-2018
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Really sad to see that Masnada wasn't able to help you stay up. But if you can manage to keep him, I'm sure he'll do great in CT, as he did for me three years ago (ending up 6th overall)!
Developing some talents sounds like a longer term strategy, so hopefully you'll bounce back and stay around for quite some more years - I guess doing a "little bit of man game managing" is still possible at 80+ years 
All the best for transfers & the upcoming season!
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| DaveTwoBob |
Posted on 18-07-2025 20:40
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Small Tour Specialist
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@Fab Fausto is a priority to keep in the team but I am very mean with my offers so lets see what the renewal reveal shows.
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| DaveTwoBob |
Posted on 04-08-2025 21:36
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Small Tour Specialist
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RENEWALS UPDATE (if the site stays up long enough)
Kraftwerk riders had a bruising time with a hard nosed Kraftwerk manager during renewals following our relegation to CT. Targets for renewals were:-
1. Retain Zabel and Masnada
2. Retain TTT capability
3. Retain Talents
4. Stay within budget
Nearly all riders took large pay cuts which meant we could achieve all our targets and keep Walscheid, Gall and Evans, a very promising result. Of the riders renewed we made a wage saving of 350k €. On the budget thing a project I have worked on for 5 years has just gone live after woefully inadequate testing (JFDI) and I may not have loads of time for a busy transfers so I was playing it safe.
Of course quite a few riders were released. Of these Josip Rumac was the hardest to take as he has ridden with Kraftwerk for a lot of seasons.
Riders Released
| Anthony Turgis | 330,000 € | | Josip Rumac | 90,000 € | | Jaime Roson | 125,000 € | | Jasper De Buyst | 95,000 € | | Nicolay Cherkasov | 75,000 € | | Lennard Hofstede | 50,000 € | | Dan McLay | 55,000 € | | Michel Koch | 50,000 € | | Tobias Ludvigsson | 90,000 € | | Alex Ariya Destribois | 60,000 € | | Matvey Zubov | 50,000 € | | Moritz Kretschy | 10,000 € | | Gunnar Dahl Olsen | 10,000 € | | 1,090,000 € |
The squad now looks like this, we have cap space for 4 stagiaires and 2 minimum wage riders which just gets us to the 15 minimum, so during transfers we will be looking for swap deals to keep our headcount legal.
| Nat. | Name | FL | MO | MM | HI | TT | ST | RS | RC | CB | SP | AC | FG | DH | PR | Age | Wage K | Avail | | Rick Zabel | 74 | 60 | 65 | 69 | 55 | 74 | 70 | 79 | 65 | 81 | 79 | 66 | 52 | 55 | 32 | 240 | Very Unlikely | | Fausto Masnada | 71 | 77 | 77 | 76 | 73 | 76 | 75 | 73 | 60 | 63 | 73 | 69 | 71 | 70 | 32 | 160 | Very Unlikely | | Maximilian Walscheid | 73 | 55 | 59 | 63 | 62 | 71 | 74 | 73 | 61 | 79 | 79 | 61 | 67 | 75 | 32 | 115 | Maybe | | Felix Gall | 67 | 77 | 77 | 76 | 63 | 70 | 71 | 72 | 58 | 61 | 72 | 70 | 64 | 62 | 27 | 80 | Unlikely | | Alexander Evans | 65 | 77 | 75 | 72 | 74 | 70 | 72 | 73 | 61 | 57 | 67 | 67 | 62 | 71 | 28 | 90 | Maybe | | Sasu Helme | 69 | 75 | 75 | 74 | 69 | 71 | 72 | 74 | 62 | 60 | 76 | 73 | 67 | 69 | 29 | 75 | Maybe | | Marco Mathis | 72 | 62 | 65 | 68 | 77 | 68 | 76 | 64 | 62 | 68 | 71 | 66 | 60 | 75 | 31 | 50 | No | | Sirak Tesfom | 75 | 62 | 64 | 65 | 77 | 70 | 74 | 68 | 53 | 63 | 67 | 72 | 64 | 76 | 31 | 50 | No | | Burr Ho | 67 | 72 | 72 | 72 | 72 | 66 | 71 | 69 | 60 | 64 | 69 | 64 | 65 | 70 | 33 | 50 | Yes | | Tim Torn Teutenberg | 72 | 58 | 63 | 67 | 66 | 68 | 71 | 70 | 68 | 73 | 74 | 66 | 62 | 71 | 23 | 90 | No | | Henri Uhlig | 70 | 57 | 60 | 63 | 62 | 70 | 73 | 75 | 76 | 65 | 75 | 68 | 72 | 60 | 24 | 60 | PT Loan |
Edited by DaveTwoBob on 06-08-2025 22:14
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| sammyt93 |
Posted on 04-08-2025 21:43
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Classics Specialist
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That feels a small roster, will be interesting to see what moves you're looking to make to supplement it.
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| Fabianski |
Posted on 04-08-2025 23:09
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 5234
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Tough renewals for you, in particular Turgis could've been fun in CT. But fully understand that his wage requests weren't compatible with a CT budget.
Great to see Masnada renewed, and even for a moderatly lower wage - he should do a great job for you! And crazy to see that him and Walscheid already enters his final prime year, feels like I just signed them ^^
Maybe we can help for maxing your cobbles talent, will have to see how transfers go...
Good luck, and may you bounce back very soon!
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| Ulrich Ulriksen |
Posted on 05-08-2025 01:47
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 3914
Joined: 02-11-2010
PCM$: 300.00
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Glad to see Walscheid took a reasonable salary. Salary is tight (loan ins?), but seems like a pretty good squad for CT.
Man Game: McCormick Pro Cycling |
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| Eden95 |
Posted on 05-08-2025 01:52
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4615
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If you do keep Masnada and Zabel through transfers, you really should have no trouble going straight back up. Evans and Gall themselves would be decent leaders even without Masnada.
Indosat - ANZ HQ
"This Schleck sandwich is going to cause serious indigestion for Evans" - Phil Liggett |
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| Heine |
Posted on 05-08-2025 06:29
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4463
Joined: 08-04-2007
PCM$: 200.00
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Zabel <3
As a fellow CT manager I really think you should just let riders like Zabel, Masnada, Gall and Evans go and preferably pick up someone way worse. We don't want them here!
With only 140k available and at least 4 spots to fill will be interesting to see how you do it. Most likely you are going to have a very fun transfer season trying to figure it out! You have a great team to start with, just need to fill it out and you should be one of the biggest favorites for promotion
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| jandal7 |
Posted on 05-08-2025 08:39
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World Champion
Posts: 11621
Joined: 17-12-2014
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That top three must be a terrifying one for the rest of the CT. Interested how you move the pieces around slightly to fill the rest of the squad out, sure it will be a fun year for you guys and going back up with a solid base very quickly 
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
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