A small update of our biggest successes in the last months, which we can pin down to four races. To be fair, the fact that we're still somewhat in the fight to avoid relegation succeeds our expectations, so we are definitely not complaining. In fact, since we already calculated relegation in the team's future planning, we would have a problem if we actually stayed in PT
First of all, two great highlights in the first GT of the year, the Giro d'Italia. Kristoffer Halvorsen sprinted to an early victory in stage three, making it his second stage win in two GT's in a row, with his win in the Vuelta last year.
And later in the race Orluis Aular went on to win the penultimate stage in great fashion, also leading to a top-10 in the final GC and fourth place in the KoM-ranking.
A bit unexpected perhaps, but a big highlight came in the Tour of East Java. Three flat stages and one mountainous queen stage, and it is on that stage where the chickens rose up. Philipinian national champion Jonel Carcueva finished fourth, just ahead of Orluis Aular, leading to two great GC results for us there.
Next GT then, with the Tour de France. Although he came close several times on both hilly and mountainous terrain, Sergio Higuita was unable to snatch a stage win in France. A good GC also wasn't an option after a terrible team time trial for him, but he did make us proud with the win in the KoM-rankings, stepping in the footsteps of another legendary Colombian hybrid, Edward Beltrán.
Also a great result very recently in the Deutschland Tour for our homegrown and trained Victor Alejandro Ocampo. Fourth in the individual time trial and final GC, definitely couldn't hope for anything better than that.
Only a handful of races remaining now, including of course another GT and a monument. A stage win in the Vuelta would be fantastic, but it remains to be seen if Aular likes the profile of the race.
Will either be an awesome survival season and go down as a massive memorable heist given the talent signings and fantastic young leaders, or a very memorable relegation one and the plan continues. Seems like a win of a year either way, but survival would be amazing and truly establish you as one of the top potential teams of the future. Really scary prospect to be honest
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
No stage win in all GT's in a season, but Lopez Nolasco definitely came close with a second and third place in two stages in the Vuelta a España. A great GC result from Aular, who finished fifth in Spain.
But today, let's talk about our talents. We'll have a quick overview of the guys who gained their stats recently, and how they will look like next season. We will do them alphabetically, to make things complicated to follow. We'll be highlighting some key stats (for us).
Nikiforos Arvanitou
1 > 3
2003
Spr, Spr
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
70
60
65
70
60
68
72
65
60
69
71
64
61
65
…
73
60
66
71
60
71
73
68
62
73
75
64
61
65
We are not sure what path to follow with Arvanitou going from 3 to 4, but the good thing is that we didn't have to decide on that yet.
Juan Ayuso
3 > 4
2002
Stage race
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
68
75
73
71
73
75
72
73
62
62
70
67
68
71
…
69
79
76
73
75
77
74
76
62
62
71
68
69
73
Solid stage racer next season already, who'll be sure to score some points as well. But of course he'll really start performing well the season after (I hope).
Finn Fisher-Black
3 > 4
2001
TT
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
65
65
66
66
66
68
73
65
60
60
72
70
67
76
…
67
66
67
67
70
70
75
67
60
60
72
72
68
80
One day he'll be the best prologue rider in the game!
Alex Malacarne
3 > 4
2002
Cobble
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
70
56
62
67
59
72
69
61
72
71
65
70
60
60
…
72
56
62
68
59
74
71
62
74
73
66
71
60
60
Will turn out to be a solid domestique if we would find ourselves a good cobbler!
Matteo Milan
1 > 3
2003
Spr, Spr
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
67
55
59
63
61
69
68
65
63
73
73
62
59
63
…
70
55
59
63
61
69
70
74
63
76
76
62
59
66
Our shot at a stage win in the 2026 Avenir. And hopefully more (stage) wins once he's maxed.
Hector Exequiel Quintana
2 > 3
2002
TT
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
71
60
64
68
72
69
72
68
60
66
64
66
69
72
…
72
60
64
68
74
70
74
69
60
66
64
67
69
74
Part of our future TTT unit with an okay flat skill and decent enough to get some individual points as well when maxed.
Jakob Soderqvist
1 > 3
2003
TTT, TTT
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
72
57
59
61
70
68
68
66
66
67
68
68
68
72
…
75
57
59
61
74
71
72
69
66
69
69
68
68
76
Good flat, good time trial and a good prologue. He'll be important for us.
Mathias Vacek
3 > 4
2002
Stage race
FL
MO
MM
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
68
68
69
69
75
70
68
69
60
64
69
64
69
74
…
69
70
71
71
77
72
70
71
60
64
70
65
69
76
Versatile time trialist. Hopefully in the future a good bet in races like Ukraine.
What an awesome batch of talents, didn't even realize you got so many of those! Now it would be great to see you pull off a miraculous last-minute save, so I don't meet them again next year
Crazy amount of talents here. Obviously looking interestingly at Arvanitou now I couldn't land him myself. Can only hope that I can acquire him at some point in the future
Others have pointed out the wild amount of talent, and that is on top of your current leaders being quite young as well. I don't think there's another team with higher-value assets overall. Well done for sure
Thank you for the comments And we'll see if and when Arvanitou comes up for sale
We close this season's results in this thread with the best one you could imagine as a manager, and unlike what we maybe thought it did not come from Higuita in Lombardia or Ocampo and the boys in Praha. The unexpected surprise win at the end of the season came from Kristoffer Halvorsen in the PTHC classic Philadelphia International Championship.
A great lead-out from Robinson Steven Ruiz and a sublime final kick from the Norwegian ensured another year in PT for Los Pollos. More on our future and the individual riders' performances later
jandal7 wrote:
Will either be an awesome survival season and go down as a massive memorable heist given the talent signings and fantastic young leaders, or a very memorable relegation one and the plan continues. Seems like a win of a year either way, but survival would be amazing and truly establish you as one of the top potential teams of the future. Really scary prospect to be honest
Congratulations What a season for you guys, one of the coolest things I've seen walking that tightrope and your guys pulled it off in style. Exciting times ahead, and big renewals coming up!
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
Great season from Aular as well, coming from 427 the year before. Top-10 combined with a stage win in the Giro, followed by a fifth place in the Vuelta. Respect. Could be sold, but will need to be looked at.
Kristoffer Halvorsen - 701 points
Also an improvement from the Norwegian, now inside the individual top-50 scorers in PT! Great asset with his age as well, and definitely nice to see him take a stage win in the Giro and win the PTHC classic in Philadelphia. Normally, this was his last season with us.
Luis Enrique Lopez Nolasco - 331 points
First totally self developed rider on the list. Scored 100 points more than last season, mostly thanks to a strong Vuelta. Reliable domestique when needed, and clearly also strong when riding for himself. Vamos Luis! Always liked him, but even though he is self developed, with Ayuso's coming he might be ready to leave to shine in a lower division.
Victor Alejandro Ocampo - 301 points
Got some big training, but did not deliver entirely. Did well in PTHC, but underperformed quite heavily when it mattered in the final months in the PT races. He's no Zmorka (yet).
Jonel Carcueva - 289 points
Wow, the national champion from The Phillipines came to us unexpectedly for just a season, and he did some great things. Amazing domestique for Higuita, and scoring big himself in East Java. Thank you very much, Jonel!
Oscar Samuel Galvan Ramirez - 203 points
Was not very happy with his wage demands last year and did not really notice him throughout the season, but seems to have scored okay as well. His U25 points will be gone of course next year.
Jose Pablo Aguilar Mendez - 182 points
Opened great with a white jersey in Qatar and didn't really do anything that noteworthy for the rest of the season. Still, decent enough for his wage, and keeping the sponsor happy with his nationality.
Juan Ayuso - 147 points
Highest unmaxed rider for us. Obviously points per wage aren't good, but this one is for the future. Starting with this season, hopefully.
Robinson Steven Ruiz - 131 points
Sometimes a great lead-out for Halvorsen, sometimes far from that. Had no chances for himself, sorry about that.
Bilguunjargal Erdenebat - 125 points
Came in handy for the TTT unit, but lacks the power to score himself in PT. He was a very useful rider for the last two season, but is among the (bigger) list of riders that will be released in a way to focus harder on our self developed/developing riders.
Hector Exequiel Quintana - 116 points
Developing. Will already be a bit more useful next season in the TTT train.
Mathias Vacek - 107 points
Nothing crazy from the Czech this season, hoping that changes next season with his 77 TT and 70-ish mountain and hill.
Guillermo Andres Beltran - 96 points
Did what he needed to do as Higuita second domestique. Will have a hard time to do as well as Carcueva next year, being Higuita's first domestique again.
Jose Gerardo Ulloa - 93 points
We love Ulloa, but with 77 cobbles and no leader to ride for, PT is not the division for him. Letting him go to (P)CT might be the best shot we have at seeing our first talent ever victorious in the years to come. It will be hard, but I would love to see him win something.
Masaki Yamamoto - 92 points
Our Japanese loanee scored 91 points more than the previous full time Japanese we had on the squad. Did what he needed to do and even wore a PT KoM-jersey for some stages.
Alejandro Osorio - 89 points
Low scorio from Osorio, but of course only the 5th-ish most important climber, so his work was done early in the stages.
Fatiu Abolaji - 88 points
Useful in the TTT, and with 76 he stays cheap. But maybe his time has come, and a regional team can use him. We'll see!
Alex Malacarne - 88 points
Will be a useful domestique or even CT leader when maxed next season. But since we don't have anyone to domestique for, uncertain whether he'll actually stay. Another case of we'll see!
Finn Fisher-Black - 74 points
One day he'll be the new Kragh Andersen! Not yet though, but coming closer now.
Francesco Busatto - 10 points
Raced two races. Finished both of them. Consistent stagiaire.
An update of our win list. Higuita and Halvorsen with two more, Aular and Aguilar Mendez get themselves on the list Nobody comes close to Zmorka and Manninen. Baugnies still high as well, all hail Jerome!
. Kristoffer Halvorsen sprinted to an early victory in stage three, making it his second stage win in two GT's in a row, with his win in the Vuelta last year.
. Three flat stages and one mountainous queen stage, and it is on that stage where the chickens rose up. Philipinian national champion Jonel Carcueva finished fourth, just ahead of Orluis Aular, leading to two great GC results for us there.
. Although he came close several times on both hilly and mountainous terrain, Sergio Higuita was unable to snatch a stage win in France. A good GC also wasn't an option after a terrible team time trial for him, but he did make us proud with the win in the KoM-rankings, stepping in the footsteps of another legendary Colombian hybrid, Edward Beltrán.
for our homegrown and trained Victor Alejandro Ocampo. Fourth in the individual time trial and final GC, definitely couldn't hope for anything better than that.
Lopez Nolasco definitely came close with a second and third place in two stages in the 
Vuelta a España. A great GC result from 
Aular, who finished fifth in Spain.
Kristoffer Halvorsen in the PTHC classic 
Philadelphia International Championship. 
Robinson Steven Ruiz and a sublime final kick from the Norwegian ensured another year in PT for Los Pollos. More on our future and the individual riders' performances later 
What a season for you guys, one of the coolest things I've seen walking that tightrope and your guys pulled it off in style. Exciting times ahead, and big renewals coming up!
Sergio Higuita - 1181 points
Jonel Carcueva - 289 points
Oscar Samuel Galvan Ramirez - 203 points
Bilguunjargal Erdenebat - 125 points
Masaki Yamamoto - 92 points
Fatiu Abolaji - 88 points
Marlen Zmorka 
Matti Manninen 
Jerome Baugnies 
Matala Seboka 
Roman Maksimov 
Marco Guillen 
Stefan Petrovski 
