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[PT '25] Season Review/Sony - Force India
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| knockout |
Posted on 13-04-2026 16:11
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 8467
Joined: 21-12-2010
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If it still feels right, why move away from it? Should be a name change that doesnt take long to adapt to 
A Big Thank You To All MG Reporters! |
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 14-04-2026 12:21
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 13011
Joined: 27-07-2015
PCM$: 1961.50
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@Heine: Indeed they are.
@Booker: I was also supposedly targeting Asian riders in 2025  Bringing back Philips seemed like the right thing to do, given the future direction I wish to take with the team.
@knockout: Tbh, it felt like we were still adapting to the first name change! Philips sounds more natural for the team.
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| kandesbunzler26 |
Posted on 14-04-2026 13:21
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2192
Joined: 07-07-2013
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Back to the roots! To be fair I hardly remember the Philips days, but getting back together seems like the right move.
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| redordead |
Posted on 15-04-2026 08:47
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Team Leader
Posts: 5689
Joined: 18-10-2017
PCM$: 200.00
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My TV set suddenly started working again
"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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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 27-05-2026 19:13
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Bot Agent
Posts: Countless
Joined: 23.11.09
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| Nemolito |
Posted on 15-04-2026 09:12
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4024
Joined: 20-04-2020
PCM$: 425.00
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Great comeback of a sponsor that was never really forgotten! I like the visualization of the shirt, hopefully somebody can make it happen
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 16-04-2026 11:11
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 13011
Joined: 27-07-2015
PCM$: 1961.50
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@kb: Felt like the right move to make.
@redordead: First positive of the sponsor reboot!
@Nemo: Hoping the same. Sponsor return deserves a great looking jersey!
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| Heine |
Posted on 16-04-2026 11:18
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4753
Joined: 08-04-2007
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Most important question from the audience, will we see the comeback of Keldermann?
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| jandal7 |
Posted on 22-04-2026 01:46
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World Champion
Posts: 11737
Joined: 17-12-2014
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Woah, love to see it! Have gotten used to and like Sony, but Philips just feels so right. And I second Heine's question
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
5x  x5
1x  x1
2x  x2
2x  x2 |
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 22-04-2026 12:07
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 13011
Joined: 27-07-2015
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@jandal: Philips feels right for me too
@both: Never say never, especially regarding former Philips riders 
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 16-05-2026 08:15
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 13011
Joined: 27-07-2015
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August was a decent month for us, but we were still, very much in the relegation fight. We had only two races in September, including the final GT of the year, so there is very little margin for error.
Tim Van Dike joined the break. None of our riders could stay at the front. Rossi was the best finisher in 33rd.
| 33 | Diego Rossi | Sony - Force India | + 2'12 | | 75 | Mick Van Dijke | Sony - Force India | + 4'57 | | 79 | Logan Owen | Sony - Force India | + 5'21 | | 80 | Daan Hoole | Sony - Force India | s.t. | | 105 | Tim Van Dijke | Sony - Force India | + 7'59 | | 112 | Piet Allegaert | Sony - Force India | s.t. | | 123 | Jo Kogstad Ringheim | Sony - Force India | + 9'25 | | 124 | Hugo Hofstetter | Sony - Force India | s.t. |
Stage 1 was mixed, with Kulikovskiy claiming 2nd in the sprint, but Leemreize losing time already!
Agirrebeitia joined the break on Stage 2. Nothing else happened for us.
It was a repeat of the first stage on Stage 3, with Kulikovskiy taking 2nd again.
BroXham joined the break on Stage 4. He finished 4th on the stage and moved up to 6th in the GC.
Broxham joined the break on Stage 5 as well. He finished 7th this time, but gained enough time to now lead the GC!
Broxham finished in the pack on Stage 6, claiming 6th.
Broxham lost some time on Stage 7 but held on the jersey. Stage 8 was uneventful. Broxham finished in the peloton to keep his jersey through Stage 9 and Stage 10. He lost it on the mountainous Stage 11.
The next result of note came on Stage 14, with Leemreize joining the break and getting 6th on the stage as a consequence.
Agirrebeitia joined the break on Stage 15. Roson joined the break on Stage 16 and collected some KOM points. He joined it again on Stage 17.
Roson and Hayter joined the break on Stage 20. Hayter was caught in the closing stages, but still managed 5th on the day, moving him up the GC.
Kulikovskiy finished off the race in the best way possible - by winning the last stage!
| 40 | Gijs Leemreize | Sony - Force India | + 1h20'17 | | 49 | Leo Hayter | Sony - Force India | + 2h08'10 | | 73 | Ricardo Broxham | Sony - Force India | + 3h22'39 | | 93 | Jaime Roson | Sony - Force India | + 3h57'26 | | 117 | Bryan Raul Obando | Sony - Force India | + 4h34'05 | | 123 | Mikel Agirrebeitia | Sony - Force India | + 4h50'59 | | 132 | Alexandr Kulikovskiy | Sony - Force India | + 5h06'23 | | 137 | Kenny Elissonde | Sony - Force India | + 5h16'51 |
Kulikovskiy finished 6th in the Points. Hayter and Broxham finished 6th and 9th in the U25s, respectively.
One bad race and one race slightly above expectations is how the month turned out for us. Broxham and Kulikovksiy were the stars of teh Vuelta for us, with the rest not really contributing. Our loaned in South African was able to make up for the reduced points scored by our more accomplished climbers, and surely makes a strong case for an extended partnership in the off-season.
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 22-05-2026 10:32
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 13011
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We went into the final month of the year in 20th place but with some hope of making a comeback, given the races still on the calendar.
This was expected to be our best race of the month, so expectations were high!
We started off well. Zmorka and Rekita were 4th and 6th in the Stage 1 Prologue.
Hofstetter couldn't get into the points on Stage 2.
Zmorka once again finished 4th in the longer ITT on Stage 3. This put him in 3rd in the GC. Rekita had a bad day!
Stage 4 was a repeat of Stage 2 for Hofsteter.
| 3 | Marlen Zmorka | Sony - Force India | + 1'30 | | 23 | Szymon Rekita | Sony - Force India | + 3'22 | | 56 | Tim Van Dijke | Sony - Force India | + 4'41 | | 69 | Naveen John | Sony - Force India | + 5'09 | | 92 | Sergio Arias Villanueva | Sony - Force India | + 7'08 | | 124 | Nicolay Cherkasov | Sony - Force India | + 11'02 | | 146 | Esow Alben | Sony - Force India | + 13'48 | | 147 | Hugo Hofstetter | Sony - Force India | + 13'50 |
Zmorka finished 5th in the Points. Tim finished 6th in the U25s. We got 4th in the Teams' classification.
Philadelphia International Championship Arias Villanueva joined the break. We couldn't get involved in the sprint and it was a poor result.
| 33 | Esow Alben | Sony - Force India | s.t. | | 43 | Alexandr Kulikovskiy | Sony - Force India | s.t. | | 49 | Piet Allegaert | Sony - Force India | s.t. | | 52 | Nicolay Cherkasov | Sony - Force India | s.t. | | 67 | Diego Rossi | Sony - Force India | s.t. | | 72 | Hayden McCormick | Sony - Force India | s.t. | | 88 | Tim Van Dijke | Sony - Force India | s.t. | | 143 | Sergio Arias Villanueva | Sony - Force India | + 3'51 |
Ulysbaev joined the break but we failed to make any impact in the rest of the race! MVD in 39th was our best result.
| 39 | Mick Van Dijke | Sony - Force India | + 8'34 | | 81 | Dinmukhammed Ulysbayev | Sony - Force India | + 12'35 | | 106 | Lennard Hofstede | Sony - Force India | + 16'02 | | 147 | Kenny Elissonde | Sony - Force India | + 20'41 | | 155 | Jaime Roson | Sony - Force India | + 21'17 | | 161 | Ricardo Broxham | Sony - Force India | + 23'09 | | 169 | Mikel Agirrebeitia | Sony - Force India | + 24'55 | | 170 | Bryan Raul Obando | Sony - Force India | s.t. |
We did our best in Praha but poor results in the other two races combined with impressive showings by our nearest relegation rivals meant our current PT run will end after just one season.
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| kandesbunzler26 |
Posted on 23-05-2026 19:37
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2192
Joined: 07-07-2013
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It's really a shame to see you going down again after just one season especially after the huge fight your team put up all season! But as Ulrich pointed out somewhere else it's at least a blessing for reporting PT races
You'll have an interesting off-season, with an ageing set of leaders (apart from MVD) the key question will be if you want to aim for the bounce back or a rebuild.
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 24-05-2026 09:19
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 13011
Joined: 27-07-2015
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kandesbunzler26 wrote:
It's really a shame to see you going down again after just one season especially after the huge fight your team put up all season! But as Ulrich pointed out somewhere else it's at least a blessing for reporting PT races
You'll have an interesting off-season, with an ageing set of leaders (apart from MVD) the key question will be if you want to aim for the bounce back or a rebuild.
Yeah the riders did their best to give in the second half of the season but we just fell short.
Kind of asking myself the same question as you did in the end!
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 27-05-2026 09:26
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 13011
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The 2025 season has ended and we have to ruefully announce that we have been relegated from the PT after our first season in the division. Let's take a more detailed look as to how we got here...
| Race | Category | Goal | Result | | Giro d'Italia | GTM | Win | 63rd | | Tour De France | GTM | Top 5 | 3rd | | Tirreno Adriatico | PT | Top 3 | 8th | | Chrono des Herbiers | PT | Top 3 | 4th | | Team Standings | PT | Top 10 | 18th |
* Green means Goal Achieved. Red means Goal Failed.We were only able to achieve one of our goals this season! We knew two of the goals would not be achievable right after transfers, but we also narrowly missed out in Herbiers and a last day slip by Haig in Tirreno cost us that goal as well! Not a great year for this part of the planning.
| Race | Category | Points | RDs | PpRD | | Tour de France | GT | 941 | 21 | 44.81 | | Vuelta a Espana | GT | 473 | 21 | 22.52 | | Paris - Nice | PT | 392 | 8 | 49.00 | | Tour of Northern Europe | PT | 268 | 7 | 38.29 | | Praha - Karlovy Vary - Praha | PT | 253 | 4 | 63.25 | | Criterium du Dauphine Libere | PTHC | 240 | 7 | 34.29 | | Ronde van Nederland | PT | 239 | 3 | 79.67 | | Deutschland Tour | PTHC | 238 | 5 | 47.60 | | Tirreno - Adriatico | PT | 210 | 7 | 30.00 | | Giro d'Italia | GT | 203 | 21 | 9.67 | | Chrono des Herbiers | PT | 147 | 2 | 73.50 | | Vuelta a Colombia | PTHC | 127 | 6 | 21.17 | | Tour of East Java | PTHC | 110 | 4 | 27.50 | | Tour of the Battenkill | PTHC | 96 | 2 | 48.00 | | Tour of Slovenia | PTHC | 95 | 5 | 19.00 | | Tour of Tasmania | PT | 72 | 3 | 24.00 | | GP Kigali | PT | 69 | 2 | 34.50 | | Roma Maxima | PTHC | 65 | 2 | 32.50 | | Tour of Qatar | PT | 64 | 6 | 10.67 | | Milano San Remo | PT | 60 | 2 | 30.00 | | Scandinavia Open Road Race | PT | 57 | 3 | 19.00 | | Copenhagen-Malmo TTT | PT | 55 | 2 | 27.50 | | E3 Prijs | PT | 55 | 2 | 27.50 | | Rund um Koln | PT | 51 | 2 | 25.50 | | GP Moscow | PT | 50 | 2 | 25.00 | | Classique du Grand-Duché | PT | 45 | 2 | 22.50 | | Ronde van Vlaanderen | PTM | 45 | 2 | 22.50 | | Paris - Roubaix | PTM | 45 | 2 | 22.50 | | Liege-Bastogne-Liege | PTM | 45 | 2 | 22.50 | | East Midlands Cicle Classic | PT | 45 | 2 | 22.50 | | Strada Appia Antica | PT | 45 | 2 | 22.50 | | Giro di Lombardia | PTM | 45 | 2 | 22.50 | | GP Liechtenstein | PT | 40 | 2 | 20.00 | | Amstel Gold Race | PT | 40 | 2 | 20.00 | | Fleche Wallone | PT | 40 | 2 | 20.00 | | Veenendaal - Veenendaal | PTHC | 34 | 2 | 17.00 | | Ras Tailteann | PTHC | 33 | 2 | 16.50 | | Cheshire Cycling Tour | PTHC | 24 | 2 | 12.00 | | Philadelphia International Championship | PTHC | 6 | 2 | 3.00 | | Hanko Classic | PTHC | 2 | 2 | 1.00 |
No surprises to see the TDF on the top of the pile here, with the second string leaders stepping up well in Vuelta. The common trend is good scores in races where MVD and Zmorka were leaders and very poor returns from the sprint and cobbles squad in general, from hilly classics and most importantly from Haig outside of TDF.
Month-Wise Points Progression | January | February | March | April | May | | Points | 136 | 827 | 490 | 457 | 449 | | RDs | 11 | 26 | 15 | 34 | 13 | | PpRD | 12.36 | 31.81 | 32.67 | 13.44 | 34.54 | | Rank | 22 | 17 | 17 | 21 | 21 | | June | July | August | September | October | Total | | Points | 606 | 992 | 385 | 518 | 304 | 5164 | | RDs | 20 | 23 | 11 | 23 | 8 | 184 | | PpRD | 30.30 | 43.13 | 35.00 | 22.52 | 38.00 | 28.07 | | Rank | 20 | 18 | 16 | 18 | 18 | 18 |
The months of January, and more specifically April, is where we lost the survival battle. Besides that, we were above the line for six out of ten months, and manageable in two more, given the absence of leaders in the races in those races.
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 27-05-2026 09:27
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 13011
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In this part of our season review, we'll be taking a look at how our riders performed, present some statistics from our race performances and announce the awards for the season.
Rider Analysis - Points, PpRD and Ranking | Rider | Points | PpRD | PT Ranking | | Marlen Zmorka | 847 | 16.94 | 36 | | Mick Van Dijke | 682 | 11.76 | 51 | | Jack Haig | 658 | 16.45 | 55 | | Hayden McCormick | 81 | 1.88 | 81 | | Gijs Leemreize | 415 | 6.80 | 89 | | Alexandr Kulikovskiy | 399 | 6.14 | 93 | | Leo Hayter | 283 | 3.88 | 131 | | Ricardo Broxham | 220 | 4.15 | 157 | | Diego Rossi | 208 | 3.01 | 162 | | Szymon Rekita | 149 | 2.92 | 223 | | Sergio Arias Villanueva | 113 | 1.69 | 290 | | Tim Van Dijke | 112 | 1.56 | 293 | | Logan Owen | 109 | 5.45 | 299 | | Hugo Hofstetter | 106 | 1.58 | 305 | | Jaime Roson | 97 | 1.43 | 322 | | Piet Allegaert | 72 | 1.44 | 409 | | Esow Alben | 72 | 1.41 | 412 | | Lennard Hofstede | 68 | 2.83 | 421 | | Naveen John | 66 | 1.22 | 430 | | Kenny Elissonde | 64 | 0.84 | 439 | | Dinmukhammed Ulysbayev | 63 | 0.95 | 441 | | Nicolay Cherkasov | 62 | 1.59 | 442 | | Daan Hoole | 61 | 1.79 | 446 | | Bryan Raul Obando | 60 | 0.81 | 447 | | Jo Kogstad Ringheim | 57 | 2.11 | 453 | | Mikel Agirrebeitia | 30 | 0.57 | 491 | | Adam Holm Jorgensen | 10 | 0.40 | 499 |
Zmorka broke the record for the most points scored in a single season by any rider in our colours. PT points helped of course, but he was very consistent all season. Zmorka was only the best rider in terms of PpRD.
Rider Analysis - Wage/Point | Rider | Points | Wage | Wage/Points | | Ricardo Broxham | 220 | 50000 | 227.27 | | Mick Van Dijke | 682 | 185000 | 271.26 | | Leo Hayter | 283 | 80000 | 282.69 | | Gijs Leemreize | 415 | 130000 | 313.25 | | Diego Rossi | 208 | 80000 | 384.62 | | Bryan Raul Obando | 60 | 25000 | 416.67 | | Tim Van Dijke | 112 | 50000 | 446.43 | | Marlen Zmorka | 847 | 400000 | 472.26 | | Alexandr Kulikovskiy | 399 | 200000 | 501.25 | | Szymon Rekita | 149 | 80000 | 536.91 | | Esow Alben | 72 | 50000 | 694.44 | | Piet Allegaert | 72 | 50000 | 694.44 | | Lennard Hofstede | 68 | 50000 | 735.29 | | Naveen John | 66 | 50000 | 757.58 | | Kenny Elissonde | 64 | 50000 | 781.25 | | Sergio Arias Villanueva | 113 | 90000 | 796.46 | | Daan Hoole | 61 | 50000 | 819.67 | | Jo Kogstad Ringheim | 57 | 50000 | 877.19 | | Hayden McCormick | 81 | 82000 | 1012.35 | | Dinmukhammed Ulysbayev | 63 | 65000 | 1031.75 | | Jack Haig | 658 | 700000 | 1063.83 | | Jaime Roson | 97 | 115000 | 1185.57 | | Hugo Hofstetter | 106 | 130000 | 1226.42 | | Mikel Agirrebeitia | 30 | 50000 | 1666.67 | | Nicolay Cherkasov | 62 | 125000 | 2016.13 | | Logan Owen | 109 | 230000 | 2110.09 | | Adam Holm Jorgensen | 10 | 50000 | 5000.00 |
Our young guns led the way in terms of being value for money. Broxham's dream run in the TDF puts him on top here, with MVD, Hayter, Leemreize, Rossi, Obando and TVD occupying the Top 7 spots.
Stage Race - 0
Best Result: 2nd, Paris-Nice, Tour of Northern Europe, Deutschland Tour
Classics - 0
Best Result: 4th, Chrono des Herbiers
Stages - 10
Gijs Leemreize - 3, Alexandr Kulikovskiy - 2, Mick Van Dijke, Leo Hayter, Jack Haig and Marlen Zmorka - 1 each
Points Classification - 0
Best Result - 2nd, Criterium du Dauphine Libere - Leo Hayter
KOM Classification -
Best Result - 2nd, Criterium du Dauphine Libere - Gijs Leemreize
U25s Classification - 2
Ronde Van Nederland, Tour of Northern Europe - Mick Van Dijke
Team Classification - 1
Criterium du Dauphine Libere
The full list of achievements can be viewed here.
Spoiler
Zmorka was the most consistent rider in the team, scoring the highest amount of points! He rarely had a bad day, and did not finish below 4th in any ITT! A big callout to Mick Van Dijke for a splendid first season at his full potential.
Spoiler Mick Van Dijke MVD was a revelation in his first full maxed year, with standout performances in races like Paris - Nice, Ronde Van Nederland and Tour of Northern Europe. Special mention to Broxham who rode the Vuelta like a star, and pulled us along to almost survival!
Spoiler Tour de France It is s special privilege to be able to crown the most prestigious race on the calendar as our best of the season, that too in our first ever season in the PT. The full team contributed towards making this possible, and we hope to be back here soon for more of the same!
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| Nemolito |
Posted on 27-05-2026 12:50
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4024
Joined: 20-04-2020
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A lot of individual succes, and although Zmorka and MVD definitely scored well, I guess you just missed that high scorer. Should have been Haig, but he really didn't perform like he should be able to  With your current team I think and hope you have a good chance of coming straight back to PT the season after.
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| Bushwackers |
Posted on 27-05-2026 16:55
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2025
Joined: 07-02-2009
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Commiserations to our fellow relegator, but I have to think you'll be in a great position to bounce back and make it stick. Overall a complicated season for Haig given how the game handles him though landing on the podium in the TdF has to be a point of pride. Best of luck in transfers, it will be fun to see how the team looks in the end.
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