Only one year ago, only the most hardcore of Tryg - ENI fans would recognise the name Roger Adrià – and not in a positive context. He was snapped up in 2023 on the understanding that he was a promising neo-pro from a sponsor's focus region. As it turned out, that initial reporting had been somewhat inaccurate as to his age and talent profile. Despite agreeing to mutual termination, Adrià spent the year with us following MGUCI intervention.

It is possible that an apology is owed to the scout that initially unearthed Adrià. Although he didn't achieve much with us in the way of palmarès but he did greatly improve his ability in the finish. Our earlier agreement to terminate his contract meant that he spent the following year continuing his development with Grieg-Maersk before finally arriving at Evonik - ELKO as a finished product.


He started the year off with 20th at Volta a Portugal. He was threatening the Top 10 until a poor timetrial threw him down the ranks. He followed this up with some solid domestique work at Classique du Grand-Duché and Ronde van Nederland. His time in the mountains at the Vuelta a Colombia wasn't as productive, but that was more than made up for by his performances in the ardennes. He was aggressive throughout and, when MAL faltered on the way back to Liège, he stepped up to secure a Top 10 finish.

If that was the totallity of his achievements, it would already make for a most impressive resumé. There was, in fact, more to come. It would be a story of near misses though. Twice pipped for stage wins at the Balkans International, Adrià headed in to the Tour de France. Two Top 10s in the first week was a promising showing, but as Lecuisinier's campaign heated up he was recalled to domestique duties. Relatively anonymous showings in Japan and Lombardia closed out the year.


It is all very well and good to describe everything Adrià has achieved for other teams. It might even give an idea as to why we were so keen to sign him despite the competition. No doubt the question on your mind, however, is what exactly his role will be at Tryg - ENI. It doesn't look as though Arnaud Démare will be making a return, much to everyone's dismay. Nor does it look as though the rumours about Robert Stannard and Christopher Mayer have any legs. No – Adrià will be thrust into a starring role. We can only hope that the pressure doesn't get to him.

redordead: It's a pretty settled team, but with plenty of room to replace Demare and Polanc.

Plenty of room for manoeuvres, but hopefully not too much call for making them. Ovsyannikov should outscore Polanc and Adrià might be able to claw back some of what left with Démare. Just need THJ to bounce back and we will be sorted.

Eden95: Looking forward to see how you replace Demare, looks like you're pretty well set up to re-structure things with a nice amount of cap to spare.

First thing on the agenda was the Démare replacement! Definitely a restructure year though, more aimed at avoiding survival before we bring some of our new leadership come next season.

baseballlover312: Looking at that list, we may have less to discuss than last year, but I'm sure we will still be in touch as always!

Evidently I just need to go back to snatching up all the young talent coming out of Denmark.

kandesbunzler26: Having a team ready to start the season plus quite some free cap space should put you in a good position for transfers!

It is a nice spot to be in, for sure. Not quite nice as all that fresh cap space granted by promotion though!

seancoll: One of my favorite teams and yet one of my list favorite availability lists! Great job keeping the team young and having lots of flexibility for how to best move forward!

There is still time to change that availability list, even in the second week of transfers. Right back at you though, always looking out for that turtleshell in reports.

jandal7: Good settled squad and lots of room to play with thanks to the releases. Interested what you do with it.

As always an HQ I enjoy reading.

Always nice to get positive feedback about the effort going into aesthetics for the spreadsheet game. Equally interested to see how you evaluate our first use of the room that was opened up in the salary cap.

knockout: Adria was possibly my favourite 50k signing ever (and i've had a ton) and i would have loved to see him remain on my team.

Thank you for a great writeup, it was a great read bringing up memories from last season and i wish you and him all the best. Hopefully he keeps beasting for you!

Glad you enjoyed it! Feel like I owe you some positive write ups after whinging about Skujins.

jandal7: Big fan of Adria, excited to see what he can do for you! As knockout said, really cool writeup too

Got to try and keep the expectations realistic so as not to be disappointed, but I can't lie: I am excited too!