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[PT 26] ELCO - ABEA | Final Roster!
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| SotD |
Posted on 31-07-2026 13:27
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World Champion
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ember wrote:
V2-v1-v2-v1 would be my way, and you've got yourself a perfect Chiarello. My speculation being that the sprint stat then bring in heaps of points as a bonus stat for a climber, similar to how Chiarello went on about it.
Maybe it's just me, but I don't really spot any notable resemblances to Chiarello, who had 63SPR, but instead had 75HI and 73TT.
Dockx will be -1MO, -5HI, -4TT +7SPR. Seems like a completely different rider to me.
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| SotD |
Posted on 03-08-2026 18:51
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World Champion
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The final signings for our team has been finalized, and we are happy to present.
 | Laurens De Plus | 4.100 | 31yo | Puncheur | €200.000 |
| FL | MO | MM | HI | TT | ST | RS | RC | CO | SP | AC | FG | DH | PR | | 72 | 77 | 78 | 79 | 65 | 74 | 73 | 71 | 57 | 61 | 72 | 68 | 66 | 65 |
After the quick departure of Errazkin, which was needed for training purposes, we immidiately found Laurens De Plus as a replacement, and in fact we believe that to be an upgrade. He is also a perfect GC attacker, and might even get to lead in a Grand Tour.
 | David Gaudu | 4.100 | 30yo | Puncheur | €135.000 |
| FL | MO | MM | HI | TT | ST | RS | RC | CO | SP | AC | FG | DH | PR | | 73 | 71 | 75 | 78 | 66 | 78 | 75 | 71 | 57 | 68 | 70 | 69 | 69 | 66 |
In order to give ourselves the best possible chances to perform a result here and there in the hilly races we have also decided to add David Gaudu to the team, thus making our depth very strong.
| | Jonathan Vervenne | 2.89 | 23yo | TimeTriallist | €55.000 |
| FL | MO | MM | HI | TT | ST | RS | RC | CO | SP | AC | FG | DH | PR | | 69 | 62 | 66 | 70 | 72 | 72 | 69 | 67 | 65 | 60 | 60 | 64 | 56 | 71 | | ↓↓↓ | ↓↓↓ | ↓↓↓ | ↓↓↓ | ↓↓↓ | ↓↓↓ | ↓↓↓ | ↓↓↓ | | | ↓↓↓ | ↓↓↓ | | ↓↓↓ | | 74 | 64 | 68 | 78 | 76 | 76 | 75 | 71 | 65 | 60 | 61 | 67 | 56 | 77 |
Vervenne is a very talented young timetriallist, who will be a valuable asset in any TTT setup in a couple of years. In order to achieve the best possibilities for development he will be loaned out for the season.
 | Renus Uhiriwe | 4.100 | 25yo | TimeTriallist | €50.000 |
| FL | MO | MM | HI | TT | ST | RS | RC | CO | SP | AC | FG | DH | PR | | 74 | 66 | 68 | 69 | 77 | 73 | 72 | 69 | 60 | 63 | 68 | 75 | 65 | 77 |
Uhiriwe joins on a one year loan deal, and is pretty similar to Vervenne. Uhiriwe is only 25 years old, and should have plenty of chances to fight for a good U25 result in our team.
 | Szymon Sajnok | 4.100 | 29yo | TimeTriallist | €85.000 |
| FL | MO | MM | HI | TT | ST | RS | RC | CO | SP | AC | FG | DH | PR | | 74 | 61 | 63 | 65 | 78 | 70 | 76 | 71 | 63 | 73 | 72 | 62 | 70 | 79 |
Sajnok is a slightly stronger timetriallist, also with a very handy prologue. He will also take part in the early lead out train from time to time.
Unfortunately the signings couldn't be made possible without a few riders also leaving the team. A couple of these hurt us, but we believe it was needed to give us the best short term chances of survival, as well as the possibilities to train a couple of riders!
Departures:
 Xuban Errazkin
 Jay Vine
Alexys Brunel
 Ioannis Spanopoulos
 Andreas Miltiadis
 Marco Schrettl
Kamiel Bonneu
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| SotD |
Posted on 03-08-2026 19:10
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World Champion
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The final roster of ELCO - ABEA is as below. 17 Riders from Greece and 4 riders from Cyprus makes it a team that could - theoretically stand alone! However, we don't feel it is realistic to survive without leaders like Altur, De Plus and Gaudu. With them, we believe it should be sufficient!
| Nat. | Name | FL | MO | MM | HI | TT | ST | RS | RC | CB | SP | AC | FG | DH | PR | Age | Wage | | CLIMBERS | | Giannoutsos | 68 | 81 | 77 | 72 | 72 | 76 | 78 | 75 | 57 | 65 | 68 | 75 | 67 | 77 | 29 | 225.000 | | Karatsivis | 70 | 78 | 76 | 73 | 72 | 73 | 75 | 75 | 60 | 64 | 74 | 74 | 67 | 71 | 25 | 140.000 | | Christakos | 69 | 77 | 75 | 72 | 70 | 69 | 74 | 72 | 58 | 61 | 70 | 74 | 70 | 73 | 27 | 75.000 | | Agrotis | 72 | 75 | 73 | 71 | 74 | 76 | 72 | 75 | 63 | 65 | 68 | 71 | 70 | 75 | 28 | 60.000 | | PUNCHEURS | | De Plus | 72 | 77 | 78 | 79 | 65 | 74 | 73 | 71 | 57 | 61 | 72 | 68 | 66 | 65 | 31 | 200.000 | | Gaudu | 73 | 71 | 75 | 78 | 66 | 78 | 75 | 71 | 57 | 68 | 70 | 69 | 69 | 66 | 30 | 135.000 | | Soulious | 69 | 74 | 75 | 75 | 66 | 76 | 75 | 69 | 51 | 71 | 78 | 63 | 76 | 66 | 30 | 115.000 | | Vila | 70 | 71 | 74 | 77 | 64 | 70 | 73 | 74 | 54 | 67 | 74 | 76 | 69 | 64 | 29 | 100.000 | | Theorpanous | 71 | 71 | 72 | 73 | 70 | 70 | 72 | 73 | 67 | 69 | 75 | 74 | 70 | 69 | 24 | 50.000 | | COBBLERS | | Altur | 74 | 62 | 66 | 69 | 62 | 74 | 69 | 68 | 81 | 71 | 67 | 69 | 62 | 62 | 33 | 200.000 | | Kortsidakis | 77 | 63 | 66 | 69 | 54 | 75 | 75 | 73 | 77 | 68 | 72 | 76 | 70 | 73 | 32 | 135.000 | | Boutopoulos | 78 | 68 | 70 | 72 | 66 | 73 | 75 | 69 | 74 | 73 | 78 | 80 | 74 | 68 | 30 | 145.000 | | Mengoulas | 76 | 65 | 67 | 69 | 75 | 76 | 72 | 68 | 75 | 65 | 74 | 73 | 68 | 75 | 29 | 100.000 | | TIMETRIALLISTS | | Kiriakidis | 68 | 74 | 74 | 73 | 78 | 72 | 73 | 74 | 62 | 63 | 71 | 70 | 73 | 76 | 29 | 115.000 | | Ioannidis | 66 | 74 | 73 | 72 | 77 | 74 | 72 | 71 | 56 | 57 | 68 | 71 | 66 | 75 | 33 | 110.000 | | Christapopoulos | 73 | 62 | 68 | 73 | 78 | 72 | 72 | 66 | 62 | 62 | 69 | 75 | 66 | 77 | 31 | 80.000 | | Moutsios | 75 | 61 | 63 | 64 | 78 | 74 | 73 | 69 | 65 | 68 | 73 | 71 | 67 | 78 | 25 | 65.000 | | Varotsos | 78 | 62 | 65 | 67 | 75 | 73 | 72 | 68 | 63 | 71 | 70 | 72 | 68 | 75 | 24 | 50.000 | | Christodoulos | 72 | 68 | 68 | 68 | 78 | 75 | 69 | 70 | 53 | 53 | 64 | 73 | 65 | 79 | 29 | 95.000 | | Sajnok | 74 | 61 | 63 | 65 | 78 | 70 | 76 | 71 | 63 | 73 | 72 | 62 | 70 | 79 | 29 | 85.000 | | Cavagna | 77 | 64 | 69 | 74 | 76 | 75 | 74 | 71 | 73 | 73 | 71 | 60 | 63 | 76 | 31 | 90.000 | | Uhiriwe | 74 | 66 | 68 | 69 | 77 | 73 | 72 | 69 | 60 | 63 | 68 | 75 | 65 | 77 | 25 | 50.000 |  | Broxham | 69 | 71 | 71 | 71 | 73 | 70 | 70 | 70 | 60 | 67 | 68 | 68 | 65 | 73 | 26 | 55.000 | | SPRINTERS | | Farantakis | 74 | 59 | 63 | 66 | 72 | 75 | 72 | 79 | 66 | 82 | 80 | 61 | 63 | 79 | 31 | 500.000 | | Koumpetsos | 74 | 67 | 70 | 73 | 56 | 76 | 73 | 82 | 58 | 76 | 76 | 74 | 71 | 56 | 31 | 90.000 | | Gibbons | 75 | 59 | 62 | 65 | 67 | 73 | 72 | 73 | 60 | 78 | 78 | 65 | 68 | 72 | 32 | 110.000 | | LOANED OUT | | Stavrakakis | 76 | 61 | 65 | 68 | 75 | 74 | 70 | 66 | 78 | 64 | 68 | 70 | 62 | 77 | 28 | 100.000 | | Douzas | 69 | 68 | 71 | 73 | 63 | 72 | 69 | 71 | 60 | 66 | 74 | 74 | 75 | 63 | 24 | 50.000 | | Ioannou | 67 | 68 | 69 | 69 | 67 | 68 | 68 | 67 | 62 | 65 | 71 | 70 | 70 | 68 | 23 | 50.000 | | Dockx | 68 | 70 | 70 | 69 | 69 | 67 | 69 | 67 | 68 | 70 | 75 | 68 | 68 | 70 | 22 | 200.000 | | Marti | 70 | 66 | 67 | 68 | 65 | 68 | 71 | 67 | 67 | 66 | 71 | 69 | 71 | 66 | 22 | 65.000 | | Vervenne | 69 | 62 | 66 | 70 | 72 | 72 | 69 | 67 | 65 | 60 | 60 | 64 | 56 | 71 | 23 | 55.000 |
As always - Feel free to comment!
Edited by SotD on 03-08-2026 19:41
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| Ulrich Ulriksen |
Posted on 04-08-2026 02:41
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Directeur Sportif
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Farantakis is top class (a legend?) but most of your other leaders a step below the best. But with every terrain covered, an outstanding set of homegrown TTers and nice depth on most terrains I am sure you find ways to score.
Man Game: McCormick Pro Cycling |
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| SotD |
Posted on 05-08-2026 10:07
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World Champion
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He is a legend indeed - and a Titan 
As you say, we don’t really have a top rider anywhere, but hopefully we have enough subtop riders and depth to stay up. That is the main goal. We also needed to sign a couple of riders that could sell/swap relatively easy next season so Karatsivis can take the next steps.
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 09-08-2026 05:21
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| SotD |
Posted on 06-08-2026 16:38
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The development of Greek riders continue, and this season we are seeing an improvement in two riders.
| | Miltiadis Giannoutsos | 4.100 | 29yo | Climber | €225.000 |
| FL | MO | MM | HI | TT | ST | RS | RC | CO | SP | AC | FG | DH | PR | | 68 | 80 | 76 | 72 | 72 | 76 | 78 | 75 | 57 | 64 | 68 | 75 | 67 | 77 | | ↓↓↓ | ↓↓↓ | | | | | | | ↓↓↓ | | | | | | 68 | 81 | 77 | 72 | 72 | 76 | 78 | 75 | 57 | 65 | 68 | 75 | 67 | 77 |
Giannoutsos is without a doubt the best ever greek climber, and he took further steps in his development during this off season. In order to get him a few more stage results we have also asked for him to work a bit on his sprint. Giannoutsos already have a 5th place in the Giro d'Italia from 2023, but we aim to get him slightly closer to actually becoming a solid top 10 GC rider.
| | Georgios Stavrakakis | 4.100 | 28yo | Cobbler | €100.000 |
| FL | MO | MM | HI | TT | ST | RS | RC | CO | SP | AC | FG | DH | PR | | 76 | 61 | 65 | 68 | 75 | 74 | 70 | 66 | 77 | 64 | 68 | 70 | 62 | 77 | | | | | | | | | ↓↓↓ | | | | | | | 76 | 61 | 65 | 68 | 75 | 74 | 70 | 66 | 78 | 64 | 68 | 70 | 62 | 77 |
Stavrakakis will not ride for us this season, but we have still invested in his future with the team. Marcos Altur will ride his final season in the team, and as Kortsidakis is also slowly reaching decline, and Boutopoulos isn't possible to work on for several seasons it is the plan that Stavrakakis is going to take on the leaders role next season.
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| whitejersey |
Posted on 06-08-2026 18:57
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3462
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Absolute diesel engine of a TTT team and then a team loaded with assets for next year's rebalancing for training for Karatvis and Stravrakis!
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| redordead |
Posted on 07-08-2026 07:49
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Team Leader
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Nice that I don't need to worry about Stavrakakis this year, but I guess Altur is still quite a bit better now. He'll be an even bigger problem next year probably. Giannoutsos was and will continue being a troublesome opponent.
Looks like another top 10 finish is coming up with this team 
"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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| Bikex |
Posted on 07-08-2026 08:12
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Team Leader
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Very impressive Greek core you got there by now. Great depth and I personally am not too happy seeing that TTT squad. I assume we'll clash there sometimes. |
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| Heine |
Posted on 07-08-2026 13:41
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Grand Tour Specialist
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I wont even try to write most of your names, but once again a nice squad (though bigger than I'd like...) I like the hilly setup and I like the focus. Gibbons should continue placing Farantakis in good postions to have another great year.
Also, you know you can't have 9 riders in a TTT?
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| cunego59 |
Posted on 07-08-2026 20:28
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Team Manager
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Best of luck to and with Renus Uhiriwe Hope he can do what you hope for and get a couple of good results on his own, in addition to any TTT support. I think you're set up decently well for another solid season, and to continue to grow those Greeks
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| jaxika |
Posted on 07-08-2026 20:44
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Classics Specialist
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Your team is again a "Jack of all trades" and maybe that is your charm |
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| SotD |
Posted on 08-08-2026 09:45
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World Champion
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whitejersey
Pretty solid TTT setup yes, but didn't quite work the way I wanted. I would have liked a couple of 79-80 TT guys, but those became available too late for me to make an actual move to sign then. Agree though, that it should be possible to sell enough next season to get some cash for training. It's expensive trainings though with 79-80MO for Karatsivis probably and 79COB for Stavrakakis. Could be a struggle to find that much.
redordead
Indeed, looking at the PT composition I think Altur will do almost equally good as last season. I'm surprised we hardly got an offer for him. But I guess people just don't want to spend a lot of money on riders already on decline. Stavrakakis will probably need +2COB to actually lift the job, as he isn't as strong in hills and sprint as Altur, but maybe 79 is sufficient to do regular top 10s with a bit of luck.
For Giannoutsos I hope this will catapult him into being a certain top 10 GC rider regardless of where he rides. He had a bit of a strange either/if position before, where he sometimes was doing great and other times doing nothing. I don't think it's likely that he will be trained one last time next season though. Well maybe another +1SPR if I have a bit of cash left.
I hope you are right in terms of PT top 10. I think we are slightly worse than last season, so it could be around 10th +/- a couple of spots.
Bikex
Thanks mate. Can only double in on that. I thought we had the best TTT setup for most of the off season, but you made some moves towards the end to make it sure that you are indeed the strongest. Those Krul+Hayter deals tipped things definately in your favor as they match the best we have. I think you will win every TTT this season, maybe bar the combination of Vuelta/Slovenia mix (I assume you have Slovenia aswell).
Heine
Yeah the team size is also bigger than I like personally. It's a bit difficult to find the perfect size when I want as many Greek/Cypriots possible, but they can't really stand on their own. If I could survive without foreigners I would have likely had 24-25 riders in total with some bigger/better talents and 1 star rider outside of my regional focus. But as Greece doesn't have a top GC rider, Top TT rider, Top Cobbler og Top Puncheur it's impossible to build a surviving PT setup. 11 foreigners (including loans) is too much though - I do agree.
It's interesting, because I feel my hilly setup is the weakness of the team. Atleast in terms of the hilly classics. De Plus and Gaudu as a combo might work OK for races like Tirreno, Nederland and Scandinavia, but doesn't really have a good PTHC calender for them, so it is going to be interesting how they fare in mountains and attacking roles in GC races.
I think Gibbons is the best possible leadout solution for Farantakis. There was a couple of other possibilities, but I don't really think anyone was better suited. So really happy I got him.
Hehe yes I know that the sample size of TTT's isn't 9  I do however have some riders that aren't really leading us anywhere that can or cannot be used like Cavagna, Mengoulas and Varotsos. The lower level TT riders will make it possible for me to set up 2 solid TTT teams in both Vuelta and Slovenia at the same time, which will be fun.
cunego59
Thanks a lot mate! I feel pretty comfortable that he will snatch some U25 points here and there. I was looking for small exploits in the PT, and the U25 TT department seemed like a decent spot. There are 13 U25 riders with a TT stat between 75-78. And I have 3 of those. And 3-4 of the others are also more GC riders than TT riders, so we might not face them too often.
jaxika
I hope so yes. There wasn't any obvious weaknesses in the division that I could exploit. Sprints seem somewhat similar to last season (before training) so I think are still going to need a sprint train for Farantakis. We still can't win TT's outright, so we need to score through numbers. The best possible exploit we could find was actually in the cobbles where I think Altur is still a top 10 rider. Something I wasn't so sure about going into the transfers. In the top area not much is possible to change through training. Riders like Siric was similar or better already last season. So we are basically looking at Vermeersch getting stronger and skewing things slightly, but not enough can happen to really tilt things.
There was a couple of options in the PRL department that I would have like to explore, but they came available too late for me to make a move.
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| baseballlover312 |
Posted on 09-08-2026 04:28
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Tour de France Champion
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As always a number of sneaky good signings that will oush you to the top. I think De Plus and Gaudu will be an overperforming combo this year.
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy |
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