Fastned, founded in 2012, is operating a network of EV charging stations in the Netherlands and in several other countries in Europe such as France, Germany, UK, Switzerland and Belgium, which shows the way the team wants to continue. Strengthening the Dutch and Benelux core and the neighbouring countries.
The team steps in at a tough time after the relegation season 2022 and is supposed to quickly help them get back to the Pro Tour level. Also the team is slowly in need of a rebuild and has all the support from the company to do so.
The 2022 PT squad is impossible to keep together for 2023 due to the reduced wage cap as also the talent improvements by mainly Vansevenant and Vanhoucke.
On the opposite several riders reached their age level and started to decrease, in especially Goos, Barbin, Koep, Sergent and Schädlich, while others are soon to hit that age including our leaders De Bie and Wellens.
Edited by roturn on 20-07-2023 12:40
New pastures and a big change in sponsorship! Must admit that this wasnt how I expected to end up in the same division as you but I assume that with the core that you have that an amaysim-esque season should be on the table for you and an easy promotion should be on the cards!
Same as for Duolingo, rough to end up relegating in such a close battle - especially if the guy who previously did so well in the final race of the year just fails. It'll definitely be interesting to see how you shape your roster for PCT, as it's clearly a PT lineup you currently have. I suppose none of your leaders will take a major paycut - instead, Vansevenant levelling up will probably annihilate all potential savings. Wish you good luck for those negotiations...
Looking forward to riding in the same division as you, although just like WJ I'd have hoped to do so only in a few years, and one division higher All the best for your bounce-back campaign - and maybe have some talks during transfers? You never know
It'll take some getting used to the new sponsor but it might be the fresh start you need to bounce right back up! I certainly didn't think I'd meet you on the roads so quickly but none the less wish you all the best!
One of the least deserved relegations for sure. Looking forward to seeing how the lineup changes with the new sponsorship and downsizing, but I anticipate you'll be at the top of the PCT.
Just as I leave the Dutch region as my primary focus, a big, bad, 'fast' team comes in with a super squad
Big shame for that relegation though. Didn't think that was even possible with the transfer window you had! Immense squad for PCT, even with a couple of required sales I'd imagine. Will be weird getting used to the new livery but I don't think success will be a problem
Still feels unreal to see you in PCT, but something tells me you'll leave the letter C behind faster than an electric car can be filled at a Fastned tank station. I like the jersey a lot as well, and I'm looking forward to proving you for another season that Zepuntke is better than Van Hooydonck.
@all: let`s hope, you are all right and I can bounce back to PT immediately.
Having a sponsor change was not really planned before, but feels like a good time to do so.
@bushwackers: This year I might agree, but in the end my team was struggling for 2-3 seasons straight. In toal, this likely deserves a relegation then I guess.
@nemolito: Who is that Zeptuntke guy? Any good?
The renewals session was obviously pretty tough with also all my goals missed last year. It was a gamble between trying to keep some value riders to sell them afterwards in balance to a possible renewal fine. At what point is the potential fee lower than a renewal fine? Was really not easy to say and in the end I decided to go for a little bit less risky way, which did cost me 2-3 really nice riders, I would have liked to keep or sell in transfers instead.
Big farewell
Nat.
Name
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
Age
Tim Wellens
72
82
75
72
79
80
76
62
63
68
64
70
72
32
Marc Goos
70
76
73
75
77
74
74
55
66
72
69
67
75
33
Enrico Barbin
68
67
77
62
74
72
68
56
70
75
64
66
62
33
Giulio Ciccone
67
77
73
71
70
70
73
50
51
69
59
59
79
29
Thomas Koep
67
74
72
71
73
74
73
52
51
56
53
64
71
33
Jesse Sergent
73
59
63
74
60
65
62
50
55
50
64
53
74
35
Lucas Schädlich
64
50
58
74
61
62
64
56
64
67
58
61
74
35
First of, seeing basically all the big riders coming in last transfers leaving already, hurts most, as the decision back then was made to get them for a safe season instead of training e.g. Carboni quite a bit. The relegation apparently hurts a lot there as later decision could have been better now.
Second, losing Tim Wellens, my best rider from 2022 hurts just as much. He was the main gamble to go for a trade or loss with the renewals fine in mind. Maybe, likely, I could have gotten a higher transfer fee for him than a renewals fine, but as every transfer season is different and I couldn`t really go the gamble, this was a tough decision due to age. The other option would have been Olivier in a very similar spot, but age and loyalty went this way.
Goos it another rider that only joined last season and while I had high hopes in him due to the TT combination he unfortunately never really showed up to the expectations, age and wage expectations made him leave again.
Barbin, Sergent and Schädlich as well were mainly age decisions, while Ciccone was asking for too much money for basically 0 points in return. With Vanhoucke having maxed now and is a very similar rider, the Italian is the only non age decision here.
Last but not least Koep. My longest rider in the team joining in season 1 and so one year earlier than Olivier even. He is probably only known for his consistent GT triple in every season of PT for me, which (I probably should count) might be at 15 GTs in a row or something like this? He finished all, think, reached the top50 once, had not a single breakaway appearance but was at least decent in 2-3 stages. Age saw him drop a bit and the relegation sees it the best time to let him go to another team.
Post Renewals Squad
Nat.
Name
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
Age
Sean De Bie
73
71
84
72
77
76
69
68
72
75
74
65
68
32
Daan Olivier
72
81
76
69
76
80
77
59
64
71
70
71
69
31
Mauri Vansevenant
73
73
78
69
77
77
70
62
69
78
78
70
71
24
Dylan Groenewegen
73
61
67
64
74
71
85
59
82
81
59
64
72
30
Nathan Van Hooydonck
73
63
71
72
75
74
69
80
61
72
64
67
72
28
Giovanni Carboni
70
78
76
69
73
73
73
62
66
69
61
72
69
28
Harm Vanhoucke
71
77
72
72
71
72
76
63
67
68
72
70
73
26
Nico Denz
71
74
76
67
70
70
70
65
63
73
71
65
71
29
Arvid De Kleijn
70
61
75
60
71
71
76
66
74
75
64
64
67
29
Taco Van der Hoorn
75
60
70
55
76
69
60
75
56
66
84
66
52
30
Ludovic Robeet
76
61
67
61
72
75
65
74
67
69
77
69
67
29
Jasper Bovenhuis
73
58
71
59
74
70
72
74
62
68
79
65
59
32
The post renewals team is pretty strong still having a good puncheur core in De Bie and Vansevenant, some climbers in Olivier, Carboni and Vanhoucke, Groenewegen as main sprinter and the full cobble squad around Van Hooydonck.
That said, it`s 12 riders only on 2.450.000 € wage used. Shit. Can`t keep them all...not yet 100% decided and transfers and negotiations might always change things, but from an easy calculation, you might guess what rider or two might be the most obvious riders in need to leave the team for a transfer fee, and no, it`s not Vansevenant. More likely, who would be immediately best of PT and someone who normally should guarantee wins as seen in 2021.
While it was basically a lot of age decisions, in fact the team is almost fully Benelux now with only Carboni and Denz being left from other neighbouring countries. The plan is to keep this focus again with all the needed fillers to the PCT minimum limit.
Very tough offseason for you guys obviously, having to cut a lot of good riders to stay in. Wellens obviously becomes a big fish of the transfer season and would have been a great sell, but I think you made the right move to cut it off considering how huge the fines would have gotten adding some of those salaries back in.
Of course, the biggest loss is Koep though. He never was able to forge his leadership legacy thanks to his crash in the 2015 Tour of the Middle East while on loan with us, but he was the epitome of a dependable, cheap rider who filled his role. He will be missed I'm sure.
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy
Regardless of division, there are some brilliant riders in that bunch. Also the released ones. Really surprised you didn't go for a minor fine and keeping 1-2 of the sales perspectives, eg. Ciccone, who should be relatively easy to sell. Obviously not knowing his demands, but I would expect him close to Vanhoucke, and I would expect you to easily sell him for 500K especially given the amount of Italian teams joining.
Marc Goos is an interesting rider, I would have opted for a bid there, but let's see if he's on a "decent" wage from the FA instead. Wellens obviously interesting for many in the FA pool. I suspect his wage vs. fine is difficult to meassure so I do understand that decision.
I guess one from the pool of De Bie, Groenewegen and Olivier will have to go. If yes, please do let me know! I don't have a lot of cash to splash around, but I do have decent riders to swap around with significantly lower wages Edited by SotD on 07-08-2023 14:21
Ouch, such an outcome definitely hurts. As you say, some sales will obviously have to happen - I might actually be interested in one of those riders...
Some of the released ones are also very interesting, though, and I agree that you might have been able to sell some of them for good money. Well, now it's FA carnage for them...
Good luck for keeping most of the remaining core together - this should still be easily sufficient to bounce back!
Didn't expect Wellens to be cut honestly, as he was a surefire sellable asset. But I guess not taking the fine trumped that possibility. Still a great core of riders that remain and a couple of expected sales should make enough room to fill in the rest. Look forward to following your moves in transfers
@bbl: Yes, Koep hurts. But with me being out of 3 GTs a year, he is ready to leave I guess. The year on loan with you still sucks as the plan was to see him riding against weaker riders, unfortunately it was still before cutting the crashes.
@SotD: Ciccone iirc I tried to sell in previous years, but never really got a decent enough offer and this year he was one of the backup riders I really considered but in the end decided to just stay under the fine level. In transfers we surely will start to share some ideas regarding the big guys.
@Ollfardh: Always sucks, when riders from the team Nation become available and then the own financial situation is not really good to one.
@Fabianski: Didn`t want to make the situation more complicate than needed. So every rider having caused a fine, would have been one more rider to find a new home for with a chance of financial gain for some risk.
@Abhishek: In fact I had some other ideas previously to keep Wellens, but no matter what, it was basically cutting De Bie, Wellens, Olivier or Groenewegen in renewals. In the end Wellens or Olivier due to same rider type and I might have cut the stronger one, but also the one with +1 age, more wage and the one not having stayed for almost 10 years with the team now.
@Nemolito: Stats...unimportant...iirc. Hooydonck was miles better in 2021 and not to talk about his dominance in 2023 of course.
Transfer Availability
Nat.
Name
OVR
XP
Age
Wage
Sean De Bie
79,97
4.100
32
630.000
yes/maybe
Daan Olivier
78,74
4.100
31
430.000
maybe
Mauri Vansevenant
78,15
4.57
24
345.000
no/loan
Dylan Groenewegen
77,99
4.100
30
385.000
no
Nathan Van Hooydonck
76,52
4.100
28
150.000
maybe
Giovanni Carboni
76,24
4.100
28
130.000
maybe
Harm Vanhoucke
74,87
4.100
26
85.000
maybe
Nico Denz
74,34
4.100
29
65.000
maybe
Arvid De Kleijn
74,21
4.100
29
60.000
maybe
Taco Van der Hoorn
74,01
4.100
30
60.000
maybe
Ludovic Robeet
73,74
4.100
29
55.000
maybe
Jasper Bovenhuis
73,3
4.100
32
50.000
maybe
There are only a very few ways to keep all my leaders really and still get up to the team rider minimum and this would be very risky to try really. More likely one of the yes/maybe guys just has to leave and transfers will tell, which one.
All the "maybe" obviously depend on the different possibilities. Once a specific leader is going to leave, many maybe will turn to no.
Two riders, that are just very sure to remain are Groenewegen as highly consistent rider and still having couple years at peak level as also Vansevenant, who is the future of the team and here a loan is the maximum.
Fastned 2023/24 
All the best for your bounce-back campaign - and maybe have some talks during transfers? You never know 
Age saw him drop a bit and the relegation sees it the best time to let him go to another team. 
