I'll admit that you made some deals I was really baffled by, like throwing Galta plus a million at Ardila, or giving away Tenorio and Kwiat for Almeida - but given that these were perfect fits for your strategy, I definitely understand these better now. Unfortunately, you weren't as generous with Theuns, asking for 750k in addition to THE one and only Gabby
In all seriousness, I think you did a great job, and even a declining Phinney will still be great until 2025 at least. In general, your climbers' depth is great (although I'm not really a fan of one-dimensional guys like Brozyna or Stancu). You clearly lost some prowess on the hills with Kwiato's departure, though, but I suppose that might be looking for Ardila to fill this gap starting in 2024.
As was already mentioned, signing Phinney would've been a great opportunity to also strengthen the TT department in general, which you partly did with Campenaerts, but it's obviously not enough for a competitive TTT setup at PT level.
Altur is yet to confirm that he isn't just a money dump, so let's hope he'll work out for you - given that his arrival allowed me to get Theuns, I appreciate that deal anyway
And while you obviously don't have anyone for the flat classics - neither sprinter nor great rouleur - your prologue lineup looks pretty insane now, with both Gabby and Keough joining. Will be interesting to see whether that gamble pays off for you!
It was a pleasure discussing with you once again, and happy we finally came to an agreement after last year's fruitless negotiations around Basso Good luck for the season - and yeah, Top 5 contender could be a good call.
Congrats on the rebuild. Feels like you have a great platform to build from and Phinney strong enough to keep you in good shape for a couple of seasons.
Very happy to see Keough have a chance at the PT level and with a race calendar where his PRL strength can really play. Glad we could give Seigle a good home as well.
A lot to like here, and winning the Phinney sweeps of course is a highlight. Took an aging team heading into a potentially troubling re-build period and just smashed it out the park. Easily PT safe and with the room to grow.
Love what you’ve done with an ageing team. I also questioned some of the moves you made during transfers, like Ardila <—> Galta, but can see you knew exactly what you were doing. All the best with the coming season
Good luck for the season - and yeah, Top 5 contender could be a good call.
