SotD wrote:
I think you landed a very solid place. Turgis is seriously underrated I think. You'll be very happy with him - especially when also getting to keep Meurisse. They can be a great combo.
The Monsalve, Ellisonde and Potocki combo surely asks for aggressive riding aswell.
Solid cobbles and OK sprinting also. You'll be fine. No worries
Seems like we share the same assessment of where my team is at. For Turgis it is for sure a question in regards to how the game engine treats him since his last succesful season in PCT was a fair few PCMs ago its hard to fully tell how strong he is going to be but he could for sure be an x factor rider, and while I was working on getting a deal struck for Meurisse, the offers just came way too late in the window so it is going to be fun to see that duo work for sure!
It's that time of the year again where we are going to publish our goal races. Overall I believe they are pretty achievable although some of the later moves in transfers will complicate achieving the goals as they are centred around the cobbles and Maxime Daniel!
Rheden GP - Top 5
The Dutch cobbles classic is a race that Daniel has top 5'd in the past and we believe in him to do that once again. Last year we got stuck in a stupid race crash between this and another cobbled classic that we have avoided this year and we believe in Daniel to achieve his third top 5 finsh at Rheden.
Cheshire Cycling Tour - Top 10
The British classic has always been a bit of a mixed bag for us but we believe in the guys to put together a top 10 GC placement this year. GVK finished 11th in 2020 when it was still a stage race and Daniel finished 18th here last year, we believe that this should be a doable goal.
Benelux Challenge - Top 5
This is a race we have strong traditions in. Our worst GC position is a 6th place by Ryan Anderson in 2019 and we have three podium finishes in total, 1 from Alexander Rybakov, 1 from Oscar Riesebeek and 1 from Marko Kump. Riesebeek finished 4th last year and we believe that our team will be one of the strongest here again as we try to achieve the same points total from last year that saw us net well over 300 points from the 6 day stage race.
Omloop Het Nieuwsblad - WIN
Probably our shakiest goal of the season now as Stalleart will most likely win this one ahead of Theuns. But we will not give up hope, Maxime Daniel has 2 consecutive 2nd places and finished 4th the year before, this is a race that suits his skill set and one we hope to win.
PCT Standings - Top 10
We hope to reproduce our top 10 finish from last year but we will see what happens once the season concludes. My personal expectations are that we hit 3/5 of our goals this year.
For the first time we get to race in the same division as the previous season. We have three races planned in January; Down Under Classic, Tour Down Under and Hong Kong Challenge.
Down Under Classic
The Australian opening classic hasnt changed since its inception and has been raced since 2009. We bring former winner Mark Dzamastagic, who will hope to recreate his late attack from 2015. That was also the last time this race wasnt decided by a masssprint so time will tell. Luke Rowe is brought as the main sprinter but we hope that both will try to attack the course.
The full overview of our squad can be seen here:
Guillaume Van Keirsbulck
72
65
71
51
75
73
63
78
70
68
71
58
51
Mark Dzamastagic
78
66
70
65
76
72
76
66
76
78
78
66
65
Maxime Daniel
73
56
69
56
76
76
74
80
76
72
69
74
64
Olav Kooij
70
63
65
67
73
68
65
65
71
73
64
66
70
Luke Rowe
77
54
65
64
74
68
77
74
78
78
74
70
73
Scott Thwaites
72
58
64
60
72
68
74
75
77
74
59
69
60
Sergey Medvedev
72
60
63
69
75
74
72
67
68
66
76
65
69
Jonathan Milan
73
58
62
72
69
77
65
63
71
71
66
63
74
Our goal here is to secure a top 10 finish but our expected points is going to be around 25 points.
Tour Down Under
We stay down under for our second race of the season as we take on the Tour Down Under. This will provide the first outing for new hills captain Anthony Turgis. Our best GC placement last season was Kennaugh and Dzama in 19th and 20th and we hope that Dzama will be able to replicate that but Turgis should be angling for a top 5 GC finish.
The full overview of our squad can be seen here:
Anthony Turgis
73
67
79
66
76
78
70
65
70
77
83
67
68
Xandro Meurisse
73
74
77
67
74
74
74
68
71
78
72
68
68
Guillaume Van Keirsbulck
72
65
71
51
75
73
63
78
70
68
71
58
51
Mark Dzamastagic
78
66
70
65
76
72
76
66
76
78
78
66
65
Karel Camrda
68
66
67
64
69
70
68
54
66
71
70
68
66
Olav Kooij
70
63
65
67
73
68
65
65
71
73
64
66
70
Scott Thwaites
72
58
64
60
72
68
74
75
77
74
59
69
60
Sergey Medvedev
72
60
63
69
75
74
72
67
68
66
76
65
69
Our goal here is a top 5 GC placement plus good depth points. Expected points: 70ish.
Hong Kong Challenge
We stay in the Eastern hemisphere of the world as we venture to Hong Kong for their challenge. Pretty much the same squad that was in TDU makes its way to HKC however we come here with much more tempered expectations and hope for two good stage results on the non tt stages and some lower GC placements.
The full overview of our squad can be seen here:
Nat.
Name
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
Anthony Turgis
73
67
79
66
76
78
70
65
70
77
83
67
68
Xandro Meurisse
73
74
77
67
74
74
74
68
71
78
72
68
68
Oscar Riesebeek
74
70
73
67
73
75
69
73
69
72
76
71
71
Filippo Baroncini
72
64
71
71
71
75
70
63
66
70
72
69
69
Michael Antonelli
68
71
70
63
67
70
69
56
65
72
71
75
64
Karel Camrda
68
66
67
64
69
70
68
54
66
71
70
68
66
Amith Udaya Kumara
74
62
67
54
74
70
65
75
71
67
73
68
54
Sergey Medvedev
72
60
63
69
75
74
72
67
68
66
76
65
69
Our goal here is to pray for good results on the stages and net around 20 points.
As seen in the nominations thread Lampre - Pinarello and Rabobank have combined forces for the Tour de l'Avenir. This was a natural partnership due to the Olav Kooij's current loan out to the team.
A fun team with some great talents. Opponents will be blinded by the team as well any time they look at the jersey, a solid tactic that we've also been using for the last two seasons.
Rheden GP 
Cheshire Cycling Tour 
