Written by Amstel Flanders at 06:19 12/8-2023
Greetings again, time for another update of the Belgian structure. On the previous PR, we confirmed both Azargoshasp's and Fayard's renewal for the joy of our staff and fans. As Men become Gods Tour finished, our riders had some well-deserved rest and recover from the great effort of racing in such steep and legendary roads.
Metodija Aksentiev: Mr. Masson flighted to Skopje – – witnessing massive celebration of Macedonian civilians around their greatest rider, Metodija Aksentiev; who wore his bronze jersey as first SC winner of the Greek tour from a platform installed in front of Macedonia Square. Around 10,000 people occupied the most iconic square of the capital city, waving flags of their country and cheering their champion; a very emotional Metodija saluted the crowd with both arms extended over his head.
“This is better than the last time, thanks for all your support, let’s keep riding together,” Aksentiev said through the mic while people cheered and whistled louder.
But this great celebration is not the focus of this segment. Later on, while public cleaners were dismantling the platform and leaving everything absolutely flawless, Richard Masson and Metodija’s agent had a meeting in the hotel for about 90 minutes. They didn’t make any comments after leaving the hotel, however; Aksentiev’s manager seemed confident and a light smile on his face. Still, there’s no official statement from both parts. Looks like there will be more meetings in the near future.
Local and international sport experts conjecture on what has happened, some speculate there’s a huge gap between what the team offers and what manager and rider want; others think the potential conditions of a new deal are established. All podcasts agree Aksentiev has now some advantage in the negotiation after his latest results.
New renewal offer: 1 season (S67, he will be 37), salary down to 600k$ (S66 is 1,7M$ - previous offer was 300k$ salary), 25k$ (50k$ previously) bonus if scoring from BA. Agent’s counter offer 1,01M$ salary for S67, still no BA bonus, a new meeting expected soon, this time rider will take part.
Konštantín Hanák: While Team Ambassador was meeting Macedonian manager in a hotel of Skopje, manager Williamson arrived to our HQs followed by Hanák and his father (also his agent). The Slovakian young star had completed a good debut in tours as he turned out the best support for Aksentiev in Greece, also scored his first result before the race (2nd).
Considering his renewal as crucial for the team’s future, the highest staff of the squad leads all the negotiations with the Hanáks. A couple days later, Mr. Hanák offered some words to some journalists when arriving to his country. “Konštantín really appreciates all what Amstel Flanders has done for him so far, he’s very happy and lucky to have such good structure around to develop all his potential, his main priority is renewing his contract, I can’t deny we have received offers but we will ponder them if there’s no chance with Amstel.”
Fascinated by his abilities, Gary Lineker follows ‘Case Hanák’ with deep interest. Quoting some confidential sources concerned of the negotiations, Lineker assured one of the requests of Hanák to sign a contract extension is to count with at least one or two fellow countrymen in his Lead-Out train. “Besides discrepancy about his salary, there’s also this particular request of Hanák, who aims to recruit Slovakian sprinters or helpers to establish his sprinting unit. There are less than 5 candidates in cycling who meet the criteria. Apparently, Amstel’s manager thinks it’s a deliberate strategy to gain time on negotiations rounds and eventually come with an offer from a D1/2 team,” concluded Lineker in his program.
Questioned by a Belgian magazine about these rumors, manager Williamson let out a quiet laugh before replying. “I’m not very sure what are the intentions of Mr. Lineker but, I can confirm such request wasn’t discussed in our meeting.”
Both part agree there’s plenty time to negotiate and from the team’s view, they are working on every possible way to offer the best contractual conditions for their new star. Will he stay or leave?
New renewal offer: 5 more seasons (current deal ends at S70, extended to S75, previous offer was S74. He will be 27 under current deal, 32 years old with new contract), salary increased to 1,5M$ (40k$ currently), will be allowed to choose his own calendar, however he’d assist Lindberg if necessary. 250k bonus (previous offer 200k$) if he makes it to Slovakian NT and 500k bonus if scoring results (up to 1M$ add ons if winning a WT race within 3 seasons, starting from S66). His father's (agent) counter offer a 2M$ salary, 100k bonus if scoring 5+ results for the team (550k was the first offer), a total of 2,1M$ salary and only 2 more seasons (until S72, Hanák will be 29). The cash discounted from the results bonus has to be redirected in hiring two Slovakian sprinters to build his Lead-Out squad. Fully agree with NT bonuses.
Sylvain Nkurunziza: There’s no much happening on Nkurunziza’s front. His agent still hasn’t contacted our team and the rider is on vacations, before coming back to competition. Manager Williamson fears the worse…
Over n’ Out.
Subscribers: 6
| |
Comments
Well, that one was a lucky result, Cause i got an injury in the first stage. So needed to win all the rest and wait.
You have good experiences with oldies? I normally degrade them to helpers too often because results sometimes lack.
Chris Horner was way old and doped, but some old riders perform really well IRL.
Yeah, now he's ready to join Abe Simpson.
Nice to see an oldie get some podiums (Metodija Aksentiev).
|
Other Team's Press Releases
|
|
|
No press releases available..
|
|
|
|