Written by Velosipedska at 20:48 12/11-2020
Greetings to fans, press and other readers. We have a lot to talk about regarding the organisation. Velosipedska have decided on a major switch, so let’s get right to it.
---TEAM NEWS---
After weighing our options, the Velosipedska board has decided to focus on climbing races for the foreseeable future. With new talents in that department (more on them in the Rider News section), we believe it’s imperative to build a perfect environment for these youngsters to shine. Since we are planning to invest in our climbing squad, we also think it’s unfair to treat our sprint team as a B-squad. That is why we are sad to announce that most of our sprinters and members of the sprint train will be leaving our team soon. We are sure they will all land spots on great teams, and interest is already high for some of them. Transfer news surrounding them will follow soon.
This press release will also cover the results of S54, since we have a lot to be proud of. In terms of team structure, we completed our staff, which now consists of 3 doctors, 2 mechanics and 1 bus driver, as well as our PR manager and team manager KrMees. We are hoping to sign trainers soon, but Macedonians love to keep cycling for as long as possible, so we’ll have to wait for experienced trainers to apply.
Summary of our economic position after S54:
Income
-------------------
Starting Balance: 199,144
Funding: 20,000
Rider Sales: 126,220
Prize Money: 142,000
Jobs: 87,500
Sponsors: 206,000
Merchandise: 12,796
Expenses
-------------------
Team Upgrades: 25,000
Supplies: 24,000
Staff: 60,000
Scouting: 13,000
Rider Hires: 73,721
Training: 429,000
Net Balance
-------------------
168,939
Compared to S53, we made a bit more money in almost every department, except for sponsors, who have been limited by recent regulations by the OCM governing body. We’ve spent a lot more on training, and less on the team structure during this season.
---RIDER NEWS---
First of all, Cedomir Ivanov, Riste Sakiri and Mirsad Bajrami have left Velosipedska. We will do a full press release covering the restructuring of the team, where they will have a deserved spot to commemorate their achievements with the team.
Metodija Aksentiev, Vladimir Gavalovski, Nderim Bogatinov and Borislav Velovski are also set to leave the team, but we have no details as of yet.
Similarly, the signings of Nikola Shaqiri and Jovan Georgievski will be covered in detail in the next post. We are of course really happy to sign a great climber in Jovan, and a great talent in Nikola, so stay tuned for more news!
This will be the 3d time we can celebrate our end of season tradition - rider awards. The rider awards are still divided into three categories - Talent of the Season, Teammate of the Season, Rider of the Season. Without further ado…
-Talent of the Season-
Jordan Spirkoski has finished his training and is showing some great values on our power meters. The youngster suffered an unfortunate injury right before Oryx, but he’s ready to perform this season. He will try to gain experience supporting Riste and Jovan, but during this season or the next we are expecting Jordan to fight for a YC. Jordan is a solid overall rider, with an aptitude for time trialling, giving him a slight edge over many pure climbers in tours. We think Jordan has a bright future ahead of him.
-Teammate of the Season-
Vladimir Gavalovski is this year’s top teammate, due to his support in the sprint train and his personal achievements. Gava has been a champ, both as a supporting rider and as a leader. During Metodija Aksentiev’s break Gavalovski was allowed to lead the sprint train and try to gain points for Velosipedska. We were already happy he reached 3 top-9’s during the absence of his captain, but we never expected him to follow in Metodija’s footsteps to win the 1st stage of the Odyssey of the Oryx. Our sprint train will be sold this season, but Vladimir will surely find success in his next endeavours.
-Rider of the Season-
Our first ever Rider of the Season has done it again, Riste Nikolovski returned after a quiet S53 to ride his best Odyssey of the Oryx ever. He got 4 top 9’s in 6 stages, and a 5th place overall. A few days later, he actually crossed the finish line for the first time in The Kirkjubøur Race (his only other win was the S53 Oryx YC). Currently, Riste is the best Macedonian climber of all time, he almost made 200k in prize money and 615 points. He has 2 OCM Tour wins, 8 top-3’s and 26 top-9’s. We are confident Riste will continue to be important for us in S55.
---RACE NEWS---
The end of the season is always a quiet affair. Fast on wheels was our last goal, and we are happy with our performance. Metodija Aksentiev managed a 5th and 3d place, Vladimir Gavalovski got a 7th place. We had hoped for a bit more, but an unfortunate off day for Metodija on stage 1 ruined our chances in the SC. Overall, our performance vastly improved compared to last year, and the competition was quite strong. Since Riste was already on break by this time, the last few races of the season were of little importance. The schedule for the next few weeks also consists of minor races, we will announce greater targets after the team restructuring.
---SEASON CONCLUSION---
The season conclusion comes with a bit of melancholy this year. It’s probably the last time we will review the sprint train, so let’s celebrate their achievements this season. Metodija Aksentiev and Vladimir Gavalovski got top-9’s or better in 14 races, netting Velosipedska 66k and 252 points. Gavalovski followed in Aksentiev’s footsteps by winning Odyssey of the Oryx stage 1, our first back to back victory. Aksentiev never reached his top form this season, but still managed a couple 2d places and a decent showing at Fast on wheels.
The Odyssey of the Oryx was our greatest tour to date, Cedomir Ivanov and Riste Nikolovski joined Gavalovski in the fun, so Velosipedska ended up in the top 9 in every single stage. More about the exploits was already said in his awards section, Riste has been the strongest rider in our team since he was trained.
Overall, we achieved a bit more than last season and find ourselves in Div 4. We hope to stay in the higher divisions, but we expect to face tough opposition. This season, our main goal will be building the best climbing team we can build, and being competitive in either Div 4 or Div 5. We have several climbers that could compete in top form, so we will discuss their targets after the restructuring.
Thanks for keeping up with Macedonian cycling, these are turbulent times for the team, but we believe this will make Macedonian cycling stronger. Velosipedska will always keep scouting for talent, whether they are sprinters, cobblers, TT’ers or climbers. Perhaps, in the future, a financially strong Velosipedska will launch a sprint team once again.
Kind regards and thanks for reading,
KrMees (Manager)
Vujadin Mileski (PR)
Subscribers: 10
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Comments
Great post, best of luck with switching to your climbing focus this season - some really impressive riders in your ranks!
Interesting. Probably smart to get one good team in CL or SP first before going to chase another. Good luck in season 55!
Bold management-move, curious how it will affect your results! Really nice climbing-team, good luck with them!
It was interesting to watch you go with CL and SP, but specialization is certainly a rational decision. Spirkoski looks very nice, pity his CL isn´t very good, but other than that he´s a nice tour rider. I´m looking forward to seeing him go.
Any team looking for sprinters can message me, I'm looking for private deals, but some might end up on the forums.
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