The Duck That Would Not Die: The Saga of Andeby

Analysis Date: Season 75, Day 50

Prologue: Duck Town

Andeby. Danish for “Duck Town.” Like Duckburg. Donald Duck. Scrooge McDuck. Real intimidating stuff.

Not saying naming your cycling team after a cartoon is a bad omen. Just saying this team has crashed four times and been relegated to Division 2 twice. Coincidence? Probably. But also, maybe don’t name your team after a duck.

Anyway, this is Andeby’s story. Four-time champions. Four-time catastrophe. They put the team up for sale once and nobody wanted it. But hey—still here.

Andeby: Where winning championships and total collapse are basically the same thing.

Part I: The DP-Slavery Era (S29-S36)

“We’ve been in the DP-slavebusiness for quite some time.” — Donald, Team Manager

Here’s the thing about Andeby’s origin story: they weren’t actually trying to be a cycling team. They were trying to make money. Buy cheap riders, train them, flip them for profit. Not technically what the game was designed for, but nobody said they couldn’t.

“I spend most my days drunk! Hah!” — Dougie the Dog (Donald’s coaching alter ego), S34

Yes, the manager wrote press releases as a drunk dog. Everyone deals with middle management differently.

The First Peak (S34-S36)

Rank 7. Eleven victories. They were just trying to make money and somehow became elite. Classic.

“So I finally did something that Liverpool never seem to accomplish, breaking the top 4. This achievement also completed the norwegian top 4, which means I am better than all foreigners!” — Donald, S36

Modest? No. Accurate? Debatable.

Season 37: Rank 141.

And just like that—poof. First collapse. From 7th to 141st in one season. If you’re keeping score at home, that’s bad.

Part II: The Adonis Eruption (S38)

Okay, so this part’s actually impressive. Sorry.

Adônis Lourenço showed up—Brazilian sprinter, absolute freak of nature—and just… went nuclear.

Fourth. In the world. Thirteen wins in one season. The guy was basically cheating, except he wasn’t, he was just that good.

Andeby finished Rank 5 with 19 victories. Still their best season ever, statistically. Everything was pointing toward dynasty.

“This was supposed to happen in Season 39 with Adonis leading the lines. But seasons of work with thorough planning and effort got completely shattered when the game was changed.” — Donald, years later

Oh yeah—the game mechanics changed. Just… changed. All that planning? Worthless. All that preparation? Garbage. Cool. This is fine.

Season 39: Rank 64. Season 41: Rank 308.

From Rank 5 to Rank 308. Three hundred and eight. Didn’t even know there were 308 teams.

Part III: The Yo-Yo Years (S39-S50)

Here’s where it gets fun. Most teams either stay good or fade away. Andeby did neither. They just… oscillated. Like a cursed ping-pong ball.

Three times they climbed to the summit. Three times they fell off a cliff. Almost impressive how consistent they were at being inconsistent.

The Second Peak (S46-S47)

Fourth place! Highest finish ever! Adonis was 30 but still grinding! This was it! The breakthrough!

Season 49: Rank 267.

Narrator: It was not the breakthrough.

Part IV: Zero (S50-S51)

“And then we were broke. I guess moving away from Norway does that to you.” — Donald, S50

One word. One press release. “Zero.”

The money was gone. The slave-trading business model had collapsed. The move away from Norway—away from the contacts, the deals, the whole operation—drained the treasury dry.

Then this happened:

“Team for sale”

“Available for private deals. Alright alright. I wont go into long negotations. So u can bid if u feel like it, and ill say yes or no. Or u can not. :-)”

The team went up for sale. Very casual about it. Very “whatever happens, happens.”

Nobody bought them.

Not a single bid. Literally free, and nobody wanted them. That’s—look, not saying it hurt. Just saying they went from “four-time future champions” to “unwanted” in about three seasons.

But fine. Nobody wants them? They’ll just… keep going. Out of spite, mostly.

Part V: Norwegian Oil Money (S52-S62)

“As arab oil-sheiks take over international football, Norwegian oil money is going to pumped into the world of OCM! We still wont consider ourself as a serious cycling team, but maybe a plan will reveal itself somewhere along the way.” — Donald, S52

“Maybe a plan will reveal itself.” That’s the motto. Has been for 46 seasons.

The rebuild began. Got Medwin Gebert—Canadian, solid, nothing flashy. Then Jens Maeland, Daniel Van De Wijngaert, Frederik Dale. Workers. Grinders. The kind of guys who show up every day and just… score points.

Not superstars. Medwin peaked at #25—nowhere near Adonis’s #4. But here’s the thing: they didn’t collapse after one season. Revolutionary concept for Andeby.

For the first time in team history, a gradual rise. No explosion. No collapse. Just steady improvement.

Nobody believed it either.

Part VI: The Championship (S63)

“This season has somehow gone really well.” — Donald, S63

“Somehow.” Even Donald didn’t understand it.

But there it was:

Champions. First place. By over 1,200 points.

Thirty-four seasons of climbing and falling and climbing and falling and getting rejected by buyers and—

Champions.

Season 63 stats:

• Mæland: 3 wins, 7 podiums
• Gebert: 2 wins including ITT World Champion
• Giara: 2 wins, 5 podiums
• Total: $663,500 in prize money

“The strong point-scoring comes mostly from exceptional consistency.”

Consistency. Andeby. The yo-yo team. The duck that couldn’t stay up or down. They became consistent.

Take a moment to process that.

Part VII: The Dynasty (S63-S68)

Four championships in six seasons. Three consecutive titles.

The team that couldn’t stay ranked for more than two seasons straight won three championships in a row. Life is weird.

The Dynasty Heroes

Ludovico Quinta. Arrived Season 63. Rode through all four titles. TT99. The man won 10 World Championship ITTs. Still on the roster at 35, surrounded by teenagers in Division 2.

Ten ITT World Championships. While everyone else was figuring out how not to collapse, Quinta was just calmly dominating one discipline forever.

Part VIII: The Fall (S69-Present)

You knew this was coming. It’s Andeby. This is what they do.

Division 2. The four-time champions got relegated.

Dale, Van De Wijngaert, Maeland—all gone after S69. Gebert retired after S70. The dynasty dismantled itself.

So Andeby did what they always do: crashed spectacularly and started over.

Part IX: The Present (S75)

“Millionaire!” — Latest press release title

From “Zero” to “Millionaire!” in 25 seasons. Full financial circle.

They went broke trying to compete. Now they’re rich and in Division 2. Perfect.

What’s Left

Ludovico Quinta (35) — TT99. Last survivor of the dynasty. Four championships. Ten ITT World Championships. Now he rides in Division 2 with a bunch of kids, like a retired superhero coaching little league.

The Youth Core

Fourteen riders under 29. Average stat of 40. Starting from scratch. Again. For the fifth time.

Epilogue: What Have We Learned

“Dont be a prick. Best of luck to everyone, unless ur a prick.” — Donald, S74

Andeby has crashed four times from elite status. Here’s the record:

See the pattern? Every time they fall, they come back stronger. Eventually.

The question isn’t if Andeby returns to Division 1. The question is how many seasons of mediocrity and/or dormancy they’ll endure first.

The Two Legends

Two eras. Two stars. One team that doesn’t know when to quit.

Adonis was fireworks—#4 in the world, 13 wins in one season, #2 Brazilian of all time.

Medwin was… dependable. The kind of guy who just shows up and scores points. Not exciting. Extremely useful.

Combined: 41 wins across two generations of Andeby chaos.

Final Assessment

Official Palmares

Tour Jerseys:

• World Championships ITT: 10 (Quinta. Just Quinta.)
• World Championships: 1
• Cymru Taith: 3
• Volta ao Porto: 2
• Essex Tour: 1

Classic Trophies:

• Helsinki GP: 1
• Vejle-København: 1
• Mito-Tokyo: 1

Data Sources

• Web: Press releases (“Dougie the Dog,” “Zero,” “Team for sale,” “Season 63 review”)
• Web: Team History (S29-S75 rankings)
• Web: Rider profiles (Adônis Lourenço, Medwin Gebert)
• Database: Current roster stats

Four falls. Four rises. Four titles.

Nobody else has failed this spectacularly this many times and still won four championships.

Duck Town. Still here.