Analysis Date: Season 75, Day 50
“Many times, we hear here in OCM the saying ‘This is the End of an Era!’ But none of those was truly an Era like this one!” — Yuri, Team Manager, Season 58
On Day 26 of Season 58, Yuri SuperTeam closed their Sprint Department. It was not a sudden collapse, not a bankruptcy, not the chaos of mismanagement. It was a funeral. A deliberate ending to something that had defined a team for nearly fifty seasons.
4,371 days. Almost twelve real-world years. From Abbot Heinritz’s first pedal stroke in Season 9 to Alípio Almada’s final bow in Season 58—an unbroken line of sprinting excellence that spanned the careers of twenty-three riders, witnessed the rise and fall of dynasties, and earned a place in OCM’s history books.
And then it was over.
What followed was a descent into obscurity so profound that the team would fall to Rank 528—forgotten, dormant, a ghost haunting the lower divisions.
But this is not a tragedy. This is a story of resurrection.
From Rank 528 to THREE-TIME CHAMPION.
From Portugal with fury.
It began, as all great stories do, with a single rider and a dream.
Abbot Heinritz arrived at Yuri SuperTeam in Season 9, a New Zealand sprinter with more ambition than sense. Within one season, he had dragged the team from obscurity into Zyte Division. He was the foundation upon which an empire would be built.
But the true founding father came two seasons later.
“Speaking of Yuri SuperTeam should always be to speak about Patya and his Legacy! Patya was our first super captain, Patya was our inspiration, Patya was our God!”
Patya Gordeyeva (Russia, S11-S21, S33-S39) was the first rider Yuri scouted and trained himself. The first product of the team’s development philosophy. And he delivered results that would set the standard for decades:
When Patya rode, Yuri SuperTeam rode. When Patya won, Portugal celebrated. He wasn’t just a captain—he was the heartbeat of the team for a decade.
With Patya’s eventual decline came the question that haunts every dynasty: Who will carry the torch?
The answer came in the form of a civil war.
“Seasons 21 and 22 will be remembered in the history books for the clash between Gert and Anton! With Patya gone, Anton thought he would be the team’s protégé until Gert arrived.”
Anton Ugolnikov (Russia) had expected to inherit the kingdom. He’d earned the right—Germany Tour podiums, a Helsinki GP victory. He was the logical successor.
Then Gert Sijmonds (Netherlands) walked through the door.
Gert’s easy-going approach to racing drove Anton mad. The tension between them became legendary. Anton eventually forced his way out—but not before the friction had pushed both riders to extraordinary heights.
Gert’s Seasons 22-24 remain the strongest individual performance in team history: 3rd, 4th, and 3rd in the OCM rankings. Norwich-London runner-up. Helsinki GP runner-up. Vuelta de los Castillos SC podiums.
But even Gert wasn’t the pinnacle.
“Tadaki is by far the most successful rider to wear the YST colors. Points-wise, he is currently the 18th best ever cyclist in OCM! Is there anything else that needs to be said?”
Tadaki Ko (Japan, S25-S33) arrived as Gert departed, and immediately proved why dynasties endure through succession rather than stagnation.
Norwich-London winner. Nederlandse Tour runner-up. Helsinki GP specialist. When the team’s internal poll asked riders to name the greatest YST lineup of all time, Tadaki topped the list.
The Fan Favorite YST All-Time Lineup: 1. Tadaki Ko 2. Alípio Almada 3. Patya Gordeyeva 4. Øystein Ottesen 5. Gert Sijmonds 6. Perceval Lasalle
Greatness is exhausting. After Tadaki’s departure, the sprint department continued—but the superstars became fewer, the peaks less frequent.
Qasim Kamal won Copenhagen and Porto. Oluwasegun Henry claimed the Nederlandse Tour podium three times. Perceval Lasalle brought the artistry of hilly sprinting to heights never seen at YST.
But something was changing.
Starting around Season 42, Yuri made a fateful decision: the team would go Portuguese.
Hermenegildo Jordão (S42-S58), Justino Clementino (S43-S55), Cássio Lisboa (S47-S58), Alípio Almada (S49-S58)—all homegrown, all trained in-house, all carrying the green and red of Portugal.
This wasn’t nationalism. It was philosophy. The manager believed that if you wanted to build something lasting, you had to grow it yourself.
Then came the rider who would justify everything.
Maximino Teles was not just good. He was transcendent.
“Thank you Maximino for bringing us our best moments in OCM so far!”
| Achievement | Detail |
|---|---|
| World Championships | Winner, Season 58 |
| Germany Tour GC | Winner, S58 and S60 |
| Germany Tour Podium | S59, S61 |
| 15th Anniversary Race | Winner |
| Career Wins | 11 |
World Champion. The words barely capture what it meant. In Season 58—the same season the team would close its sprint department—Maximino Teles stood on the highest step of the podium at the World Championships.
He was supposed to retire quietly. Instead, he gave Yuri SuperTeam their greatest moment.
“An Era of almost 49 Seasons. 4,371 days. Almost 12 years.”
The decision was made somewhere in Season 58. The sprint department—that had defined Yuri SuperTeam since Abbot Heinritz’s first race—would be dissolved.
Not because they had failed. Because Yuri saw something on the horizon that required a different approach.
The last of the sprinters were released or retired. The 100,000 Club milestone was reached. And then… silence.
Season 64: Rank 409. The collapse had begun.
Season 66: Rank 528. 146 points.
The lowest point in team history. The nadir.
Most managers would have quit. Most teams would have died.
But Yuri was scouting.
“After a couple of seasons without too much competition and a lot of scouting…”
What looked like death was actually gestation.
While the team languished in the 500s, Yuri was building. Identifying talent. Making connections. Preparing for something unprecedented.
When asked later about those seasons, the manager offered no excuses. The plan was always to return stronger.
Season 67: 183rd, 818 points, 12 victories.
Something was stirring.
“Yuri Super’Sprint’Team 2.0”
“After a couple of seasons without too much competition and a lot of scouting, Yuri SuperTeam is back! We have built ourselves 3 different teams, one pure sprinting team, one flat sprint team and one team focused on Volta ao Porto GC.”
Three teams. Not one. Three.
The old Yuri SuperTeam had risen through specialization—pure sprint dominance. The new Yuri SuperTeam would achieve greatness through diversification.
The Three-Army Architecture:
| Squad | Focus | Philosophy |
|---|---|---|
| Pure Sprint | Flat mass sprints | Raw SP power |
| Flat Sprint | Sprints with FR demands | Tactical versatility |
| Volta ao Porto | Stage races | GC capability |
It was audacious. It was unprecedented. And it worked immediately.
Season 68: Rank 18. 2,754 points. 13 victories.
From 528 to 18 in two seasons.
Rank 2. 4,725 points. 16 victories.
So close. One place away from the title. The peloton took notice.
Rank 1. 7,103 points. 22 victories.
CHAMPION.
Five seasons removed from Rank 528. Five seasons from oblivion. And now, the title.
The sprint goals press release recorded everything:
Three wins and a runner-up in the four major sprint targets. Dominance.
Rank 1. 5,355 points. 22 victories.
“Helsinki GP: 1. Brendan Northam”
The same machine. The same precision. The same result.
Rank 3. 5,386 points. 23 victories.
More victories than either championship season—but third place. Navarone had risen. The competition had adapted.
Rank 1. 6,226 points. 16 victories.
THREE-TIME CHAMPION.
From Rank 528 to three Division 1 titles in eight seasons. The most improbable resurrection in OCM history.
OCM Rank #7. Seven-time US Virgin Islands national champion (S68-S74). The rider most responsible for the championship runs.
His consistency defies belief:
| Season | OCM Rank | Wins | Context |
|---|---|---|---|
| 68 | 102nd | 6 | Emergence |
| 69 | 26th | 5 | Arrival |
| 71 | 17th | 6 | First title |
| 72 | 7th | 7 | Peak |
| 74 | 15th | 5 | Third title |
| 75 | 7th | 3+ | Current |
Career: 40 wins. 68 podiums. The steady hand that steered the ship through three championships.
Here is perhaps the most poetic subplot in modern OCM.
Epke “The Doctor” Reiling was raised by POM Wonderful in Division 5. They developed him from Rank 4,413 to Rank 47. They gave him 37 wins and 76 podiums over ten seasons.
Then he moved to Yuri SuperTeam.
At Division 1, surrounded by the best leadout trains money could buy, Epke found his final form: Helsinki GP winner (S69, S71), Vuelta de los Castillos SC winner (S74). What Division 5 built, Division 1 harvested.
POM’s tragedy. Yuri’s triumph.
“Is it possible to win all 5 in 1 season? One thing is for sure, we will keep on trying!”
The S68-S74 press release reveals the obsessive precision behind Yuri’s success:
The Five Sprint Targets:
Best Results Per Target:
| Race | Best | Seasons |
|---|---|---|
| Norwich-London | 1st | S71, S73 |
| Vuelta de los Castillos SC | 1st | S74 |
| Copa Salsa de Cali | 1st | S71 |
| Helsinki GP | 1st | S69, S71, S72 |
| Germany Tour SC | 2nd | S71, S72, S73 |
Best Season: S71 — three wins, one runner-up, one podium.
Seasons with podiums only: S71 and S74.
One target remains unconquered: the Germany Tour Sprint Classification, where they’ve placed second three consecutive seasons but never first. The hunt continues.
| Rider | Age | SP | TQ | Role |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leon Gervais | 31 | 99 | 73 | Pure Sprint Captain |
| Akil Faysal | 30 | 96 | 68 | Sprint Depth |
| Darian Saxton | 31 | 95 | 74 | Sprint |
| Skyler Uijterhoven | 27 | 94 | 79 | Young Sprint |
| Silvano Tino | 31 | 92 | 54 | Sprint Captain (#69) |
| Ronnie Clanachan | 24 | 91 | 85 | Future Star |
| Rider | Age | TQ | SP | FR | Role |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Epke Reiling | 37 | 92 | 70 | 89 | Veteran Engine |
| Davendra Tamani | 33 | 88 | 84 | 44 | Leadout |
| Bond Armstrong | 34 | 87 | 85 | 47 | Leadout Captain |
| Nicolas de Neys | 33 | 83 | 64 | 81 | Support |
| Rider | Age | TT | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chandler Hooper | 33 | 99 | TT Captain (#84) |
| Piet Wagenaar | 31 | 99 | TT Captain (#172) |
| Blazej Krol | 30 | 95 | TT Support |
In OCM’s long history, no team has matched what Yuri SuperTeam accomplished between Seasons 66 and 74.
| Marker | Value |
|---|---|
| Lowest Point | Rank 528, S66 |
| Championships | 3 (S71, S72, S74) |
| Time to Recovery | 5 seasons |
| Dynasty Victories | 106 (S68-S74) |
| Dynasty Results | 271 |
They closed their sprint department after 49 seasons of excellence. They fell to the bottom of the rankings. They were forgotten.
And then they built three armies, climbed back to Division 1, and won three championships in four seasons.
“See you guys around!” — Yuri, Team Manager
The Portuguese Phoenix has risen. And it shows no signs of descending.
From Rank 528 to Three-Time Champion.
Saudade turns to glory.