It's late November, and Qhubeka Assos director Lars Mikkelsen has spent much of the offseason fielding inquiries from riders and agents as the South African team tries to build a last-minute roster on a shoestring budget.

According to the Danes, about 100 riders have contacted them about possible contracts after it was confirmed last week that Swiss apparel brand Asos will cover the team's budget for the coming year. Douglas Ryder's team was facing closure after its title sponsor, NTT, announced that it would pull out of the deal at the end of this year.

Most of Ryder's high-profile players were pulled out by rival teams, with Michael Valgren, Ben O'Connor, and Ben King moving teams. The team is making a big move for Fabio Aru, and Cycling News reported last week that the Italian rider is close to signing.

"We are busy building the team in every sense of the word. Every day we are clearing some items, but a project like this is never really finished because it is always moving," Mikkelsen told Cycling News on Monday morning. [The] last few weeks have been busy. A lot of agents have contacted me and Douglas. We have a list of about 100 names that want to be part of this team. We are trying to figure out the right composition and make sure we have enough depth in the team and enough experienced players to handle the three grands tourneys."

"At the same time, we want to be competitive in other areas, such as the cobbled classics and the Ardennes. Of course, the key for the Grand Tours is to have sprinters who can perform. At this point in the season, time and budget are limited.

Mikkelsen has been vetting riders and confirmed that the team is "more than halfway" through building its roster for next season. Jay Thomson, Reinard Janse van Rensburg, and Nick Dlamini have been offered contract extensions to remain, and the team is also in discussions with Simon Clark of EF Pro Cycling.

Giacomo Nizzolo, the team's best sprinter in 2020, is the first to re-sign, confirmed on November 23, Max Valscheid, Domenico Pozzovivo, Andreas Stockbro, Michael Gogle, Dylan Sunderland, and Victor Kampenaerts have new contracts through the end of 2022. Carlos Barbero has been given a one-year contract extension. The team is still looking for riders to keep the team at about 27-28 for next season.

"We are not taking every agent at their word, we are doing our own research. We are using the networks that my crew and I have to find additional information on the riders in question so that we can do a broader analysis."

One rider in the spotlight is Mark Cavendish, the veteran sprinter who is set to leave Bahrain McLaren after his contract was not renewed. It is unclear whether Cavendish wants to continue racing through 2021, but when asked about the possibility of the 30-time Tour de France stage winner returning to the team, Mikkelsen replied: "I can't comment on that. I can't comment on that."

He added, however, that he and the team are considering signing a British rider. Mikkelsen's authority appears to have increased significantly since Bjarne Riis left the team by mutual consent shortly before Asos' announcement. Riis joined the team earlier this year with the promise of securing sponsorship, but the 1996 Tour de France winner was unable to turn a letter of intent from a patron into actual money.

According to Mikkelsen, the addition of Riis caused tension as Riis took credit for work that Mikkelsen and his staff had done under the radar prior to Riis' addition.

"There was a decision that I would intervene. There was a possibility that investors from the Bjarne side would bring money, and I respected that. But of course that meant that I had to take two steps back and give more space to those who were going to be part owners of the company. It was all tied up in a letter of intent, but at the end of the day, they are not team owners," Mikkelsen said.

"Now that the decision had been made that he would not continue, I felt it was time to tell my version of the story: the idea that the team from January had the same number of wins as the previous two years before the lockdown, all thanks to Bjarne Riis. Of course, at the time I was not happy about being told that, but I said nothing. Inside the team, we knew we couldn't have someone come in during January and take credit for the wins on the side."