Thank you all very, very much for the nice comments I can assure you that Peter Sagan will bring us a lot of happiness in the rainbow jersey...
I already played the rest of the season and started editing which will be an enormous work since the last time I did it (before this season), I obviously didn't do it totally correct because most riders went back to their original teams (Klöden & Brajko to Unicef, for example, or Cunego to Lampre) which is why I basically have to edit two season's transfers. Also, I will take care of the transfers myself this time, so no Cyanide-like ones.
Anyway, I still have a couple of posts left for this season, so the break shouldn't be too long (I hope I don't talk too big right now ).
Peter Sagan's double win at the Worlds outshines everything else, even the two Italian victories in Canada. Other notable results: Tom Veelers wins Paris-Bruxelles, Ryder Hesjedal the Tour of Britain.
World Tour Ranking
Nibali makes a giant leap after his Vuelta triumph, and Cunego scored pretty well, too, resulting in a Liquigas double lead. His second spot in Spain vaults Sanchez into fourth position.
Liquigas consequentally extends their lead in the team ranking by quite a bit, and is now almost sure to win it. The other places are unchanged as well, but the ranks 3-5 are pretty close together.
BMC scored big time, and Astana is almost secure now as well. After a very good first half of the season, Skil slips down to the danger zone. FDJ is going to be relegated.
CQ Ranking
Nibali extends his lead to an enormous margin. That looks really amazing. Cunego keeps his second spot, Sanchez, Gilbert and Rodriguez are the other winners of the month.
Just look at that! Liquigas has almost the double amount of points as the two following teams! Leopard overtook Movistar there, but it's still very close. Omega Pharma kicked Sky out of the Top 5.
Oh what a pity for Geox! All of a sudden, they're on a promotion place, but since the main sponsor didn't believe in it and already pulled back, they won't get the chance to prove themselves in the World Tour. Instead, the two French teams Cofidis and Saur will go up.
Victory Ranking
Cunego, Rojas and Gilbert all add a win to their palmares, Farrar is new in the Top 5.
As in all other rankings, Liquigas dominates. Six more wins were added this month, only one by their three chasers. It's still impressive what Cofidis does this year as a continental team.
Monthly Awards
None given...
Preview October
05.-09.10.
Tour of Beijing
12.10.
Milano - Torino
13.10.
Giro del Piemonte
15.10.
Giro di Lombardia
16.10.
Japan Cup
With the Tour of Beijing and the Giro di Lombardia, the October awaits with two highlights towards the end of the season. With Peter Sagan and Damiano Cunego, we have to winning aspirants for all the races we participate in. And looking at their recent shape, we expect quite a successful month.
valverde321 wrote:
This is probably becoming my favourite story
Great WC rides by Sagan.
This is really getting me back into PCM, so thank you very much.
Much like you, I have been attracted to other games, for me, about 6 months now. Fifa, NHL, NBA, Uncharted, and Football Manager.
But really thanks. I have been wanting to get back into PCM for a while now, but I couldn't.
Good luck with the editing.
This might be the non plus ultra among all the fantastic comments I have received during my story-writing here Thanks a lot, it means quite a it to me that my story here has an actual impact on people
+++ Teams for the next season continue to shape +++
As you may remember, two teams already announced their folding: Geox and Unicef. A third team can now be added to that list: Caja Rural. A couple of weeks ago, we reported their financial troubles, now it is official: The sponsor can't fund the team anymore. That also means that some top riders, including recent 10th of the Vuelta, Javier Moreno, and their new signing Fabio Duarte, are on the market now.
We won't see that jersey next season: After only three years, Caja Rural folds.
And there's news about Unicef as well – not specifically about them but about the license: It will be taken over by a newly founded, British-Spanish team. Main sponsor will be the British mobile telephony provider Vodafone, supported by the Spanish Banco Santander. It is reported that Unicef's superstar, Alejandro Valverde, will lead the team next season, which will directly enter the World Tour circuit.
Alejandro Valverde, recent fourth during the Vuelta, will lead the new WT Team Vodafone – Santander.
baia wrote:
Good news from Valverde.... can´t wait to see that team..pity for Caja Rural...
I wasn't too sure about Caja either because I like the team, too. But there were certain circumstances that required this drastic measure But don't worry, there will be a couple of new teams that I hope will cover for their loss.
@ Absintlover: That's fantastic to hear, thanks a lot, mate
Parallely to my Nerz career, I also have a save with FDJ, where I play on hard. I played with them before the Tour of Beijing, and unfortunately, I forgot to switch back to extreme for this race. Therefore, the results of Beijing have to be considered having in mind they're achieved "only" on hard. Everything afterwards is on extreme again.
. October 9, 2012 – Tour of Beijing
The Race
For the second year now, the Tour of Beijing is the last World Tour stage race in the cycling calendar. Its reputation isn't too high, but tradition needs to develop, right? And in its first holding, the starting field was quite strong.
The course leads the riders over five rather easy stages. It starts out with an 11 kms prologue, a stage that could already be decisive. It's followed by a mostly flat stage with a small hill 10 kms from the finish. The third stage is then the only other chance for time differences with two ascents close to the finish. The race fades out with two mostly flat stages, likely to end in mass sprints.
With Peter Sagan and Philippe Gilbert, we have the top puncheurs of the last month present. Due to his awesome shape, Sagan is the main favorite. Both are decent prologue riders and should be the strongest on stage three. Apart from them, it's hard to say who is a favorite, since it pretty much depends on how intense the third stage is ridden (regarding riders like Boasson Hagen or Rojas).
Team Liquigas
With Cunego and Sagan, we have two riders capable of the win here. And nothing less should be the goal. We figure that only Philippe Gilbert might be able to challenge us so we have to make sure to isolate him as soon as possible on stage 3. Peter Sagan will also contest in the bunch sprints.
Report
The short prologue brought a small surprise with the win of Sebastien Rosseler in front of the Bird's Nest in Beijing. Surprising was not the win itself but rather the margin: 12 seconds on 11 kilometers is pretty strong.
For Liquigas, Peter Sagan did well in his first race in the rainbow jersey. He finished 4th, 15 seconds off. Cunego achieves a Top 20 and limits his losses to 37 seconds.
Stage 2 provided one of three possible sprint opportunities and it was taken by the respective teams. No break stood a chance. Two big sprint trains dominated the last kilometers: T-Mobile and Garmin. It was a pretty close outcome but Cavendish had the better end. Sagan jumped from wheel to wheel and finished on a decent sixth place.
The third stage was ought to be the decisive one, but it wasn't sure to have larger time gaps. One team made sure it had: Liquigas. They held everything together until the penultimate climb, then Marco Marcato started to decrease the peloton. But when Damiano Cunego took over, only two guys could follow: Gilbert and Sagan. The three crossed the top together, but on the last ascent, first Cunego and then Gilbert couldn't match Sagan anymore. A dominant win for the world champion!
Not surprisingly, another sprint finish followed on stage three. Again, Cavendish was up in front, but this time, one man could beat him: Joaquin Rojas. Peter Sagan, despite his efforts yesterday, sprinted to a fantastic third place.
The last stage in front of the Bird's Nest ended in a bunch sprint. Mark Cavendish regained the superiority among the sprinters with his second win. Tyler Farrar, runner up of stage two, could only finish third because the amazing Peter Sagan increases again to end up second.
People say there's a world champion curse. I guess, Peter Sagan never heard of that! In his first race after his triumph, he showed that he is more than a deserved champion.
What shall I say? Sagan evidentally hasn't lost anything of his world champion shape. What a great, dominant performance! Damiano Cunego also does great at the moment, probably the best luxury domestique of all times. Il Lombardia can come!
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