The year is 2006, Lance Armstrong has just won his record setting 7th, Tour de France. Spain, Italy and Germany all have cycling superstars. Life is good...
Except for France. The last time a French rider stood on the podium at La Grand Boucle was in 1997, thanks to Richard Virenque. The last French winner was Bernard Hinault in 1985. For France, cycling in July has been painful. Elsewhere at the Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a Espana, Italian and Spanish riders stood on the top step last season and have done so consistently. In fact the last non-Spanish winner of the Vuelta, was Jan Ullrich in 1999, and the last non-Italian winner of the Giro was Pavel Tonkov in 1996.
So what is the problem with France? They've had strong riders in the past, but they have all been just below the level required to win the Tour. But suddenly, there is hope.
Lance Armstrong, who has won the last 7 editions, has announced his retirement. Jan Ullrich seems to be on the decline. Heading into 2006, there appears to be no clear front runner for the Yellow Jersey, perhaps cycling's most iconic prize, even more so than the Rainbow bands.
For the first time in a while, the French fans will feel they have a rider capable of challenging. Even last year in 2005, Cyril Dessel out performed his new teammate, Christophe Moreau and even wore Yellow for several days. Could he take that next step and challenge? What about Sandy Casar who looks like one of France's best pure climbers of the 2000's? David Moncoutie of Cofidis has done well in week-long stage races, but hasn't been able to stay consistent for three weeks. Thomas Voeckler also wore Yellow for over a week in 2004. Finally we have Christophe Moreau, who came 4th in 2000, and still seems to be in his prime. He has the ability, but always seems to be out of shape, or badly positioned. By the third week he is often hunting for stages or out of the race. Half way through last years Tour he was sitting on the podium, but he fell all the way out of the Top 10 in the final stages. This year he's moved to French team AG2R from Credit Agricole, who have also acquired Francisco Mancebo, one of the worlds Elite stage racers. Now the question is raised whether Moreau is even leader of his own team.
Will France be able to change its fortunes in 2006, or will it be another year of misery?
I thought I'd make a story about PCM 06 since I've picked up recently and really been enjoying it over the new versions, with better and more unpredictable AI, and AI that actually punishes you for mistakes.
I've added a lot of todays stars to the DB, so we will see some more familiar faces in the results in a few years time, once they've improved.
Also I dont know if the one story section thing will be done soon or not, so I thought I'd start this now, and hopefully it can be moved once it happens, if it does.
I'll be playing all non-flat stages on Extreme and Flat/sprint stages on Easy since I cant seem to get good results there for some reason, but I'm sure I'll increase the difficulty soon.
I've also edited a lot of the OP riders from 2006 that ended up being irrelevant irl into lesser riders or lowered potential, so hopefully the top riders end up looking closer to what they were irl.
MacC wrote:
Man, I have good memories of thus game. Was tempted to buy it on amazon but doubt it would work, new laptop doesn't even have a disc drive.
I'd love to see a euskaltel game. I can nearly recall my first season schedule by heart
I believe there is a No-CD patch, but I guess you'd have to install the game first. I remember trying to download a 2019 DB about a year ago, and it ended up being the entire game, so you could try that
Euskaltel would definitely be interesting. A young Sammy Sanchez and Igor Anton and, fading Iban Mayo and Laiseka.
I've also edited a lot of the OP riders from 2006 that ended up being irrelevant irl into lesser riders or lowered potential
What are OP riders? I can't understand
Thanks, you are definitely closer than MacC
OP, means over-powered, so riders that become too good. Dekker and Hagen were the two that came to mind, but I've kept it so that they will still become fairly strong, just hopefully not the two best riders in the game. Other riders like Popovych too.
Belka, Abal, Hector Gonzalez and others I've made so that they hopefully become good teammates at best, since they never really became strong riders irl.
Oh man, those screenshots bring back memories. I think 2006 was the first edition I played. Looking forward to this a lot, not least because it's a story by you
cunego59 wrote:
Oh man, those screenshots bring back memories. I think 2006 was the first edition I played. Looking forward to this a lot, not least because it's a story by you
Thanks. I started watching around this time, and I personally just liked this time period better, even if it wasn't as clean looking back at it. It probably has some influence with what I said in my previous sentence, but the racing just seemed to be more aggressive then, and less predictable.
Today, AG2R, France's most successful and popular cycling team in recent years has finalized its riders and programmes for the upcoming season.
The two newest and biggest acquisitions, Francisco Mancebo and Christophe Moreau are expected to lead the team in the three different Grand Tours. Mancebo says he understands how important a French leader challenging for the Yellow Jersey is, and has requested to ride both the Giro and Vuelta instead, with the Vuelta being his main target of the season. That leaves Moreau to ride Le Tour, where he will be up against the top riders in the world.
JP Nazon still has a bit of kick left in him, and will be the team's main sprinter. He has an outside shot at taking the Green jersey as well in July, but more realistically hopes for a stage win, perhaps on the Champs like in 2003.
Moreau and Mancebo will be followed by their two big helpers, Dessel and Astarloza. Support in the mountains is vital, and especially for Moreau, a lack of serious help has been a downfall for him in the past, so this extra depth will be welcome to the Frenchman, who has not lived up to expectations.
Fan favourites, thanks to their attacking style, Goubert, Calzati and Gadret may also hope to get into as many successful breakaways as possible. Gadret is one to watch out for, as some are tipping him to be the next French hope in cycling, but we will see how things turn out.
Finally, a few of the promising young riders on the team include Simon Gerrans, Lloyd Mondory and Samuel Dumoulin. Despite JP Nazon taking a bit of a step back in recent years, the future looks bright for French green jersey hopefuls.
tomcat9 wrote:
Le Tour to Christophe, La Vuelta to Francisco! It is real, that's for sure!
P.S. And Walloon triptych to Davide!
Thanks, lets hope so, thats the plan anyway, although I dont expect to win it with Moreau.
I was actually planning to bring Mancebo to the Tour as well, but his Programme asked to only ride the Giro and Vuelta, and it even says "Not the Tour de France", so we will have to see for next year. I really like the Programme feature, its a nice way to plan the season.
I'll follow the story with great interest. Good luck with your objectives!
Although seeing Alberto Contador and Ivan Basso in here brings some good memories so I'm not sure I'll always cheer for your riders.
DarkWolf wrote:
I'll follow the story with great interest. Good luck with your objectives!
Although seeing Alberto Contador and Ivan Basso in here brings some good memories so I'm not sure I'll always cheer for your riders.
Thanks! Thats perfectly fine, I may cheer for some of them too I had thought about making the story from a neutral perspective, but I think stories get better engagement after good results etc., if others know which team you are.
Had planned to post Het Volk and KBK together, but I'm not satisfied with my graphic and its sizing (especially the font sizing/readability), so I'll be tinkering with it, but I've spent the time on this already so figured I'd post it.
Let me know if clicking the image is a big deal or not, as I think it looks good once enhanced, but I'd prefer it look good without having to click the image, which Im not sure is possible or not.
