Hello everyone, here's a brand new story by me, MARSUPILAMI. Hope this one lasts longer than my stories use to...
If I say you "LottoNL - Jumbo", you think about a WorldTour Dutch team, with some good riders but which is not one of the best and strongest teams in the world peloton. They have Vanmarcke, Gesink, Kelderman, Kruijswijk, Hofland...
I decided to start a career with them. It was going to be a test, because I tend to leave for good very soon these careers, but in the end it was very successful. In this story I will tell you what I am doing from the 2nd season of this LottoNL - Jumbo team.
And the new teamname is... Team Festina!
Edited by MARSUPILAMI on 28-03-2016 14:44
To start this story properly, I will tell you the results of the first season with the LottoNL - Jumbo team. We started in January with an small schedule. First we travelled to New Zealand with Bennett... 0 results. Then Tour Down Under came. I was surprised because I managed to be 3rd with Kruisjwijk and Martens in stages 2 and 3 respectively... but I did it wrong in Willunga stage and I only managed to be 9th with Kruijswijk in the GC (Gilbert won). The month ended in Cadel Evans Ocean Road Race in which Felline (Trek) won and Vanmarcke was our best rider - he was 8th.
In February we started in Comunitat Valenciana, with our very first wins of the season. Kelderman managed to take 4th stage after an amazing attack in Xorret del Catà and his gap was big enough to win the GC as well! Then, we rode Qatar and we brought there both Hofland and Groenewegen. There was a big sprint field with guys such as Kristoff or Sagan but after trying and trying again, we managed to take a stage win with Groenewegen! We were just too excited!
After those stage races, we visited Spain to ride both AlmerÃa and Murcia in the same day... 17th place for Kelderman in Murcia and 10th for Teunissen in AlmerÃa. Not very good. After that, a pair of stage races which were AndalucÃa and Oman. In the Southern Spain race we were 18th with Gesink while in the race in that small Arab country our star Kelderman managed to get 4th in the GC. We also took a stage win in the first stage with Moreno Hofland.
The month finished with some classics: Omloop in which we were 14th with Vanmarcke. La Drôme in which we were 19th with Roosen. And K-B-K in which we were 3rd with Vanmarcke.
March... Our first important result of the month was the 3rd (Kelderman) and 4th (Gesink) in Strade Bianche. Then, in Paris - Nice and Tirreno - Adriatico we managed to be 5th in both GCs with Gesink and Kruijswijk respectively. Some results that allowed us to dream with some better ones in bigger races. In the other big stage race of the month, Catalunya, we didn't do anything remarkable.
The very first big classics of the year were here... Milano - Sanremo... We brought there everyone: Vanmarcke, Hofland, Groenewegen... and even the climbers such as Gesink or Kelderman... We tried with Gesink at Cipressa and the peloton stopped. We started Poggio with a 3-minute gap but with no bars. Could we take the win? Luckily yes, Gesink took the win in MSR! I attacked in the descent with Vanmarcke, who got second! And in the sprint, Hofland was 8th and Groenewegen 11th... Just fantastic, couldn't have done it better! After "Classicissima" we rode E3 and Gent. Vanmarcke was 3rd in the first one while Groenewegen took his 2nd of the season in Gent, also with Van Asbroeck 4th.
We started April with a lot of motivation and great results. We dreamt with the best!
I have no screenshots for this season for obvious reasons... I am just struggling to remember (although I have some help from the amazing Career Explorer tiemen made).
And thanks for saying it's well written! I am tryna improve a bit more my English, and putting everything I have on these texts! Hope you don't find any mistakes (although there will always be some...)
The first big race we had to ride this month was indeed very big. The 2nd monument of the year. After our success in the first one, would we be able to take the 2nd in a row? This time no, Van Avermaet (BMC) took the win before our guy Vanmarcke, who had been 2nd in MSR as well... After this one, we travelled to PaÃs Vasco where Valverde (Movistar) took the win in the GC. Our best placed rider was Gesink, who was doing an amazing season so far!
After that, the next monument for which we were favourite as well: Paris - Roubaix! The leading group was formed up by Sagan (Tinkoff), Boonen (Etixx), Keukeleire (Orica), Langeveld (Cannondale), Van Avermaet (BMC) and Vanmarcke (LottoNL - Jumbo), and after the sprint, those were the final results (Sagan-Boonen-Keukeleire...). Not a too good result, but keeping in count the two 2nd places in a row in monuments for Vanmarcke, we decided to forgive him.
In the end of April we also rode another two stage races which were Trentino and Romandie. In the Italian race we finished 3rd with Kruijswijk in the GC (win by Aru) while in Romandie I got 7th with the same guy (win by Van Garderen). Also in that final week, the Ardennes classics were ridden, and the best rider there was Alaphilippe, as he took both Amstel and Liège classics (while D. Martin took Flèche, so 3/3 for Etixx). Our team did it more or less okay there, getting a 2nd, 7th and 9th in FW (Gesink, Kelderman, Vanmarcke), a 9th in AGR (Kelderman) and an 11th and 12th in LBL (Kelderman, Gesink). We did it almost perfect in FW but we kinda failed in AGR and LBL where I expected more.
After that, May started and so did the Giro d'Italia where we brought Kelderman and Kruijswijk for the GC and Hofland for the sprints. The first week was very bad for us, because three of our riders abandoned (including Kruisjwijk, so Kelderman was kinda alone now, excluding Bennett), even though we got our first stage win with Moreno Hofland. I have to admit that I also had a lot of luck in this race, because almost all the GC contenders either fell and abandoned or fell and failed (cases of Landa, Majka, Aru, Nibali and many more). I guess that's because I play with 300% of fall frequency... In the first week we took another win with Kelderman in 6th stage.
The 2nd and 3rd weeks were almost perfect for us. Although we weren't going to be able to win the General Classification, we saw how the people in front of us abandoned or failed, so we climbed in the GC and we were now in podium, fighting against Pozzovivo for the 2nd place while Porte was in a clear lead. This scenario boosted our pupil, who managed to win three stages in a row (13, 14 and 15 ones)... Stages passed with more or less pace and in the end, Kelderman finished 2nd in the GC! That wasn't all... He had also won 4 stages (plus the one by Hofland) and with that, he took as well both the points and the young jerseys!
During the Giro I raced California (2nd in GC with Gesink + stage win), Madrid (nothing), Picardie (Top 10's with Groenewegn + 9th in GC) and Japan (8th in GC with Lindeman)
Will we be able to get even better results than these ones? Stay tuned for more!
Spoiler
Note: Let me know if I am posting way too fast. I just wanna start with the 2017 season as soon as possible. I have to write two chapters about 2016 still, and also one as a presentation before 2017 starts.
Le Tour de France... best race of the season and what a field! Quintana, Froome and Contador should be the strongest contenders while other guys like Pinot, Aru, Van Garderen or Valverde should fight for the other Top 5 places, or even a podium if one of the Big Three failed... And Quintana did so. He fell in a stage and abandoned the Tour. Everything was going to be easier now, at least we improved a place...
After three weeks of hard racing (I can't remember too much about it, so that's why this is going to be short), our guy Gesink finished 7th in the GC, led by Contador (full Top 10: Contador-Froome-Aru-Pinot-Van Garderen-Bardet-Gesink-Urán-RodrÃguez-Thomas). But I got a big angry because Bardet, who was 6th, was only 2 seconds in front of me! But yeah, that's life and we have to keep pushing and trying and struggling for being better and even the best. Also, good to mention that Gesink won a stage in this hard Tour as well... hard for him and hard for everyone!
During Le Tour we also rode stuff like Sibiu (5th with Roglic), Pologne (3rd with Bennett), Qinghai (9th with Roglic), Ordizia (2nd with Kelderman) or Portugal (7th with Bennett) which gave us a small amount of points for the rankings.
Also, at the end of the month, we rode Klasika San Sebastián. Kelderman got 3rd there, just behind Barguil and Izagirre. What a season he has been doing, eh!
Here's the latest report of the 2016 season and it starts with another very very boring month which is August... It's halfway between Tour and Vuelta and a lot of small races are ridden...
Let's do a quick report of what happened:
- Vuelta a Burgos: 2nd with Kruisjwijk in GC plus Stage 5 win
- Tour de l'Ain: 4th with Bennett in GC
- Tour du Poitou Charentes: 6th with Keizer in GC
Also there were two classics as they are Plouay (win by Coquard; Hofland 13th) and Hamburg (win by Cavendish; Teunissen 17th). By the way, here's the recap of September and October (I don't want to forget Vuelta...):
Now, quick report of Il Lombardia. Big pace in some early climbs and with 60 kms to go, only 15 guys in the front including the great Kelderman and Battaglin, who was in the break. Attacks in the last climb and Quintana wins. Kwiatkowski falls in the descent. Kelderman gets 5th. Good result. Fantastic season.
Now, quick report of the Worlds TT. Win by Tony Martin. And about the Route, break of Velits and Jans (I was Belgium). Very slow pace until there are 60 kms to go when Cancellara attacks. Chased and Elmiger attacks. Some more tries but none of us is successful. Everyone is very tired. Sprint. Kristoff wins. Debusschere, the best Belgian, is 2nd.
And about Vuelta, as a very fast note (I wasn't too excited about this, I simulated almost everything), Costa won the General Classification. Kelderman, our very best rider, was 6th after a great last TT. Kruijswijk did nothing. Gesink did a bit more and finished 18th. The Top 10 was Costa-Porte-Amador-Martin-S.Yates-Kelderman-Landa-Moreno-Zakarin-Roche.
Hope you liked the season and that you think results are okay. Sorry for the fast last post but I want this to start soon. Next thingy will be about the 2017 season! Stay tuned so you don't miss a point! See you and thanks for reading!
Finally, after all those 2016 reports I have made, it's time to show the squad Team Festina will have this season. We had luck as none of our big leaders finished their contract the last year. In addition, we found a new sponsor that was going to give us more money than LottoNL - Jumbo did. After some long conversations and negotiations, we managed to sign a big big leader for the climbs. That guy was Nairo Quintana! Now, we have maybe the best team for the mountains, along with Bwin (Sky). We also signed some young and promising prospects and other cyclists like Monsalve, DÃaz or Vakoc to improve a bit more our team. This is the final squad for the season:
As well, I'd like to show the shirt we will wear this season. We'd like to thank the amazing French designer Gaz because he made an outstanding job with this shirt. Also, as Moreno Hofland is Route National Champion, I present you as well the shirt he'll wear:
Spoiler
These are the objectives the sponsor and I have put for the team for this upcoming season:
Read some of last season but it was too much text to read it all in one go
However, will follow what you do this season, much more interesting
Nice team, by the way, some great riders!
Good luck!
