One evening Haldur Gunnarson, sheep herder by trade, just like his father, Gunnar Jakobsson before him, and his father, Jakob Haldursson before him, arrives home to his cottage rather late in the evening. It's that time of the year between permanent day and permanent night, so as Haldur enters his shed, the light has dimmed into an evening's shimmer.
Haldur is pleased. His flock has done well this year, and although his trade will not make him a millionaire, hundreds of hands throughout the world are using his wool for their crafty diligence. Maybe even thousands.
Suddenly, a voice rang out from behind him.
"I know what you should do next year".
The old man froze. "Who... who are you? What are you doing here?"
"I... am... " the voice boomed.
"Your new head marketing."
The old man turned around.
"Get off that beam, Christa", he demanded, finally recognising his niece.
"I don' have any use fer a noggins of markets, Ya know I bring my wool directly to the auction market, because you earn yer pocket money by helping me move the woolly load there."
The lad grinned. "I know, Old man. But hear me out. 'Ave you ever thought about sponsoring a pro-cyclist team?"
Meanwhile, in an office building at the edge of Reykjavik.
Spoiler
"Thorstein, come over here" the chef called.
"Yessir, two cubes and just a pinch of milk, getting it ready!"
Thorstein was an intern at the Icelandic Cycling Federation. His main task was making coffee and memorising everyone's favourite recipes. Especially, the chef's favourite. Thorstein didn't mind. He liked coffee.
"You have heard the good news, Thorstein, I presume."
"No sir, what is it?"
"We've finally found a sponsor. For the pro-cycling team we've wanted to get kicking for a while."
"That's marvellous, chef! Who is it?"
"It's Istex, the wool manufactory."
"I'm sure you'll do a woolly good job getting the team on the pens, eh, so to say, Chef"
Thorstein's chef frowned disapprovingly.
"I'll get to that in a minute, Thorstein. Say, have you been following politics lately?"
In honesty, Thorstein hadn't. Sarah watched the debates, but as far as Thorstein could tell, none of the politicians had an opinion on coffee, so what did he care?
"The people have voted. The pirate party won big. An independent won the presidency. The message couldn't be clearer."
"Sir?"
"The people don't trust authority anymore. Now, about that cycling team. You're an ambitious kid, aren't you, Thorstein?"
Well, there it was. That was Thorsteins biggest flaw, and the chef could read it in his eyes: Thorstein harboured a huge ambition. He didn't just want to make coffee for the higher ups. No. He wanted to make the best coffee for the higher ups. Espresso's. Machiatos. He wanted to buy his own coffee bar, and from the proceeds, buy something nice for his Sarah, and the Chef could just see it in his soul.
"As the biggest authority on cycling this country has, that means the people don't trust me anymore. Nor will any of my colleagues on the board do. Thorstein, it's up to you. You're the new team manager."
Once he got outside later that day, Thorstein quickly took out his phone. "Sarah? I really need your help in this one!"
The Idea
My idea for this team is as follows: A continental team based in Iceland Sponsored by Istex, a brand of Icelandic knitting yarn A tightly knit group of racers of many different fibers: punchers, sprinters and TT-specialists. Riders from a tangle of countries, but with a Northern Preference. Lots of knitting and sheep related puns.
The Sponsor: Istex is a real life existing brand of knitting yarns. It's the main source of Icelandic wool in the world. Seeing as how sheep were a mayor source of survival for the early Viking settlers, that's not a bad track record, right?
Preferences in rider selection:
Spoiler
★★★★★ Iceland (currently none in game)
★★★★☆ Scandinavia, Scotland and Ireland, Estonia
★★★☆☆ Rest of Great Britain, rest of Baltics, Canada.
About the manager:
Spoiler
Hi! My name is RadInconsistent. I've been following cycling for quite some years, but only started playing PCM this year for the first time! I've played two seasons with a Be-a-Pro career, and this is actually my first team career. I'll fuck up, hopefully.
Although both my be-a-pro cyclist and this team are Icelanders, in real life cycling I usually support Mediterranean cyclists! I'm a huge fan of Orica, but two my favourite individual cyclists, Nibali and Purito, have signed up with Prince Torture.
Sven Erik Bystrøm Age: 24 Specialisation: Baroudeur
A young, aggressive baroudeur, who's strength on the flat and in the hills allows him to try to grab the KOM is less mountainous stage races.
Andrew Fenn Age: 25 Specialisation: Sprinter
Andrew is our main sprinter. An experienced Scotsman who has often worked for others, can gun for his own glory with this team.
Tao Geoghegan Hart Age: 20 Specialisation: Climber
Very hopeful young talent. Might be the GC candidate in the future
Gert Joaar Age: 28 Specialisation: Time Trial
An experienced time-trialist, who functions as most important lead-out for Andy
Alexander Kamp Age: 22 Specialisation: Puncher
One of our two punchers. He's young, and he can develop a lot.
Tobias Ludvigsson Age: 24 Specialisation: General Classification
Although originally a time-trial specialist, Tobias' well-rounded skillset makes him the perfect GC-candidate for this team.
Luke Sindre Age: 22 Specialisation: Climber
He can handle the mountains very well. His rather low average means he does his work in the service of others.
Rasmus Christiaan Quaade Age: 26 Specialisation: Time-trial
The oldest member of the squad, and the best time-trial specialist. Often controls the peloton on stages where the team wants a sprint finish.
George Richards Age: 19 Specialisation: Climber
Neo-prof who packs a mean downhill, but lacks in most other aspects. He's here to learn!
Michael Valgren Age: 24 Specialisation: Puncher
Though not the oldest, he is one of our most experienced riders. When in shape, a very good puncher.
Spoiler
Team Jersey
Inspired by the classic Icelandic Knitted sweater!
Made from a template by Haasje. Edited by RadInconsistent on 25-11-2016 11:44
Here's the jersey graphic, based on a template by Haasje!
Not sure which database I used. I've got two on my computer apart from the default one, and everytime I start a game, I forget which it is. I will update it when I've checked it!
Intarsia. Noun.
A method of knitting with a number of colours, in which a separate length or ball of yarn is used for each area of colour (as opposed to different yarns being carried at the back of the work).
Icelandic knit work is know for using a variation of intarsia to create colourful yokes, often creating shapes of the characteristic Icelandic rose or star pattern.
The story
A road trip. That's what this was. Just a matter of enjoying the cold february weather and the beautiful French fields. Or at least, Thorstein assumed the fields where beautiful. He'd never been outside of Iceland, apart from that one time he booked a flight to Rome, got sick on the bus between the airport and the hostel and, instead of experiencing the best espresso the continent had to offer, stayed inside and only drunk the worst tea for three days while Sarah took brief trips on her own. His knowledge of landscapes didn't reach much beyond Reykyavic, so it was hard to judge.
Sarah was in front, driving the car. She was chatting away busily with the girl, Christa. Christa was a representative of the sponsor, as was the old man sitting silently next to Thorstein on the back seat. Thorstein was supposed to be the manager, but to his luck, Christa and Sarah seemed to have the plan figured out, Thorstein only had to relay the instructions. The riders and staff would arrive in Beaucaire with the team bus any minute now, but it would take the four of them another thirty minutes to get there. Until then, this was just a road trip.
The Race
The first race of the season is the Etoile de Bessèges. It wasn't originally on the calendar, but it's not just the manager who needs a road trip: this flat-and-hilly stage race will be a perfect get-to-know-eachother for the team. Let's get started!
Stage 1
[img-l]https://i415.photobucket.com/albums/pp233/ComradeGwydion/ISTEX%20cycling%20story/andyfenn_zps8tntg4ir.png[/img-l] Stage one is a medium-lenght flat stage. It's the first race for the team, and the first time their Icelandic yoke jerseys show up in the peloton. Our flagship for the day: Andy Fenn. The 26 year old Scottish sprinter, once winner of the junior's edition of Paris-Roubaix, hasn't had much chances to ride for his own glory as a pro, but with Istex Hjólreidum he'll get plenty of chances as our main sprinter. Unfortunately, this day wasn't his, and the field surprisingly strong, with Nacer Bouhanni, Arnoud Demare and André Greipel all gunning for early season wins. In a bad show of strategic understanding on the manager's part, sprinter and possible lead-out train were to far separated before the last km's, and the pecking order wasn't clear. Andy managed to get a twelfth place, while the lead-out that did manage to help Andrew, Gert Joeaar turned out to be stronger in the sprint, scraping in our first top ten on a stage.
[img-r]https://i415.photobucket.com/albums/pp233/ComradeGwydion/ISTEX%20cycling%20story/bystrom_zpsjoarj3bf.png[/img-r]Strategically, the sprint needs a lot of work, but this stage offered another chance for glory. Knowing that the Knitted Jersey needed some visibility, it didn't take a Basque to do the right thing: The Norwegian Sven Erik Bystrøm helped to create the break-away, and managed to grab first place on both, admittedly tiny, climbs. Tomorrow, at least one Istex-rider shall start from the first row, and he'll be wearing the polkadot!
Stage 2
[img-l]https://i415.photobucket.com/albums/pp233/ComradeGwydion/ISTEX%20cycling%20story/Lunke_zpskrwjod6m.png[/img-l] Stage two follows a recipe that more stages of this course will follow: a hilly start with a long flat finish. Today Istex was represented in the break-away with a different Norwegian rider, the 23-year old Sindre Lunke, an aspiring climber/puncher. Not as successful as his countryman, Lunke and his co-escapees just managed to grab enough mountain points to keep Thomas , who was also in the break-away on stage one, from overtaking the KOM.
[img-r]https://i415.photobucket.com/albums/pp233/ComradeGwydion/ISTEX%20cycling%20story/ludvigsson_zps3misxphb.png[/img-r]The rest of the team worked to get our GC candidate, Tobias Ludvigsson, safely to the finish. Accompanied by climber Tao Geoghegan Hart and puncher Alexander Kamp he managed to cross the finish line in the front of the bunch, the three of them between 20th and 25th place.
Stage 3
Three stages, three times in the breakaway! This time, the polkadot jersey went for the escape together with a small group of climbers. Although he didn't take first place in the 1st category climbs, his lead over Thomas was suddenly considerable, taking 32 point in this stage. The finish was a sprint won by Greipel, where our men didn't feature. Tobias was surrounded by helpers between 11th and 15th place.
Stage 4
Four out of four for Istex, the third time for Bystrom: taking another dose of mountain points, in the last stage where they can be earned, the polkadots are Istex cycling's first win!
Although still classified as a flat stage, this stage's bumps were closer to the finish line than other stages. As a result, the final sprint took place in a reduced peloton, with GC contender sprinting along with Greipel. Tobias Ludvigsson grabs the fifth place alongside of Chris Froome, our best result on a stage so far.
Stage 5
Stage 5 was a very short, flat stage. 72.5km of flat riding, no intermediate sprints or KOM-points. The team was divided between Tobias and Andy, with a solid result: Andy sprinted to a sixth place, while Tobias and Tao roll in calmly in the stage's top 10. In all honesty, I don't really remember this stage. Did we have someone in the break-away? Was there even a breakaway? The win, as expected, was for the impeccable Andre Greipel.
Stage 6
[img-l]https://i415.photobucket.com/albums/pp233/ComradeGwydion/ISTEX%20cycling%20story/joeaar_zps3pgznsd7.png[/img-l]Time trial day. A short, prologue-length time trial is sure to determine the general classification end results. Going uphill, it's unclear whether TT favours climbers or pure specialists, although the latter are expected to make a better showing. Gert Joeaar, one of our best time trial specialists spends some time in the hot seat and ends up in 12th position at the end of the day. Shortly before our main contender starts however, Tao puts in a surprisingly strong performance by going all-out on the final climb, earning him a seventh place on the day's podium. [img-r]https://i415.photobucket.com/albums/pp233/ComradeGwydion/ISTEX%20cycling%20story/Hart_zpseniwzv2o.png[/img-r]
Main man Tobias Ludvigsson 's perfomance follows the young Brits strategy. Going one second slower, this nets Istex Cycling a sixth place in their first overal GC, in addition to Sven Erik Bystrom's mountain jersey!
Team Sky's results decides the discussion: Froome and Kiryenka share the first two places on the podium, good for a first and third place on the end GC, with Froome over a minute ahead of the others.
What a perfect beginning! Sixth out of more than a hundred rider, that's a good thing, right? And some of those riders looked really strong and experienced. Celebration time!
Thorstein was feeling good. They had gotten back to the hotel after the last day of the Etoile de Bessèges. One of, oh god, his guys, had even gotten one of those funny coloured shirts. Confident, that's how he was feeling. He walked to the hotel fridge, and quickly grabbed the ice-cold bottle of Brennivin out. On the balcony, he twisted off the cap with a slight pop.
The old man was sitting in a deck chair on the hotel balcony, still not saying anything, but grinning slightly at the sight of the Icelandic brandy. Thorstein even got a friendly nod as he poured a slosh of the Brennivin in the Old man's cup. He sat down, when he heard Sarah and Christa come into the apartment. As he raised his glass to toast to Sarah in greeting, he noticed her face was set in a decidedly not celebratory expression. The old man only grinned wider. Sarah took Thorstein's arm, and started.
"So, what do you think? It was okay, wasn't it?"
Thorstein wanted to protest. "Okay? Honey, it was marve.."
"No, really, it was okay,"
".. Okay?"
"Yes, don't worry, it was."
"But... just okay?"
Sarah nodded. "Just okay."
Abashed, Thorstein quickly tried to make his glass disappear.
"But.. but we, eh... Tobias, he came sixth overal, didn't he?"
"He won this thing two years ago."
"Oh..."
"Look, really, we did great. You did great. But we can't really be sure, can we?"
"We... we can't? But.... wait, are there still bonifications unaccounted for?”
“No, we can’t be sure whether it was good, because we didn’t set any goals, did we? I mean, perhaps we should be really happy with sixth place, because this is our very first race after all, but perhaps, because of Tobias’ earlier performance, we should be really bummed out. We just don’t know.
“You don’t? I mean, we don’t?”
“Nope. Like I said, we need goals. You need to pick them.”
“I… I do?”
At that moment someone cleared her throat. Christa, from the sponsor, handed Thorstein a note. “Don’t worry. I’ve got some suggestions ready.”
Out on the balcony, the Old man was laughing out loud.
Ah, sponsors. What can you say? Even if they're friendly old yarn-makers, they still want something from you. Our goals for this year? I'll show them to you! It's in spoilers though, because some results are allready showing!
Spoiler
As you can see, the most important sponsor goals are the Tour of Oman and the Vuelta Ciclista a Murcia, both of which are around the corner. As a matter of fact, the Vuelta a Murcia is the very next race for Istex cycling! Off to Spain!
Vuelta Ciclista a Murcia
Classified as a one-day mountain race, we've brought our best mountain team, which means climbers Geoghegan Hart, Lunke and Richards, puncher Kamp and all-rounder Ludvigsson. The team's most senior rider, Michael Valgren Andersen, joins too, but his shape isn't quite there.
The race is a heavy one, but Hart, Ludvigsson and Kamp manage to hold on until late in the race. Hart, being the best pure climber, attacks halfway up the final climb, but is caught by the remainder of the peloton. From there on forward, the three Istex riders keep on going on a flurry of ever more desperate attacks, none sticking, until Ludvigsson manages to break up the group with his final attack. From a group of six, he manages to sprint to a second place, just behind Mikel Nieve . The rest of the remaining lead group finishes a minute behind.
The sponsor demanded a top three finish for our first ever sponsor goal, and we managed it! This time, the Brennivin can be opened without doubt!
Tour of Oman
The second sponsor goal of the year is also the biggest goal; the only five star goal set by the sponsor. No need to book a plane to Oman yet, unfortunately, for our application for this race is denied. Count that as a fail!
Classic Sud Ardeche
Back to France again, for a mid-importance sponsor goal. A hilly one-day race. Emboldened by the success in Spain, the team puts everything on a strategic race. Tobias, being a decent climber but not very explosive, goes for the early breakaway, to try and get some advantage. In the peloton, the team even takes turns on front, trying to make the race hard in the hills.
A bit too succesfull, it turns out, as the whole team is completely tired out before the final climb. The only rider managing to keep up with the remains of the peloton until the end, is Ludvigsson, who. after the breakaway is caught, manages to hang on and finish in 17th position. The sponsor notes it as a top-25, but it's a far step from the top 10 that was wanted.
Lessons
Spoiler
Off course, Thorstein learned his lessons. First, send the riders to a training camp. Half of them to the hills, the others should practice the sprints. Then, time to deal with the bureaucratic side. He had to apply for a lot more races. Some of them would have to take the team, right? Forms, after forms, after forms, after forms. Ah, bureaucracy, finally something he knew!
Thorstein had just posted a stack of applications in the mailbox, when Sarah doubtfully asked: "You did check the dates right? You know our team isn't big enough for overlapping races..."
What's next?
Soon, the team will have to get their sprint tactics, which failed so badly on the first stages of the Etoile, in order for a series of flat races to come, several of which the sponsor will be watching closely. Also: Planning issues to be solved Phone calls from Reykjavik Pirate party gets involved And Istex sends new photo equipment, meaning from now on races will feature less text, more in-race footage!
Edited by RadInconsistent on 12-11-2016 23:00
Sotchi, 24 february 2016
to: Team Management Istex Hjóltreidum
Thank you for your application for the Grand Prix of Sotchi
Your application has been approved!
You will take part in this most beautiful race over the most beautiful roads in all of Sotchi. Since your application has been approved, your participation is now obligatory.
Refusal to participate will result in a fine of 90.000.000 Russian Rubles and possible imprisonment of family members without our sphere of influence.
Enjoy your stay in our luxury Olympic Hotel,
The Organising committee
A phone call with a Reykjavik line
Spoiler
"Le numéro que vous avez appelé ne peut être atteint," the metallic voice sounded through the phone.
Thorstein was puzzled momentarily, checked the number he called, and then realised: international calls! He entered Iceland's country code. Zero... Three... Five... Four.....
*beep*
*beep*
*beep*
"Hello? Who am I speaking to?" A vague tropical music played on the other side of the line when Thorstein's chef -sorry, former chef- picked up the phone.
"Hello sir, it's me sir, that's to say, it's Thorstein, the intern, sir."
"Thorstein? Who... Ooooh, Thorstein! Shhhh, turn it down," Thorstein heard his former boss giggling as the music went silent.
"Hey, hello there, Thorstein, my lad." The Chef's voice was as serious and solemn again as Thorstein remembered. "Yes, yes indeed. Times have been very hard on me, now you've taken over management. You know, the isolation," Thorstein could swear he heard three different voices giggling, "but I try to make the best of it.", the Chef finished. "So, what can I do for you?"
"Have you still got contacts with the government, Chef? The new, pirate party government, I mean?’ Thorstein explained the problem with the Sotchi Grand Prix and the double bookings. “Those pirates, maybe, can’t they do, like uh… some sort of reversed Russian hacking? Hack the Russians? Take our application out of their database?”
There was nothing fake about the solemnness and grimness in the Chef’s voice now. “Consider it done.”
Before he was finished thanking his Chef a literal thousand times over, the Chef interrupted; “Oh and Thorstein? To prevent these issues in the future, we’ve got a couple of guys, locals, real Icelanders, we’ve got our eyes on. If you get them, you can field teams for two races at the same time. We’re training them, but they need some convincing before signing up. And by convincing, I mean they need to lose their day job first. Don’t expect them before summer. Perhaps later.”
And then the Chef hung up.
Intermezzo, in which I learn to edit databases to change the team schedule and -possibly- some other tricks. Thanks to Knockout for sending me the list of Icelandic riders! It will be useful in the future. I've also cleaned up the opening post a bit. More to follow!
Counting stitches and rows: Knitwork consists of stitches, recognisable as V shapes. You knit stitches in a row. Counting horizontally, we call counting stitches, as you count stitches on a row. Counting vertically is called counting rows. This looks like V-shapes following each other closer, as if in each other's slipstream.
Lined up for this month are four one day sprint races. First a few to practise, then the last one for the sponsor.
Trofej Umag / Umag Trophy, March 2nd
The Umag Trophy in Hungaria is the first of a quartet of sprint races for the team. The team will be fully in service of Andrew Fenn . After the debacle of the sprints in the Etoile de Besseges, the team will have to prove their discipline in the sprint train now.
The Umag Trophy being an UCI 1.2 level race, most teams were continental or pro-continental. Istex cycling assisted in pacing the peloton. The team stayed close together and relatively close to the front, and when the time came they managed to form a perfect sprint train, pulling the peloton closer to the finish!
This in itself was cause for celebration. An actual Istex Cycling Sprint Train! Never seen before! This minor victory in itself lended the boys extraordinary strength and resilience to keep going. Unfortunately, they forgot the minor detail that the finish was around the corner already.
This guy didn’t, and Andrew was locked behind so many of his teammates, all of which turned to tactical dead weight all of a sudden. Oops! We didn’t even get a podium place.
Ster van Zwolle , March 5th
The next sprint was in the Ster van Zwolle. We went there with a full team of top-shape flat riders, and one out-of-shape, young climber. All of them were in service of Andrew Fenn again. To prove his worth, the young climber Richards volunteered to pull the peloton in the slower first part of the race.
In the end, our sprint train was again the strongest on the field, but our sprinter either timed his end-sprint wrong or simply wasn’t the best around: nevertheless, the team got two podium places out of three, which is worth celebrating!
Paris - Troyes, March 13th
This was a minor sponsor goal, and the last one before a bigger one coming up. After last race, the team was full of confidence, but most confident was Alexander Kamp , the puncher who inadvertedly outsprinted his own sprinter yesterday. As a token of appreciation, he got permission to try for a late attack at 10k to go. The prospect didn’t look bright for Kamp, with a peloton partly pulled by a thinned out Istex sprint train raging down on him. However, together with the Frenchman Steven Tronet he just managed to beat the peloton, and gained Istex Cycling their first ever victory!
Perhaps even better for morale: Andrew Fenn won the sprint from the peloton behind. It might not be a sprint victory just yet, but we’re getting close.
Cholet – Pays de Loire, March 15th
This is the big one, the fourth sprint stage in a row, the one we’ve been practising for. Perhaps we should have spent less time practising, more time doing recs: we noticed something was wrong the moment the race started. What we thought was another sprint stage, turned out to be quite a bit hillier. Time for a change for tactics.
After a hard, difficult start, finally a breakaway managed to get away from the tactics, partly thanks to the work of our all-rounder-cum-baroudeur Tobias Ludvigsson. Soon, the group swelled to a group of twelve. Still, at every slight slope, it was Tobias who had to drag the group forward, as none of the others was particularly suited for the hilly terrain.
Eventually, the riders dropped one by one, until only Tobias and the Frenchman Martinez were left. The Belgian television, by this time, was spewing forth elaborate theories about the recurring Franco-Scandinavian alliance. However, the chasing group (you can’t call a group of 17 riders a peloton, can you?) was catching up, leaving only 15 seconds for the front duo at 13km to go. The only Istex rider in the chasing group was puncher Alexander Kamp….
…. who shot away at the moment his buddy was caught. Catching the other sixteen completely by surprise, Alexander soloed to the finish line with an impressive 48 seconds. This is both his own and the team’s first two victories literally in one weekend.
A continental team based in Iceland
Sven Erik Bystrøm
Andrew Fenn
Tao Geoghegan Hart
Gert Joaar
Alexander Kamp
Tobias Ludvigsson
George Richards
, who was also in the break-away on stage one, from overtaking the KOM.
's results decides the discussion: Froome and Kiryenka share the first two places on the podium, good for a first and third place on the end GC, with Froome over a minute ahead of the others.
. The rest of the remaining lead group finishes a minute behind. 
vikings in the south 
