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TEAM FUTURES IN JEOPARDY?
Over the last week both Katusha and FDJ have declared their intentions to renew their deal with their World Tour teams after the upcoming season and securing the future existence of the teams. At Etixx - Quick Step and Wanty - Groupe Gobert the future is more uncertain after their main sponsors announced they're pulling out at the end of the 2016 season.
With elite riders like Daniel Martin, Niki Terpstra and Julian Alaphillipe all under contract next year, Quick Step should be able to find a new partner when Etixx pulls out at the end of the year. Maybe their biggest star, Marcel Kittel, opened the 2016 season with two stage wins during the Santos Tour Down Under recently.
For Wanty - Groupe Gobert the future looks more uncertain. Their two biggest stars, Enrico Gasparotto and Marco Marcato, are both on expiring contracts and could prove difficult to resign until a new sponsor is in place. What might attract new sponsors are the two up and coming talents Roy Jans and Fredrik Backaert.
INVITATIONS TO 2016 TOUR DE FRANCE CAUSES UPSET
The Tour de France organizers has announced the full lineup of teams that will take part in this year's race. In addition to the World Tour teams, 4 invitations have been allocated and 3 out of 4 invitations went to French teams.
While teams like Bora - Argon 18 with riders like Sam Bennett and Jan Barta, Wanty - Groupe Gobert with Enrico Gasparotto and Marco Marcato and even NIPPO - Vini Fantini with Damiano Cunego and Grega Bole in their squad, the organizers instead went with Delko - Marseille Provence KTM, a choice some are praising as "brave" saying it's a good thing that the organizers of the biggest race in the world takes a chance on a smaller and lesser known team.
Others are less impressed saying it has nothing to do with being brave and all to do with being french. One sports director, who wants to remain nameless, called the decision a "disgrace" and asking how it's possible to invite a weak team at the expense of some of the biggest profiles in cycling.
In their inaugural season the Argenta Cycling Team will ride with SwiftCarbon frames, Lightweight wheels and SRAM groupsets the team announced today.
The deals are only 1-year deals as Argenta hope to negotiate better deals with a season's worth of racing under their belts and with better knowledge of their riders and needs.
Today I’ve invited Ollie who seems happy to be out of the office for once. I haven’t seen too much of him since I arrived in Antwerp and I almost feel bad doing an interview about the team when it seems like he could use a break from the world of cycling for an afternoon. He looks like a man in need of a good night’s sleep. I promise him I’ll keep it short and easy and that I’ll buy him a piece of cake afterwards. He gives me a look and a smile to tell me I'm being silly and I start the tape recorder.
The Schedule
«The race schedule. A very tough start for a Continental team,» I say to keep my promise of keeping it short. Ollie nods in agreement.
«At least the first few months is more about fitness, teamwork and getting to know each other than about the wins and performances,» he explains. "Also it's a nice opportunity for the riders to race in front of family and friends."
«Is the rest of the season going to get easier then?»
«Not necessarily. Belgian races are usually tough.»
I’m starting to wonder if gaining exposure in Belgium or winning races is Argenta's top priority. Maybe they’re just expecting miracles in their first season. Not being too confident on our newly formed working relationship yet I decide to move on from the subject rather than pursue it.
The Squad
«The squad,» I say to signal the change of subject. "It seems more... grown up."
«It was my recommendation that we secured at least a few riders who couldn’t get into a U23 race.»
«Based on your experiences with Le Coq Sportif?» He nods.
«The Continental division is tough and knowing what kind of races Argenta wanted to take part in, I knew we needed more experienced riders, someone who could lead the younger riders through their first season at this level.»
«So, it was the Argenta execs who wanted the young riders?»
«That’s why they contacted me in the first place. They wanted someone with the experience of leading 18-19 year olds in a ‘grownups’ circus. Not a lot of sports directors have that experience.»
The Ideal Sports Director, I think to myself.
«How did they react when you advised against their plans?»
«Luckily they listened and were willing to compromise. They still want to be a team that focuses on finding and developing young riders. I guess it’s part of their marketing strategy or something.» Ollie shrugs his shoulders. I know he hates the money side of the business and again I’m wondering if Le Coq Sportif could’ve been saved had he been more invested in that area of the sport.
«Anyway, they were excited about Kevin Peeters and delighted when we signed Gianni Vermeersch. They became almost like a symbol of our compromise, our deal.»
«And the lack of climbers?»
Le Coq Sportif was a well-balanced GC squad while I've noticed that Argenta is mainly a Classics squad – nothing but sprinters and punchers.
Ollie laughs.
«There aren't a lot a lot of mountains in Belgium.»
«Of course. But is the schedule and the rider types your decision or…»
Ollie’s look on his face stops me from finishing the sentence.
«Right now we’re focused on races in Belgium and the Netherlands, another country without a lot of mountains,» he says to wrap up the subject.
«But it might be in the team’s future?» I ask even though I know I'm pushing it.
«Sure,» he says. «But for it to make sense to assemble a GC squad, we have to be looking at a very different race schedule with a lot of races outside the Benelux countries. And I can’t see us in that scenario unless we’re aiming for the Pro Conti.»
Ambitions
I stop the tape recorder and run to the bathroom while Ollie orders a refill. I understand there has to be compromises between a team's leaders and decision makers but I can't shake the feeling that Ollie is sacrificing too much of himself and his own ambitions for this job. I remember Ollie leading a young Le Coq Sportif team and it was so much more than a business transaction. I saw a guy who worked his butt off through ups and downs but loved every minute of it. A guy who was so emotionally invested in his team that the hardest part of shutting it down wasn’t a press conference with the Le Coq Sportif execs but rather having to tell his riders that it was over. A guy with ambitions. Argenta doesn't feel like his team and the team's ambitions doesn't sound like his. Maybe that's a good thing.
I restart the tape recorder.
«So, when will we see Argenta aim for the Pro Conti?» I ask.
«That’s up to Argenta, not me.»
«Come on,» I push on. «There’s nothing wrong with having personal ambitions even if they’re not in perfect harmony with the execs.»
Ollie takes a sip of his coffee. The look on his face tells me we’re done with the subject.
For now, I think to myself as Ollie looks at the menu and pick out a piece of cake.
Ripley wrote:
Another great entry. And there are very few mountains in the CT, a climber would probably be a waste for a small team.
Thanks for the compliment! Very glad to hear it as I spent a lot of time editing down the length of the interview (it started out at least twice as long!), but I was still afraid it was going to be way too long. Short and interesting I think is a good formula to aim for in the future
About the race:
The traditional opening event of the Belgian cycling season and the first race of the year in Northwestern Europe starts and finishes in Gent after 199,4 grueling kilometers through the Flemish Ardennes. The race features tough hills and a total of 14 cobbled sections.
Favorites Fabian Cancellara Philippe Gilbert Tom Boonen
Etixx - Quick Step are looking for the race win with three potential race winners in Tom Boonen, Zdenek Stybar and Niki Terpstra. Philippe Gilbert is aiming to win the Omloop for the third time and tie Ernest Streckx, Joseph Bruyere and Peter Van Petegem and will be helped out by Daniel Oss and Loïc Vliegen.
Ollie on the race strategy: "We're going to try to stay protected in the peloton, save energy and hopefully have some juice left in our legs in the latter part of the race. It's mainly about fitness today so we'll adapt our strategy as we go depending on how the race evolves."
Ollie also stated that he personally had not set up the strategy. More on that in tomorrow's pre-race interview!
ARGENTA SEASON OPENER: "It's All About Fitness"
- And What's The Story Behind Ollie's Knee-Injury?
"I'll eat something in the car," Ollie says. Whether it's nerves or just too many things to do so close to race start, Ollie has not eaten breakfast yet and his team needs a sharp and focused Sports Director as the new outfit joins the peloton for the first time. And it's a tough one.
199.4 kms.
14 cobbled sections.
Hills that'll kill the legs of some of the best riders in the world.
And if that isn't hard enough, tomorrow the latest Belgian addition to the Continental division is racing another 203.1 kms between Kuurne and Brussels.
It's not an opening weekend to take lightly and probably why the Norwegian sitting across from me this morning has prioritized the team over his own stomach.
"I'll be fine as soon as the riders get down here," Ollie continues as he quickly checks his phone, some maps and makes a note on his note pad before he finally gives me his full attention.
"Let's talk about the season opener," I say, jumping in with both feet. "Why make such a brutal race your first race? Why throw these kids into a 1.HC race on the biggest race weekend in months, in front of their family and friends."
Ollie smiles as we both know I'm laying it on thick to make my case. But I still think it's a good point.
"It's all about fitness today," Ollie says, a line I've heard multiple times leading up to this race and not an explanation I'm willing to accept again. So, I wait until Ollie elaborates.
"And it's about mentality," he continues. "Maybe we could've benefited from a few races leading up to today's 'big event', but I think all I would've achieved would be to make this race so much bigger than it actually is. Instead of young riders excited about taking their first steps into professional cycling and riding next to some of their big heroes, I would have a team bus filled with terrified kids who wouldn't get anything useful out of this experience. This race is NOT our main objective. So, why make it one in their minds?"
I understand his point even though I'm not in total agreement. Maybe it's just my 'armchair sports director's' pride that has been hurt.
"How's the mood in the team?"
"It's been pretty good," Ollie can report. "The riders seem to get along, especially those who have ridden together before. But we're still getting to know each other."
"I talked to Kevin Peeters yesterday about the race tactics and I was surprised to learn that...," I pause and try to find a good way to put it but eventually just keep it simple. "...there isn't one."
Ollie is reluctant to explain the whole idea...
"I know you have two strong sprinters in Kevin and Gianni and with a cobblestone specialist like Niels (Wytinck) he would probably also be considered for the captaincy today. Are you just trying to avoid controversy?"
...but I know which buttons to push.
"Not at all," Ollie says with a serious face. "This is about teamwork. This is about seeing who's willing to sacrifice their own chances in the race for someone they see as a stronger rider. I want the natural leaders to step forward and take responsibility. The role of the captain is not handed to you. It has to be earned."
"Sounds like a risky strategy to me," I say, more worried about keeping the peace within the squad than pressing anymore buttons. I can see our time running out and decide to leave it until we can see the outcome of his non-existing tactics.
"What's a realistic goal for today's race?"
"As long as my boys get to the finish line in one piece, I'm happy. One can always hope for a surprise but I don't even think it's realistic to get into the top 30 today."
Question from a Twitter follower:
"Last but not least," I say as I venture into a new segment I've been ordered to include in my interviews by the wise old men who's good with money but not necessarily with social media. "A question from @LanternRudy on Twitter."
For some reason Ollie seems more excited about this than me.
"How did you hurt your knee?"
"I was on a training ride with two teammates. Suddenly Ollie seems to have all the time in the world. "Back then we were testing a few different bikes from different manufacturers ahead of the new season and this particular day we were testing a new bike on a few climbs.
"We decided to have a race to the top and down the other side to the village where we were currently staying and climbing being my specialty I quickly disappeared up the hill. On my way down I decided to stop and pee while allowing my teammates to catch up. However, I didn't choose the best spot to do so and just as I got back to my bike, my teammates came flying around the corner. One was able to turn and missed me by inches but the other didn't spot me until the crash was inevitable.
"And that's how I took an Arrow to the knee.
"Luckily my teammate escaped with a few cuts and bruises but my knee never fully recovered."
194 riders on the start of today's season opener in Northern Europe, among them 8 very excited riders from the newly started Continental team Argenta Cycling Team, standing shoulder to shoulder with some of the biggest names in Cycling at the start line in Gent. But as the flag dropped, there was no time to be a fan.
Orders from above? Argenta at the front of the peloton.
But as today's first challenges were approaching, the Argenta riders wisely drifted a little bit further back to protect themselves from the wind. As the front trio hit Haaghoek, a 3-star rated cobbled section 1.3 kms into the Berendries Hill, they had a gap of 6'30''. Then followed Tenbosse Hill (1 km, 4,4%) and Eikenmolen (0,8 kms, 4,8%) where the peloton started to stretch thin and the trio's lead was up to about 7 minutes.
As the trio was approaching the feared Muur - Kapelmuur the skies opened and the rain poured down as if the gods of cycling just wanted to make the challenge slightly more difficult. Or deadly.
Tom Boonen was the first victim of this legendary hill. A flat tire half-way up the hill and no mechanics able to get to him quickly gave the veteran a gap to close to the other favorites. Then Jordi Warlop was involved in a mass crash but luckily everyone escaped without injury. Muur van Geraardsbergen took its toll on the riders but the slow pace at the top allowed the peloton to regroup once again.
Gianni Vermeersch: Beaten up, but not defeated.
Over Kruisberg (3/5 stars, 1,5 kms, 5,6%) the peloton increased their speed with Etixx controlling the pace. Over Taaienberg (1,1 kms, 4,7%, 3/5 stars) and Etikhove (0,6 kms, 1/5 stars) riders started to drop off the back. The Argenta riders were able to keep up with the pace but a crash right in front of them created a gap. 31 riders riding hard at the front created a gap of about a minute.
The race was chaotic but Gianni Vermeersch took charge as all the bigger teams were represented in the larger group ahead of him. He laid down a high pace which exploded the peloton into smaller grupettos. The Argenta riders were also dropping off but Niels Wytinck stayed on the wheel of his teammate.
At the front, the original trio had been reeled in and BMC were now chasing the new breakaway - Niki Terpstra (Etixx) and Fabian Cancellara (Trek). The once 31-man strong grupetto disintegrated over Wolvenberg (0,8 kms, 5,3%), Ruiterstraat (1 kms, 3/5 stars) and Kapel Martelstraat (1,3 kms, 2/5 stars). Now everyone seemed to be fighting for themselves. A group of 5 were able to chase down the duo in front just 5 kms from the finish line. Philippe Gilbert opened the sprint and no one had the legs to take away his third Omloop Het Nieuwsblad victory!
For Argenta, Niels Wytinck and Gianni Vermeersch rolled over the finish line as #41 and #42, 7'29'' behind the winner.
Preview:
Another 200 kms of hills and cobblestones awaits the riders after yesterday's Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. Kuurne - Brussel - Kuurne closes out the opening weekend here in Belgium and the flat final third of the race should set up a mass sprint.
Stage: Kuurne - Brussels - Kuurne, 203,1 kms
Favorites: Jasper Stuyven (Trek), Bert De Backer (Giant), Maarten Wynants (LottoNL) Outsiders: Marco Marcato (Wanty), Taylor Phinney (BMC)
194 riders at the start but with a change in favorites as many of yesterday's top performers were not in today's race. The first 25 kms went by at a high pace as several riders tried to get away in today's breakaway - among them Argenta's Jens Vandenbogaerde and Titte Van Laer - but eventually the pace slowed down as Maxat Ayazbayev (Astana) and Christian Knees (Sky) got away.
The riders enjoyed the beautiful sunny day across the Belgium country side while they could, knowing what laid ahead. The duo was in a hurry to reach the first challenge of the day, a 3,3 kms long hill with an average incline of 3,1%, and created a gap of 7 minutes down to the peloton. But as La Houppe approached, the peloton got restless as riders were fighting for positions.
The high pace stretched the peloton thin as they approached Kanarieberg (1.2 kms, 8,1%). As riders were struggling to keep up, they only had 3 kms of flat terrain before the riders hit Kruisberg, a 1,2 kms long hill with an 8,1% average incline and today's first cobbled section - 700 meters rated 4 out of 5 stars. The Argenta team drifted further back in the peloton as the roads narrowed and the pace increased. The cobblestones started to break up the peloton as they hit Oude Kwaremont (4,5 kms, 4,5% with a 1,6 kms, 4/5 star rated cobbled section) and the breakaway duo were now only a minute ahead of the peloton which now only counted 61 riders.
For Argenta, only Kevin Peeters, Gianni Vermeersch and Niels Wytinck were able to stay in the front group. The breakaway had been reeled in but a new one was quickly established, one that spelled the end of the race for anyone not in it. The 10-man grupetto included pretty much every favorite to win today's stage, representing 8 of the top teams. The only big teams left behind were Team Sky, Etixx and Lotto Soudal, all three staring each other down but neither wanting to take responsibility and give chase.
The 10-man breakaway with Marco Marcato (Wanty), Bert De Backer (Giant), Jasper Stuyven (Trek), Aleksandr Porsev (Katusha), Kevin Vanbilsen and Borut Bozic (Cofidis), Maarten Wynants (LottoNL), Maxat Ayazbayev and Laurens De Vreese (Astana) and Taylor Phinney (BMC) reached Côte du Trieu (1,9 kms, 5,4%) before Etixx finally took charge and tried to close the gap but it seemed to be too late.
With 55 kms to go the breakaway was 7 minutes up the road and showed no sign of slowing down. Piet Allegaert made a heroic effort to get up to the peloton, bringing water bottles to Peeters, Vermeersch and Wytinck.
35 kms to go and the breakaway was still about 6 minutes ahead and the peloton gave up their chase, instead settling in for a mass sprint.
In Kuurne it was Alexandr Porsev (Katusha) who attacked first and rode solo to the finish line followed by Borut Bozic (Cofidis) and Marco Marcato (Wanty). In the peloton, Kevin Peeters had a hard time maneuvering to the front and seemed to mistime his sprint. Despite finishing 11 minutes behind the winner, Peeters was able to sneak into the top 20, finishing in a very impressive 19th. Niels Wytinck and Gianni Vermeersch, who had both done a job for Peeters, finished in 31st and 44th.
Ripley wrote:
Not a bad start, especially KBK, 19th is probably as good as it gets for now.
Not just for now, but probably for a while I'm using a few guidelines that should make it quite difficult to make any quick progress. Or progress at all
But I'm quite happy with 19th even though we came in far behind the top 10. We're not in top shape yet either so hopefully we'll be more competitive soon even though the race schedule isn't getting much easier.
Preview:
After the start in Mons the riders head north through the hilly country side before turning back south towards Dour where 4 tough laps of hills and cobblestones will beat the last juice out of tired legs before the finish line. We might see a big peloton chasing a small breakaway all the way to Dour but the final laps should separate the strong from the weak where you need to be in the right grupetto to have a chance to win it all.
Stage: Mons - Dour, 200.3 kms Favorites: Bert De Backer (Giant), Ramon Sinkeldam (Giant), Jasper Stuyven (Trek) Outsiders: Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (Etixx), Stijn Devolder (Trek), Edward Theuns (Trek)
190 riders set off in Mons and with attacks not to the pelotons liking, the first 30 kms went by at breakneck speed. The pace slowed down as the peloton approached the first challenge of the day, Boid d'Hergies (1,1 kms, 7,4%) and Jochem Hoekstra (Parkhotel) saw an opportunity to get away. He was joined by Huub Duyn (Roompot) and the duo had a gap of 3 minutes as they hit the hill.
Argenta gained some exposure over the next 50 kms as the breakaway built up a gap of 5'30'' before they arrived in Dour and took on Rue de Belle Vue (0,8 kms, 4/5*) for the first time, but drifted backwards as Giant, Trek and Etixx started chasing.
The breakaway duo was reeled in and immediately Ramon Sinkeldam (Giant) attacked. A few meters behind him Niels Wytinck crashed and brought down several riders with him and on the narrow road it created a split in the peloton. 153 was suddenly reduced to just 52 and surprisingly among those 52, 5 were Argenta riders. Piet Allegaert, Jens Vandenbogaerde and Jordi Warlop struggled with the pace as 52 became 39 but Kevin Peeters, Gianni Vermeersch still looked to be handling the pace and the chaos as the riders started the final lap; a last run across every cobbled section including Rue de Belle Vue for a fifth time before the sprint to the finish line.
Kevin Peeters fell behind but Gianni Vermeersch was able to catch up with a grupetto of 5 other riders and with over a minute back to the closest grupetto, the young Argenta rider was headed to a top 12 finish and the best result for the new Continental team in their short history.
Ramon Sinkeldam crossed the finish line 39'' ahead of Tim Wellens and Tom Devriendt. Behind the top 6 followed one of the slowest sprints in Belgium racing history. Gianni Vermeersch looked like he was running on empty but he somehow managed to throw his wheel ahead of Bert de Backer (Giant), one of the favorites on today's race, and secure the last of the top 10 spots!
Stage 1: A flat 6.2 kms long individual time trial in Waregem opens this year's Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen. A solid time trial could put you in a good position in the GC, but there are 10 bonus seconds for the winner of stage 2 and the winner of stage 3 which favors the sprinters.
Stage 2 from Dunkerque to Courrières includes two category 4 hills with cobblestone sections; the top of Cassel Rue du Tambour at the 27 km mark and Cassel Place at the 32. After that, the final 123.7 kms are relatively flat and we expect a mass sprint.
Stage 3 from Pèruwelz to Ichtegem is very similar to stage 2 although the two hills are category 3 but without any cobblestones. When they pass Ronse for the second time, 118.4 kms remain and with another flat finish, we can expect another mass sprint in Ichtegem.
Favorites: Taylor Phinney Maciej Bodnar Fabio Felline
Outsiders Edward Theuns Adam Blythe Christophe Laporte
Hailing from Zwevegem, it seems only fitting that Wouter Leten's first race of the season is the Driedaagse of West-Vlaanderen. Sports Director Ollie has appointed Kevin Peeters as his captain which means another race in the helper role for sprinter Gianni Vermeersch unless he can pull off a great individual time trial and put himself in contention for the GC. That's not a very likely scenario though. With no time trialists in the squad, Argenta is hoping for a rider in the breakaway and a mass sprint on stage 2 and 3 where Peeters could manage a top 10 finish.
March 3, 2016 Stage 1 of Driedaagse Van West-Vlaanderen
FABIO FELLINE WINS PROLOGUE;
- Argenta Finds Cause to Celebrate
No one could match Fabio Felline who will wear the yellow jersey on tomorrow's stage from Dunkerque to Courrières. He got tough competition from the other favorites - and from an unexpected Belgian rider.
Stage 1 (ITT): Waregem, 6.2 kms Favorites: Taylor Phinney Maciej Bodnar Stefan Küng Jos Van Emden Fabio Felline Michael Rogers
Argenta must be labeled as a team without a time trial specialist but there might be one in the making. Jordi Warlop was one of the earliest riders to set off on today's prologue and what he lacked in time trial technique and experience, he made up for in effort. The 19-year old crossed the finish line just 2 seconds behind Louis Vervaeke (Lotto Soudal) and neither Michael Rogers nor Jos Van Emden could beat the young Argenta rider.
Jordi Warlop
It wasn't until Stefan Küng and Markel Irizar finished that Jordi Warlop was pushed out of the top 3. Eventually a few more time trial specialists would push the youngster a few more places down the list. Among them, Lars Ytting Bak (Lotto Soudal) and Maciej Bodnar (Tinkoff) who pushed Warlop out of the top 10, but neither could match today's winner, Fabio Felline (Trek). The Italian won the prologue by 11 seconds, a gap that will be hard to make up on the following two flat stages. Maybe the biggest favorite on today's stage, Taylor Phinney, came in 14 seconds behind the winner.
Taylor Phinney
Jordi Warlop eventually finished 13th, just 22 seconds behind Felline and just 3 seconds outside the top 10. A great effort by the youngster! We therefore allowed ourselves to include the top 13 in our graphics instead of just the top 10 we usually feature
March 5, 2016 Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen
Stage 2:
A Continental Team Playing With The Big Guys!
The 155.7 kms long stage 2 of Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen from Dunkerque to Courrières featured Fabio Felline (Trek) in yellow and as one of the top favorites to win along side team mate Edward Theuns. The peloton set off at a high pace to discourage breakaways and it wasn't until the riders climbed Cassel, a 1.4 kms long hill with cobblestones, that the first breakaway was established.
Alexey Vermuelen (LottoNL) and Dries Van Gestel (Topsport) were joined by Davy Gunst (Roompot), Ludovic Robeet (Color Code) and Antonie Warnier (Wallonie) but the peloton controlled the gap at around three minutes, a gap that had all but vanished as the riders arrived in Courrières and started the three laps before the sprint to the finish line. The Argenta team was gathered and on the penultimate lap the breakaway finally surrendered and was overtaken by four Argenta riders leading the peloton at a high pace; Jens Vandenbogaerde, Niels Wytinck, Gianni Vermeersch and Kevin Peeters with Fabio Felline on their tail.
With less than 8 kms to go, Lotto Soudal and Louis Vervaeke took charge and set the pace and the Argenta riders dropped back one by one, not able to keep up. Kevin Peeters latched onto the wheel of Christophe Laporte (Cofidis) which proved a wise decision.
On the final kilometer, Laporte dragged with him Kevin Peeters, Kenny Dehaes (Wanty) and Jasper De Buyst (Lotto Soudal) and created a gap to the rest of the peloton. Across the finish line it was Kenny Dehaes sneaking past Laporte on the final meters with De Buyst managing to keep an exhausted Kevin Peeters behind him. The rest of the sprint took place behind the top 4 with Kevin Peeters securing Argenta's highest finish on any stage or race in their short history, finishing just a bike's length outside the podium!
March 6, 2016
Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen
Stage 3: Unbeatable Fabio Felline!
Ahead of the final stage of the Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen, Fabio Felline held an 11 second lead to Lars Ytting Bak (Lotto Soudal) and Maciej Bodnar (Tinkoff), both who needed to gain bonus seconds during the stage to have any shot at taking the yellow jersey from the Italian. In the Young Riders competition, Argenta's Jordi Warlop started the stage only 10 seconds behind Stefan Küng (BMC), but with no real chance of winning the jersey.
Gianni Vermeersch was seen behind the peloton talking to his sports director before Gianni was sent off with water bottles for his teammates. Peeters has been the captain for this stage race and there seems to be a little bit of tension between the captain and Gianni. The young sprinter was criticized yesterday for not pulling his weight in the lead-out train for Kevin, although we should keep in mind that some of these races can be tough on young legs.
The first intermediate sprint in Ichtegem came and went with the breakaway still holding a lead and with three laps and about 30 kms to go were still a full minute ahead of the increasingly desperate chasers. The high pace set by BMC and Lotto Soudal started to break up the peloton and Argenta sacrificed several riders to keep Warlop, Peeters and Vermeersch in the front group.
20 kms to go and the breakaway was over with an exhausted Martijn Keizer being the last to surrender. Cofidis took control in the peloton with 12.5 kms to go. Kevin Peeters was in a good position until Evgeni Petrov (Tinkoff) crashed and brought him and several riders down with him. Gianni Vermeersch, like yesterday, had dropped to the back of the peloton before the mass sprint and even though he avoided being brought down by the crash, he was now in a terrible position to take over as the team's sprinter. He rode hard and managed to maneuver himself towards the front, but in doing so spent all the remaining juice in his legs and had to see the mass sprint go without him.
Cofidis had a good sprint train set up for Christophe Laporte who were leading on the final 100 meters until Fabio Felline came from behind to win his second stage, the overall GC and the points jersey.
Jordi Warlop couldn't keep up with the peloton on the final 10-15 kms and fell to 14th in the young riders competition, seeing his teammate Gianni Vermeersch overtake him in 10th.
I spent so much time preparing this story, writing, doing research on all the riders (merits, where they came from, a backstory etc), getting the game set up the way I wanted... only to find myself not enjoying it once I got started. I set the bar too high, wanted to record and tell every little detail of everything that was going on, not just with the Argenta team, but almost the entire cycling world (I have a huge document with a ton of details on lots of races (not just the ones we rode), riders, sponsors). At the end of the day, I wasn't excited about playing the game anymore as it felt more like homework or a full-time job than entertainment.
Long story short:
Wanted this story to be as realistic and highly detailed as possible which quickly turned into a full-time job rather than a game I enjoyed.
-----
So, my apologies for giving up on this story already. I have tried to fire it up again and see if I can get back into it, but so far no luck. But I have learned a valuable lesson: Unless I enjoy the career, I won't enjoy telling the story.
I'm moving on to PCM2017 (maybe 2018) and I now have a much clearer idea of how to enjoy both the game and telling the story. The secret was simply to start playing and enjoy myself and let the story write itself. If I want to tell the story, that is. So, there might be a new story out soon, but if so, it'll look very different from what I've done so far.
Thanks to everyone for reading and commenting! The support and community is perhaps the main reason I enjoy writing story threads Hopefully I can return in the future with something much better
It's always sad to see a story end but i am sure it will not be long before you go again with a new adventure. My advice would be don't promise an update every day, do it at your pace and if you leave it for a few days, don't worry
sutty68 wrote:
It's always sad to see a story end but i am sure it will not be long before you go again with a new adventure. My advice would be don't promise an update every day, do it at your pace and if you leave it for a few days, don't worry
Thanks for the advice Yeah, I did put a lot of pressure on myself to update frequently. Will try to avoid doing so in the future.
With elite riders like Daniel Martin, Niki Terpstra and Julian Alaphillipe all under contract next year, Quick Step should be able to find a new partner when Etixx pulls out at the end of the year. Maybe their biggest star, Marcel Kittel, opened the 2016 season with two stage wins during the Santos Tour Down Under recently. 
For Wanty - Groupe Gobert the future looks more uncertain. Their two biggest stars, Enrico Gasparotto and Marco Marcato, are both on expiring contracts and could prove difficult to resign until a new sponsor is in place. What might attract new sponsors are the two up and coming talents Roy Jans and Fredrik Backaert. 
Cofidis, Solutions Crédits and 
Direct Energie were invited along with the Italian registered team 
Fortuneo - Vital Concept, but it's the fourth invitation that is creating some controversy. 
Fabian Cancellara
Philippe Gilbert
Zdenek Stybar
Niki Terpstra
André Greipel
Maciej Bodnar
Jos Van Emden
