cunego59 wrote:
Man, I really have to see if I can't find an old copy of that game somewhere Congrats on the first stage wins. And I like the presentation, too
Yeah, I think this version is really solid. Lots of nice long range attacks and smarter AI.
valverde321 wrote:
The TT was just weirdly played by the AI. I guess they ride a consistent pace, but I went hard on the climb and then knew I wouldnt burn as much for the descent.
I noticed AI is perfect on flat TT, but there're some issues on hilly and mountain ones from PCM 2006 to PCM 2020 (didn't play PCM 2021 yet). For example I played for Polish DHL Author (very weak team) in PCM 2010 and I won many hilly TT with those guys...
P.S. And yes - I also went hard on climbs didn't spending much on later downhills. AI just can't count so.
Okay, wasn't sure what it was like in 06, but yeah, the newer games a TT with a climb and a descent was always easy for the human.
DarkWolf wrote:
Congratulations on the stage victories! It was also good to see Basso winning a stage, although he was so far behind in the GC.
Thanks. It was a nice way to salvage the race for him. I find a lot of top riders are not in great form atm, so their GC results aren't as good, but a stage win is always a good result.
SSJ2Luigi wrote:
it's 2021 and a PCM.daily story exists where Valverde is eligable for the youth classification
I love retro
Indeed its kinda weird to see. At the same time it will be interesting to see how he does and when he retires in the game. I think I made it so he declines a lot later, but I believe the game can still make him retire in his mid 30's.
----
Also sorry for the slow pace again. Been working on some renovations which have taken about 95% of my time the last week or so.
Dmitri Fofonov takes a surprising victory on the first stage, as the days escapees hold off the sprinters, just barely.
Figueras of Lampre takes a brilliant solo victory as the sprinters seem to not care about challenging for victories. A late attack by Simon Gerrans moves him up the General Classification.
Despite his gains on the previous day, Gerrans was feeling great on stage 3, so he gets into an attacking move, and is the strongest on the day. The peloton only chased near the end, allowing Gerrans to move into the overall lead.
On the fourth day....finally the sprinters wake up. Bettini takes it in front of his home fans.
After a TT which saw only small changes, Michael Boogerd of Rabobank along with Vandenbroeck and Gomez Marchante attack with 70km out looking to steal the GC lead away from Simon Gerrans of AG2R. AG2R was too weak to chase for that period on the climbs, and while Boogerd took the stage, Gomez Marchante takes the lead.
Ale-jet concludes the race with a victory on the final day. No GC changes means we have a first time winner in Jose Gomez Marchante of Saunier Duval.
Final GC
1
Josél Gomez Marchante
SAUNIER DUVAL
27h18'12
2
Michael Boogerd
RABOBANK
+ 11
3
Jurgen Vandenbroeck
DISCOVERY CHANNEL
+ 45
4
Simon Gerrans
AG2R PRÉVOYANCE
+ 1'03
5
Patrik Sinkewitz
T-MOBILE TEAM
+ 1'34
6
Alessandro Ballan
LAMPRE - FONDITAL
+ 1'39
7
Chris Horner
DAVITAMON - LOTTO
+ 1'46
8
Guido Trentin
SAUNIER DUVAL
+ 1'53
9
Dmitri Fofonov
CRÉDIT AGRICOLE
+ 2'00
10
Fabian Wegmann
GEROLSTEINER
+ 2'17
Spoiler
11 Roberto Laiseka EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 2'19
12 David Etxebarria ASTANÁ TEAM + 2'28
13 Paolo Bettini QUICK STEP - INNERGETIC + 3'16
14 Nick Nuyens QUICK STEP - INNERGETIC + 3'29
15 Thomas Dekker RABOBANK + 3'45
16 George Hincapie DISCOVERY CHANNEL PRO CYCLING TEAM + 3'53
17 Stefan Schumacher GEROLSTEINER + 4'01
18 Maarten Den Bakker TEAM MILRAM + 4'06
19 Peter Van Petegem DAVITAMON - LOTTO + 4'08
20 Erik Dekker RABOBANK + 4'16
21 Matthias Kessler T-MOBILE TEAM + 4'24
22 Ruggero Marzoli LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 4'35
23 Davide Rebellin GEROLSTEINER s.t.
24 Lars Ytting Bak TEAM CSC + 4'49
25 Stijn Devolder DISCOVERY CHANNEL PRO CYCLING TEAM + 4'54
26 Linus Gerdemann T-MOBILE TEAM + 4'58
27 Juan-Antonio Flecha RABOBANK + 5'06
28 Anthony Geslin BOUYGUES TELECOM + 5'38
29 Rik Verbrugghe COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 5'40
30 Florent Brard CAISSE D'EPARGNE - ILLES BALEARS + 5'54
31 Marco Marzano LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 6'02
32 John Gadret AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
33 Marzio Bruseghin LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 6'06
34 Enrico Gasparotto LIQUIGAS + 6'14
35 Michele Scarponi ASTANÁ TEAM + 6'20
36 Leonardo Piepoli SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 6'25
37 Vincenzo Nibali LIQUIGAS + 7'13
38 Constantino Zaballa CAISSE D'EPARGNE - ILLES BALEARS + 7'14
39 Nico Mattan DAVITAMON - LOTTO + 7'20
40 José Ivan Gutiérrez Palacios CAISSE D'EPARGNE - ILLES BALEARS s.t.
41 Gianpaolo Caruso ASTANÁ TEAM s.t.
42 Bert Roesems DAVITAMON - LOTTO + 7'24
43 Johan Vansummeren DAVITAMON - LOTTO + 7'28
44 Juan José Cobo SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 7'36
45 Andrea Moletta GEROLSTEINER + 7'50
46 Andrea Noè LIQUIGAS s.t.
47 Giuliano Figueras LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 7'55
48 Thor Hushovd CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 8'00
49 Frédéric Guesdon FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 8'02
50 Viatcheslav Ekimov DISCOVERY CHANNEL PRO CYCLING TEAM + 8'11
51 Oscar Freire RABOBANK + 8'15
52 Andrei Grivko TEAM MILRAM + 8'22
53 Jakob Piil TEAM CSC + 8'28
54 Carlos Barredo ASTANÁ TEAM + 8'35
55 Marcos Serrano ASTANÁ TEAM + 9'00
56 Ivan Parra Pinto COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 9'01
57 Gilberto Simoni SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 9'03
58 Grégory Rast PHONAK HEARING SYSTEMS + 9'22
59 Markus Fothen GEROLSTEINER + 9'28
60 Jürgen Van de Walle QUICK STEP - INNERGETIC + 9'32
61 Koos Moerenhout PHONAK HEARING SYSTEMS + 9'42
62 Alessandro Petacchi TEAM MILRAM + 9'44
63 Allan Davis ASTANÁ TEAM + 9'48
64 Tadej Valjavec LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 10'01
65 Francisco Perez Sanchez CAISSE D'EPARGNE - ILLES BALEARS + 10'07
66 Mirko Celestino TEAM MILRAM + 10'24
67 Manuele Mori SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 10'27
68 Joseba Albizu EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 10'31
69 Bradley Wiggins COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 10'46
70 Egoi Martínez de Esteban DISCOVERY CHANNEL PRO CYCLING TEAM s.t.
71 Iker Camaño EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 11'08
72 Pablo Lastras CAISSE D'EPARGNE - ILLES BALEARS + 11'11
73 Lloyd Mondory AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 11'13
74 Carlos Sastre TEAM CSC + 11'14
75 Brian Vandborg TEAM CSC + 11'54
76 Grischa Niermann RABOBANK + 12'11
77 Uros Murn PHONAK HEARING SYSTEMS + 12'33
78 Steven De Jongh QUICK STEP - INNERGETIC + 12'51
79 Frédéric Finot FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 12'58
80 Michael Rasmussen RABOBANK + 13'04
81 Heinrich Haussler GEROLSTEINER + 13'14
82 Philip Deignan AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 13'24
83 Aitor Perez Arrieta CAISSE D'EPARGNE - ILLES BALEARS + 13'33
84 Simone Cadamuro TEAM MILRAM + 13'35
85 Iban Mayo EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 13'56
86 Addy Engels QUICK STEP - INNERGETIC + 14'30
87 Bart Dockx DAVITAMON - LOTTO + 14'41
88 Julian Dean CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 16'02
89 Wladimir Gustov TEAM CSC + 16'36
90 Michiel Elijzen COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 17'04
91 Danilo Napolitano LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 18'17
92 Alessandro Vanotti TEAM MILRAM + 18'44
93 Mathieu Heijboer COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 18'52
94 Benoît Vaugrenard FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 19'24
95 Mikel Astarloza AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 19'25
96 Thomas Lövkvist FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 19'46
97 Daniele Bennati LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 19'49
98 David Vitoria PHONAK HEARING SYSTEMS + 20'14
99 Pietro Caucchioli CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 20'31
100 Benoît Poilvet CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 21'17
101 Tomas Vaitkus AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 21'32
102 Marcus Burghardt T-MOBILE TEAM + 21'59
103 Giuseppe Guerini T-MOBILE TEAM + 22'44
104 Charles Wegelius LIQUIGAS + 23'17
105 Franck Bouyer BOUYGUES TELECOM + 23'23
106 Bert Grabsch PHONAK HEARING SYSTEMS + 23'26
107 Santiago Botero PHONAK HEARING SYSTEMS + 25'14
108 Olivier Bonnaire BOUYGUES TELECOM + 25'27
109 Marc Wauters RABOBANK + 26'31
110 Staf Scheirlinckx COFIDIS, LE CRÉDIT PAR TÉLÉPHONE + 26'42
111 Jonathan Patrick McCarty PHONAK HEARING SYSTEMS + 26'56
112 Michael Albasini LIQUIGAS + 27'16
113 Piotr Mazur SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 29'20
114 Matthieu Sprick BOUYGUES TELECOM + 29'22
115 Jason McCartney DISCOVERY CHANNEL PRO CYCLING TEAM + 31'17
116 David Navas AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 31'21
117 Vladimir Miholjevic LIQUIGAS + 32'06
118 Anthony Charteau CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 32'26
119 Martin Pedersen TEAM CSC + 32'38
120 Benoît Joachim DISCOVERY CHANNEL PRO CYCLING TEAM + 32'49
121 Matej Jurco TEAM MILRAM + 33'11
122 David Navarro ASTANÁ TEAM + 35'07
123 Alberto Benitez SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 35'25
124 Matej Mugerli LIQUIGAS + 36'23
125 Aitor Hernández EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 37'28
126 Thomas Ziegler T-MOBILE TEAM + 37'41
127 Sergei Gonchar T-MOBILE TEAM + 37'48
128 Robert Hunter PHONAK HEARING SYSTEMS + 37'57
129 Lars Michaelsen TEAM CSC + 38'48
130 Freddy Bichot FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 38'57
131 Alessandro Spezialetti LIQUIGAS + 41'16
132 Allan Johansen TEAM CSC + 42'16
133 Iñaki Isasi EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 43'31
134 Alexandre Pichot BOUYGUES TELECOM + 43'44
135 Ivan Santaromita QUICK STEP - INNERGETIC + 45'51
136 Aleksandr Usov AG2R PRÉVOYANCE + 47'26
137 Leonardo Scarselli QUICK STEP - INNERGETIC + 49'25
138 Tom Steels DAVITAMON - LOTTO + 52'42
139 Preben Van Hecke DAVITAMON - LOTTO + 52'44
140 Hubert Schwab QUICK STEP - INNERGETIC + 55'47
141 Giovanni Bernaudeau BOUYGUES TELECOM + 57'02
142 Aleksei Markov CAISSE D'EPARGNE - ILLES BALEARS + 57'30
143 Sébastien Portal CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 57'54
144 Mirko Lorenzetto TEAM MILRAM + 59'14
145 Anthony Ravard BOUYGUES TELECOM + 1h00'34
146 Aaron Kemps ASTANÁ TEAM + 1h01'43
147 José-Luis Carrasco CAISSE D'EPARGNE - ILLES BALEARS + 1h05'39
148 Sebastian Lang GEROLSTEINER + 1h08'41
149 Rubén Pérez Moreno EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 1h08'52
150 Antton Luengo EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 1h09'27
151 Andreas Klier T-MOBILE TEAM + 1h12'04
152 Mads Kaggestad CRÉDIT AGRICOLE + 1h12'33
153 Pierre Drancourt BOUYGUES TELECOM + 1h13'03
154 Arnaud Gérard FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 1h35'21
155 Fabien Patanchon FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 1h52'22
I'm sorry you lost the GC after a breakaway. I am used to 2020 game, it's the PCM I played after quite a while away from it, so I find it strange when such a breakaway succeeds. I shouldn't be, but in PCM2020 such things are a very rare beast indeed.
DarkWolf wrote:
I'm sorry you lost the GC after a breakaway. I am used to 2020 game, it's the PCM I played after quite a while away from it, so I find it strange when such a breakaway succeeds. I shouldn't be, but in PCM2020 such things are a very rare beast indeed.
Thanks. ANother feature which kind of hurts, but is realistic. My team was not in form and with the hilly profile apart from Astarloza and gadret the others all die pretty quickly chasing on the climbs, which means its hard to bring back a larger group ahead as the team expected to chase.
With 150km done, the riders are only halfway finished. Two riders are clear of the peloton, Pederson and Jalabert of Phonak. The peloton seems happy to let them maintain their gap of around 8 minutes. This gap eventually gets whittled down as we head into the final third of the race, with several famous climbs, none more famous than the Poggio, the final dish on todays course.
Known as the sprinters classic, the races nickname is living up to itself, as everybody seems happy letting the race conclude in a sprint. Everyone except Jens Voigt, who attacks on the Cipressa.
The Poggio proved too difficult for many of the top sprinters, allowing for some lesser known riders to contend for the sprint, and after an early launch, David Kopp of Gerolsteiner holds on to take the biggest victory of his career.
aidanvn13 wrote:
Great story Valv! And having PCM 06 AI is certainly making it a bit more interesting. How have you found it compared to the modern game?
Thanks! I think its still got its weird moments, but there seems to be a lot more logic in all of the AI's moves if that makes sense. I know in newer games a lot of times someone will be pulling or attacking (or not reacting at all) and I'd kind of question why thats happening, but PCM 06 doesn't really have that. If a leader is dropped from the front in a cobble race, all the teammates apart from the free elements drop back to help. I feel that only happens if they crash in the newer games.
Theres aggressive AI, big names can join breaks if they're down in the GC, and only riders in top form perform well. Like On 60 form, even going 99, a strong rider cant keep up with the best, which I feel is kind of realistic. Sprints I'd say still have some odd things sometimes, but every other terrain is pretty good compared to PCM 18. Having good leadout riders is actually important now. In the new games you can kind of just make your train longer if the riders are weaker.
Congrats on the first stage wins. And I like the presentation, too 
