The Russians had Katusha.
The English had Sky.
The Australians have Greenedge.
Kazakhstan have Astana.
The USA felt it was time to join in, many teams are based out of the USA, but used riders from multiple nations, This season the world tour will have to deal with a whole new threat!
The Western Tide
I was given the task to recruit some sponsors for the brand new USA team, so guys, without further ado, here are the new team sponsors!
The team have 2 key sponsors backing them this year, the two energy and oil companies, Exxon, and Duke Energy, both have provided some strong amounts of funding with which to attract riders, and have joined the squad on two year contracts.
The team have been well equipped this year, they are riding on the best bikes Cannondale can offer us, we will be looking mighty flashy in the peloton, and we will hopefully earn many victories mounted on these great bicycles.
They may not have a large involvement in the cycling industry just yet, but when we asked Calvin Klein if they would get involved in the project, they jumped at the opportunity, and have kitted out the side in some mighty flashy red and yellow jerseys...
The Team must use this year to fully establish itself into the Pro Tour, we will focus on picking up points throughout the year, and hope to make our presence known in all historic events, though we will be forced to fight for any points in the cobbled classics, an area where we are not the strongest side in the world.
So Team Exxon-Duke Goals
Tour De France Top 5
Amstel Gold Race Top 10
Amgen Tour of California Win
Giro D'Italia Top 10
Milan San Remo Top 5
Tour of Utah Top 5
Tour of the Battenkill top 5
SRAM Tour of the Gila Win
Philadelphia Cycling Classic Top 5
Edited by baggieboys32 on 08-04-2012 23:47
The team have been spotted out training in many locations around the states, and were even photoed in Milan on a pre-season ride together getting used to the bikes, and the new team.
Spoiler
I am now proud to present to you all, the Exxon-Duke Squad, for the 2011 Season.
Leaders
The squad will have 3 named leaders this year, first up our Sprint Captain- Tyler Farrar!
Tyler will be aiming to bring home many stages this year, but his 2 major targets are Green at Le Tour, and The Milan San Remo.
Chris Horner may no longer be the worlds youngest rider, but he's a great climber, and hilly specialist, he'll be our leader in the Ardennes and Late Classics, and may also target the Giro D'Italia.
Our Final Leader is still wondering how he's bee dragged out of retirement for a second time! When the idea was given to me, There was one man who I knew I had to convince to join the side, Lance Armstrong has been an inspiration for all US cyclists, and we've managed to get him back again, his target is of course, the Tour De France, oh and perhaps to manage to retire properly at some point - The only thing Mr Lance can't seem to manage!
Protected Riders
We have a collection of strong riders who will also be taking charge for some races, including David Zabriskie, and Tom Danielson. Both will look to collect points for the team, in smaller stage races and help our main men in the biggest events.
Sprinters
Tyler will obviously be our big gun for fast finishes, but we have a collection of riders who will be able to perform during smaller days, neither of the next two riders are well known, but i'm confident that they will do great things here at Exxon-Duke.
The Team
To help these riders we have a strong group of Americans, aided by a few talented individual from either side of the border, 2 mexicans, and 2 canadians have snuck there way into the team, to make up the full roster of 28 riders.
Right, thats the team presentation up guys, feel free to comment and ask questions, im more than willing to answer and love comments!
One obvious Question may be regarding my Youtube Twitter Story.
Answer: No this doesn't replace that story, this one will be updated a bit differently, the reports for this story will be less detailed, but will probably be updated more frequently, and i'll get through time quicker.
The Season for us kicks off down in Australia, with the Santos Tour Down Under, however for those native to Australia, the season started with the Australian Championships. The races saw a surprise winner in the TT, with Adam Hansen setting a time which no one could get close to. Meanwhile it was Cadel who won the Road Race in front of Alan Davis, and Heinrich Haussler.
Congratulations to them!
Well I had a look around at what people were giving him in the in his radioshack years, and then tried to deteriorate him to represent his age, you reckon i got it wrong then?
I know, thats probably the hardest of the collection, i'm hoping that i'll be able to protect him in the mountains using some of my other climbers, the tour from this year of the game has a limited number of mountain stages, and we have an epic TT'ing side, so i hope to set a good pace in TTT's and ITT's then just hold onto the bunch on the harshest of the climbs
Nice team there, too bad you didn't call Hincapie to strengthen the cobbles part of the team Concerning Armstrong's stats, I would give him more in Recovery (could even be his main skill), and, while it won't make a difference, he's much better in cobbles than that
Btw, what's happened to the team logo? And for the record, the Australians don't have GreenEdge (it's still 2011 here)
Squad:
Leader: David Zabriskie
Sprinter: Tyler Farrar
Free Element: Dominique Rollin
Team Mates: Taylor Phinney, Chad Beyer, Peter Femal, Bjorn Selander
Stage 1
Todays stage saw an 8 man break allowed away early, containing our own Chad Beyer, The early KOM sprint was taken by the Radioshack rider - Grégory Rast, but Beyer was in good form, and took both of the Jayco Sprint Points.
After that, the breakaway was steadily reeled in by Lampre, before a bunch sprint finish, which saw a victory for the Italian Veteran Alessandro Petacchi take the victory in front of world champion Thor Hushovd, and Borut Bozic,. Tyler Farrar was able to take 6th pace in the sprint.
Beyers victories in the intermediate sprints mean he currently leads the youth classification, and is 4 points ahead in the Sprint Contest.
lluuiiggii wrote:
Nice team there, too bad you didn't call Hincapie to strengthen the cobbles part of the team Concerning Armstrong's stats, I would give him more in Recovery (could even be his main skill), and, while it won't make a difference, he's much better in cobbles than that
Btw, what's happened to the team logo? And for the record, the Australians don't have GreenEdge (it's still 2011 here)
Good luck!
Fair enough, i'll change up the Recovery stat then special for you
I considered Hincapie, but seeing as i had almost noone who could help him over cobbles, this year we would focus more on the stage races, and Ardennes with Horner. regarding the team logo, i can't work it out, i set the right size and used the right file format, but only that section of the logo works, any ideas?
The second stage of the STDU, has an undulating route, though without any hills which should prove to difficult along the way, meaning another sprint finish can be expected.
The morning break contained 9 men, and Chad Beyer was for a second time, able to find his way into the group, along with some strong riders such as Van Avermaert of BMC, and 2 radioshack riders, incluing Sebastién Rosseler. Beyer was the only rider interested in the intermediates, and took 14 out 16 points in the Jayco Sprint contest, placing him firmly in the lead at this point.
The breakaway was allowed to free today, and Rosseler made a late attack from within the front group, just ahead of a charging peloton, Beyer managed 9th place, and Farrar was 11th, just outside if the points scoring positions.
The third stage of the STDU is moderately flat, before an uphill burst for the line, an area not perfectly suited to the lads here at Exxon-Duke.
We had a quiet day today, deciding not to join the 9man breakaway group who were allowed free after around 23km's who fought out the intermediate sprints between themselves, without any real effect upon the classifications.
On the 2nd of the 3 laps of the final loop, Roman Kreuziger tried to set off some fireworks with a late attack, which took him past the morning break, but the riders of Lampre and Garmin were keen to stop the escapee, and he was caught with 3km to the finish.
Once he'd been caught, the sprinters fought out the uphill finish between them, with Pozzato clearly having the best legs, taking a convincing stage win by around 5bike lengths to 2nd place Rojas of Movistar, with Matthew Goss rounding out the podium, Farrar was not well suited to the finish, and had to make do with 17th place, in what has so far been a highly dissapointing TDU for him.
Stage Results
1
Filippo Pozzato
Katusha Team
3h04'58
2
José Joaquín Rojas
Movistar Team
s.t.
3
Matthew Goss
HTC - Highroad
s.t.
4
Thor Hushovd
Team Garmin - Cervélo
s.t.
5
Mauro Finetto
Liquigas - Cannondale
s.t.
6
Alessandro Petacchi
Lampre - ISD
s.t.
7
Óscar Freire
Rabobank Cycling Team
s.t.
8
Xavier Florencio
Geox - TMC
s.t.
9
Borut Božic
Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
10
Koldo Fernández
Euskaltel - Euskadi
s.t.
General Classification
1
Sébastien Rosseler
Team RadioShack
9h52'42
2
Alessandro Petacchi
Lampre - ISD
+ 1
3
Filippo Pozzato
Katusha Team
s.t.
4
Chad Beyer
Exxon Duke
+ 2
5
Juan José Haedo
Saxo Bank SunGard
+ 4
6
Thor Hushovd
Team Garmin - Cervélo
+ 5
7
José Joaquín Rojas
Movistar Team
s.t.
8
Matthew Goss
HTC - Highroad
+ 7
9
Borut Božic
Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
10
Andrea Guardini
Farnese Vini - Neri Sottoli
s.t.
11
Matteo Tosatto
Saxo Bank SunGard
s.t.
12
Maciej Bodnar
Liquigas - Cannondale
+ 8
13
Matteo Pelucchi
Geox - TMC
s.t.
14
Greg Van Avermaet
BMC Racing Team
+ 9
15
José Vicente García Acosta
Movistar Team
s.t.
Stage 4
Todays profile is flat, with a slightly downhill run to the finish, yet another day which is likely to see a sprint finish, before tomorrows likely decisive day including the ascents of Old Wilunga.
Chad Beyer having recovered yesterday, saw an opportunity to get onto the podium in the overall GC when he joined the break today, the Intermediate sprints have provided enough bonus seconds that he is currently just 2" down on the lead.
He took a first and a second in the sprints, meaning the on road ochre jersey, was actually our young american starlet, Chad Beyer!
The break was caught with 8km left to ride, and Tyler Farrar was determined to make something out of what has been a thoroughly disappointing race thus far, Zabriskie gave him a solid leadout and with 1.8km left to ride, Farrar launched, powering away from the competition to take the first stage win of the teams career! One of many i don't doubt!
The team currently finds itself in a fantastic position, Farrar has given us our Debutant stage victory, and the aggressive riding so far by Beyer means we find ourselves as overall race leader, Beyer said in a post race interview that he was "Absolutely overjoyed" and would "look to try and protect the jersey, the only way he knew how - aggressiveness!"
The 5th stage is the hardest of the STDU, with 2 ascents of the Old Wilunga Hill, and it is todays stage which is likely to prevent Chad Beyer from winning the overall race, as some strong climbers, such as Andy Schleck, Tiago Machado, and Stijn Devolder, will all be looking to cause damage on the climbs and take the win.
The morning did not see a breakaway forming until over 35km had been ridden, due to the initial high pace set by Sky Procycling, when a break did form, it consisted of 3 riders- Daniele Bennati, Martin Kohler, and Kurt-Asle Arvesen.
The 3 riders worked together, and despite chasing efforts from the riders here at Exxon Duke, they still had 4minutes on the peloton, no other teams were willing to help us, and the break still had strong legs, due to there late escape.
Both Andy Schleck, and Machado tried to make an attack on the second ascent, and bridge the gap, but were unable to escape the pack for more than a few hundred metres, meanwhile up front, Kohler was dropped by teh other 2, who were now playing a game of chess for the stage and Ochre Jersey.
Bennati was able to get the wheel of Arvesen, and took the stage by a convincing margin, our riders peetered out inside the pack, Beyer at 37th, was highest placed, and we drop to 3rd in the GC.
