First of all, welcome to my come-back as a story writer.
As many of you will probably know, I've spent a big part of 2012 trying to be as good a story writer as I could be, with the good old "trial and error". I've started many a story and unfortunately some of them came to an early end. Of course, story writing isn't easy and (with the exception for dienblad), you can't be right from the start. Though the first real story I've started can be considered my best so far, A Tale of Two.
That's why I've decided to go back to my roots as a story writer. I've decided to bring back my favorite fantasy character Stijn Van Gent, and mix him up with a new fantasy character, GC rider Willy Wouters. I've learned from all of my previous stories, both good things and things I should avoid. This story is an attempt to return to my highest level, and also the story where I had the most fun as a writer. The only problem (well, the biggest anyway) in A Tale of Two were the starting stats. I won't make that mistake this time. (Though the starting stats are still higher than other 21-year old neopro's would have. In my opinion they are just very talented and I think I'd be bored if they only started getting good results after 4 years. Let's face it, Schleck was 2nd in the Giro at age 22, so it's possible)
Once again I have chosen for Lotto-Belisol. Not (necessarily) because it's my favorite team or anything, but just because it's the most logical choice: It's a Belgian team, it's got a great youth-program and it's an ideal team for both a classics rider and a GC rider to grow in and find their own place in. I also don't want to risk crashing the game again by changing teams during the winter.
Oh, and no deaths this time, promise!
But, well, words just aren't going to cut it anymore, I present you the rebirth of both Stijn Van Gent and his maker in: Double Feature: A Two-Rider Story
Database:
Real Name DB for Patch 1.3.0.0 (stats edited by myself)
Development of Attributes:
0.5
Difficulty:
Hard
Stijn & Willy's Blog
Most welcome to our blog!
We are Stijn Van Gent and Willy Wouters, both "new kids on the block" in the world of professional cycling. The new generation of cyclists is all about anti-doping, but also about finding new ways to promote our sport. So that's why the two of us decided to create this online blog together.
Koppenberg, Oudenaarde
We both grew up in the outskirts of East-Flanders, a province in Flanders, Belgian. Stijn grew up in Oudenaarde, watching the Ronde passing trough each year, while Willy grew up in a small town called Overmere. We met at the age of 12, when we both went to the same school in Ghent. Soon we started organizing races on Wednesdays afternoons and weekends.
Donkmeer, Overmere
We both signed up in the same team for amateur/junior cycling. Willy eventually got a contract for Jong Vlaanderen while Stijn had some minor success in the national cyclo-cross milieu, combining the field and the road throughout the year. From the day we got our diplomas, we've been trying to make a living out of our biggest passion, and it seems we have finally succeeded. Both 21, we have signed a contract with the Belgian Pro Tour team Lotto Belisol. For the most races we'll blog individually, who we are is shown underneath, with our palmares edited every few races!
Willy Wouters
Hi everyone,
I'm Willy Wouters, and this'll be my blog. Let me introduce myself.
Name: Willy Wouters Date of Birth: 21/09/1990 Height: 178cm Weight: 67kg Type of Rider/Style: It's not easy to define what type of rider you are so early in your career, but if I had to make a guess, I'd say I'm mostly a climber and a time trialist, so that makes a good combination for general classifications. I've spent months in France, Italy and Spain during the holidays, just me and my bike. I've learned that my stamina is a more reliable skill than my direct strength, both in climbing and in time trialing.
As a climber, I prefer longer climbs. I can sustain very steep sections well, as long as it's part of a bigger and longer climb. I also have a great level of recuperation, so I believe my future lies in stage races. Multiple tough mountain stages will definitely give me some kicks to come!
As a time trialist, it's sort of the same. The longer, the better. I really enjoy riding with a time trial bike and I saved up forever to buy one. Ever since I got it, I've spend hours, days, weeks on it. It's my dream to take place on the podium of the World Championship Time Trialing one day.
Cobbles aren't my favorite terrain. I'm not particularly bad at them, but it's just not my favorite style of racing. I just lack the absolute strength. The same goes for sprinting (uphill). I hope I can work on my power and that it'll come with the years.
Because of my (bit of a lack of) power, I'm mostly not looking for much victories, because so far that just hasn't been my thing. I like attacking and sometimes it pays off, but taking the step to the professional world, Pro Tour, it'll be hard. I think the first year will be about hard work and I shouldn't expect miracles. I'll just rely on my stamina and time trialing to survive my first season, at least in the big races. However, I'm an attacker at heart, so hopefully I'll be true to myself as my strength will grow over the years.
GT Palmares
.
Giro d'Italia
Tour de France
Vuelta a España
2013
10th (1) + Y
2014
3th (3) + Y
2015
3th (4) + Y
Grand Tour Stages: 8
Important Races Palmares
.
Amstel
Wallonne
L - B - L
Lombardia
2016
15th
D.N.E.
21th
.
Championships
National Championships
Road Race
Time Trial
2013
23th
2nd
2014
D.N.E.
1st
2015
29th
7th
World Championships
Road Race
Time Trial
2014
25th
1st
2015
5th
8th
Other Notable Results 2012
Ruta de San Luis: 3rd
Ronde van West-Vlaanderen: 14th
Tirreno - Adriatico: 14th
International Cycling Week: 18th, Stage Win
Giro del Trentino: 18th
Tour of Austria: 11th
GP di Arona: 4th
GP di Stresa: 14th
Tour de Wallonie: 3rd + Stage Win
Route of Elk Grove: 10th
Tour of Colorado: 2nd + Mountain Jersey + 2 Stage Wins
2015
GP de Bessèges: 2nd + Stage Win
Paris - Nice: 1st + Points Jersey + Mountain Jersey + Young Jersey + Stage Win
Milano - San Remo: 23th
Tour of Colorado: 1st + Points Jersey + Young Jersey + 2 Stage Wins
World Port Classics: 11th
Memorial Frank Vandenbroucke: 6th
Paris - Tours: 14th
Name: Stijn Van Gent Date of Birth: 22/02/1990 Height: 186cm Weight: 80kg Type of Rider/Style: Growing up in Oudenaarde, it'd be too easy to let you guess what kind of rider I am: a classic rider. I hope to be called a flandrien one day. I was born and bred on cobblestones, I even learned to ride a bike on cobblestones. It's a part of who I am. Thanks to my experience on the field I'm quite an agile rider, too. Narrow roads, cobblestones, wet and muddy roads, that's my style. A classics rider born.
Whatever advantage I may have on the cobblestones, I lack on ascending roads. In the Flemish Ardennes I can hack it, I can use my brute power to get to the top, but when the climbs are just a bit longer, the Ardennes or even mountains in France, it just doesn't work out for me. I'm definitely not cut out for it. Whenever my parents went on a 2-week holiday to Italy, I stayed home and went riding all day long on the good old Belgian roads.
My most powerful weapon in any race is probably my sprint finish. I'm quite explosive and I rarely race without getting my beats per minute above the 190 at least once. Though I'll never sprint as well as someone like Greipel, or Cavendish, my sprint does get better the harder the race was. That's why I rarely just sit back and wait for the sprint to happen in a cobbled race.
Time trialing is just awkward for me. I've never spent much time practicing it, I must admit. I love racing, real racing, reading people's faces, attacking, those kind of things. Long distance time trialing is a disaster for me, short ones I can handle, barely.
Something that's been passed down my family from generation to generation is persistence and determination. And that's about what I want to be as a rider: determined, tough, aggressive, racing on wet cobblestones, like the old black-and-white shots from Paris-Roubaix, the old heroes, mythical...
Important Races Palmares
Omloop
K-B-K
M - SR
E3
GW
RvV
PR
2012
21th
28th
DNE
17th
19th
15th
19th
2013
2nd
5th
6th
9th
4th
7th
5th
2014
2nd
3rd
14th
1st
1st
3rd
9th
2015
1st
3rd
4th
1st
2nd
2nd
D.N.F.
2016
1st
1st
1st
1st
2nd
1st
1st
GT Palmares
.
Giro d'Italia
Tour de France
Vuelta a España
2013
89th (1)
2014
D.N.E.
2015
58th (6) + P
Grand Tour Stages: 7
Championships
National Championships
Road Race
Time Trial
2013
1st
44th
2014
D.N.E.
D.N.E.
2015
2nd
41th
World Championships
Road Race
Time Trial
2014
57th
D.N.E.
2015
1st
D.N.E.
Other Notable Results 2012
Ruta de San Luis: Mountain Jersey
Ronde van West-Vlaanderen: 5th
Dwars Door Vlaanderen: 3th
GP di Stresa: 1st
Tour de Wallonie: 1st + Points Jersey + Young Jersey + 2 Stage Wins
Eneco Tour: 3rd + Stage Win
Overijse Classic: 1st
2013
Ruta de San Luis: Stage Win
Strade Bianche: 1st
Tour de Picardie: 1st + Points Jersey + Young Jersey + Stage Win
Eneco Tour: 1st + Young Jersey + Stage Win
Dutch Valley Classic: 1st
Classic Hamburg: 4th
Overijse Classic: 1st
Classique de Plouay: 2nd
Paris - Bruxelles: 3th
Paris - Tours: 7th
2015
GP de Bessèges: 1st + Points Jersey + Young Jersey + 2 Stage Wins
GP le Samyn: 1st
Paris - Nice: Stage Win
Vuelta a Asturias: Stage Win
Dutch Valley Classic: 1st
Classic Hamburg: 4th
Classique de Plouay: 2nd
World Port Classics: 1st + Points Jersey + Young Jersey + 2 Stage Wins
Paris - Bruxelles: 1st
Paris - Tours: 1st
2016
Santos Tour Down Under: 1st + Points Jersey + 3 Stage Wins
Tour of Qatar: 1st + Points Jersey + 3 Stage Wins
Paris - Nice: 2 Stage Wins
Team
2012: Lotto Belisol
2013: Team Argos - Shimano
2014: Team Argos - Shimano
2015: Team Garmin - Sharp
2016: Team Garmin - Sharp
Next time we'll present Lotto Belisol, our team for the year to come.
Thanks a lot for following!
Stijn & Willy
Edited by Ian Butler on 09-06-2013 18:32
Excelent! I was waiting for this day
but just one thing is a real question for me.. Why did you choosed that Stijn is in this story and Eric isn´t? I mean that why did you seperated them? it really suprised me that there is Stijn. But it´s going to be huge.
I smell it
JuanMotr wrote:
Excelent! I was waiting for this day
but just one thing is a real question for me.. Why did you choosed that Stijn is in this story and Eric isn´t? I mean that why did you seperated them? it really suprised me that there is Stijn. But it´s going to be huge.
I smell it
JuanMotr: Well, I don't really know. Eric was really over for me, while Stijn was still haunting me, deep down I've got a feeling this Willy Wouters will be a great character, so I opted for him, hope you'll like him! Thanks for the support. I hope your smelling powers will be a part of this story Edited by Ian Butler on 23-12-2012 21:35
We've both officially signed our contract with Lotto Belisol, which means we now breathe, eat, think Lotto Belisol. It also means that these guys are our family for at least one year:
The Team
Lotto Belisol is quite a strong team, with lots of talents and a low average age. The team is pretty well balanced with strong leaders on every front.
Leaders
Jurgen Van Den Broeck
Jurgen is the biggest Belgian hope for another Tour winner. Although he's still far off from yellow in Paris, he's still improving each year. His dedication to the sport and all its assets is unbelievable and inspiring. He'll be targeting the Tour, and may be racing the Vuelta afterwards. Contrary to speculation after Gilbert leaving, Jurgen will not lead the Ardennes Classics.
Jurgen is very talented and young. He's cut out for cobbled classics as he handles cobblestones extremely well and has that powerful sprint finish to take the win. He'll be racing his first classics as a leader. Throughout an important part of the season, he'll be the direct leader of Stijn. Luckily Jurgen is also known for his kindness and good heart.
Jelle Vanendert
Jelle has known a lot of bad luck in his career. He finally got his deserved breakthrough by winning on Plateau de Beille last year. His main goal are the Ardennes Classics. But we'll probably see him returning to the Tour to get another stage win there! He's got a strong pair of legs and a lot of determination. He'll be battling his former leader Gilbert, hopefully the learner will become the master.
There's not much more to be said at the moment. We leave for Mallorca in a couple of days with the entire team. Only Jurgen Van Den Broeck is already there, training. We hope to let you know how our first season will look like soon!
Willy Wouters
The team spirit struck me as having a very positive atmosphere. Most of the guys get along real well and everyone seems at peace with each other. There's definitely some nice (Belgian) talent in the team, climbing-wise. Besides Jurgen there is Jelle, Francis and Bart. I think the first training in Mallorca will be a lot of fun. I'm curious to see how I'll stand against these guys in the mountains, and against the chrono.
Stijn Van Gent
The team is just wonderful. I think there's nothing more important in a cyclist's life than being in a good team, friends to share your ups with, but also your downs. I can really see myself developing into the rider I'd like to be here. Their training staff and youth program are of excellent quality and I can't wait to be part of that first team victory! Just to know how it tastes like...
It's now early January 2012 and the both of us just returned from our first training camp with our brand new team, Lotto Belisol. As the season is coming near, our programs are taking shape now. But first we'd like to report on our first experiences with the team!
Training Camp Mallorca
One thing we learned so far, by the couple of weeks we've been with this team, is that Lotto Belisol is very well organized. They make excellent decisions dividing the team into different squads for the season (we being part of the youth program), and they do the same on training. Each squad gets his own specialized training. At first it was a bit weird not riding together for the first training camp, but we're so different riders it's only logical.
Lotto Belisol hired a professional photographer to take some nice action shots from out training, as a souvenir from the two weeks of training. We think it was a great initiative, and we'll show you a few!
Willy Wouters
My training was mainly uphill, with the likes of Jurgen Van Den Broeck, Jelle Vanendert, Francis De Greef and Bart De Clerq. I was a bit shy at first but after only a couple of kilometers I came out of my shell. We were constantly testing each other, attacking, sprinting. I really had a nice time. I'd like to show some pictures of a group climbing training, where the general atmosphere was a bit looser than an intensive training (which mostly was individual)
Jurgen going into the attack here. Bart (De Clerq) reacting in the background.
Jurgen now really accelerating with me and Bart chasing him
Bart (right) and I sprinting between ourselves. He won, unfortunately...
Stijn Van Gent
I mainly spend my time in Mallorca working with the sprinters. We had been given a choice between Mallorca and training-recons in Flanders for the classics. Seeing how it freezes here in Flanders, the result of the voting was unanimous: Mallorca! Jurgen Roelandts showed me some gravel-like, old, un-cemented roads where we had some separate trainings for the classics. Here's some pictures of a sprint-recovery training, where we rode for 185km, planning 3 sprints in between where we tried to perfect our lead-out train.
At the final sprint, we had a little competition with 5 of us. I'm the one on the far left, not bad, huh?
Well, that's it for today. We hope you enjoyed it and we should be able to present you our provisional calendar by tomorrow, so until then,
Stijn & Willy
Hello... what is this? Stijn is back, along with a new friend! Good luck for this one, hope after many attempts, this is the one! (even though I think the First Tale of Two was amazing; but this one I'm sure will be even better after the experience you've gained )
Looking good Ian, with a bit of luck you'll hit that original form and provide us all with another fantastic read, the challenge of course is to be better than Stijn+Eric!
sutty68: Thanks so much, I'll definitely try my best! Though the speed of A Tale of Two will remain unmatched, this'll go slower, but it'll last (much) longer if all goes well!
baggieboys32: Sure, I think I can do that. After all, I've gained more experience, so it should work
We're nearing the first races of the season, and it's about time we present you our calendars. So without much further ado, here they are!
Willy Wouters
Lotto Belisol revealed their youth program schedule days ago and as one of the youngest in the team, I'll be spending most of my racing days in that schedule. The team decided to put the youth on most of the Italian races, so it's mainly an Italian calendar. I can't say that bothers me, Italy is a beautiful country and I've always enjoyed climbing the hills there whenever I was there on a holiday!
Maybe one more remark before I present you the schedule, all races part of the youth program are without predetermined roles. So mostly that will become clear during the races.
January:Ruta de San Luis, also known as the Tour of Argentina. The race kicks off with some flat stages, which are perfect for me to adjust to the racing rhythm again. Being part of the youth program, I have no leader to support, and that gives me freedom to act as I feel.
February: After some more training, I'm very lucky to be chosen to open the Belgian season with de Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne, purely in a helping role.
March: It gets serious now. After three days in West-Vlaanderen, we get our first chance at a real World Tour race: Tirreno-Adriatico. Only one thing's for sure: the team time trial will be a disaster. After which I will stay in Italy for Settimana Ciclistica Internazionale.
April: After barely two weeks being home, we get sent to Italy again, this time for Giro del Trentino, a four day stage race with three mountain stages. Two one-day races follow, GP di Toscana and GP di Industria Larciano.
May: May is all about one thing, my peak for this first season, the Giro d'Italia. It'll be my first grand tour, so I'm very curious how I'll hold up in that feared final week. After the Giro, it's a time-out for nearly two months!
July: I'll return to racing in July, with the Tour de Wallonie. Just as well, I'll be sick of Italian roads by then anyway!
August: My next race is definitely not my cup of tea, but I'll be able to help the team, in the Eneco Tour. I'll take a plane the day of the final stage to adjust to the America time table for the Tour of Colorado, where my second peak of the season lies. After the US, I return to Belgium.
September: I'll finish my season in a flat, one day race: Paris-Bruxelles.
The team thought it might be useful to draw out our ideal fitness schedules, peaking our moments well. This is what I came up with eventually.
That's it for me. I think it's a great schedule and I'll see a bit of all kinds of races. The first Grand Tour will be quite an experience and I'm looking forward to it, a lot!
Stijn Van Gent
Making a schedule is like puzzling. I sat down with the team manager and we had a good talk about what I wanted, what he expected of me and what was (im)possible. In the end, this is what we came up with, and I've got to say I'm extremely pleased with it.
A big part of my calender coincides with Willy's one. We'll be racing quite a lot together this year, so that's a real nice thing, too.
January: Like Willy, I will start in the Ruta de San Luis. I've no real expectations there, yet. I'll probably try to meddle in a sprint or two, but we'll see about that later.
February: And then it's on to my favorite part of the season: early classics. Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne. I'll mostly work for Jurgen there.
March: After the opening weekend it's on to West-Vlaanderen, where I hope to ride a good race. There is a prologue, which I don't do bad on, and a big cobbled stage, which should be to my liking! Tirreno-Adriatico is next. And then it starts getting real interesting for me. I'm not 100% sure yet to be selected, they'll watch my results first, but potentially: Dwars Door Vlaanderen, E3-Harelbeke, Gent-Wevelgem, Ronde Van Vlaanderen, Paris Roubaix!
April: As mentioned, the two cobbled king-classics. Then a small break and it's off to Italy for GP di Toscana and GP di Industria Larciano.
May: My first Grand Tour, Giro d'Italia. I expect it to be tough, extremely tough. All I hope to get out of that race is finishing, as the mountain stages are very dangerous for riders of my caliber: young, inexperienced and a classics rider.
July:Tour of Wallonie, that's it! Mostly a race to get back into shape for a more important race in August.
August: A stage race for riders like me: Eneco Tour, after which follows a chain of (one-day) races: Dutch Food Valley Classic, Hamburg Classic, Overijse Classic, Classique de Plouay, World Port Classics...
September:... GP Jef Scherens and finally the end of the season: Paris-Bruxelles.
It's a shame I can't ride the National Championships, but if I perform well this season, I might get a shot at the title next year! My drawn fitness schedule looks as following.
Well, that's it for this post. We're really glad to have such a corresponding schedule in the first season of our professional careers. I guess there's nothing more to talk about, next time we'll post you from Argentina! Until then,
Stijn & Willy
Lars Bak (31)
Gaëtan Bille (23)
Brian Bulgac (23)
Adam Hansen (30)
Greg Henderson (35)
Vicente Reynès (30)
Marcel Sieberg (29)
Mehdi Sohrabi (30)
