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Karl Hammarling - Scene 25: The Grand Finale
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| Jakstar22 |
Posted on 26-04-2014 22:49
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Cant wait for the racing to start again!
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 28-04-2014 09:07
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Tour de France Champion
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@Sutty - It's a solid brand i like a lot
@Jak - We really are close now
Act 7: Growing Up
Scene 16: Race Planning
2 years, 6 months and 2 weeks after I last rode a pro race I’m back baby! The team presentation was last week and we’ve also been away on a pre-season camp for a week or so. I was spot on about my fitness level, above the rest of the teams meaning I’ll be looking strongly at the early season classics.
The focus is on the big ones: E3, GW, RVV and PR. I’d like to race De Panne but it clashes with Roubaix. In the early season I’ll also tackle Dwars Door and some other minor cobbled classics. Off the rough it’s a sparse calendar, Strade Bianche is there alongside Tirreno-Adriatico. I’ll also be at the TDU right at the start.
Later into the year I’ll be heading to California, France and Germany for races, before hopefully going to the big one in July. From there it will be a light build up towards the Worlds and perhaps returning to the UK in early September. Should be an action packed season full of excitement and good racing. My focuses personally are Roubaix, Le Tour and the Worlds.
Johan will look to the Giro following a heavy early season schedule. After that he’ll relaxe before taking a run at the flat Autumn classics and possibly the Worlds. Krisitan will avoid the really big races and will stay consistently busy almost all season long. I will race with those guys at various times. Wilco is going all-in on the Tour and that will be great to see.
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| Jakstar22 |
Posted on 28-04-2014 09:20
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Cant wait! Seems like a good schedule. Good Luck!!!
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| admirschleck |
Posted on 28-04-2014 09:23
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Cool schedule, would be nice to see what can Karl do in some of the biggest events in the cycling world. 
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 28-04-2014 19:25
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Act 7: Growing Up
Scene 17: Barbequing, Part I
Australia is bloody hot in the summertime. Beautiful but goddamn hot, especially coming from snow covered Sweden. The TDU is set to begin in a couple of days so here we are to get ready. It’s myself, Ahlstrand, Juul-Jensen, Larsson, van der Lijke and Sobota for the opening race of the season. Minor hopes for the GC, mostly for the sprints.
Luckily it is a fairly light startlist with the best hopes coming off the Aussie domestic season and most big names saving themselves until later into the year. A couple of names jump off the list though. Firstly Phil is here with O2, then there’s Livshits for Katusha as well as some of the stronger riders like Haas or Matthews or Haig from the home nation.
In fact not just Phil is out here. Lucy is as well, with her team taking part in some lower level races. After training one day I manage to track down Phil and Lucy at their hotel. They invite me in, and just as I’d hoped Erik is with them! It’s the first time I’ve seen him in the flesh since a quick visit in September.
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| Jakstar22 |
Posted on 29-04-2014 06:42
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RACING IS ALMOST HERE 
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 22-11-2024 03:47
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 29-04-2014 13:58
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Would be nice to see Karl make a winning return to the racing scene  |
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 29-04-2014 18:22
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Act 7: Growing Up
Scene 18: Barbequing, Part II
It was great to see him again, and I’m certain he’s starting to recognise me properly. It was nice to chat with Phil and Lucy as well, the more friends across the peloton the better I think. It was getting kind of late by the time I left their room, but no issues. I was exiting through the Hotel Bar when a man bumped into me.
“You… you… You’re that Ham… Hammmmmer…. Bloke who took drugs!” Clearly he was drunk so I tried to dodge him, but not very well. “You….fff…ffffff….fuck you, you wanker. With your drugs and shit….” Not very smart either. But still it was enough to annoy me as he gradually got louder. Slowly a few other patrons turned to look.
Clearly feeling emboldened by the attention the guy stepped things up. “You think you’re so good eh!? With your drugs and cheating, no-one likes a cheater and cheaters deserves this!” *Bang* Bastard lands a left hook across my face. Luckily he was swiftly tackled and thrown out by some of the staff, but still…
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 30-04-2014 11:28
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@ALL - Written up the first Scenes for Act 8, and it will certainly be a longer Act i think and again quite different to what i've done before
Act 7: Growing Up
Scene 19: Barbequing, Part III
It was a rough reminder that I was carrying a certain reputation with me. It would also give me one hell of a bruise. Oh well not much I can do about it now, I just hope the peloton is more forgiving, or at least less drunk. It was certainly a restless night that followed as my mind went through all the ways things could go wrong.
I shouldn’t worry about this so the final day before racing I really focused in on the team briefings. We went over the route in detail, 6 days of which one was a hill finish and another most likely to be split by hills. The flat days were our focus with Jonas being a real favourite to win them. On the hills it would be over to me to power then out and see what happened.
Our bikes were ready, the team cars ready, and we were ready. A short ride before dinner just to keep things loose and prepared and to iron out any remaining major kit issues. Then down to bed for an early night. Tomorrow was going to be a big day and as I drifted off I cast my mind back to that first blog entry for Node4.
Edited by TheManxMissile on 30-04-2014 15:51
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 30-04-2014 15:54
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Act 7: Growing Up
Scene 20: The Seventh Finale
Start-lines of races are strange places. Outside of the biggest races the public have almost free access to the area so are well mixed amongst the riders for most of the time. The riders themselves are busy double and triple checking all their starting gear and plans, usual either in teams or in little country/region based cliques.
The Basque gather and become incomprehensible with their t’s and x’s. The Russians gather as do the Germans and most other major nations. The home boys are freer, chatting with fans and other passing riders. Most of Millennium is gathered together alongside some non-team Nordics. Personally I wander around trying to find Phil.
Eventually I spot him right by the start line. After a brief hi with him and his team I try and work back to Jonas but end up just being stuck at the front. As the start time draws near things really become focused as everyone settles down to wait. I’m here at the front, perhaps I should just take it easy to wait for Jonas, or do I try…
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 30-04-2014 16:32
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Hope the arsehole in the bar got a beating before the end of the night |
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| Jakstar22 |
Posted on 01-05-2014 12:34
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Id attack and steal the win! hahaha
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 01-05-2014 22:08
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@sutty - I'm sure he got what he deserved
@jak - Read on to find out
Act 8: Resurrection
Scene 1: Santos, Part I
Bright sunlight explodes down from the azure blue sky. Clouds just creep around the horizons sitting perfectly still without even a wisp of a breeze. The intensity of the heat is doubled as it bounces off the smooth asphalt beneath the hundreds of wheels. Whirring cranksets and chains form a low base noise, and the cheering of the crowd eclipses it all.
Rattling up the gears the bike rockets beneath my legs, every bit of energy directed to making it move forwards. No breeze but in moments wind is whipping past my head and just adding to assault on my senses that is my grand return to racing. Everyone is certainly going to know I’m back and mostly because I flew off the front the second the flag dropped.
I ended up at the front so why not go for it! It wasn’t unexpected that riders would go straight away and I had brought a couple of guys with me down the road. Only about 20” or 30” of advantage and it wasn’t looking like sticking but I don’t care. Over 2 and a half years since I last did this, and I can tell why it crushed me. This rush is unexplainable.
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| admirschleck |
Posted on 01-05-2014 22:22
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Such a lovely way to write a report and still leave something for next report(s). Just to know that Sutty & Jakstar aren't the only ones that are following Karl.
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 01-05-2014 23:11
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Nice to see that Karl is at the front of the race announcing his return |
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| Martial1 |
Posted on 01-05-2014 23:24
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Love the writing! And the last two lines are particularly awesome. |
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 02-05-2014 16:34
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@admir - I know And it's "s" for the TDU
@sutty - And hopefully a lot more through the season
@Martial - Welcome (again). One of the easier Scenes to write, so always good to know it was enjoyed
Act 8: Resurrection
Scene 2: Santos, Part II
Obviously the first move was not going to stick. I didn’t try and follow anything else that day as it was much more important to get used to riding in a pack and just relearning the skills and etiquette of the pro peloton. Riders seem to be more accepting than the public, no-one gave me a hard time and some old faces made time to say hello.
I guess they all know how hard it is to race at this level and I know many of them have been where I was themselves. Or we all just wanted to take it easy in the sun and slowly work back into the season. The first day ended in a bunch sprint from which Matthews took an expected win, ahead of Ewan and Ahlstrand in third.
Days 2 and 3 were also pretty much entirely flat. Sobota and Larsson made it into moves on each day respectively allowing us not to have to chase. It was impressive how willing Holden-GreenEdge and Tinkoff were to chase and work for their leaders in Matthews and Ewan. Matthews delivered the goods on Day 3, while he was narrowly beaten on the second stage. Ahlstrand claimed 5th and 4th.
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 03-05-2014 14:40
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Act 8: Resurrection
Scene 3: Santos, Part III
The fourth stage tackled Corkscrew Hill about 8km from the finish. This climb had become a fixture in recent seasons and would certainly mess things up. Could the punchers break clear? Or would the sprinters hang on in there? Either way it was decided I would stay active near the front in case things splintered.
Inevitably they did. The first 500m were hit at insane speeds and instantly it blew almost every real sprinter. From there Haigs Sky teammates strung out the front breaking things more and more. Matthews was the man they wanted to shift but he clung on to the front group. With about 750m left of the climb Haas played an expected move off the front.
Haig was quick with him as was Slagter, Earle, Livshits, Boriani and myself. Matthews headed a clutch of 12 riders 35” behind over the summit. This was a real powerhouse finish, no holding back. I took the lead on the decent and opened the gap to nearly a minute when we hit the real flat with 4km to run. Hard work from everyone saw us succeed in staying clear, as Boriani edged out Livshits and myself behind.
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 03-05-2014 23:44
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Great to see Karl battling away at the front of the race |
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 04-05-2014 09:52
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Act 8: Resurrection
Scene 4: Santos, Part IV
Officially we held a gap of 32” over Matthews group of 18 at the line, and over 1’00 on the bulk of the peloton. Willunga Hill was not expected to create huge gaps so a Top 6 finish did look pretty solid provided I didn’t blow it this afternoon. Hopefully van der Lijke could get away to take some pressure off.
He duly did so, as did Zakarin from Katusha making life easy for Livshits as well. Sky, for Haig and Earle, Phillips, for Slagter, and Azzuri, for Boriani, were happy to take duties at the front though. Over the first pass of Willunga the break was caught so it would be a mad dash final 15km to come back and up.
The first kilometre was paced by Sky, fast. Simply it was positioning for Haig/Earle so they could counter anyone else. Boriani tagged Haig’s wheel as Boriani held 6” lead thanks to time bonuses. A high pace was held to the 1km banner, at which stage only about 20 remained in the lead group. Slagter jumped first and then all hell broke loose.
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![imgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpg](https://imgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpg)
