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Karl Hammarling - Scene 25: The Grand Finale
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 20-09-2014 19:58
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Tour de France Champion
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Act 8: Resurrection
Scene 30: Golden, Part III
But before I could even get on my plane out of the States things got massively complicated. I was killing a few hours before my flight at a bar near to the airport, I mean there wasn't enough time to really do anything. After about 3 drinks I spotted Lucy walking in, without Erik and without Phil.
No words, barely even a look, as she walked straight up to me. Put one hand behind my neck and gave me a full on kiss. By my count it went on slightly too long for the situation, not that I was complaining.
“A part of me will always love you Karl. What we had doesn't just go away, it doesn't ever go away. But I don't think I can see you for a while, I need you to stay away from me... and Phil and Erik. It's a horrible thing for me to ask but we can't handle all of this, and I don't think it's healthy for you either. Goodbye Karl.”
And with that I had to watch her turn around and walk out the door. It hurt, but I finaly got an idea of the damage I had done to her.
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 21-09-2014 17:08
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Tour de France Champion
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Act 8: Resurrection
Act 31: Golden, Part IV
I didn't tell Natalie what happened with Lucy, especially as last time we were together I knew how much our relationship was causing an issue for her. My plan was to stay in Malmo for about a week and spend some time with Natalie as much as possible and things were great for the first couple of days. Then as seems to always happen to me it didn't go so well.
“Karl... I don't think I can keep doing this. I don't want anything that serious with you, not that you arn't great. But you've got a kid! You are so much further down the road of life than I am and I keep getting this feeling that i'm either in the way or holding you back and it's starting to hold me back as well.”
That was indeed a thing that happened, she broke up with me. When things are going bad for me they really go bad. So that's no girlfriend, no racing and no Erik for a period. Fucking christ. It's hard to find the good things to cling to at times like this, but I have to try, and the big one is that the Tour is coming up fast.
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 22-09-2014 18:16
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Tour de France Champion
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Act 8: Resurrection
Scene 31: Pride, Part I
The weeks just kind of turned into a blur, like so many tend to do. A mix of training and Higher Roads interspersed with self-pity over recent events. Before long it meant Nationals were upon me and that meant racing again, for the final time before Le Tour. The events this year were to be help up near Karlstad.
The time trial would be 34km and pretty much flat. First heading west towards Skoghall and the looping back around from the east. No-one was realistically going to challenge Ludvigsson on such a course. My hope was at a podium, probably challenged by Lindau, Balck and Frank Magnussen of Uppsala.
The road race would be 175km and take place primarily to the north of town. A bit of point-to-point wandering through the countryside before 5 laps including one climb. The climb was about 2km long with an average of 4.5%. Not major but hopefully enough to provide a launch pad for attacks. The final 10km would be the flat run back down into down and through some touch technical turns to finish. Of course I was in for the win!
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| Dippofix |
Posted on 22-09-2014 18:41
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Nice to be back to racing for Karl, let's see if he can make it 3/3 nationals in a row, eventhough they're different countries it'd still be a great run. 
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| Ad Bot |
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 24-09-2014 17:48
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Tour de France Champion
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@Dippo - Well don't forget he was stripped of his last NC win technically...
Act 8: Resurrection
Scene 33: Pride, Part II
So to the Time Trial. Johan was off very early but he is not great at this discipline and whilst he tried hard he could only manage to finish 22nd by the end of the day. The early pace setters were Tom Lofkvist and Seb Balck, both averaging 49km/h over the course. Kristian was not taking part today.
I set off three from last, being chased by Magnussen and Ludvigsson. As my main focus was the Road Race I took few risks, but luckily the winds blew in my favor and I set the new provisional best time as the first rider to break the 50km/h barrier. A really stand out performance after my break from racing and showed realy hope for the road race.
Magnussen fell with 5km to go blowing any of his hopes, but at the age of 21 he would have many more chances. Ludvigsson, though, smashed it out of the park. He blew my time away by a solid 45” as he reached huge speeds on the flowing roads. It brought a brilliant Swedish jersey to the Swedish team.
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 01-10-2014 16:37
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Tour de France Champion
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Act 8: Resurrection
Scene 34: Pride, Part III
Our team for nationals consisted of myself, Johan and Kristian, Lindau, Ludvigsson, Lofkvist, Malmgren, Larsson and Ahlstrand. A very strong team with numerous possible leaders. Luckily myself and Lindau had permission to go for it individually if we chose to, and I most certainly would.
Huge crowds lined the roads in the center of Karlstad to watch the event. The breakaway consisted primarily of lower level riders out to try and find UCI contracts, no threat. The first hours rolled by easily as did the first pass of the climb. Over the second however Lindau tested the waters. He went out to about 1'00 ahead of us.
I had Johan and Kristian set pace to hold that gap steady until the final pass of the climb. At this point I put the pressure on going solo in chase of Lindau. Ahlstrand got the other guys to set pace and try and chip away. The run in played to my favor as Lindau was nowhere near as strong on the flat. I caught him with about 5km to go, and the tight corners late on prevented Ahlstrand from coming up. National Championship number 2.
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 01-10-2014 17:07
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Tour de France Champion
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Nice that Karl has got the National Championship again |
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 03-10-2014 18:43
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Tour de France Champion
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@ALL - It's the grand finale of Act 8! That means just 2 Acts remain 
Act 8: Resurrection
Scene 35: The Eight Finale
The summer sun beat down on Rotterdam. The light shining off the hundreds of metal barriers and glaring off the road surface. Thousands, maybe a million, of spectators filled ever single space along the Prologue route as far as I could see. The noise they created was deafening but also electric.
The atmosphere was charged as I watched Vanmarcke leave the ramp infront of me. He was going to be a man to watch on Stage 4 to Arenberg. I rolled my bike up to the commissars mark and clipped in. The guys that went earlier had sent back information to attack the course so that was my plan. My task was to really push it and give data back to Wilco who was starting later in the day.
The outstreched hand began to count down. 5... The crowds attention tuns upwards to find me. 4... They start to bang the boards and cheer louder. 3... Louder and louder. 2... Beyond description as my world narrows down to the meters in front of my wheel. 1... Rock backwards to maximise the launch and shut out the world. 0... The hand disappears, the beeper goes, the crowd roars and pedals turn. Power, emotion and pain. This is Le Tour de France!
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 03-10-2014 23:36
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Tour de France Champion
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It feels like we are all there with Karl for this prologue |
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 07-10-2014 19:43
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Tour de France Champion
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@ALL - Act 9 will probably be a lot slower updated as i'm doing a lot more general writing projects which detracts from my available time to write Karl. But don't worry we will get to the grand finale eventually!
Act 9: Redemption
Scene 1: Power, Part I
Those powerful opening 12 minutes are just incredible. It's a full on adrenaline burst, I’d swear I didn't breath from the start to the finish. It's so fast there is no time to think about the event or look around, it was pure focus on the pavement ahead at 50km/h. I had the goal of pushing hard to provide data for Wilco who was starting last in the team.
I crossed the line in a respectable 10th place, 14” behind front man Barta. Still there were many riders still to ride and that position was only going to slip. I rolled through the cool down area. On the right I could see the temporary podium where Barta was sitting, and on the left Vanmarcke was crowded by Belgian media. A soigneur from the team came up and draped a towel over my shoulders.
Tony Martin was still the man setting the days best time at 10'10, Wilco was 12th with 10'23. My final placing was 21st 37” behind Martin. This put an interesting mix on the coming days, where if I lost minimal time, I could really do something on Stage 4 over the cobbles to Arenberg. The biggest race in my life was well under way, there was no time to second guess any more.
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 08-10-2014 08:38
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Tour de France Champion
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Finishing just 37s behind Martin is a very respectable time trial ride indeed |
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 11-10-2014 18:03
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Act 9: Redemption
Scene 2: Power, Part II
Stage 2 was a meandering flat run from Rotterdam across the border and on to Brussels. Potential for crosswinds and echelons never materialised on what turned out to be a brutally hot day. Temperatures were touching 32degrees and things were only set to get hotter over the next three weeks.
It posed a new challenge to many following a damper and cooler spring than normal. Many in the peloton underestimated the impact of the heat, and combined with the stage length the sprint in Brussels was underwhelming. Experienced Mark Cavendish added a 37th stage win to his collection, while Green Jersey favorite Demare finished 4th.
Ahlstrand was hit by the heat and lacked the energy to compete seriously, finished 16th. Wilco stayed calm in the peloton, however Quintana missed a small late split to lose 30” on the GC fight. The Belgian hills tomorrow looked ominous but rewarding if a rider could stay hydrated and energised.
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 25-10-2014 18:44
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Tour de France Champion
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@ALL - Think i might be taking "measured updates" to a new level 
Act 9: Redemption
Scene 3: Power, Part III
A breakaway dominated the stage early on gaining a huge 10 minute lead. The GC teams did jump into action, and we even had Ruijgh and Bulgac aid the chase for a while. Crossing the Stockeu a front group of 70 riders lead the way, including all the GC guys, myself and Lindau to contest the stage.
Over the Rosier Kwiatkowski, Bardet, Quintana, Froome, Lindau and Vichot slipped clear enough away from the rest, and in the conclusion they managed to hold off the chasing groups. Vichot sprinted to Frances first success of the race, with Lindau sneaking a strong second place. The Kelderman group was 24” behind, and my group a total of 1'01 behind.
This put realistic Yellow Jersey hopes out of reach for me but the team was doing well, and Kelderman was well in the fight at this early stage. Still my mind was on those cobbles and even a little luck could give me something really really special. However several other specialists would have the same thoughts.
Edited by TheManxMissile on 22-11-2014 19:58
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 15-11-2014 20:17
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 18187
Joined: 12-05-2012
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Act 9: Redemption
Scene 4: Power, Part IV
The startline in Wanze was most certainly tense. The temperatures were set to top 25 again and combine that with the cobbles and the ingredients were there for a hellish day. A few of us were a bit more excited, it was our day to shine. The rough roads were a calling and we were going to unleash some huge weapons.
A breakaway went clear early on without anyone of particular mention or cobbled skill. The earliest sections were still inside Belgium, with big chunky stones. You could loose a wheel in the gaps inbetween the pave and wipeout in seconds. I was just leading Wilco over these sections, staying in the front third of the peloton.
We entered France almost at a sprint as teams were trying to get to the front for the cobbles. At some point Wilco lost my wheel but I couldn't go searching for him. I raised myself up to try and spot if he was near the front and that was when it all went wrong. I touched the wheel infront of me, I think it was Demare's. Next thing I was going sideways and riders were dropping around me.
Edited by TheManxMissile on 22-11-2014 19:57
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| weirdskyfan64 |
Posted on 15-11-2014 20:44
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Oh dear...
Disclaimer- Most of my posts are me thinking aloud. And most of what I think is rubbish.
Winner of a FIFA Prediction Fair Play Award (a phrase becoming increasingly ironic)
"... Because he (me) has a sound tactical mind in general..." jandal7, at 9:30 am GMT on 12th May 2016
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| Dippofix |
Posted on 15-11-2014 21:02
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Classics Specialist
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At this rate I'm not sure if I'll live long enough to see the end of this.
Seriously though, very nice Tour so far - really liking the way you report things.
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 15-11-2014 21:04
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Tour de France Champion
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@Dippo - Yeah it's been a while. But i've cleared out a couple of other writing projects so now i've got the time to put back into finishing this. I've set myself the goal of finishing the writing by the end of the year, so hopefully there'll be regular updates from here on in.
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 16-11-2014 13:27
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Tour de France Champion
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Hopefully Karl won't be injured too badly after the fall  |
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 16-11-2014 18:16
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 18187
Joined: 12-05-2012
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Act 9: Redemption
Scene 5: Power, Part V
My bike was a wreck, as was my whole left side. Blood coagulating in the bone dry dust at the road side. I could only hear faint sounds of the crowd yelling, my head swimming. Staggering around I couldn't see Wilco and ssumed he'd gotten through ok. Ruijgh had also fallen but the rest made it through.
Once my senses had returned all I could do was curse at the road side. This was to be my day, my day! The course was perfect and my condition was spot on. All I had to do was stand around and wait for the team car to get here, and frankly I just wanted to jump in the back seat. I was losing count of how often i'd had to watch a race slip away.
Vanmarcke eventually powered clear to win the stage and take Yellow. Wilco finished alongside his key rivals not losing any time. Ruijgh and myself came in with the autobus way way behind. Mikel practically had to force me onto the bike to finish.
“Karl. No-one has a bad day. They just have bad moments. And moments, moments pass. Take this bad moment, store it in your legs along with all the other bad moments, so that when the time comes you can make a great moment. All you need is one great moment.”
Edited by TheManxMissile on 22-11-2014 19:57
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| the_hoyle |
Posted on 16-11-2014 22:59
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Grand Tour Champion
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Good to see Karl finish the stage, and I hope that he can pick himself up mental for the next stage
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