Today we knew e had to go all out as we needed to gain time on Valverde, so we had to make sure we benefited where we could as he is a very strong rider and we need to make sure we gain time whenever we can as he could kill us in the final few days. We were able to put in a decent ride and Andy took back the lead and he now leads by 8 seconds from Valverde and 9 seconds from Nibali, so that puts us in a good place. Simon took the stage so that was great as he put in an amazing ride to beat Fabian by 41 seconds, so it just shows the form he has at the minute, onwards and upwards I think so I'm looking forward to the days ahead. Adam
Stage 12 - Hilly Road race.
Today we decided to just take it easy and then see what happened at the finish, so we let the break go but Cannondale rode to bring it back, and then Nibali attacked and got a decent gap on us so we rode and were able to limit the damage to 17 seconds, so that was ok as it was only a minor loss and it meant that we didn't have to work to defend the jersey, anymore we can focus on riding our own race. Adam
Stage 13 - Flat Road race
Today we just sat in the wheels and tried to save our legs for tomorrow, and Fabian gave Simon a lead out for the finish, but he has had award race, and wasn't able to match Cav and Swifty in the finish, but we had a lot of Brits up there in the sprint, so thats good as the worlds next year are on a flat course, so we should be strong for that. Adam
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Well I'm going pretty well, I mean I'm 4th overall, and todays the first day in the mountains so I'm expecting that to improve. over the days to come. I think I showed I'm on good form in the time trial as I was in the top 5 on the stage, and I have been up there everyday, so I'm going ok at the moment and hopefully that will improve when we hit the proper mountains.
Whats the morale like on the team?
Well its good as we have had a good race so far, we have won a number of stages and we have had Andy in the leaders jersey, so that is good for us as we need to make ourselves heard in races. Personally I'm happy I mean I've got good form and I can't wait to show that in the days to come.
So is Andy the team leader now as he is ahead of you after the time trial?
At the moment yes, but that just means the other guys will work for him, I will still have a free reign as the team want to have both of us high on GC, so that if Andy crashes or gets ill, I can still be up there to take the lead so that the team still wins. Some people may say that is risky, but we've got to take risks as cycling is very unpredictable.
Who is the biggest threat for the GC win?
Well I think after the TT, I've got to say Nibali as he is on good form and has shown he is riding well, but also his team is very strong with Joe and Stefano, who are two guys who can kill a race Adam
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Today we knew was our day to start to fight for the lead of the GC so we wanted to try to make the race as hard as possible, so we decided to try and get a guy in the break, as we thought that it was likely a break would be allowed to go away, so that there wasn't any bonus seconds on the line as that would suit Nibali more as he prefers to just sit at his pace on a climb, where as mine and Andy's tactic is to go hard and race it like we are doing interval training. We thought that Valverde would be the biggest threat as he is a good climber, but Nibali was the man we wanted to put time into as he is a great GC rider and we knew we needed a decent gap before the end of the race. My plan was to attack early on the climb and if nobody responded then I would gain time on everyone, but if I was caught then Andy would be able to counter attack and gain time on Nibali. Adam
How did you feel the race went?
Well the start of the race went to plan as we were able to get Joe and Fabio in the break, which was good as it meant that Joe could pick up the KoM points and Fabio could try to get the stage, so they were in a group of Four with Igor Anton (Lotto) and Weening (Orica) and they were able to build up a decent lead over the bunch. Then Joe won all of the KoM sprints and on the penultimate climb Fabio attacked away from the group, then Nibali made a move, and we knew he'd gone to early so we rode across to him and then countered and he had no response, so I worked with Andy to build a lead, and then on the final climb I attacked from the group, and Andy sat up and let Valverde and Costa do all the work. Then I caught Aru so I got a quick greater and then kept going, Ivan told me that Nibali had blown and was struggling so I tried to accelerate as I knew that I needed to gain time when I can, so I needed to go as hard as I could to gain the 3 minutes I needed to move ahead of him on GC. We thought that Andy had done enough to take the jersey, but we forgot that Valverde had made some big gains in the past few days, so that was annoying but we knew we could take them away in the day's to come. I'm happy to win the stage, but I'm sick of winning stages I want to win the GC, and I think I can, my legs are good, me head is strong and I have a great team, I mean I'm in the set position possible at the moment.Edited by JoeArmstrong13 on 25-10-2014 09:03
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Today the only aim we had was to get the Leaders jersey, we were annoyed after yesterday as we should of realised where Valverde was on GC, but we were so focused on killing Nibali we forgot to think about the other contenders. We put as many guys as we could into the break, so that there were wouldn't be any bonus seconds for Valverde to pick up, and then we sat back and Movistar didm;t want to work as they saw yesterday how we had managed to isolate Nibali and that was why he collapsed, so we knew that if we could do that to Valverde, then we could win the GC as he was the last threat. We were able to isolate Valverde on the penultimate climb, but the bunch regrouped on the descent and Nibali slipped away, so we rode hard to catch him, and then kept the pace high to prevent to many riders coming back to us. Then on the final climb I attacked to try and get rid of Valverde's teammates, and that worked so I sat on his wheel and Andy came across to us, so I then attacked Valverde and he didn't respond so I started to build up a gap, so I was able to gain some time on him. I won the stage as well so thats a bonus, but I'm disappointed about how much time I was able to gain. Adam
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Today we knew was all or nothing as there aren't many mountain stages left, so we knew that we had to get the jersey. I'm getting closer every day, but its a case of whether I can gain enough time before the final days, so I think that today Andy will have to attack, and then maybe I can gain time. The plan is to isolate Valverde as early as possible so the plan was to the first category climb and then to keep the pace as high as possible. Looking at the days ahead we know that the Bola Del Mundo will be key as it is a difficult climb on unpaved roads, so we need to make sure we have a gap before there as it will be a hard race and anything could happen. We were able to isolate Valverde on the first climb of the day, and from then on we were in control, then on the penultimate climb Diego and Pete accelerated and that distanced Valverde, but he was able to come back to us, but I knew he was dead, so I attacked over the top of the climb, and he had no response, and didn't even chase so the gap went out quickly. Then when we hit the final climb, Ivan told me that the gap was over 3 minutes so I put my head down and rode as hard as I could to the finish as I wanted to keep as much of my gap as possible. Then Ivan told me that Andy had attacked Valverde and the gap to Andy was 3 and a half minutes, but I knew it wouldn't come down anymore as I was determined to get the jersey. Then Andy eased off and the gap started to go out, then it hit 5 minutes and I was amazed as Andy is riding really well at the minute, but I guess that means I'm riding stronger. To be in the lead is a dream for me, I can't believe what I've achieved and I think I can hold onto the jersey, until the finish. Adam
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Today was my first ever day as a leader of a Grand Tour, so I wanted to do it in style and I wanted to get the stage win as I have won three stages in a row, so I wanted to make it four in a row. Last night I was talking to Simon and I realised that I could really make history as I have a chance of winning all of the jerseys, which I don't think has been done for a long time, so I wanted to try and do that as I think to be in the record books with some of the greats of cycling would be a dream come true for me. Today was quite simple really, just take it easy and then when the attacks start don't lose any time, and I was able to do that so I'm very happy with today and that means I don't have many more difficult stages before the finish. Adam
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Two simple stages for us as the sprinters fought it out for the wins, we managed to save our legs and recover for the Bola Del Mundo, and hopefully recover a bit. Adam
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Today's the day we have all been waiting for, to be honest I'm quite relaxed as I know I'm riding well and I think that today will be a tough day for most but I think we will be able to cope with it as we have a strong team and a lot of depth in the team, so we are strong on all terrain. The Plan? To control the race and then split it up on the climbs, I mean today is a relatively short day, so we should be able to manage to have guys on the front all day, I think today is the day that I secure the race as I'm feeling good, and I'm in the best place possible you know, so I'm happy and excited. Sure I'm disappointed to lose time today, but thats bike racing and I still have a strong lead on GC, so thats good. I just can't believe I won the Vuelta Adam
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I loved every minute of today, I've had to work hard to regain the time all race, but its all been worth it. I know that some people may be surprised that we didn't work for Andy, but we knew before the race that I had the better form, and therefore I was the leader. We were surprised by Andy's performance as he has had a tough few years, but its great to see him back at his best. To win the Vuelta is a dream come true for me, I know that i didn't manage to win all four jerseys, but I won the main prize, so I'm over the moon. I'm looking forward to next year and to getting a rest and celebrating with a nice cold beer. I'd just like to thank all the fans and my family who have supported me throughout the race because now its all been worth it. Adam
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As we now enter into the 2015 season, I would like to announce that for the 2015 season I will be using MARSUPILAMI's CFQBase_2016 (which can be downloaded here), with a few minor alterations to make sure that the game flows from last season. This means that the Yates Brothers will be changing teams, however where has not yet been decided.
I also plan to make a number of transfers between teams to make sure that it is realistic and follows on from last season. The big announcement is that Netapp Endura will be rejoining the cycling world after a year out.
Thank You and I hope you enjoy the story.
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I´m very proud to figure in this DB as the DB maker!
Go Yates brothers! (In my DB they are in Sky. Adam finished the 2015 season in Orica, but I changed his team and I also increased their mountains and hills limit to make sure that they will be the best (maybe not) in a future)
MARSUPILAMI wrote:
Thanks JoeArmstrong13 for thinking in me!
I´m very proud to figure in this DB as the DB maker!
Go Yates brothers! (In my DB they are in Sky. Adam finished the 2015 season in Orica, but I changed his team and I also increased their mountains and hills limit to make sure that they will be the best (maybe not) in a future)
Ok I'll just check over the stats and stuff, to make sure there will be continuation to the story after the 2014 season. I might have to change their team to make sure they get the best opportunities.
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It has been announced that the Yates Brothers will join Lotto Belisol for the 2015 season, they join the team after their previous team Leopard Trek dropped back to Continental level, after failing to pay their riders for the season,
Another factor behind the team's disbandment was that one of the team management was caught trying to bribe an official at the Tour of Lombardy. This was denied by the UCi, however a reliable source from the race organisers committee said that this did in fact take place. The deal was believed to be to allow Frank Schleck to take the race win, however this has been denied by all parties involved in the incident.
As well as the Leopard team, it was announced that team Astana will disband effective immediately, after the team was caught up in more drugs revelations as team manager Alexander VinoKourov was caught smuggling EPO into Russia, believed to be for the teams new signing Vladimir Putin who is also a financial backer of the team.
The Yates brothers find themselves moving to their 4th team in 3 seasons, however they are joined by faithful lieutenant Teo Geoghegan Hart and close friend Pete Kennaugh, this is after the team signed Alberto Contador, Thibaut Pinot and Roman Bardet to make the team super strong in the Grand Tours.
Simon Yates will also have a strong team for the classics which include Ian Stannard and Michal Schar, who joins from BMC after a strong year, which saw him place 11th in the Tour of Flanders.
The world tour license vacated by Astana has been taken over by new British team NFTO, who boast Mark Cavendish and Chris Froome among their roster. Froome joins from Leopard Trek, and will have a strong team, as he aims to win his 3rd Tour De France in a row, including Jakob Fuglsang, Tiago Machado and Jose Rujano.
Other changes in the WorldTour include the relegation of Radioshack, Cannondale and Europcar, with Team Colombia (now Bancolombia) and Neri Sottoli taking over from them in the WorldTour.
There are also a number of new teams in the Peloton, Philips, led by Fabian Cancellara and Rigoberto Uran, are a strong Belgian team who's main speciality is the classics. and Exxonmobil, who are led by Michael Matthews and Bauke Mollema, meaning there are now two dutch teams in the WorldTour.
There have also been a number of teams changing sponsor, Belkin, changed to Unilever, and with the signings of Vincenzo Nibali from Cannondale and Taylor Phinney from Team Colombia, they provide a strong team that can challenge on any terrain. Katush have changed to Banesto, and Lampre have become Alitalia.
The disbandment of Garmin, means that for the first time in 5 season there won't be an American team in the top two flights of racing. Their Liscense is taken over by new Italian Mapei, who return to the professional peloton after a number of years away from the sport.
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As I am defending champion in both events, my aim is to defend the titles. However I realise that it is more likely that I defend the Road race as the TT is on a course that doesn't really suit me. To be honest I'm looking forward to racing in my new team colours, and to be the absolute leader is an honour, and I hope that I can do the honour justice and put up a good defence of my jersey. Adam
British National Road Race Championships
Pre Race Chat.
Today's course is really tricky as the steep and short climbs are going to make the race really tricky so we wanted to make sure that we had a guy in the break, as we knew that these types of races are unpredictable and anything could happen. I like the course as it is very tricky and it suits a good climber like myself or Simon, to be honest I would say that Simon is going to be the team leader as he is a strong rider on this type of course. As for competition I would say that Froomey and G will be the biggest threats as they are strong riders on this sort of terrain, to be honest I think that BP have fielded a very strong team. But we just have to move on and ride our own race, looking at the favourites I think that it is likely to be break that stays away as there aren't very many big teams who could control the race. Adam
The Race
We managed to get Greg [Mansell] into the break, so we were happy with that, but the rules are a bit strange this year as the organisers have allowed some riders to guest on continental teams, so some riders have teammates that wouldn't normally, but I guess it's just a way to make the racing more exciting. Anyway back to the racing Yogi Bear [Ian Stannard] attacked over the Cote du Windlatter, but there was no reaction from another riders despite him being one of the main favourites, which I thought was strange, but I guess bike racing is strange sometimes. Then with 70 kilometres to go NFTO went to the front, but they don't have any real climbers apart from Froome, so the gap didn't change it just didn't go out any further, but by tis time Greg was 7 minutes up the road and Yogi was 3 minutes up the road. Then on the final climb, I attacked with Simon and we caught Greg, who did a great amount of work to keep the gap up, and Froomey was the only guy who could get across the gap, so we knew that we could both win it in the sprint, so we waited and then Simon won the sprint, with me second and Greg managed to hold on for 4th, which is a great result for the team, and it's Simon second national title, so thats great news for us. AdamEdited by JoeArmstrong13 on 06-11-2014 17:06
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The course for today is very flat, which is disappointing as it doesn't suit me as much as I would of hoped, but thats cycling so I just have to move on and focus on riding the best race I can. The favourites are definitely Froomey, Simon and G, but I think that if I do a good ride, then I might have a podium shout, but we'll have to see how I go Adam
The Race.
I think my ride was good, but I went out to easy, so I had energy to spare when I finished, which i was annoyed about as in an event like that I should finish dead, but I was able to walk, but I think that if I did it again I may make the same mistake as the first climb has to be taken easy, but I should of picked up my pace on the descent. Then when I saw Ian had beaten me I was a bit disappointed as I was expecting to be the second of our team behind Simon, but that racing, I went hard in the road race, and maybe I suffered because of it. I think Kim did a stomping ride, especially considering it's his first Elite Championships, I mean when I saw he had taken a minute out of me I thought my time must be wrong, but I am absolutely gutted with my performance as I should be performing better than that. The only positive was that I was ahead of Pete, so my ride wasn't terrible, it just wasn't what I was expecting. Then Simon came in and he'd put 3 minutes into me, and over a minute and a half into Chris so that made me feel better as it showed Simon was absolutely flying. Adam
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Tour of San Luis
Tour of Oman
Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne
Strade Bianche
Tirreno Adriatico
Milan San Remo
E3 Prrijs Vlaanderen
Ghent Wevelgem
Tour of Flanders
Tour of the Basque Country
Paris Roubaix
Amstel Gold
Fleche Wallone
Liege Bastogne Liege
Criterium du Dauphine
Tour De France
Volta a Portugal
Vuelta a Espana
World Championships
Adam
Tour of San Luis
Tour of Oman
Vuelta a Andalucia
Tirreno Adriatico
Tour of the Basque Country
Amstel Gold
Fleche Wallone
Liege Bastogne Liege
Tour of Turkey
Giro d'Italia
Criterium du Dauphine
Tour De France
Volta a Portugal
Tour of Britain
World Championships
Tour of Lombardy
Edited by JoeArmstrong13 on 06-11-2014 18:42
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Hansen Wins Aussie National Champs after a 100 Kilometre Solo Break.
The favourite going into today's race was Simon Clarke, but it was Adam Hansen (Lotto Belisol) that was the first to attack. He was then joined by 6 others and the quickly built up a lead of 2 minutes. Then with just under 100 kilometres to go Hansen attacked alone and built up a gap of a minute over the 6 chasers, who seemed more bothered about fighting between themselves than chasing down the lone leader. With 50 kilometres to go Hansen still held a gap of over 5 minutes to the peloton and 2 and a half minutes to the group behind. With 25 kilometres to go the peloton caught the group of 6, but Hansen was still up the road, with a gap of just under 5 minutes. In the final kilometre Hansen was able to sit up and enjoy his first national title.
Meanwhile in the Time Trial it was Luke Durbridge who went into the race as favourite, the first reference time was set by Cameron Meyer, who completed the course in 28' 46". The Road Race winner Hansen was the next rider home, and he came in with a time 4" slower than Meyer, then Durbridge was the next man home and he bettered Meyer's time by 3" to become the Australian National Time Trial Champion of 2015
Busche Takes the American Title.
With Tejay Van Garderen absent it was Larry Warbasse that took on the mantle of the favourite for the race, but it was Ian Boswell that show his strength by attacking on the first lap, and when nobody responded he kept going on his own, even before the first time up the only ascent on the circuit, Snowbird, he had built up a lead of over 7 minutes, and by the third ascent it was an amazing 12 minutes, the gap got so big Cannondale (Boswell's team) started to get other men to attack, yet still there was no response from BMC, so now 6 Cannondale riders were up the road, yet BMC didn't seem to want to chase. However an attack from Cannondale's Busche split the peloton and forced the Cannondale cannon fodder to be all but brought back, but Boswell and Lewis were still ahead with Boswell leading Busche by 17 and a half minutes, with Busche 2 minutes ahead of a chasing Craddock and Stetina, with the peloton a further 30 seconds back. Ten Busche caught Lewis but he sat up allowing Craddock and Steina to catch up. Craddock and Stetin then worked together to bring the gap down to 7 minutes with 30 kilometres to go, but it was falling fast. On the final climb Busche attacked, and with just 15 kilometres to go he caught Boswell and went straight past his teammate. Busche negotiated the descent to take the win ahead of Craddock in 2nd and Stetina.
In the Time Trial there were no surprises as Taylor Phinney took the title ahead of Larry Warbasse.
Meintjes Wins as MTN Muck Up.
The clear favourite for the South African national Championships was Louis Meintjes of Lotto Belisol, however without any teammates he may find it difficult against a strong 8 man MTN team. However after an early three man break of Smit, Meintjes and Van Rensbourg it seemed that MTN had got the wrong man in the move, but they sat up and allowed the gap to grow. Meintjes the rode hard on the front of the break until they had lapped the main field, and then sat back and got ready for the final climb, where it appeared he would win easily against two sprinters. As the trio hit the final climb they had a lead of 20 minutes over the peloton, who had blown any chance of a win today. As soon as the group hit the final climb Meintjes attacked and left the other two, who fought it out for 2nd with Van Rensburg coming out on top, but today will for ever be remembered when MTN really mucked up.
In the time trial it was Flower who went into the race as favourite, with MTN determined to make amends for their cock up in the road race. However they could only manage 5th as race favourite Flower took the title.
Chaves wins in Colombia
With the withdrawal of Nairo Quintana, Rigoberto Uran and Sergio Henao, the race favourite is young rider Esteban Chaves, who currently rides for the Lotto Belisol team. When the race gets started Chaves's Lotto Belisol teammates immediately hit the front and started to control the race, meaning that no break's got away in the first lap. With Dayer Quintana setting a hard pace to split the group to 18 riders. On the second time up the climb 3 riders went away, except it was all 3 Lotto Belisol riders, including Chaves, however with no response from the main field , they were able to build up a lead of 2 minutes before the summit of the climb. However the 3 riders backed off and there were 10 riders at the head of the race going into the final lap, and it was Chaves who made the move, and when nobody was able to follow him, he was able to cruise to the victory.
Meanwhile in the Time Trial without a real favourite it was anyone's guess who may win the title, however with Chaves on good form he may of the had the slight edge over the rest. And in fact it was Chaves who took the victory ahead of Rengfio and Suarez, both notably better time trailers than him.
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