1 team - 1 captain - 10 classics. How many will Omga Pharma - Lotto and Philippe Gilbert be able to win? The year is 2013 and after a small disappointment in 2012 Philippe Gilbert is back to take the tripple again, by winning Amstel Gold Race, Fleche Wallone, and Liege - Bastonge - Liege, as he did in 2011. Last year, 2012, he managed 7th in Ronde van Vlaanderen, 2nd in Amstel Gold, 13th in Fleche Wallone, 9th in L-B-L and he ended up his season by finishing 4th in the Worlds and 3rd in Giro di Lombardia. Furtheremore, he also took 3 victories since he won one stage and Overall in Paris - Nice and the Brabantse Pijl.
We have decided to change jersey this year. The new jersey is designed by Will007 and really looks great! However, sponsors remains the same.
Team Squad 2013:
Jan Bakelandts one of our best puncheurs. He will be the Co-leader and Gilbert's "team-mate deluxe" in the classics. In a few years, he will be able to lead a team in the hilly classics. Adam Blythe keeps arguing with Gilbert about the pace record. I don't think Adam lies because he is a really fast guy, maybe even faster than Gilbert. If he developes good he will be the next Cavendis. Francis De Greef is a great climber who will help Jurgen Van den Broeck in Tour de France. He is also a great domestic for Gilbert in the hilly classics. Kenny De Haes will be Greipel's domestic and lead out man this year. Will have a few chances to shine on his own as well. Great sprinter, if he are able to survive the hills! Jens Debusschere is a very promising cobble rider. This year he will have a role as domestic though. Has the potential to win the Paris - Roubaix in aperiod of 2 - 5 years. John Degenkolb is an all-round rider. He sprints and handle the cobbles well. Sadly, he have reached his maximum potential in sprint but he can still improve his cobble skills. Will be our sprinter in the cobbled classics. Armand Deldaele isn't the new Edyy Merckx. He will develope into a great climber for sure, but he can't sprint or time-trail any good. This is his 2nd season as a pro, last year he rode for Team Differdange. Will ride his first Tour the France this year as a team mate for Van den Broeck. Dries Devenyns is a good all-rounder a great domestic for Gilbert in the hilly classics. Aggressive rider who will takes his chances at the semi-classics.
Philippe Gilbert is the team leader in hilly and cobbled classics. The best cyclist in the world?
Kristof Goddaert is our sprinter for the Giro. Fast guy who will fight against Greipel about the role as the leading sprinter. André Greipel is called the "Gorilla". Powerfull sprinter who will try to win the Green jersey at the Tour. If he does, we will change his nick-name to "the Hulk". Adam Hansen is a great domestic on the flat. Will work hard for Greipel this year. Steven Kruijswijk will lead Omega Pharma at the Giro. In 2012 he rode the Giro for Rabobank and finished 8th. This year hw will go for the top 5. He will also help Gilbert at Amstel Gold Race. Klaas Lodewyck is lead ot man and team mate. Will help our sprinters this year but in future he will probably develope into a main sprinter. Ghislan Medved is only 20 years old and will ride his 2nd season for the team. Ghislan has the potential to develope into a great cobble rider. Maarten Neyens is a domestic and lead-out man who will work for Greipel. Pierre Pauly is a luxemburgian puncheur who has the potential to make the Ardenne tripple in a period of 5-10 years. The new Bettini? Óscar Pujol is a great climber domestic. He loves to climb and hates to time-trail. Jürgen Roelandts is another great sprinter. Will help Greipel and take his own chances as well. Are able to handle cobbles also and will probably ride the cobbled classics as a domestic. Marcel Sieberg wil do everhing for his German team-mate Greipel. A pure domestic and our best prologue rider. Johan van Summeren is back in our team after three years with Garmin. He is our stongest cobble rider but he will only led the team id Gilbert doesn't feels ant good. A great domestic on flat,hilly mountain stages as well. Jürgen van de Walle is a pure domestic who will help the team on the flat and in the climbs. Aged 36, he will probably retire after this season. Jurgen Van den Broeck is our leader for Tour de France. He will ride the hilly classics to help Gilbert. Somebody hae called him "the new Merckx", but he will not win the Tour. A top 5 seems more realistic. Jelle Vanendert will ride the classics as a domestic. Good climber, who could develope into a leader for the hilly classics. Jussi Veikkanen is a finish domestic. Are able to help the team in all types of terrain. Fredrik Willems is a domestic for the cobbled classics but this guy can climb as well!
Team Goals 2013:
Team Bikes 2013:
Canyon Aero Road is an all-round aero racer. Will be used by the whole team. Canyon Ultimate CF Slx is a more comfortble bike than the Aero Road and suits well for long rides, mountain stages and cobbled races. Omega Pharma will use the Ultimate CF Slx on Paris - Roubaix. Canyon Ultimate AL is almost the same frame as Ultimate CF Slx. The only diffrence is the frame material. The CF Slx is made by carbonfiber, while Ultimate Al is an aluminum frame who suits well for technical and aggressive reces such Amstel Gold Race and Ronde van Vlaanderen.
Secondly, my name is Philippe Gilbert. I am most known as one of the best classic cyclist in the world. After a decent 2012 I decided to improve my home site.
When I heard that my great friend, Marc Pirson, have been fired from his work as DS in Rapha Condor - Sharp I got an idea. Marc is a great DS and the reason why Rapha fired him was, "to build an whole English staff". I phoned Marc about my idea and he accepted it. For this year he will be my trainer and manager. Furtheremore he will also take care of my site, which leaves more time over for me and my training.
Last year I didn't found the great shape I had during 2011, when I won Amstel, Wallone and L-B-L in a week. Hopefully, I will found this shape again and maybe make the tripple once again? However, I will also focus on the other classic races, for example I would like to finish top 10 in Ronde van Vlaanderen. Here is the training program for this year:
I will start the seson with the classics. Afterwards, I will take a rest and then comeback in Eneco Tour an la Vuelta to find the right shape for the Worlds.
Lastly I would like to say that I am looking forward to this season. My contract ends this year. Currently I am the Absolute leader in Omega Pharma with a monthly wage of 90,000 euros. I can feel the smell of a big contract! Bu first: Let's win some classics! /Philippe Gilbert
Information:
Spoiler
Datbase: PCM Daily's 2011 DB. Played as Rapha Condor - Sharp until 2013. Evolution of attributes: 0.5 - Random potential Finance level: Normal Level: Extreme Stages: I will use roturn's variants of RvV, MSR, Paris - Roubaix and Amstel Gold to make the game more realistic. i have also added a few other races.
Good luck, nice start. Cobbled classics will be very interesting, especially PR. Also pity that the game doesn't have a very nice gameplay in hilly classics, but still Gilbert can win them all
Philippe will start his season in Spain with the Vuelta a Andalucia before he enters his first classics, Omlopp Het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne - Bruxelles - Kuurne. After a weekend in Belgium he will go to Italy for some training and preperations for Milano - San Remo. He will ride the new race called, Strade Appia Antica, and the gravel race that he have won once before, Strade Bianche. After theese two classics he will stay in Italy for Tirreno - Adriatico and Milano - San Remo. Tirreno - Adriatico suits him well this year as it's made up by 4 hilly stages and 3 flat. There is no time trail and no mountain stage.
After his "Italian job", Gilbert returns to Belgium for Dwars door Vlaanderen and E3 Prijs. He will finish the moth of March with in Gent - Wevelgem.
Edited by laidbackmarc on 24-06-2011 11:42
Philippe Info: Marc's Comment: "Philippe's shape isn't the best but nothing else was expected since this is his first race this season. The race suits him well, especially the cobbled prologue. Philippe himself says that he wants a stag win."
"My tactic was to start easy and go faster and faster before reaching max at the finish" says Philippe after the race. Philippe was the last starting Omega Pharma rider today. John Degenkolb was in the lead 4 seconds in front of another team-mate, Johan van Summeren. John Degenkolb told Philippe how to do this prologue: "You have to start easy and the give 100% in the uphill finish". Philippes listened cerefully and did as Degenkolb had told him.
Cobbles baby! Nobody could ride as fast as Philippe uphill today. He won the prologue on the time 12'28 which means his avareage speed was 34 km/h. His team-mate Degenkolb was 2nd, 9s behind, and van Summeren was 3rd, 13s behind. A triple for Omega Pharma!
Philippe struggled in the climbs today so his team-mates were free to attack. Johan van Summeren made the best try and was caught with 6 kms to go.
Philippe had big big problems in the last kms but he managed to finish within the bunch.
Jurgen Van den Broeck had the best legs in the team today and won the stage after an amazing sprint. It's nice to see that the team has the capacity to win even when Philippe is struggling.
Philippe felt better today and tried an attack. He gained a minute but was caught with 12 kms to go.
Philippe had Jan Bakelandts whell when the sprint started but Bakelandts was simply to strong today. Philppe couldn't follow him and finished 10th while Bakelandts won. "I was to tired after that attack" Pilippe told us.
Philippe tried to attack on this flat stagebut the bunch could catch him pretty easy. He finishe 50th. Jürgen Roelandts was was the best placed Omega rider today, at 14th. Coen Vermeltfoort (Skil - Shimano) won the stage.
The young sprinter Coen Vermeltfoort (Skil - Shimano) had the leader jersey before the last stage. But it is not easy to be an young, promising and hot rider. Especially not if you're so hot that you attacks in the final kms with Philippe Gilbert on your wheel.
Philippe simply followed Vermeltfoort and then made a counter-attack. He won the stage and the General Classifications as well. The season couldn't have start better for Philippe!
Final GC:
[img-l]https://img29.imageshack.us/img29/4210/32400447.png[/img-l]1 Philippe Gilbert Omega Pharma - Lotto 17h47'30
[img-l]https://img98.imageshack.us/img98/7397/79173909.png[/img-l]2 Coen Vermeltfoort Skil - Shimano + 36
[img-l]https://img29.imageshack.us/img29/4210/32400447.png[/img-l]3 Jurgen Van den Broeck Omega Pharma - Lotto + 46
Spoiler
4 Jan Bakelandts Omega Pharma - Lotto + 47
5 Johan Van Summeren Omega Pharma - Lotto + 54
6 Markus Eibegger BMC Racing Team + 56
7 Koldo Fernández Euskaltel - Euskadi + 59
8 Daniel Moreno Euskaltel - Euskadi + 1'00
9 Jonathan Castroviejo Geox - TMC + 1'04
10 Massimo Giunti Team Europcar + 1'07
11 Gorka Izagirre Euskaltel - Euskadi + 1'08
12 Xavier Tondo Caja Rural + 1'10
13 Joost Van Leijen Skil - Shimano + 1'11
14 Thomas Bonnin Skil - Shimano + 1'12
15 Yann Huguet Skil - Shimano + 1'13
16 Dries Devenyns Omega Pharma - Lotto + 1'14
17 Luca Pierfelici Acqua & Sapone s.t.
18 Thomas De Gendt Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team + 1'16
19 Vladimir Karpets Team Type 1 s.t.
20 Sérgio Paulinho Tavira - Prio s.t.
21 José Alberto Benítez Euskaltel - Euskadi + 1'17
22 Massimo Codol Acqua & Sapone s.t.
23 Clément Lhotellerie Team Europcar + 1'19
24 Ángel Vicioso Androni Giocattoli s.t.
25 Arkaitz Durán Geox - TMC s.t.
26 Javier Moreno Geox - TMC + 1'21
27 José Herrada Caja Rural + 1'23
28 Pello Bilbao Euskaltel - Euskadi s.t.
29 Simon Geschke Skil - Shimano s.t.
30 Riccardo Chiarini Miche - Guerciotti + 1'28
Philippe's Comment:"2 stages and the GC for me. A great start on this season! Let's go to Belgium and Omlopp Het Nieuwsblad!"Edited by laidbackmarc on 15-06-2011 11:10
