Welcome to my career with Fratelli d’Italia! I’m from the Netherlands. My English isn’t really good, but i think it’s understandable I made this Italian team for some reasons:
-the Italian Cyclists Association FCI has a firm anti-doping policy.
-The Italians have the most beautiful grand-Tour of all 3
-The Italians have the most beautiful national anthem in the world
I choose to start with a small budget. This are the settings in my career:
Orientation of custom team: 0%
Evaluation of attributes: 0.5
Database: random
Difficulty level: normal (so the same amount of sponsor-income as I pay salary to the cyclists
Level of 3D racing: extreme
This is the shirt we will be racing in:
Special thanks to Hotchip95 for creating the shirt!
And here are the 12 riders that are racing for us in our first season:
As you see, Cataldo will be our leading man for General Classifications (GC). Unfortunately he almost reached the limit of his skills and won’t develop his skills anymore. Ulissi is a young talent who can ride GC’s in the future. He can improve his TT- and mountain skills. Malori is a young TT-talent. He can became a bit better, but not a real star. Felline is an allround cyclist. He can become a world star on the cobblestones and the flat terrain. See his training info here:
Santambroggio, Pirazzi and Salerno are more experienced riders. They might help our leaders and talents to get results and have to be in break-aways to win stages.
The other 5 riders are young talents. Della Casa has talent in the mountains, Manzutto on the hills. The other 3 riders also have options to develop their skills.
We will have to be in early attacks to get results, as we don’t have the best riders of the peloton. Also winning Mountain Classifications will be a goal for the team. We will race all over the world, but mostly in Italy. We prefer the Hilly and Mountain terrains over the flat sprint stages.
The contract of the sponsor runs for 2 seasons until 2012. In the staff, we can only afford 1 weak trainer for € 2.500,- a month. This means training won’t be optimal, there is no scouting and if a rider get’s injured, it will take some time before he gets fit as there is no doctor. Not the best situation, but we don’t have a lot of money and we don’t want to be bankrupt at the end of the season, as we hope to contract some more riders at the end of the season.
The plan is two split the team in two parts of 6 riders. Cataldo, Ulissi, Salerno, Pirazzi, Della Casa and Belli will compete in the months January, February, May, June and July. Felline, Malori, Santambrogio, Gligora, Santi and Manzutto will compete in March, April, August, September and October. As we’re not good enough for Pro-Tour races, we won’t be looking for a lot of Wildcards for those races in the first season.
I will make short story’s of the races i’ve done and post some screenshots.
Thnx for reading this introduction and feel free to comment in this topic!
Edited by Thor is God on 06-08-2011 19:45
You have all my favourite Italians, Pirazzi, Salerno, Cataldo an Felline. And you're playing on Extreme, good luck. And a very nice intro, although the jersey might be a little too close to the Italian National jersey for my liking.
This is indeed a great team. Cataldo is superb and then almost all big Italian talents.
If you now also convert the PNG´s to JPEG before uploading, you`ll have another reader.
Tour of Langkawi
The only race we will do in January is the Tour of Langkawi. There are 10 stages: 8 flat and 2 in the mountains. Cataldo will be our leader for the GC, but onfortunately he started his season in a very bad shape. It is 51 at the start of stage 1. Ulissi will try to make a nice GC too. Pirazzi starts in the best shape (66), so we might expect something from him. The mountain stages will be the stages 4 and 5, after those stages we hope to get in some breakaways for a stage victory.
Stage 1
A short flat stage. We don’t try to get in the break and save energy the whole race. Al 150 finish in the same time and Forster wins the sprint.
Stage 2
Another flat stage. We use the same tactic as in stage 1. Due t a crash in the last few kilometres 10 riders lose time, but no real names there. Forster wins the sprint again.
Stage 3
The third flat stage. This time there is a hill halfway the stage, so we try to be in the brake and take the Mountain-jersey. Unfortunately, the peloton doesn’t want Salerno or Pirazzi to go away. There is a breakaway of 10 riders who make it to the line. Bertogliati wins, everybody gets the same time.
Stage 4:
The first of 2 mountain stages, very important for us! Cataldo’s fitness is 62, Ulissi 67 and Pirazzi still in the best shape with 75. Let’s see what those men can do when the road goes up! Cataldo starts as one of the favourites. Other favourites are CA Sorsensen, Van Garderen, Daniel Martin and Danielson.
Profile:
There is a breakaway, but when Pirazzi and Salermo make pace on the long climb, there advantage disappears and the peloton catches them ate 40km to go. There are some attacks, but the Fratelli-riders keep a high pace and nobody gets away.
At the last steep climb, Cataldo attacks! He feels pretty good today. Only 8 others (Mazzanti, CA Sorensen, McCartney, Machado, Paulino, Bak, Rabon and Pate) can follow. At the summit they have 50 seconds over the ‘peloton’, which contains only 20 riders. In this peloton is Ulissi. As the ‘Cataldo-group’ starts sprinting, the peloton catches them. Cataldo makes it in the sprint to a 4th place. Not bad, but no bonification. 29 riders end in the same time. Nice bonus is that Cataldo takes the mountains-jersey and Ulissi is shared-leader in the young-riders-classification among 4 others who finished in the same time.
Robert Forster was in the peloton and remains in the leaders jersey.
Stage 5
The 2nd and final mountain jersey. Finish on top, see the real climbers can make the difference! What can Cataldo do? Can he go for the podium on the GC?
Long flat road and 1 mountain to finish on top today:
As we approach the climb, the leaders are already almost caught by the peloton. It will be up to the favourites today! The first attack comes at around 10km from the top and it is CA Sorensen. Nobody follows him, Cataldo doens’t even try and stays in the peloton. Sorensen gets 1 minute very soon. At around 5km from the top the peloton falls apart after several attacks. Cataldo is in 5th position, but loses time to CA Sorensen, Paulinho, Van Garderen and Daniel Martin. Ulissi is having a bad day and loses a lot of time today. CA Sorensen wins, Cataldo finishes 5th and that is also his position in the GC. He remains in the mountain-jersey.
Stage 6
Another flat stage, and there are more to come. Pirazzi is in the break of the day with 5 other riders, but they are caught by the peloton. Casper wins the sprint, there are no changes in the top of the GC.
Stage 7
A flat stage, but today it is very windy. Nobody from Fratelli could make it into the breakaway. The breakaway is caught, is the windy circumstances make the peloton ride pretty fast. Only 59 riders make it to the line in the same time as stage winner Casper. Cataldo and Ulissi did good today and finished in the first group, as did al the other competitors for the GC.
Stage 8
Today Salerno manages to get in the breakaway, and the breakaway of 13 riders makes it to the finish line! Only problem: Salerno isn’t really good at the flat and sucks at sprinting. He loses to al his breakaway-companions and finishes 13th. Bit if a disappointment, to be honest.... No changes in the GC.
Stage 9
Another windy flat stage. Pirazzi is in the breakaway (total 6 riders), but they are caught. Forster wins the sprint. There are breaks in the peloton, but all the GC-riders, including Cataldo and Ulissi, are in the first group.
Stage 10
The last stage. Nobody from us in the break, and the break is successful. Steven Cozza wins. Despite some crashes in the final kilometres no changes in the top of the GC.
Summary
Cataldo finishes 4th and 5th in stages
Cataldo finishes 5th in the GC
Cataldo wins Mountain Classification
Ulissi finishes 5th in the young-rider-classification (and 25th in the GC)
Salerno finishes 15th in the GC, after his successful break where he finished 13th in the stage.
The races we will do in February: Etoile de Besseges, Tour Mediterranean, Tour of Oman and Giro di Sardegna.
Extra comment: In the first post I said I would update this topic after a month of racing. I changed my mind, I will update after each stage race or one-day-race. Think it is better to read for you Edited by Thor is God on 06-08-2011 23:01
Thnx for the responses btw! And i changed the PNG´s to JPEG
February
Etoile de Besseges
Starting for Fratelli: Cataldo, Ulissi, Pirazzi, Salerno, Della Casa and Belli
This Tour has 5 stages. 2 are categorised as flat, 3 of them are hilly. They aren’t really tough though, so I expect a sprinter to win the GC when there is no breakaway that will make it to the line. We try to be in breaks (also Ulissi and Cataldo may have a go this Tour) and also try to win the mountain jersey.
Stage 1
A flat stage, 1 small hill in the middle of the stage. We don’t manage to get anybody in the breakaway. As we get closer to the line, we see the stage ends with some very narrow local laps. All our riders are good in the front of the peloton, when happens what we already expect: a major crash. Only 37 remain in the peloton. They catch the 7 riders from the breakaway and only 44 man sprint for the stage. All our riders finish in the first group! The stage is won by Mondory, the peloton finishes 1.19 behind him.
The major crash happened just behind the Fratelli-riders
Stage 2
After the crash in stage 1, we’re thinking more about the GC. Al our 6 riders are classified well. The second stage is hilly and ends with some local laps with 1 hill. We won’t be in the break today and try to split the peloton on those final hills. The mountain-jersey becomes less important for now.
As soon as the break is gone, we push the temp in the peloton up. First with Della Casa and Belli, and later with Salerno. Of course, they lose time today. But the main importance is that we manage to get a pace that is too high for a lot of riders. At the finish line, there are only 36 riders in the peloton, including Cataldo, Ulissi and Pirazzi. They don’t play a role in the sprint that is won by Hinault. In the GC, there are only 14 riders left that managed to be in the first group both stages and among them are Cataldo, Ulissi and Pirazzi! Mondory leads before Roux (+12), 12 other riders are 20 second behind.
Stage 3
A flat stage with a very small hill on 4km of the finishing line. Let’s see what we can do there! Main goal is not to lose time with Cataldu, Ulissi and Pirazzi.
It’s a chaotic stage. There is a lot of wind and it takes a very long time before there is a breakaway. Finally it is Joly who goes away on his own at around 60km from the line. Due to the wind and several hills, the bunch splits up again! This time there are 33 riders who make it in the first group, that finishes 12 seconds behind on Joly. Cataldo, Ulissi and Pirazzi are in this group. Charteau takes bonifications and jumps to a 2nd place in the GC, behind Mondory. With only 2 stages to go, this are the contenders for the GC:
1 Lloyd Mondory Ag2r La Mondiale 10h54'40
2 Anthony Charteau Team Europcar + 22
3 Anthony Roux FDJ + 24
4 Reinier Hugo Honig Landbouwkrediet + 28 5 Diego Ulissi FRATELLI D'ITALIA + 32
6 Anthony Geslin FDJ s.t. 7 Dario Cataldo FRATELLI D'ITALIA s.t.
8 Volodymyr Zagorodniy Miche - Guerciotti s.t. 9 Stefano Pirazzi FRATELLI D'ITALIA s.t.
10 Steve Chainel FDJ s.t.
11 Paolo Bailetti De Rosa - Ceramica Flaminia s.t.
Together with FDJ and AG2R, we lead the team classification.
Stage 4
A hilly stage. Problem is: the tough hills are in the first part of the stage:
I believe it will be tough to make time differences with the other GC-contenders, but let’s see what we can do!
No breakaway gets away today, the pace is very high. Salerno makes the pace on the first two climbs, where ho both is first on the top. After the second climb, there is a group of 16 riders that have 1.30 over the peloton. In the group are Cataldo, Ulissi, Pirazzi and Salerno! Salerno is making the pace, but FDJ en AG2R who have 4 and 5 man in the lead group) are not helping. The peloton comes back and with only 50km to go, there is a peloton of 107 riders.
At the final climb, Cataldo attacks! It is only 10km slightly downhill to the next sprint, where he might take some seconds. And he makes it exactly to the intermediate sprint:
Finally, a group of 54 riders, including our GC-contenders, go to the finish line. There is no really high pace, so Pirazzi attacks with only 5k to go:
Behind him, Cataldo and Ulissi slow the pace and Pirazzi’s gap gets bigger and bigger! He makes it to the line, the first victory for Fratelli is a fact:
Because of the time win, he also takes the leaders jersey, the white jersey and we take the team-classification! A fantastic result and we will do anything to defend those classifications in the last stage. In the GC, this is how it stands:
Stage 5
The final stage, where we will do everything to defend Pirazzi’s classification. The profile of the stage suits us, it isn’t very hard near the finish line:
There is a break of 10 riders. The best classified in the breakaway is still 7.42 behind Pirazzi, so there is no real danger for us. Della Casa and Belli control the pace in the peloton. With 55km the go Cofidis take over the lead in the peloton and the 10 leaders have an advantage of 5.00 on the peloton. Still going perfect for us! Nothing spectacular in the rest of the stage: the leaders make it to the line, Kittel wins the stage and the peloton finishes all together. The GC stays the same as after stage 4.
Of course very happy with the results! Pirazzi benefits from the good shape he has since the start of the season. It well be a lot harder during the season, when other riders also reach their good shapes.
Tour Mediterranean
Riding for us: Cataldo, Ulissi, Pirazzi, Salerno, Della Casa and Belli.
Another 5 stage-race. 2 flat stages and 3 hilly stages. Last stage is definitely the hardest, with the finish line on the top of a very tough climb. We’ll try to have Cataldo in a good position in the GC at the foot of this climb, than it is up to him. Ulissi, Salerno and Pirazzi will try to be in breakaways in the first 4 stages, and maybe take points for the mountain classification is possible.
Stage 1
The peloton doesn’t want to let any rider of Fratelli get away. Ulissi crashes this stage, but makes it back to the peloton. The breakaway is caught and in the final k’s there are some crashes. 106 riders (including our 6 riders) make it to the line in the same time as winner Monier. Nocentini, a dangerous guy for the GC, finishes 2nd.
Stage 2
A flat stage. It takes a long time before there is a serious breakaway. We don’t manage to be in it. The break is caught and Casper wins the sprint. Nothing special, all riders finish in the same time.
Stage 3
Similar to yesterdays flat stage: a breakaway, we’re not in it. The break is caught and Casper wins the sprint. Nothing special, all riders finish in the same time again. In the first 3 stages, Salerno was leading the peloton over the top of some hills and now he has the mountain jersey!
Stage 4
A hilly stage with a very tough last km! We decide to not even try to be in the break. When the final km is almost there, we have to be at the front of the peloton. And all our men ar there: Ulissi and Pirazzi are positioned very well! Only small problem: De Maria from the breakaway is still 30 seconds in front, so we have to start the tough sprint early. Piazzi launches Ulissi, they catch De Maria and finish 1 and 2! Ulissi even gets 9 seconds on the others.
Ulissi is now the leader, 17s ahead of Pirazzi and 18s ahead of Casper. Seen the very tough last stage, Casper is no longer dangerous for the GC. Other contenders are: Roy, Moncoutie, Ladagnous and Cataldo at 29s. Nocentini, Vaugrenard, Elmiger and many others are at 46s.
Stage 5
The last en decisive stage in the Tour Mediterranean. The stage ends with a 5.3km climb with an average of 8.5%. There is a large 13-men breakaway group, and the others teams let us du al the chase. Della Casa, Salerno and Belli do a lot of hard work, but against 13 men it is a hard day. With only 45km to go, the gap is still over 6 minutes. With 30km to go still that difference, so we have to offer Pirazzi. He is second in the GC, but now he has to help for Ulissi and Cataldo. With 20km to go, when the gap is still 5.00, the other teams starts to help. This gives us hope, on the last climb we still hope to close the gap! At the foot of the climb, the gap is 3 minutes. Cataldo makes pace at the foot and together with the peloton breaks. Ulissi is in front, but it costs energy. In the last km, they catch most riders of the breakaway, but not all. Vaugrenard, Champion and Monier beat the favourites in the peloton. Cataldo finishes 6th, Ulissi 18th this stage.
Cataldo finishes, in the background Ulissi in the yellow jersey
The results of the stage are mostly similar to the GC results. Here we see the final gc:
Summary:
Ulisses wins a stage, Pirazzi finishes 2nd
GC: Cataldo 5th, Ulissi 10th
Young Riders: Ulissi wins
Mountain: Salerno wins
A good results, but a bit disappointed some breakaway-riders managed to beat us in the GC. Financially it goes pretty good. Wning stages, young rider classifications and mountain jerseys really helps for our bank-account. Maybe we can invest in a some new riders this summer!
Edited by Thor is God on 11-08-2011 08:22
Tour of Oman
Riding for us: Cataldo, Ulissi, Pirazzi, Salerno, Della Casa and Belli.
A 6 day-stage: we start with 3 flat stages, then a mountain-stage (that has the same profile as the last stage of the Tour Mediterranean), a 19km ITT and another flat stage. Due to the ITT it will be hard to ride a good classification, but we will see where Cataldo can make it. The competition is very strong, with (among others) Evans, Leipheimer, Pinotti, Kloden, Porte, Vandevelde and Kreuziger at the start.
Stage 1
A very flat stage, no mountain points, so we don’t want to be in it. The break is caught, Farrar wins the sprint before Cavendish. Kloden punctured and lost over 5 minutes, all other riders finished in the same time.
Stage 2
Another flat stage. It is a short stage and it takes a long time before there is a breakaway. Just before the intermediate sprint the peloton is all back together again, so Ulissi jumps. He takes 4 seconds and is caught just after the sprint. There comes a new breakaway and surprisingly, they make it to the line. Unfortunately, nobody of Fratelli was in it as it seems Ulissi, Salerno and Pirazzi aren’t allowed any space. Nuyens wins the stage, the peloton is 1.12 behind. Nuyens also takes the leaders-jersey.
Stage 3
A long (224km) flat stage and it is very windy, this will cost some energy! The pace is very high in the last 100km, and the break is caught early. More and more riders lose contact with the peloton, and on the line only 55 riders make it in the same time as winner Farrar. Cataldo and Ulissi are in the peloton, for Salerno and Pirazzi it went too fast. Ulissi is now leader in the young rider classification, bur Kreuziger is only 4 seconds behind him. Among those who lost time were Leipheimer, Pinotti, Porte and Vandevelde. From the riders named in the preview only Evans and Kreuziger didn’t lose time and seem to be favourites for the GC.
Stage 4
A mountain stage. The stage is flat, until the last 6km that are very steep. After Pirazzi lost time yesterday, he manages to be in the break today. But when GC-leader Nuyens attacks with 30km to go, the peloton comes very fast and they are caught at the foot of the climb. Cataldo and Ulissi are positioned very well at the foot. Cataldo starts making the pace himself and without attacking, he creates a gap. Cataldo makes a gap with less than 5km to go in a very dead-looking environment. Ulissi is (from this view) on the right side in the white jersey
Ulissi still sits in the front of the peloton, but is costs energy. Then Cadel Evans attacks and starts to chase Cataldo, who is setting a good pace. Kreuziger also moves to the front. Ulissi tries to keep up with him. Evans breaks from the rest of the peloton, but can’t close the gap to Cataldo. Ulissi does a great job and finishes 7th. Despite that, he loses the white jersey to Kreuziger. Cataldo takes the mountain jersey. Ulissi tries to follow Kreuziger on the right side of the road, while Cataldo enjoys his victory.
Stage 5
A hilly TT of 19km, where Cataldo has to defend a 1.17 lead over Cadel Evans. He has to be in better shape, but everybody is aware of the TT-skills that Evans has!
Della Casa is the second rider to start, and does a great job. His 30.53 stand as the best time for a long time. The first rider to beat that time is Andreas Kloden, who is 27 seconds faster. Salerno does 7seconds slower than Dell Casa, Pirazzi 8 seconds better and jumps to second place in this TT. The differences aren’t really big, so it looks good for Cataldo! When Ulissi finifhes, he is 31 secons behind Tuft, who has the best time with 30.08. There comes Evans: he is 3 seconds behind Tuft! Cataldo is the last rider to finish, he looks back when he crosses the line and sees he has the same time as Tuft! Tuft wins the stage, but Cataldo is 2nd and defends his jersey. Ulissi finishes 26th, is 8th in the GC and still 2nd in the young-rider classification.
Cataldo and Ulissi can say hello in the TT
Stage 6
The final stage. It is flat and windy, so ‘all’ we have to do is defend the leaders jersey. Can we win our second Tour this season?
There is a 13 men break, but nobody dangerous for the GC. We just control the peloton at an easy pace. With 50km to go the sprinter-teams start to higher the pace and the catch the breakaway. Farrar wins the sprint, Cataldo and Ulissi finish safe in the peloton! Ulissi loses 1 place in the GC due to the boni-seconds that Farrar takes.
Giro di Sardegna
Riding for us: Cataldo, Ulissi, Pirazzi, Salerno, Della Casa and Belli.
A 5 day-stage: we start with 4 hilly stages, followed by a flat stage. This is a goal for our sponsor: they want us to wear the sprinters jersey.
Stage 1
A hilly stage with several hills on the road and a relatively easy uphill arrival. Salerno is the first to attack and he breaks away all alone! The peloton won’t let him go very far, and in the chase the peloton splits up in a lot of groups and the difference are huge. Definitely one of the most spectacular races we’ve seen! The peloton splits totally when Joaquim Rodriguez, one of the favourites, makes the pace. Only 3 man follow him: Kolobnev, Pietropolli and Cataldo. Ulissi and Pirazzi can make the jump to this group, that still is 3.45 behind Salerno. Se we have 4 men within the first 7 in the race! On the last steep climb, the pace is too high for Pirazzi, and just for the summit also Ulissi and Kolobnev must let go. Salerno is increasing his pace and is still 2.00 ahead of Rodriguez, Pietropolli and Cataldo.
The chase group can look down and see the race leader, Salerno
In the downhill, the chasers come to 1.00 behind Salerno. But then, when we are on the last flat km’s, Rodriguez and Pietropolli are clearly out of power and Salerno wins time again! Salerno wins the stage and to complete it all, Cataldo takes 2nd place!
Race results: (forgot to export)
1: Salerno
2: Cataldo + 1.36
3: J. Rodriguez +1.36
4: Pietropolli + 2.13
5: Kolobnev + 3.40
6: Ulissi + 3.40
7: Scarponi + 4.42(he came back from the peloton)
8: Pirazzi + 4.51
Salerno takes everything so far: Mountain, Points (and done what the sponsor wants!) and GC-jersey. Of course we also lead in the team-classification.
Stage 2
The first stage was so hard that Della Casa (and 4 other riders) finished outside the time limit. This means we have to defend out jerseys with only 5 riders. It’s a difficult hilly stage with a finish on top:
In the tactics-meeting we decided to give up on Pirazzi’s classification, he will offer himself for the team. Salerno is the leader, Cataldo the best when the road rises and Ulissi the leader in the young-riders-classification. Of course the most dangerous rider is Joaquim Rodriguez.
There is a breakaway of 6 riders, nobody dangerous for us. On the narrow roads, the peloton splits sometimes, but all our riders remain in front. We decide not to chase the group, as it would be nice if Rodriguez can’t take extra seconds on the line. But as Lampre and Katusha are setting the pace, the break is caught at the foot of the climb. Salerno is feeling very good today, and as there are no attacks for a long time, he is doing great. Scarponi is attacking at 3km to go and Charteau and Garzelli can follow him. Cataldo and Ulissi make the pace for Salerno who can keep the jersey! Scarponi wins, Rodriguez takes 17 seconds on the Fratelli riders.
Scarponi wins, the Fratelli riders control the damage successfully
And today we also got the good news that we have received a wildcard for the Tirreno!. Probably the only World-Tour race we do this year.
Stage 4
Another hilly stage, but more difficult then yesterday, but no finish on top. Before the start, we are confident we can keep our places in the GC!
A 11 men breakaway isn’t dangerous, but we don’t let them go too far in the hope to avoid a very high pace at the end of the stage. With 20km to go the break is caught and immediately Garzelli attacks and Scarponi follows. 2km later J. Rodriguez jumps to them and there are 3 men in the lead. Fratelli is in a 15 men chase group behind them and make the pace with Cataldo, Ulissi and race-leader Salerno. They catch the 3 men and we go to a sprint with 18 men. Garzelli is first through the last corner with 500 meters to go, starts celebrating his victory and suddenly Ulissi passes him!
Garzelli celebrates……..
….. but it is Ulissi to cross the line first!
In the GC not many changes, only that Ulissi jumps to fifth place!
Stage 5
The final stage and it is flat. We must take care of falls and flat tires to defend our great standings in the GC. There is a break without dangerous riders, so we just control the pace. The peloton increases the pace later on and they catch the break. Sabatini wins the sprint ahead of Davis, all the Fratelli-riders are safe in the peloton.
Summary
Stages: Salerno and Ulissi win a stage
GC: Salerno 1, Cataldo 3, Ulissi 5
Mountain: Salerno 1
Points: Salerno 1
Young riders: Ulissi 1, Pirazzi 3
Team: we win
Summary February
A very successful month, sportive and financial! Our bank account increased to € 129.000,-. We decide to save some money, so we can expand the team for the next season. Sportive it is very nice to have a wildcard for the Tirreno. Cataldo will extend his racing period by 2 weeks, so he can test himself against the best racers in the world.
In March we will ride Le Samyn, 3 days of West-Flanders, Tirreno-Adriatico, Nokere Koerse, Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali and 3 days De Panne-Koksijde.
Le Samyn
Riding for us: Felline, Santambroggio, Malori, Manzutto, Gligora, Santi
The first race of the year for these riders, so we can’t expect great results. Felline will be our leader, as we think the race will end in a sprint. The lead-group of 5 is caught at 20km from the line, and it will be a sprint. Felline takes the wheel of Kevin Ista, but at 1.5km from the line Felline is out of power. It results in place 28. Not bad for the first time.
3 days of West-Flanders
Riding for us: Felline, Santambroggio, Malori, Manzutto, Gligora, Santi
A 3stage race: a prologue, and 2 flat stages, where 1 has some cobbled sections in it. We hope Malori can get a result in the prologue. Other goal is the mountain-jersey: there is 1 mountain in the 3 stages, we want to be on the top first.
Stage 1
A 6km prologue. As we still need more race-fitness, it is hard for us. Malori is with a 29th position the best rider, Felline is 67th. Peter Sagan wins ahead of Cornu and Ignatiev.
Stage 2
A flat stage, but with some cobbled sections. We want to have Felline, our talented guy for cobble-sections, in the first part of the peloton, maybe he can do something when the bunch splits on the cobbles.
Malori manages to get in a 12 men breakaway group, but the peloton won’t let them go too far. At 20km from the line they are all caught. At this moment, the peloton already split in more groups. Felline, Santambroggio and Malori are in the first group. Liquigas sets the pace in the peloton. But Veuchelen attacks. Surprisingly, the pace totally drops and Veuchelen goes to the line solo! Felline goes good in the sprint and finishes 10th. The first group behind Veuchelen contained 62 riders. Manzutto and Santi finished outside the time limit today.
Stage 3
The Final stage, where are main goal is to win the mountain jersey. After 85km of racing there is a small hill, and the first on the top will win the mountain jersey. Financially, that is very interesting for such a small effort. So we have to be in the break!
There comes a 12 men lead group, and Santambroggio is in it! Other riders are Uran and De Greef. When the break gets to the mountain-sprint, Santambroggio just gets locked in when De Greef attacks. He has no chance to take points anymore, mission failed. The group is caught and the peloton sprints for the stage victory. The victory goes to Eeckhout, Felline can’t get a result today. The best in the GC for Fratelli is Malori with a 14th place. Veuchelen wins the GC.
Tirreno-Adriatico
Riding for us: Cataldo, Felline, Santambroggio, Malori, Manzutto, Gligora, Santi and Della Casa
7 stages: TTT, hills, flat, hills, mountain, hills, ITT. Our sponsors want a top5, but it seems impossible to do. We want to wear or win the mountain jersey, and if it is possible a top10 with Cataldo. But the stages don’t suite us….
Stage 1
The team-time-trial. Our team (and the manager) aren’t experienced in this discipline, so it will be tough. We start as last team. Cataldo, Felline and especially Malori do most of the work. Gligora, Santi and Manzutto are in trouble halfway the course and later they all lose contact with the team. Only 5 riders left, so we can’t lose anybody anymore! Santambroggio doesn’t do any work at the front and manages to hang on, but the time is a bit of a disappointment: worst time and 1.44 behind winner Radioshack. This means that Cataldo has a lot of work to do to get a good GC-result….
Stage 2
A hilly stage with a relatively easy last km’s. We don’t manage to be in the break, so we miss the first mountain-jersey. We decide to make it a tough race, maybe some good riders don’t have the race-form yet. On both hills, some riders have to let the peloton go. Finally, 70 riders make it to the line. For Fratelli, only Cataldo is there. Chavanel wins with a late attack, Peter Sagan wins the bunch sprint in the same time. Cataldo is now 70th in the GC and has to climb further the next days.
Stage 3
A flat stage, but with a tough hill at 24km from the finish, it has a difficult final. Malori and Santambrogio manage to get in the breakaway. They are caught way before the line, but Santambrogio manages to take 1 point for the mountains classification just before the peloton catches them. Hincapie wins with a late attack, Cataldo moves to 68th place in the GC.
Stage 4
A long (228km) and difficult hilly stage, with lots of climbs in the final km’s. Sure there will be a lot of groups coming to the finish. Our goal of course is to get a result for Cataldo and improve his place in the GC.
There is a 13 mean breakaway, and with 47km to go they still have 7.30 on the peloton, where Radioshack sets the pace. As the final 40km are very tough it is still possible to catch the break. With 25km to go, the first part of the break has still over 5 minutes. The peloton starts to split up and Cataldo is in the first part. With 15km to go Gilbert, Joaquim Rodriguez and Frank Schleck attack. Cataldo doesn’t try to follow and stays in the small peloton. When Cunego attacks with 5km to go, Cataldo tries to follow and also Nieve, Gutierrez and Basso jump, but we can’t get back to the Gilbert group, that cathes most of the break. Gilbert wins, ahead of Hushovd (who was in the break) and J. Rodriguez. Cataldo finishes 12th and jumpes to 28th overall. The gaps were to small to undo the damage of the TTT.
Cataldo finishes between Katusha-riders Kolobnev and Di Luca
Stage 5
The only mountain stage this Tirreno, but no finish on top. If the climb is done in high speed, there can be huge gaps!
The pace is high on the climb, and the peloton already splits. The leadgroup is already caught before the top of the first climb. In the last 70km the pace is high, and on the shirt hills the peloton splits in more groups. There are several attacks by (among others) Gilbert, Frank Schleck, Nieve and Joquim Rodriguez, but nodoby seems to get away. On the last small hill the leadgroup decreases to only 18 riders and Cataldo is still there! He takes the wheel of Sagan and sprints to e great 3rd place!
Inspired by his wife at the finish line, Cataldo makes it to 3rd place!
With this results, Cataldo moves to a 13th place in the GC:
The top5 that our sponsors want is impossible, for top10 there still is a small chance.
Stage 6
A hilly stage, but not really difficult. If Cataldo wants to win places in the GC, it has to be with a late attack.
Felline is in the break of the day, together with De La Fuente, Bernie Eisel, Cooke, Giordani, Oss and John Gadret. On the hills, Felline has trouble following the pace, but he can get back to the break on the downhill and flat parts of the stage. With 78km to go, the break has a lead of minutes! De La Fuente is only 10.17 behind and virtually leads the GC. Felline is already over 40 minutes behind and plays no role in the GC. With 53 km’s to go the lead is 13 minutes, but the peloton starts making pace and Felline has more and more trouble following the high pace up front. When the leaders sprint for the mountain points, Felline has to let them go and has to do the last 37 km’s alone, if he can stay ahead of the peloton. When Felline is alone, his lead over the peloton drops every meter, especially on the rising roads. With 17km to go, Basso, Gilbert Joquim Rodiguez and others attacks, Cataldo has to do something and follows them, but with 11km to go they are caught by the peloton. With 6km to go, the peloton catches Felline, who is totally empty. In the last 6km, we see several attacks of almost all the favourites. Cataldo also gives it a go and finishes ahead of the peloton. Gdaret wins the stage, Gilbert is first of the favourites. Cataldo is 14th and jumpes to 12th overall. De La Fuente passes him in the GC.
Cataldo finishes just behind Gilbert, Rodriguez, F. Schleck and others
Stage 7
A short (9km) ITT to finish the Tirreno. Cataldo has Lofkvist only 1 second behind him in the GC, so it will be tough to keep his 12th place. Improving his GC is almost impossible, or he has to win 52 seconds in Nieve.
Nothing exciting about this TT. The Fratelli-riders aren’t good enough. Cataldo is 43th, Malori 45th. The final GC:
Conclusion: the Pro-Tour races are too hard at this moment, especially if there is a TTT involved. Highlight is the third place by Cataldo in the only mountain stage. We hope to be more competitive in the next season.
I made this Italian team for some reasons:
