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Saur - Sojasun 2012 - February
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| CountArach |
Posted on 10-06-2012 02:49
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 8290
Joined: 14-07-2008
PCM$: 200.00
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Hey everyone, time to try my hand at one of these stories for the first time in ages. I've decided on Saur - Sojasun because I've never reallly played a team with a big GC name in it (I usually play classics teams) and I much prefer playing with Pro Continental teams. It also seems that no one has done a Saur - Sojasun story in quite a long time.
Database: PCM 2012 Public Beta
Evolution of Attributes: 0.3
Race Difficulty: Hard
Season Difficulty: Normal
Just a few other house rules:
- I must keep the team 100% French.
- My transfers have to be vaguely reaslistic - no contracting massive superstars.
- Similarly, I will edit out any really bad PCM logic transfers for other teams.
- No training camps. Obviously.
- No dot climbing. The AI can't do it, so nor can I. Similarly, I'm not going to try to use other exploits.
- I'm not brilliant at this game, I'm not going to lie, so aggressive riding will be important, just as it is for the team in real life.
So thanks in advance for following, hopefully this will be enjoyable.
Edited by CountArach on 10-06-2012 16:38
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| CountArach |
Posted on 10-06-2012 02:49
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 8290
Joined: 14-07-2008
PCM$: 200.00
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The Leaders
Jerome Coppel
Coppel is without a doubt our absolute leader and by far the biggest name in our team. 13th at the Tour de France last year, as well as winning the Vuelta a Murcia and finishing 5th at the Vuelta a Castilla y Leon show that he is truly ready to mix it with the big boys. At age 26 it is now or never for him to prove that he can ride into the top 10 at the world’s biggest event. We are confident that he can do this, particularly on a route that is suited to his talents.
Jimmy Engoulvent
Engoulvent is a very specialised rider – a prologue specialist through and through. He has racked up 4 prologue wins in the last 2 years with our team and we are sure he can strike for a couple more this season. Not only that, but his ability to perform well in a sprint means that he can also aim for a few strong stage results in regular road races.
Jonathon Hivert
Hivert is our best puncheur and will be leading us through any of the hilly terrain that we encounter this year. Not only that but he can also help out Coppel throughout the season or seek his own opportunities once we hit the true mountain ranges.
The Protected Riders
Brice Feillu
Feillu sprung to fame in the 2009 Tour de France where he won the mountainous stage 7 riding for Agritubel. He rode for Vacansoleil in 2010 and Leopard – Trek in 2011 but failed to make an impact at the highest level of the sport. We have taken him on and hope that we can nurture his talents and give him another shot at achieving glory at his national tour.
David Le Lay
A strong puncheur who has also shown his ability to time trial in the past, Le Lay will get a lot of chances to show himself this season. Last year he completed his first grand tour while riding for AG2R. We are hoping his experience can rub off on some of the younger riders in our team.
Cyril Lemoine
Lemoine is more than just a sprinter, he is in fact an all-round classics rider with a great kick. He particularly shines when a small group of riders come to the finish together after a tough day. For that reason, expect to see him chasing results form breaks all season, as well as sprint results in tougher races.
Stephane Poulhies
Poulhies is more of a pure sprinter than Lemoine is, but his kick is no less deadly. He will be our lead sprinter on flatter, more traditional sprints. He will be riding a lot of domestic races this season, where we believe he can get the most results, as shown by his win in the Etoile de Besseges in 2011.
Paul Poux
Poux is our second best time trialists after Coppel, so he will be helping a lot in team time trials, as well as giving us a second option in short stage races. He will just have to hope that he can hold on during hillier stages to keep any time advantage he may be able to prise open.
The Climbing Support
Fabrice Jeandesboz is still fairly young and has some development yet to go and he is probably already our best climbing domestique. Yannick Talabardon should be seen in the break many times this season, as well as helping to push the pace on the early slopes of climbs.
The Hill Support
This is where our team truly excels. Jeremie Galland will in fact be leading us in a few races throughout the season. Guillaume Levarlet is likely to be searching for some results through aggressive riding and might make a few risky attacks this season. Jean-Marc Marino will be looking for breaks and should hopefully be given some lee-way because he isn’t a superstar. Cyril Bessy and Laurent Mangel will both be providing support to pull back breaks or form them as required. Julien Simon has a good kick that should serve him well in breaks. Maxime Mederel is well away from his peak when he won a stage of the Tour de France, but hopefully he can pull in some results for us. Finally, Anthony Delaplace showed himself all the time in breaks at last year’s Tour de France, and this year that same aggressive spirit will hopefully be rewarded.
The Lead-Out Train
Though our sprinters will mostly be fighting for position, we may have cause to form a train. A lot of these riders will also be looking to do well in breaks, where their kick can help them a lot. Arnaud Coyot deserves a mention first because he is also our best rider on the cobbles so will be targeting Paris – Roubaix if we get an invite. Christophe Laborie and Rony Martias will both be helping our lead sprinters throughout the season at low level races and developing their own sprints further. Etienne Tortelier still has a long way to come before he can achieve results and so does Jean-Lou Paiani.
Edited by CountArach on 10-06-2012 04:05
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| CountArach |
Posted on 10-06-2012 02:50
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 8290
Joined: 14-07-2008
PCM$: 200.00
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Team Goals
Here are the official goals that our two sponsors have given to us:
All of these are very achievable except for the Giro d'Italia top 10 and the climber jersey at the Vuelta a Espana. Our team lacks the depth to be able to race more than one Grand Tour per year, at least at the moment.
In addition to these our unofficial goals include to get a Top 10 at all three of the Tour de France, Paris-Nice and Criterium du Dauphine-Libere. Coppel is undoubtedly capable of all of these, as they all focus on time trials this year.
Edited by CountArach on 10-06-2012 04:09
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| CountArach |
Posted on 10-06-2012 02:50
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 8290
Joined: 14-07-2008
PCM$: 200.00
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Reserved - Results
You can post now if you want. Or not. It really is entirely your choice.
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 24-11-2024 13:58
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Bot Agent
Posts: Countless
Joined: 23.11.09
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| Pinktay3 |
Posted on 10-06-2012 03:04
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Breakaway Specialist
Posts: 959
Joined: 08-04-2012
PCM$: 200.00
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Good luck with this. Nice choice of teams |
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| CountArach |
Posted on 10-06-2012 04:11
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 8290
Joined: 14-07-2008
PCM$: 200.00
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@ Pinktay3 - Thank you. They are a really interesting team because they get a good chance to ride the Tour de France but have only a fraction of the resources that all of the other teams there have. They also have to perform well enough to earn that invitation in the first place.
Team presentation and goals posted.
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| Teddy The Creator |
Posted on 10-06-2012 04:14
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2253
Joined: 19-10-2011
PCM$: 200.00
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Really nice team choice. I'm sure this will be great CountArach. 
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| Eden95 |
Posted on 10-06-2012 04:26
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4505
Joined: 05-10-2010
PCM$: 900.00
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Finally, a story with Saur 
I hope Coppel has a good year.
Indosat - ANZ HQ
"This Schleck sandwich is going to cause serious indigestion for Evans" - Phil Liggett |
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| Miguel98 |
Posted on 10-06-2012 09:04
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World Champion
Posts: 10497
Joined: 23-06-2011
PCM$: 200.00
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Good luck and awesome team presentation. |
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| Pellizotti2 |
Posted on 10-06-2012 10:06
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World Champion
Posts: 10121
Joined: 01-05-2010
PCM$: 200.00
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Nice to see a story by you. Can't see it going any other way than well after reading your amazing ManGame reports.
So, good luck!
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| Skippy17 |
Posted on 10-06-2012 10:13
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Under 23
Posts: 58
Joined: 29-05-2012
PCM$: 200.00
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Nice introduction, good team choice. Hope you do well with Coppel and co. throughout the season |
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| jsh312mufc |
Posted on 10-06-2012 10:16
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Breakaway Specialist
Posts: 794
Joined: 05-02-2012
PCM$: 300.00
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Good luck, but I don't see Saur getting a giro top ten |
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| Ian Butler |
Posted on 10-06-2012 10:40
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 21854
Joined: 01-05-2012
PCM$: 400.00
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Great, a Saur story!
I hope you'll get wildcards for Par-Nice and TDF, but I guess that should be possible!
Good luck! |
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 10-06-2012 11:03
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 34654
Joined: 22-08-2010
PCM$: 200.00
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Good Luck CA, have to admit i have never seen a Saur story before so good luck |
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| baia |
Posted on 10-06-2012 11:44
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 5398
Joined: 04-10-2007
PCM$: 200.00
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Nice team.. good luck mate...
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| Spilak23 |
Posted on 10-06-2012 12:05
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Team Leader
Posts: 7357
Joined: 22-08-2011
PCM$: 200.00
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Very nice presentation to start your story!
Great team choice, Coppel is one of my favourite riders and should be able to get a top 10 in the Tour and maybe even win Paris-Nice or Dauphine..
I hope you make your reports as interesting as those in the man-game!
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| TomC |
Posted on 10-06-2012 12:19
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Domestique
Posts: 470
Joined: 14-10-2011
PCM$: 200.00
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Nice presentation and the very nice team with some talented riders |
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| CountArach |
Posted on 10-06-2012 13:47
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 8290
Joined: 14-07-2008
PCM$: 200.00
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Thanks for all the replies guys, I'm overwhelmed by the response to this already! The more you comment the more likely I am to keep it running.
@ Teddy The Creator - Thanks, I hope so. I just have to make sure to stay motivated.
@ Eden95 - That makes two of us 
@ Miguel98 - Thank you, I'm glad you like it.
@ Pellizotti2 - haha, I don't think I'll be able to manage the same detail as I get in those (which usually take over an hour to write up), but I hope I can still make them good.
@ Skippy17 - Thanks. I imagine Coppel will take most of our results, but there are some good puncheurs to stage hunt throughout stage races, not to mention teh classics.
@ jsh312mufc - I think I might need it But yes, I've decided not to try for the Giro or the Vuelta. Maybe next year I'll be able to try for two GTs, but for the moment I just don't have the depth to try it.
@ Ian Butler - Hopefully I can get enough results to get wildcards for both of those and then perform. If I don't get into the TDF then I'm not sure what I'll do. Probably try for Vuelta entry. Hopefully I won't have to worry about that though!
@ sutty68 - Thanks sutty. I hope to see you commenting here like you do with everyone else But yeah a lot of the other French teams get loving, but everyone forgets about Saur.
@ Spilak23 - Thanks, I put some time into it. But if Coppel were to win either P-N or the Dauphine and still get a top 10 in the Tour I will be ecstatic. It would make my season without a doubt.
@ TomC - Thanks and yes there are some good talents here. Not just Coppel but also guys like Marino and Delaplace.
Coming up next: GP Marseillaise Preview and then the report!
Edited by CountArach on 10-06-2012 13:47
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| Alakagom |
Posted on 10-06-2012 13:49
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World Champion
Posts: 10891
Joined: 19-11-2010
PCM$: 200.00
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Great team to play and this should be great story. Good luck with this. Although I doubt you need luck at all Already looks promising.
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| CountArach |
Posted on 10-06-2012 14:21
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 8290
Joined: 14-07-2008
PCM$: 200.00
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The 1.1-ranked Grand Prix Cycliste La Marseillaise kicks off the European cycling calendar with a hilly classic. It is not that long at only 140km but it is an interesting indicator for who has form coming into the very start of the French cycling season.
There are several climbs today, starting after 60km with the Petit Galibier which, it must be said, is much more petit than Galibier.The main difficulty of the day is the Col de l’Espigoulier which, though not particularly steep, might put some sprinters into difficulty.
The Col de l’Espigoulier will challenge the riders today
Generally though this is the sort of race for sprinters who can climb fairly well or possibly puncheurs who possess a good kick. Although looking at last year’s result  Jeremy Roy (FDJ) won in a solo break, holding off the peleton by over 2 minutes. This shows that a break may well stand a good chance this year. The top 10 last year were:
| 1 | Jeremy Roy | FDJ | | 2 | Sylvain Georges | Big Mat | | 3 | Romain Feillu | Vacansoleil | | 4 | Jure Kocjan | Team Type 1 | | 5 | Artur Vichot | FDJ | | 6 | Cyril Gautier | Europcar | | 7 | Riccardo Ricco | Vacansoleil | | 8 | Cedric Pineau | FDJ | | 9 | Julien Antomarchi | La Pomme-Marseille | | 10 | Julien El Fares | Cofidis |
Our Team
Our team for the race is as follows:
Jonathon Hivert won the race in 2010 so he returns as our leader, though he may not possess the necessary kick to win this race. Our plan will be to try to get into a break and either win it from there or at least avoid having to set the pace.
The Favourites
This really kicks off the season so form is very hard to gauge. However, based simply on general ability the following riders have been tipped as potential winners:
|  | |  B. De Waele (LAN) |  D. Calegarin (TT1) |  P. Martens (RAB) | | | | | S. Scheirlinckx (ACC) |  N. Roche (AG2R) | S. Schumacher (ONF) | | | |  B. Tankink (RAB) |  C. Sorenson (SAX) | D. Oss (LIQ) |
And here is the complete startlist:
Spoiler AG2R
1. N.Roche
2. R.Bardet
3. J.Bérard
4. S.Georges
5. B.Kadri
6. L.Mondory
7. C.Riblon
8. B.Shpilevsky
Accent Jobs
11. S.Scheirlinckx
12. O.Chuzhda
13. W.De Vocht
14. T.Degand
15. R.Goris
16. L.Hoste
17. A.Van Groen
18. E.Verbist
Saxo Bank
21. C.A.Sørensen
22. J.Cantwell
23. M.Christensen
24. L.S.Haedo
25. J.A.Jørgensen
26. K.Klostergaard
27. L.Roberts
28. T.R.Vinther
Rabobank
31. P.Martens
32. S.Clement
33. R.Flens
34. J.M.Gárate
35. M.Matthews
36. G.Niermann
37. B.Tankink
38. M.Wynants
Landbouwkrediet
41. B.De Waele
42. F.Amorison
43. K.Barbé
44. D.Commeyne
45. K.Hovelynck
46. E.Juodvalkis
47. B.Traksel
48. S.Vanthourenhout
Europcar
51. P.Rolland
52. Y.Arashiro
53. Sé.Chavanel
54. R.Chtioui
55. D.Gaudin
56. C.Gautier
57. Y.Gène
58. S.Haddou
Liquigas
61. D.Oss
62. F.Canuti
63. T.Dall'Antonia
64. M.Paterski
65. D.Ratto
66. F.Sabatini
67. C.Sarmiento
68. E.Viviani
Team Type 1
71. R.Bertogliati
72. A.Bazzana
73. L.Bodrogi
74. D.Callegarin
75. R.Cusin
76. A.Ilesic
77. V.S.Laengen
78. G.Preidler
Christina Watches
81. S.Schumacher
82. R.Guldhammer
83. M.Lind
84. M.Pedersen
85. M.Rasmussen
86. M.Reihs
87. K.Sobota
88. F.Wilmann
Orica
91. S.O'Grady
92. J.Dean
93. M.Hepburn
94. D.Impey
95. A.Kruopis
96. T.Meyer
97. W.Sulzberger
98. T.Vaitkus
Utensilnord
101. G.Bosisio
102. P.Bailetti
103. S.Fanelli
104. M.Fedi
105. E.Girardi
106. F.Rocchetti
107. P.Vila
108. M.Zanotti
Saur - Sojasun
111. J.Galland
112. A.Coyot
113. A.Delaplace
114. J.Engoulvent
115. J.Hivert
116. C.Lemoine
117. G.Levarlet
118. S.Poulhiès
Auber 93
121. J.Mombaerts
122. R.Bacon
123. F.Bacquet
124. F.Dassonville
125. M.Drujon
126. R.Racault
Topsport
131. P.Vanspeybroeck
132. L.De Vreese
133. E.Lietaer
134. S.Neirynck
135. J.Salomein
136. P.Serry
137. P.Van Hecke
138. Z.Waeytens
Bretagne
141. F.Vachon
142. E.Berthou
143. J.Bideau
144. G.Blot
145. J.Delpech
146. F.Guillou
147. R.Hardy
148. G.Malacarne
RusVelo
151. S.Klimov
152. I.Kovalev
153. D.Kozontchuk
154. A.Markov
155. A.Ovechkin
156. N.Trussov
157. V.Valynin
158. N.Zhurkin
SpiderTech
161. R.Künzli
162. Z.Bell
163. G.Boivin
164. L.Euser
165. S.Lambert-Lemay
166. J.P.McCarty
167. F.Parisien
168. R.Roth
Veranda Rideau
171. G.Malle
172. F.Bichot
173. K.Denis
174. B.Jarrier
175. R.Matheou
176. M.Olejnik
La Pomme
181. M.Delaroziere
182. B.Giraud
183. C.Koretzky
184. Y.Martinez
185. G.Tarride
186. T.Vaubourzeix
Leopard - Trek
191. A.Pliuschin
192. G.Brambilla
193. O.Hofstetter
194. B.Jungels
195. F.Silvestre
196. J.Zangerle
Wallonie
201. F.Polazzi
202. T.Dernies
203. J.Dewitte
204. R.Stenuit
205. K.Thome
206. J.Van Hoecke
Roubaix
211. F.Le Corre
212. P.Drancourt
213. D.Flahaut
214. M.Kneisky
215. K.Lalouette
216. F.Schmidt |
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