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Vesuvio-Accumalux are the 2012 ProTour Champions
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| SportingNonsense |
Posted on 06-10-2012 18:50
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The Luxembourg squad have secured the ProTour title having been no lower than 2nd in the standings all season. A season which started so strongly when Ben Swift triumphed in the Tour of Qatar. Frank Schleck was the star rider - winning Tirreno-Adriatico, Liege-Bastogne-Liege and Classique du Grand-Duche - while Rigoberto Uran and Benat Intxausti also enjoyed strong performances throughout the season. Their winning margin was over 1000 points - dominant.
 
2nd place goes to Pearl Adidas. Jan Bakelandts was their key rider throughout the season, and he finally delivered a race victory for them in the GP Mendrisio. Stijn Joseph and Jukka Vastaranta had already taken surprise classic victories for Pearl while Tiago Machado impressed with two Grand Tour Top 7 finishes.
Rounding out the podium are last year's champions Sony Ericsson. Their squad was largely unchanged, but they were unable to enjoy the same levels of success. Yuri Trofimov was as strong as ever - victory in Paris-Nice and a strong Tour de France, while Alessandro Ballan did also have a strong season - although not able to earn a race victory.
No Grand Tour winning team in the Top 3 then, the best of those is in 4th place - continental newcomers Santander. With a supporting act of Justo Tenorio, Angel Madrazo was the stand out Grand Tour rider of the season. Victory in the Vuelta a Espana by a clear mile, and 2nd place at the Tour de France. A season to remember for them.
Our 5th placed team are more likely to remember the crashes this season though. Festina-Conec will be left to wonder what could have been if Markus Fothen had learnt to stay on his bike a bit more. Luckily, the team was more than just Fothen. Alberto Contador took 2nd in the Vuelta, Diego Ulissi won Milan SanRemo and Olympic champion Filippo Pozzato also took the Tour of Northern Europe.
Tom Boonen, sorry, Team Nestle are in 6th. They had a strong 2nd year in the ProTour having just missed relegation last year. But this is also their last year here as they disband.
An impressive 7th were ProTour newcomers Pendleton's Twicer. Team stalwart Phillipe Gilbert came good at Amstel Gold with a surprise victory, while David Zabriskie proved an important signing as he beat former teammate Phinney to win Vuelta a a la Region de Murcia. Unexpectedly strong performances from Sebastien Duret also helped them this season.
Taking 8th place are Bacardi - Ignis, whose season seems to have stagnated for a while, but let's not forget the peaks it hit when Riccardo Ricco won the Giro to become only the 2nd rider in ManGame history to do so. Marcus Burghardt was always a presence on the cobbles, while Michael van Stayen had a successful sprinting time in the Vuelta.
Dropping to 9th after the last race are TTT-supremos Jack Wolfskin. It was a race that summed up half their season - their team leader (Robert Gesink) crashing. Gesink did manage to stay on his bike long enough to win Vuelta al Pais Vasco though - meanwhile Sylvain Chavanel won Fleche Wallone, and Ruben Plaza was a regular source of points.
Rounding out the Top 10 is Milka-Vittel. They had to wait all season for an overall race victory before Jerome Coppel took a great win in the Chrono des Herbiers, but they had plenty of strong results elsewhere. Unusually for a ProTour team their top scorer was not a climber - it was Sam Bewley, the impressive young Kiwi. Sergio Luis Henao and Aleksandr Efimkin also performed well on occasion.
Wikipedia are 11th, as they found that Americans alone are not enough for a Top 10 - even when those Americans are Taylor Phinney and Tejay van Garderen. Fittingly, their only stage race triumph did come in the USA as Phinney won the Tour of California. Phinney may have 'struggled' in the standalone time trials but give him a time trial within a stage race and he was very hard to beat.
UBS-La Pierre take 12th in a confident first season in the ProTour - exceeding expectations having only been 9th in the Continental tour last season (the lowest ranked team to promote). Stefan Schumacher was their best scorer, but most impressive was Andrei Amador - who won Stage 16 of both the Giro and the Tour - both time trials will plenty of climbing in.
13th are Wiggle - San Pellegrino. The last of 6 ProTour newcomers in the standings, having been the best ranked of those 6 in the CT Tour last season. But don't let that take anyway from them, they've performed very well considering much of their squad is the same as got them promoted - with the only notable addition having been the inconsistent Jaroslav Popovych. Simone Ponzi was their star, a regular points scorer through the season - surely that big win is on its way soon for him?
Only 14th this year is a step back for Team B&O. That's the problem with being a 2 leader team, when one of your leaders - Edvald Boasson Hagen - has a bad season. The saving grace for the team was that this year was a big step forward for Aleksandr Pluchkin. A podium in the Tour de France, and victories in the Tour of Oman, Volta Ciclista a Catalunya, and Tour de Suisse.
Café de Colombia bid farewell to the professional peloton in 15th place with 3 big wins this season, all down to Damiano Cunego. The Tour de France, the Vuelta a Colombia and Giro di Lombardia. The team struggled beyond Cunego though - having failed to attract any of the peloton's leading Colombians. David Abal and Michael Rogers were only able to pick up scraps.
16th place for Webeffect. The pink jerseys stood out but rarely lit up the peloton, except at the Giro where Emanuelle Sella once again performed strongly only to fall short of winning. They are one of the disbanding squads.
And now to the relegation zone. 17th was not enough for Carmeuse and after 6 years in the ProTour, they take the drop. Gambling your squad on one rider often works, but not when that rider is Fabian Cancellara, and with Boonen on fire on the cobbles this year. Jurgen Roelandts sprinted well, while Rein Taaramae found himself outgunned at the Tour de France. Next year he will be much better - but can the team afford to keep him?
Another team to relegate after 6 seasons is Spyker Cars. Unfortunately for them, the script was drawn for this a while ago. They realised and invested in young talents before the season began, but it was too late to save this season. As in the previous 6 seasons, Thomas Dekker was their best rider, but the Tour of Romandie winner could not do it alone - and Stijn Devolder and Patrik Sinkewitz were not enough to support him.
Already disbanded are the 3rd relegating team to have been in the ProTour since the start! They ditched Tom Boonen and didnt replace him, so were always doomed - despite the efforts of Simon Spilak. He won the Dauphine Libere, and will look forward to joining a stronger team next year!
Infact, all teams in the relegation zone were founding members of the Management Game as 20th spot belongs to Domina Vacanze. But they didnt even show up - a year of misery for Andy Schleck and co.
| 1 | Vesuvio-Accumalux | 9481 | | 2 | Pearl Adidas | 8214 | | 3 | Sony Ericsson | 7822 | | 4 | Santander | 7659 | | 5 | Festina - Conec | 7263 | | 6 | Nestlé Cycling Team | 7180 | | 7 | Pendleton's Twicer | 7018 | | 8 | Bacardi - Ignis | 6980 | | 9 | Jack Wolfskin | 6918 | | 10 | Milka - Vittel | 6832 | | 11 | Wikipedia | 6678 | | 12 | UBS - La Pierre | 6500 | | 13 | Wiggle - San Pellegrino | 6405 | | 14 | Team B&O | 6281 | | 15 | Café de Colombia | 5849 | | 16 | Webeffect | 5638 | | 17 | Carmeuse - Bouygues Telecom | 5116 | | 18 | Spyker Cars | 5070 | | 19 | Warner Brothers | 3001 | | 20 | Vespa - Aprilia - De Rosa | 1388 | | 21 | Proximus - Trek | 708 | | 22 | Jayco - Red Bull | 701 | | 23 | VolksWagen - Siemens | 663 | | 24 | Pokerstars.com | 470 | | 25 | Team Bpost | 442 | | 26 | Team Puma - SAP | 439 | | 27 | Oz Cycling Project | 430 | | 28 | Rapha Condor - Qhubeka | 425 | | 29 | Hollister Pro Cycling | 417 | | 30 | Cerne | 405 | | 31 | Saab-Scania | 402 | | 32 | Focused Cycling | 309 | | 33 | TCS Bank - OJSC Rosneft | 286 | | 34 | Team Rothaus - Aegon | 178 | | 35 | Team Trilux - Falke | 150 | | 36 | Cyclevox | 101 | | 37 | Meiji - Fuji | 100 | | 38 | Koppert Cycling Team | 89 | | 39 | Ferrari - ERG | 64 | | 40 | Domina Vacanze | 0 |
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| jph27 |
Posted on 06-10-2012 18:56
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Team Leader
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Congrats to your good self. Deserved win, and a great reward considering how much you put into the game.  |
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| p3druh |
Posted on 06-10-2012 19:00
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Small Tour Specialist
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Congratulations to Vesuvio. By far the best team in the game.
Sucks to see so many MG veterans ending up relegated.
As for Pearl Adidas, would never guess a top-5 in the standings would be possible, never mind a 2nd place. Hopefully next year Bakelants can improve his results slightly to make up for the fluke wins by Joseph and Vastaranta. Machado should be good for a couple of top-10 in GTs and perhaps Sicard can already be an upgrade of Velits. It will also be nice to see if Guarnieri already has what it takes to be competitive in the PT. There's a lot i'm looking forward to for the next season.
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| Kami |
Posted on 06-10-2012 19:06
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It was a very interesting learning experience, and overall i'm happy with 8th.
Thanks to SN and the whole reporter base for making this a very enjoyable season!
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| fenian_1234 |
Posted on 06-10-2012 19:08
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Nicely written piece to wrap up the season rankings. 
Congratulations to SN and Vesuvio-Accumalux.
EDIT - Reading through as well, really hits you how they're going to be no shortage of bona fide PT team leaders floating about in the transfer season.
Edited by fenian_1234 on 06-10-2012 19:10
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| Pellizotti2 |
Posted on 06-10-2012 19:08
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Grand Tour Champion
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Congrats, SN. Without any doubt the strongest team in the game!
Looking forward to next year.
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 07-12-2025 14:09
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| kumazan |
Posted on 06-10-2012 19:12
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Congrats SN, and great recap of the PT season.
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| tsmoha |
Posted on 06-10-2012 19:14
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A nice recap, SN, thanks for that and congrats on this title! I (almost) enjoyed this ProTour-season as much as I enjoyed the Cont-League And I just remember, that Oz Cycling did win a PT-race
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| SotD |
Posted on 06-10-2012 19:27
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World Champion
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Congrats SN. What a season! That was just superbly ridden all through the season.
5th in the end is good, after those massive season-determinating crashes, and also it was a season goal, where two others were missed due to previously mentioned crashes. Overall I think I had a top 3 worthy team, so in that context 5th isn't good enough, also considering my past results in the PT.
The horse has been placed on the starting line, for a new season and we are looking forward to start yet again. We aim to move up the rankings next season. Festina will stay in the Pro Tour, and several changes will happen in the riders list. Fun is about to happen.
Boy do I love the off season
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| CrueTrue |
Posted on 06-10-2012 19:46
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Tour de France Champion
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Sad, sad, sad day  Congrats to everyone else, though. |
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| cio93 |
Posted on 06-10-2012 19:49
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World Champion
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Congratulations to Vesuvio, very well deserved.
SN, that is your reward for running this game so well!
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| mb2612 |
Posted on 06-10-2012 20:01
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Team Leader
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Congrats SN, you cleaned us up this year.
I am really happy with 4th, I pretty much went all in on Madrazo in the Vuelta, and it seriously paid off. The question is whether I will be allowed to keep him?
 [url=www.pcmdaily.com/forum/viewthread.php?thread_id=33182] Team Santander Media Thread[/url]
Please assume I am joking unless otherwise stated |
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| mattiasgt |
Posted on 06-10-2012 20:18
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Small Tour Specialist
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Well earned SN. Could not to stop you from going back to the top. Happy to still be up there though.
(Previously) Manager of Koenigsegg
Koenigsegg: ( Media)
Livin' Loud |
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| ember |
Posted on 06-10-2012 20:27
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Big congratulations to SN, and a nice "reward" for running the game so smoothly
Thanks for a well-written summary too.
It will be very interesting to see how the other PT-teams will develop ahead of next season, to see if they'll be able to challenge Vesuvio, where Schleck is declining. |
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| beagle |
Posted on 06-10-2012 21:01
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Congratulations as well, I´m glad young Wallays showed big heart in several stages in your jersey
Manager of Polar in Man-Game
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| Heine |
Posted on 06-10-2012 21:08
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Congratulation to Vesuvio No doubt the best team this season
While SN got a strong team his big star will start declining, will be interesting to see what happens there. Will be hard to replace Frank. Also considering that the team that from next season got the strongest hilly rider also got a really interesting team for the future (Sicard will only get better...)
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| Pellizotti2 |
Posted on 06-10-2012 21:11
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Grand Tour Champion
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Heine wrote:
While SN got a strong team his big star will start declining, will be interesting to see what happens there. Will be hard to replace Frank.
Well, he does have Skujins, who'll be a top class puncheur in a couple of years' time. Probably not Schleck level tho.
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| ANFreeman |
Posted on 06-10-2012 21:21
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Great read, and congrats to SN on the overall win.
This really wraps up a great season in the best game ever.
[url=https://pcmdaily.com/messages.php?msg_send=19438]-Requests for Man-Game 2014 jerseys are OPEN!
Click to request!-[/url] |
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| SportingNonsense |
Posted on 06-10-2012 21:26
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Team Manager
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Thanks for all the nice words about Vesuvio and the game!
Pellizotti2 wrote:
Heine wrote:
While SN got a strong team his big star will start declining, will be interesting to see what happens there. Will be hard to replace Frank.
Well, he does have Skujins, who'll be a top class puncheur in a couple of years' time. Probably not Schleck level tho.
The Skujins and Gastauer double act are primed for when Frank goes off on his pension
SotD wrote:
Boy do I love the off season
Most exciting part for sure! Only down point for me is that its a bit more work  Transfers could be interesting a well since I wont be online for about 8-9 hours every week day!
beagle wrote:
Congratulations as well, I´m glad young Wallays showed big heart in several stages in your jersey
He got a victory as well, so a nice contribution by the loanee!
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| cio93 |
Posted on 06-10-2012 21:30
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World Champion
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SportingNonsense wrote:
SotD wrote:
Boy do I love the off season
Most exciting part for sure! Only down point for me is that its a bit more work Transfers could be interesting a well since I wont be online for about 8-9 hours every week day!
I'm so happy my university has free and well-working WiFi 
And yes, especially with the loads of great FAs and some awesome young talents added to the DB, plus probably the additional money flowing around with new teams, it'll be carnage 
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