Hey all after my last story fell on its face due to a shotty PC, now that I've upgraded I decided to start another story about my favorite rider, Romain Sicard. I had a lot of fun doing the last one so now I thought I'd try it once more.
This story is played with PCM12 and the PCMDaily2013 DB and it'll again follow Romain's final chase for white jerseys in 2013. So i will prepare a presentation for it and get it rolling soon! Thanks for reading! Edited by gosaursojasun1256 on 21-08-2013 00:04
My name is Romain Sicard and welcome to my blog! I am very happy to have you with me as I journey through the 2013 cycling season!
This season is my 4th season as a professional cyclist and my 4th season with the UCI WorldTour team, Euskaltel Euskadi. For those of you who have followed my career, it is no surprise that I say it has been a bit of a disappointment so far. In 4 seasons I have yet to record a win, I am looking to change that this season. 2013 is a make or break season for me. The team has given me one last shot to prove that I can make good on the potential I showed in 2009 when I won the U23 World Road Championships in Mendrisio, and also the Tour de l'Avenir.
My goals for this upcoming season are as follows:
1. Win any race
2. Win the overall classification of any stage race
3. Sweep the White Jerseys at Paris-Nice, Criterium du Dauphine, and the Tour de France
4. Be apart of 5 Euskaltel victories
5. Take part in the UCI World Championships Road Race
As I stated before, I ride for the Euskaltel Euskadi team. The team has undergone big changes, management has dropped the longstanding policy of signing only Basque riders. We now have riders from 8 different countries. It has been a lot of fun getting to know my new teammates, in fact I have taken a shine to Greek rider Ioannis Tamouridis, he is quite the character and I look forward to riding with him this season!
I am very eager to get the campaign underway. I will begin my season with a 5 day team training camp in Palma de Majorka before undertaking my first race of the season, the GP Marseille at the end of January. I have taken on a very heavy program this season as I plan to take part in both the Tour de France and the Vuelta a Espana.
Well my flight is now boarding and that means 2013 is underway. I must sign off now but will write soon from my hotel in Spain...here's to a successful 2013! Thank you for reading my blog and joining me throughout the UCI Calendar.
Welcome to the first race of 2013, the GP Marseille, the first race on European soil! The profile of the race suits the roulers or those sprinters that can survive the climbs.
We are sending a very balanced squad to the race. I have been appointed the leader of the team, but due to my lack of sprinting abilities I will be working to set up our sprinter Jure Kocjan, who finished 4th in the 2011 edition of the race. My goal of the race is to help set up the sprint for Kocjan, and also finish in the lead group on the road.
Urtasun will be the main lead out man for Kocjan and a strong second option. Bravo, Garcia, and Minguez are all going to be pace-makers and Oroz will be given the nod to go ahead and get in the break.
We rolled off the start line in Marseille under clear skies and cold temperatures.
The attacks came fast and furious from the start and after 20 KM the break of the day formed. The break contained: Markus (VCD), Bewley (OGE), Gaudin (EUC), Segers (3M), and Oroz (EUS). The 5 built up a lead of 5'30" but as the peloton started the Col de l'Espigoulier the race began to shatter as another 5 man group formed ahead of the peloton: Trofimov and Chernetskiy (KAT), Delage (FDJ), Levarlet (COF), and Cherel (ALM).
The 2 groups soon became one as they held a 2'35" gap ahead of the main field. With 10 KM to go, the break was caught and all hell broke loose as teams scrambled to set up their sprinters. I found myself at the head of a 16 man group that included many race favorites: Kocjan, Urtasun, Bilbao, Sicard-EUS
Lastras, Capecchi, Amador, Visconti-MOV
Bole, Marcato-VCD
Oss-BMC
Tiernan-Locke-SKY
Gadret, Riblon-ALM
N. Sorensen-SAX
Drucker-ACC
Oss is the first to launch the sprint, with Drucker latching onto his wheel as the sprint hits full speed
Due to my lack of sprint experience I opened the sprint up for Kocjan with 800M to go (2KM in PCM terms), however a quickly fading Oss impedes Jure's sprint so we are forced to go with Urtasun our plan B......
Spoiler
And Urtasun delivers, winning the GP Marseille!!
Kocjan was able to recover for 3rd being a hard charging Andrey Amador! I myself was able to sprint for 6th, not too bad for a guy with a 66 sprint rating!
Quotable:
"What a race!! For the first day in the saddle, this was a doozy! The three major climbs really made us hurt. We were very lucky to have 4 riders at the front when the split occured, from there it was just about positioning and unfortunately Jure wasn't in the right spot thanks to the BMC rider, but Pablo was perfect and got us the win, that's all that matters!"
What a great race and a great way to start the season for our team! From here we will look to keep the momentum rolling. I will be tackling the 3 French stage races (Etoile Besseges, Tour Med, Tour du Haut Var) before lining up at Paris-Nice in a month! Can't wait to start the next race!
Goodbye for now!
Romain
AS A SIDE: IF SOMEONE COULD TELL ME HOW TO REMOVE THE CIRCLES, I'D REALLY APPRECIATE IT! FOR SOME REASON PRESSING 2 DOESN'T WORK FOR ME!
sutty68-Thank you! Hopefully we can keep it going!
Selwink-That worked perfectly, thanks for the tip and thanks for reading!
Etoile de Besseges-STAGE 1
Welcome to the Etoile de Besseges, my first stage race of the season! I am coming into the race feeling great after my 6th place in the GP Marseille. However, I am not expecting a whole lot out of this race as it consists of 5 sprint stages and an ITT. My goal is a Top 20 overall and a Top 10 in the TT.
We are sending a very international squad with 8 riders from 5 different countries. Our squad will be led by our 2 German sprinters: Andre Schulze, and Steffen Radochla who will target Top 10's in the sprint stages. The rest of the squad is:
Robert Vrecer
Juanjo Oroz, Miguel Minguez, Jorge Azanza
Tarik Chaoufi
As the peloton rolled out of Beaucaire, all eyes were on a sprint finish and many people expected it to be a battle between Tom Boonen (OPQ), John Degenkolb (ARG), and Thor Hushovd (BMC).
A 5 man breakaway formed early on in the stage: Siskevicius (SOJ), Hovelynck (CRE), Pichot (EUC), Quintero (COL) and Chaoufi (EUS).
CHAOUFI TAKES OUT THE MOUNTAIN SPRINT AHEAD OF PICHOT
Chaoufi will wear the first Mountain jersey of the Tour, we look forward to him swapping his Moroccan champions jersey for the blue leader's jersey! The break was caught with 9km to go and the sprinters teams began to mass at the front trying to position their fast men! OUR SPRINT TRAIN FOR ANDRE SCHULZE
Unfortunately Schulze opened his sprint up way too early and stood no chance. Up ahead the sprint was very exciting! As Boonen and Degenkolb went neck and neck for the win....
And Degenkolb of Argos nips Boonen on the line to take the victory and the first leader's jersey of the race. As Radochla claimed 18th, the best finisher for us, a disappointment for us despite the fact we were not expecting to compete for the win. I was able to roll across the line in 58th place on the same time as the winner, so I consider the day a success!
Stage Results:
1. John Degenkolb-ARG 3h13'17
2. Tom Boonen-OPQ st.
3. Daniel Oss-BMC st.
... 58. Romain Sicard-EUS st.
GC:
1. John Degenkolb-ARG 3h13'17
2. Tom Boonen-OPQ +8"
3. Alexandre Pichot-EUC +10"
4. Daniel Oss-BMC +12"
5. Kurt Hovelynck-CRE +14"
... 62. Romain Sicard-EUS +20"
Points: Degenkolb-ARG-25 Points KoM: Tarik Chaoufi-EUS-10 Points
U25: Degenkolb-ARG 3h13'17"
Quotable:
"Today was a nice, relaxing day. A great way to start my first stage race of the season. My plan is to save myself for the Time Trial on Stage 6 where I will try to achieve a top 10 finish. As a team we were happy to have Tarik in the break, he did a great job and now has the mountain jersey as a reward. Despite the fact our sprint train fizzed out, we are pleased with day 1 and hope for a Top 10 tomorrow!"
Cheers,
Romain
As I prepare to play Stage 2, I believe I will combine the reports, so my next report will contain Stages 2 and 3 just to save posts! Thanks again for reading and I'll be posting the next few stages soon!!
Edited by gosaursojasun1256 on 15-08-2013 20:11
Stage 2 is arguably the toughest stage of the race with 4 ascents in quick succession before the finish of the stage. Hopefully we can better place Schulze for the finish. Personally I hope to finish in the lead group and possibly contest the finish if the field has been reduced.
A 4 man group went up the road early on and again it contained our own Tarik Chaoufi looking to extend his King of the Mountains lead. Joining him were: Duval (RLM), Nys (CRE), and Gil (AND).
Chaoufi scored 1st and 2nd on the climbs and extended his lead, unfortunately the group could never work well together and was caught with 55KM to go. With the intermediate sprint coming up I decided to have a go for the points and took off with Romain Feillu (VCD). Feillu claimed first and I second, as Feillu dropped back to the peloton I decided to go solo.
The speed of the advancing peloton was too much as I was swept up with just 3KM to go. From there the sprint was on and Lieuwe Westra (VCD) proved he was the strongest on the uphill. Boonen (OPQ) again had to settle for second. Despite being spent, Schulze was able to come across the line in 7th, a solid result for our fast man. I rolled across in 29th place, a bit disappointed after being caught so close to the line.
Stage Results:
1. Lieuwe Westra-VCD 4h02'18"
2. Tom Boonen-OPQ st
3. Matteo Montaguti-ALM st.
4. Gianni Meersman-OPQQ st.
5. John Degenkolb-ARG st.
... 7. Andre Schulze-EUS st
29. Romain Sicard-EUS st.
GC: Tom Boonen-OPQ 7hr15'31"
Pts. John Degenkolb- ARG 41 Points KoM. Tarik Chaoufi-26 Points
U25. John Degenkolb-ARG 7hr15'35"
Quotable: "I am spent after today's stage! The run in to the finish line was a lot more difficult than I had first imagined. I was feeling good earlier so decided to make my own break, and although it didnt work, I'm happy to have placed in the sprint point and moved up to 7th on the GC. It was a solid day, but I look forward to taking it easy tomorrow, again!"
Today's stage should again come down to a bunch sprint, we will again be working for Schulze and hope for a second consecutive Top 10 for him.
Although I sit second in the U25 GC (+16 seconds) I am wearing the white jersey today because Degenkolb is the points leader. Although I hope to be able to wear the jersey after the Stage 6 ITT, it's a nice treat to be in white!
We decided to stay out of the break today as 5 riders went up the road:
Vanthourenhout (CRE), Van Hecke (TSV), Guillou (BSE), Siskevicius (SOJ) and Scheirlinckx (ACC). The 5 built up a maximum advantage of 5'03''.
Unfortunately our main lead out man Steffen Radochla took a hard tumble with 100KM to go, and although he re-mounted and tried to ride on, he was forced to abandon 15KM later, a huge hit for our sprinter Andre Schulze.
The catch is made with just over 5 KM to go.
Since Radochla has abandoned, we now lack a true lead out train so we've told Schulze and Robert Vrecer to "wheel suck" and do their best.
Vrecer obviously picked the better wheel as he was able to claim 10th in the sprint, while Schulze faded to 21st. Missing Radochla truly hurt our sprint chances.
The sprint was flat out fast and Manuel Belletti of AG2R stunned the likes of Degenkolb, Boonen, and Feillu to take the win! What a great victory for him!
I again hung in with the main group and rolled home a solid 38th. Hopefully I again can relax tomorrow and prepare for the TimeTrial the following day.
Stage Results:
1. Manuel Belletti-ALM 3h59'31''
2. John Degenkolb-ARG st.
3. Gianni Meersman-OPQ st.
... 10. Robert Vrecer-EUS st.
38. Romain Sicard-EUS st.
Quotable: "Another monotonous day today. Unfortunately Steffen had to abandon, what a shame! He was doing a great job and will be missed but I send him my get well wishes and a big hug! For me the next two stages will be about maintaining my position on GC and preparing for the TT where I hope to surprise some people and claim a top 10 position! I am very excited for that and wish these next two stages will fly by without incident!"
We start today's stage 4 with only 7 riders, unfortunately Steffen has returned to Spain with a fractured collarbone after yesterday's tumble, we wish him a speedy recovery, but the race must go on. Unfortunately it must go on, as today it is raining and temperatures are close to freezing, what a hellish day! As the race got underway everyone in the peloton was feeling miserable but still a group of 7 escaped up the road including our own Miguel Minguez, his chief responsibility was making sure Chaoufi's mountain jersey remained intact. Joining him were K. Hovelynck (CRE), B. Cooke (OGE), D. Hondo (RSH), JM Bideau (BSE), M. Gavazzi (AND), Y. Gene (EUC). Hondo was a dangerous rider in the break sitting just 32" down in the GC.
Minguez claimed the Mountain sprint ensuring Chaoufi's victory in the competiton. Congrats to our favorite Moroccan!!
With 10KM to go and the catch about to be made a massive crash occured in the peloton, luckily our entire team was able to miss it but unfortunately Svein Tuft and Julian Duval were forced to abandon due to injury.
In this sprint Francisco Gavazzi of Astana jumped early and held off a hard charging Lieuwe Westra (VCD) and Manuel Belletti (ALM) for a surprising victory. For our team Vrecer took a solid 8th, Schulze 10th, and I coasted home 41st. Another day done for me!
Stage:
1. Francisco Gavazzi-AST 4h02'10"
2. Lieuwe Westra-VCD st
3. Manuel Belletti-ALM st
... 8. Robert Vrecer-EUS st
10. Andre Schulze-EUS st
41. Romain Sicard-EUS st
Stage 5 is the shortest road stage of the race and it has a very technical finish with lots of curves, it will be a very interesting sprint and possibly a solo attack could foil the final chance for the sprinters before the afternoon time trial.
No breakaway went clear as many riders were saving their legs for the time trial. The day was very quiet until the 10KM banner where a massive crash occurred, after missing the carnage yesterday, Azanza, and Oroz were caught up in today's pileup and lost time. They both were able to remount and finish the stage with just some lumps and bruises.
Inside the final 5KM we were well positioned at the front and I myself decided to have a go at the sprint and see how it goes!
Samuel Dumoulin, the French pocketrocket times his sprint perfectly and surges around Romain Feillu in the final meters to claim AG2R's second victory of the race!
The 2 Frenchmen were given a 2'' time gap over the rest of the field and the sprint for 3rd was on. Boonen of Omega Pharma claims third but wait look! There is the white jersey crossing the line in 4th. No, that's not John Degenkolb! It is the young French climber Romain Sicard!! What a result on the technical sprint finish for the Euskaltel rider!!
Stage:
1. Samuel Dumoulin-AGR-1h33'46''
2. Romain Feillu-VCD st
3. Tom Boonen-OPQ +2'' 4. Romain Sicard-EUS st
... 6. Andre Schulze-EUS
GC:
1. John Degenkolb-ARG 16h50'50''
2. Lieuwe Westra-VCD st.
3. Manuel Belletti-ALM +4''
4. Tom Boonen-OPQ st.
5. Francisco Gavazzi-AST +12''
... 11. Romain Sicard-EUS +28''
Points: Degenkolb-ARG 72 Points KoM: Tarik Chaoufi-46 Points
U25: John Degenkolb-ARG 16h50'50''
Quotable: "4th? I was 4th! That is absolutely incredible! Obviously I am no sprinter, but I decided to have a go at this one because the finish was so technical and I am extremely proud of my result! Sadly there's no time bonus for 4th, but I believe it is a sign of good things to come! Man this race has been a great way to start the season and I still have the Time Trial to look forward to later! I truly believe I can achieve a Top 10 in the TT and earn a Top 10 in GC as well. That would be great for my confidence moving forward! I can already feel that this 2013 season will be my best one yet, and victory is not far off for me!!!"
Please come back and join me for the exciting conclusion of the Etoile de Besseges! It will be a great finish! Fingers crossed for a Top 10!
@welker3257 Thanks! Here's hoping the same! Goodluck on your story with Boswell!
Welcome to the final stage of the Etoile de Besseges, a 10KM ITT. The course is flat for the first 8KM then kick up heavily for the final 2K. The course supports a TT specialist like a Phinney, Jesse Sergeant, or Lieuwe Westra. I hope to achieve a top 10 in the TT which hopefully will secure a top 10 in GC!
The first rider out of the start house was last year's runner up Franck Vermuelen of Roubaix Lille Metropole. Vermuelen set a fast time a 17'23", his time would hold for a 100 riders or so and was good enough for 17th on the day.
One of the pre-stage favorites New Zealand TT Champion Jesse Sergeant blasted Vermuelen's time crossing the line 13'' quicker than the Frenchman.
Our King of the Mountain's Tarik Chaoufi showed off his blue jersey with pride, however his time was well off the pace as he crossed the line 102nd, 44'' off the day's winner's pace.
The next rider to take over the hot seat was Maciej Bodnar the Polish TT Champion.
However, our Slovenian Robert Vrecer had something to say about that! Crossing the line with a 16'57''
Here I am: Calm, Cool, and ready to rock!
I felt great on course setting the 10th best time at the intermediate checkpoint, but I was saving a little something for the climb to St. Raby, and I dug deep as I approached the line and crossed with a 17'05'' good enough for a provisional 6th! Let's hope it sticks with Phinney, Westra, and Jens Voigt still left out on course!
Unfortunately the American Freight Train aka Taylor Phinney shattered Vrecer's time going through the finish 5'' quicker that our man!
Now the battle for the GC heated up as Westra and Degenkolb did battle!
The Dutch TT champion lived up to the hype as clocked in 8th. Was it good enough for victory?
Yes, as Degenkolb, as expected 37'' seconds off the pace handing the GC victory to Lieuwe Westra of Vacansoleil-DCM.
Stage Rankings:
1. Taylor Phinney-BMC 16'53'' 2. Robert Vrecer-EUS +5''
3. Maciej Bodnar-CAN +6''
4. Jens Voigt-RSH +7''
5. Jeremy Roy-FDJ +8''
... 7. Romain Sicard-EUS st.
GC:
Points:
KoM:
U25:
Quotable: "Well today's TT was my main goal of the race, and if I say so myself, goal achieved! I'm so happy not only with my performance but the performance of the Team! Robert, Tarik, and Andre were great this week! We were able to place 2 in the top 6 of the Overall GC, Tarik earned the KoM jersey, and we achieved a number of top 10 places! What a great week! This performance boosts my confidence and shows that my hard work over the winter months is paying off! Although I am still not where I wanna be, I am headed in the right direction and hope to build on that. It has been a great start with a 6th in Marseille and a 6th in Besseges, but it is not yet first!"
Thanks for follwing me through my first stage race of the season! I will see you shortly as I take on the Tour Med next!
Unfortunately I am writing to you from underneath my white bed sheets instead of underneath the white jersey at the Tour Med. Racing in the cold and wet of late winter France can take a heavy toll on a rider, and unfortunately for me I came down with a severe illness just two days before the Tour Med kicked off. I felt like I could push through it and race, but I would not be at full stregnth so I did not want to risk my good form so team manager Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano and I sat down and decided it was best for me to skip Tour Med and focus on getting better.
We also took the chance to finalize my race calendar for the season, it is as follows:
February:
Tour du Haut Var 2 stages
La Drome Classic
March:
Paris-Nice 8 stages
Milano San Remo
Criterium International 3 stages
GP Miguel Indurain
April:
Vuelta a Pais Vasco 6 stages
Paris-Roubaix
Amstel Gold Race
La Fleche Wallone
Liege-Bastogne-Liege
Tour de Romandie 6 stages
May:
Tour de Picardie 3 stages
June:
Criterium du Dauphine 8 stages
Route du Sud 4 stages
French Road and ITT National Championships 2 stages
Tour de France 21 stages
August:
Tour de l'Ain 5 stages
Clasica San Sebastian
Vuelta a Espana 21 stages
September:
Il Lombardia
Paris-Bourges
Paris-Tours
Tour de Beijing 5 stages
Japan Cup
I have 107 days of racing left this season, a very heavy programe, but I wanted to make sure that I had many races and many opportunity to achieve good results!
I will write to you soon as soon as I am out of this bed and back on the bike!
-AGE 25-EUSKALTEL EUSKADI
6 stages
5 stages
