As I take my third shot of wiskey, the mood starts to change. Voices carry far in a room like this, with long tables lined up for one of the saddest events in cycling history. Looking around the room, I see a lot of familiar faces. At the end of my table, in the usual company of his Catherine, unmistakingly sits Sir Bradley Wiggins. Handsome for a man his age, he stares my way, his mind elsewhere.
It's just one of the many arguments going on. Sir Robert Westwood continues to raise questions, even after his death. But I'm done here. The wiskey has gone to my head, so I decide it's probably better to go home. I pass a group of young lads; they are talking about how it was thanks to Sir Robert Westwood that Adam Yates was the first British rider ever to win the Giro d'Italia, in 2016. Another group is chatting about that historic Paris - Roubaix of 2015. It was one of the first great moments of Sir Robert Westwood and his Bunzl - Centrica Racing Team.
As a directeur sportif, Sir Robert Westwood was a visionair. He was eccentric, determined, intelligent, controversial at times, but most of all: he brought so much joy back into cycling, leading the sport into a new era. When he bought a majority of shares in the companies of Bunzl and Centrica and launched his new cycling team initiative, announcing the new team Bunzl - Centrica for the 2014 season, most people raised an eyebrow. Now, 40 years later, Sir Robert Westwood won't be remembered as the owner of an international company. Sir Robert Westwood will be remembered forever as the heart of the Bunzl - Centrica Racing Team.
When I get home, I'll dive into my favorite book once again: The Memoirs of Sir Robert Westwood...
And on that day, a great story was born...
Good luck, sounds like a nice story opening and premise already, I will be following every step, in both your current stories.
The Hobbit - Thanks a lot. Hope I can keep you entertained with both!
sutty68 - I'm always mad about stories, that's a well known fact Thanks a lot, mate!
The Schleck Fan - Hope I won't disappoint you thanks!
I've had my shares of one-rider stories, so I really want to make a team story work for once. I'll do this in a somewhat un-traditional fashion, so I won't be reporting from every single race. I want to move forward a bit.
How this will work: It's very easy. There are 2 main 'banners', or storytellers. The header above is the side-story from a mystery person in 2054. However, most updates will be about racing and those will feature a banner like on the book above. These are "parts" out of the Memoirs of Sir Robert Westwood, creator and DS of Bunzl - Centrica Racing Team!
It was the beginning of a very beautiful era for me personally. Only several months earlier, me and a few relations of mine had acquired a majority in shares for two big companies: Bunzl and Centrica. As a cycling fanatic, it was only a small step to living the dream: owning my own professional cycling team. Only a few days later, Bunzl - Centrica Racing Team was born. With a modest but still high enough starting budget, negotations with riders started.
I was ambitious, I must admit. I wanted to bring Bunzl - Centrica to the highest places and overtake Team Sky as the best British team. Names on my shortlist included Cavendish, Rodriguez, Sagan, Wiggins, Chavanel, Costa, Vanmarcke, Tony Martin, Bardet and the Yates brothers. Early negotations showed me it wouldn't be that easy, though. I was in for a hard couple of months...
But in December 2013, things started to get real. A week before Christmas, we officially presented the team in London, UK. I still remember the day like it was yesterday. Our squad was very well balanced and full of talent:
Leaders
Bradley Wiggins (33): Bradley was a superstar in the United Kingdom, still is. In 2012, he became the first Brit ever to win the Tour de France. He was an experienced track rider, strong GC competitor, talented time trialist and was now looking at Paris - Roubaix. Partly because of a row with Chris Froome, partly because I was on friendly terms with him, he was one of the first big names to put his signature on a contract. Sir Bradley Wiggins would be our absolute team leader for 2014.
Besides our two leaders, I felt our team needed balance. I wanted a young squad, but a garde of experienced riders to guide those young. Besides Wiggins, there was:
When I started to construct my cycling team, I had a motto which I would always carry: "Build, don't buy". I was keen to start with a strong squad, filled with young talent, and develop that talent into stars. These were the guys that I had my hopes on:
What is a team without a strong field of riders, ready to back up the leaders and take over when necessary. I opted for talent and talent only. Getting your paycheck from me meant you had to prove your worth and ride your bike as hard as you could! I hand picked the team myself and to this date I'm still very proud of all of them:
Overall, we had an amazing squad to start the 2014 season. With Wiggins and Bouhanni, a start at the Tour de France was guaranteed, even if we would miss a spot at the World Tour. I was confident we had one of the most talented teams in the world, and I was certain 2014 would be one of the most exciting years of my life!
With our squad completed and the 2014 season just around the corner, I had a sit down with the rest of the staff to decide how we would tackle our first season...
The Schleck Fan - Yeah he was though this is a different one You have too good a memory!
miggi133 - I hope you'll enjoy it. I try to make something original of every story!
Martial1 - There sure is a lot of talent. Since I decided I wanted to make a team story, I thought it might be nice to have a story about a DS and part of it is controling the egos. Keeping a strong team together...
PCM.Daily NFL Fantasy Football Champion: 2012 PCM.Daily NHL Prediction Game Champion: 2013 PCM.Daily NFL Prediction Game Champion: 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2021
I had a very clear plan with Bunzl - Centrica Racing Team. The two pre-season camps were just as much to see the riders in action as to build a team spirit. In both aspects, the training camps were a huge success. Setting aside some minor struggles, the entire team just clicked. I was quite happy about that.
At the first camp, I had an individual talk with every single rider, talking about the future. Mostly I listened to what they had to say. By the second camp, three weeks later, I had a program ready for the 2014 season. Next to some clear goals and expectations, I put together an amazing staff to support the team day and night.
This staff would bring the team to glory, I was sure of it! As of the second training camp, it was no longer my team. It had a life of its own, now. The riders and the staff just blended in together, it was a perfect match.
2014 Season Outline
Widely expected, Bunzl - Centrica Racing Team received a World Tour license for the 2014 season. That meant a right to start in all World Tour events, including all three Grand Tours and the five Monuments.
I set some ambitious but realistic goals for our first season. Seeing how our team was overflowing with the talent of Bradley Wiggins, Nacer Bouhanni, Adam & Simon Yates, Warren Barguil and many more, I felt we could perform well on every terrain, all through the year. My biggest goals for the 2014 season were as follows:
* * *
Tour de France - Stage Win
Paris - Roubaix - Top 10
Giro d'Italia - Top 10
* *
Milan - San Remo - Top 10
Liège - Bastogne - Liège - Top 10
Tour of Britain - Win
Vuelta a España - Stage Win
Il Lombardia - Top 10
*
Tour de Suisse - Top 10
Paris - Nice - Stage Win
Tour Down Under - Top 10
Ronde van Vlaanderen - Top 25
Flèche Wallonne - Top 25
Amstel Gold Race - Top 10
National Championships - Win 3 Jerseys
Bunzl - Centrica Racing Team Vision
Lastly, I had a definite vision for our team. Not just for the 2014 season, no. I was looking way further into the future. When we launched the team website, I posted the vision on the front page.
We want to build an international team to win Grand Tours, Monuments and produce legends. Achieve goals through hard work, scientific research and advanced tactics. Attract stars when they're young and let experienced riders guide them in the twilight of their career. Put Bunzl up there alongside legendary teams such as Molteni and Mapei.
We want to deal with riders, testosterone and egos by creating an environment of family, friends and by setting clear and obvious roles from the start. Our motto will always remain: "build, don't buy." Most of all, we want to bring back joy into cycling, which still is the most beautiful sport in the world.
And so, we were heading into the first race of our team, or at least part of it. Adam Hansen and Luke Durbridge would be showing our team kit for the first time in action in the Australian National Championships. For me, things had never been more excited!
Edited by Ian Butler on 15-07-2014 13:43
Thanks a lot, mate!
