Database: PCM.daily's 2012 DB V2
I've edited this database slightly. Besides the obvious (adding two new riders), I've also changed some stats/potential so some riders will develop into their real life current 2015 counterpart. Flamme Rouge: Story writing isn't always as easy. You fall down more than you stand up. I've started lots of stories, but I like to believe I've made a few great ones along the way, and that's why you do it. You can never predict what story will stick and what story will fumble.
This is a new attempt at PCM story writing. Will it be +160 pages? I have no idea, but I can try!
A story writer constantly has to reinvent himself. I decided to do something else, instead go back to the start of (potentially) my greatest story to date: Double Feature.
So I decided to recycle Stijn Van Gent and Willy Wouters. I want to recreate Double Feature, but than an improved version.
- I have tweaked both riders' personality. You'll recognize them, but you might see things you wouldn't expect, too.
- STATS! I have planned their stats and development for the first 4 seasons, as well as their maximum stats. I don't want to spoil too much, so I'll just say: Van Gent starts as old as Sagan and is nowhere near his level - but will OF COURSE develop into a strong cobbler. There's just no other way. Willy is another case. His (maximum) stats will give him a totally different career. Follow the story to find out.
Development of Attributes: 0.2 (but like I said, Van Gent and Wouters' development has been planned out year by year and will be edited manually)
Style: For this story, I'll try to get back to the basics: the story. Graphical work will never be my priority and I can't put a lot of time in it. So I will probably mirror the Doube Feature style. Since I'm ripping off my own story already, why not take the style, too?
Why? Maybe the big question: why? This will be my third story with Stijn Van Gent, a fictional character of mine. The answer is easy: I have a feeling I'm not through with him, yet. Neither with Wouters. I have so much left to tell, so here I am doing it!
So there it is, I start this story with the same fictional riders (in a way) and the very same 5 opening words. After that, we head into a different direction, for a new story!
I hope you like it!
Most welcome to our blog!
Cycling has something historic. Yet we have to accept that these are modern times, and so we shouldn't live in the past. As off 01/01/2012, we are both professional cyclists. We decided to document our escapades through this online blog.
You may wonder why our site is called Flamme Rouge? The answer is easy. When you're on the road, and you see the flamme rouge. The exhilaration you feel passing underneath it... Well, there just is no feeling like it!
We met each other about four years ago, during a Junior race. Funny story, actually, as one of us completely misjudged a corner and took down the other with him. Let's not name the guilty party, right? After the race, we got to talking more, and we met each other more for training rides, as we found out we only lived about 20 kilometers apart.
We share a deep passion for the cycling sport. Since about a year, we also share an apartment in Mallorca. We go up there in the off-season or in between races to train and rent it out when neither of us are there.
Four years later, here we are. We've both signed our contracts with Lotto - Belisol and will join the professional peloton for the 2012 season. We believe we're ready, and we want to share the experience with you. So allow us to introduce ourselves!
Willy Wouters
Despite a good friendship, there's a lot I don't wish to share with Stijn. This will be my personal blog space.
Name: Willy Wouters Date of Birth: 17/11/1989 Height: 181cm Weight: 67kg Type of Rider/Style/History: I've had a hard time racing in Belgium. The races and the roads here are not really suited to my abilities. For years I thought I was wasting my time doing this, but only after I went out to Italy for a few Junior races, I discovered some new qualities.
Flanders is a great region to grow up in. It breathes cycling. Yet they are always looking for the next Ronde van Vlaanderen winner. I can already announce: that won't be me. Then who am I?
What I love most of all, is a good climb. And I manage fairly well, too. Once I get into my own tempo, I can last all day. Racing in Italy, I've managed some decent results, but once those Italian pocket climbers rocketed off with their accelerations, I had no reply. So I see myself more as a diesel climber.
I'm quite new to it, but I've spend a lot of time already on the time trial bike, and my trainer seems to think I have a natural knack for it. Going off on your own on the road for an hour, there's nothing better. So I want to invest in that, give it all I got. I had only ridden a time trial bike three times before ending up on the 5th place in the U23 European Championships time trialing!
In a way, I'm still searching. What type of rider am I? It's hard to say at this point. I'll be working hard to become the best cyclist I can be. Then ask me the same question in 15 years.
Stijn Van Gent
Name: Stijn Van Gent Date of Birth: 11/05/1990 Height: 186cm Weight: 74kg Type of Rider/Style/History: I haven't won too many races yet, but I do believe my future lies within the Flanders' traditional races. I'm a man of the region and I flourish nowhere better than on those typical, narrow, winding, Flemish roads.
I pack a punch, but until now I've missed the absolute top speed you need to win mass sprints. At the Junior level, I did take home two or three sprints with a thinned out group, after a tough race.
With the U23, I've had less success. The boys around me always seemed to be ahead of me. I managed decently going over the shorter hills, I did well on the cobblestones, I sprinted fine, but never good enough to bring home a prize. However, there may be hope for me yet, as my trainer believes me to be a late-bloomer. I've grown a lot over the last summer and gained a few pounds in muscles, so I believe I'll be ready for my first professional season with Lotto!
That's it for now, we'll probably introduce Lotto - Belisol in our next blog update! So stay tuned!
Stijn & Willy
Edited by Ian Butler on 23-05-2015 09:39
Other Notable Results 2012
Tour de San Luis: 14th
USA Pro Cycling Challenge: 7th
Settimana Ciclistica Lombarda: 5th
Victories
2012: 0
Total Victories: 0
UCI Ranking
2012: 92th (4 Pts)
Superprestige Ranking
2012: 185th (242 Pts)
Team
2012: Lotto Belisol
Stijn Van Gent
Important Races Palmares
Omloop
K-B-K
M - SR
E3
GW
RvV
PR
2012
23th
25th
41th
7th
18th
GT Palmares
.
Giro d'Italia
Tour de France
Vuelta a España
Grand Tour Stages: 0
Championships
National Championships
Road Race
Time Trial
2012
6th
35th
World Championships
Road Race
Time Trial
Other Notable Results 2012
Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen: 2 stages + GC + P + Y
Nokere Koerse: 3rd
Tour de Wallonie: 12th
GP Stad Zottegem: 4th
Paris - Bruxelles: 9th
GP de Wallonie: 2nd
Victories
2012: 3 (2 stages + GC Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen)
Ian Butler, sir you are the greatest! The quest for 200 now commences!
Edited by jandal7 on 08-04-2015 23:17
24/02/21 - kandesbunzler said “I don't drink famous people."
15/08/22 - SotD said "Your [jandal's] humour is overrated"
11/06/24 - knockout said "Winning is fine I guess. Truth be told this felt completely unimportant." [ICL] Santos-Euskadi | [PT] Xero Racing
We've just returned home (to Belgium) to be present at the first team meeting. Besides having a good organisation, Lotto - Belisol looks to bring a team closer together. The riders are more than their wattage and their victories, much more. Both of us really admire that approach to professional cycling and we have a feeling we're at the right place here.
But let's not forget Lotto - Belisol remains a professional cycling team. So from the first race of the season (Tour Down Under), they expect our fullest concentration and devotion. At this team meeting, the team management outlined our upcoming season.
Jelle Vanendert finally had his breakthrough last year, winning on the Plateau de Beille. He's only 26 and still has some potential left. Jelle will try to fill the gap left by Gilbert in the Ardennes. After that, he's agreed to a serving role in the Tour de France for Jurgen.
Jurgen Roelandts came in big by winning the National Road Race in 2008. It's been too quiet these last few years, but that's mostly because of bad luck. His second place in E3 last year proves he's got the talent to one day compete for the Ronde. He's grown a lot and now seems ready to ride some good results in the Flanders' Classics.
Lotto - Belisol will definitely feel the loss of Philippe Gilbert, who's gone over to BMC for the upcoming season, but I think we can contend in all fields with this team. We have a lot of talent put together, but there's nothing harder than coming to your full potential.
I will spend my first year learning a lot. I especially look up at Jurgen Van Den Broeck. He's a model professional on how to live for your job. I can learn a lot from him.
Stijn Van Gent
Lotto has a great team for this season. The atmosphere is fantastic and these guys will do anything for each other. We've been welcomed into the team immediately. Jurgen Roelandts is a real great guy, very warm. He'll be my mentor for what will be my first Flanders' Classics campaign. The team management still has to put together my schedule, but I hope to start in, what for most of us Belgians is, the holy week, from E3 to Paris - Roubaix.
That's it for now. We'll be leaving on our first team training camp soon. Funnily enough, this is on Mallorca, so we'll be heading out earlier to catch up on some training ourselves before we mix it up in the group, we don't want to fall behind in our first team training! We'll also puzzle together a provisional race schedule there.
Shonak - Cheers, Shonak, hope to have a follower in you. Van Gent should be a guy to your liking Though Wouters, of course, too! Hope it doesn't slow down CX too much, myself, but I found myself getting a bit in a strain only doing the CX, so it's a welcome change of scenery
The 2012 season is fastly approaching and so we've finished the team training camp in Mallorca. We have a feeling everyone is ready for the upcoming season. The team has set some ambitious goals, but we'll all do our best to live up to the expectations and achieve them.
Mallorca Training Camp
The Mallorca training camp was a great experience, but also one that opened our eyes. This was the first time we were surrounded by some many real professional cyclists and it was impressive. We now realize we still have so much to learn, but you have to start somewhere.
The first sessions were in group, but later on we got daily programs in groups of 5 to 10. Given our very different racing style, we were split up. The final day, Lotto had hired a professional photographer to catch some of our finest moments of the training. The last day was also the toughest training of all.
Stijn Van Gent
Greipel is nicknamed 'the Gorilla', and I see why now. With a good lead-out, he is practically unbeatable. So it is our job to provide that lead-out for him. I'm not in his primary lead-out train, but I have to be able to function in it nonetheless, as a back-up throughout the season. Or, for example, in Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne, where Greipel might sprint for the victory.
We had several sprinting exercises, always mixing it up and putting four against four in a 2-km sprint.
During this particular session, I was leading out Henderson, while Greipel was bean lead-out by Roelandts.
After a few of these exercises, things started to break. Greipel was feeling top notch and Marc Sergeant told us all to keep a certain pace, with the consequences you can see on this picture. After 5 kilometers, only Greipel himself still managed to ride at that tempo. We were all lagging behind a bit. But in the end, Sergeant was happy with our efforts and the training camp.
Willy Wouters
Mallorca is a beautiful place to come and cycle. But I've hardly had any time to enjoy it, to be honest. I was teamed up with guys like Van Den Broeck, Vanendert, De Greef, De Clercq...
During the flat sections, all was well, though. We were able to keep up a good pace, despite the wind blowing hard.
But as soon as we hit the climbs, things changed. This was a tempo exercise, so we all had to ride with a certain heart BPP. The best climbers automatically came forward. I was pleasantly surprised to see I was able to catch up quite well, though, with guys like Van De Walle and Bak.
The next climb, Jurgen took some time to show me some of the ropes. I had a very nice talk with him and I've learned so much already!
For the final part of the climb, he said he had to do some final training and so he rocketed off. I was left in his dust, but there's no need to dispair. I've only just turned 22 so I have all the time in the world left.
2012 Racing Schedule
During the training camp, we've had several chats with the team management, and a few days after the camp, we got an e-mail with our provisional schedule for 2012. A lot can still change, but this way we have a good idea of how our season will go and what to work for.
We're happy to see we'll be starting in several races together. We have a good influence on each other and it'll be great helping each other out.
Stijn Van Gent
Part 1: My season (and career!) almost certainly will start in the Tour of San Luis. I'll be looking to mix it up in some of the sprints there, but mostly learn the trade and get some racing in my legs. San Luis will be followed by a stage race in Algarve, Portugal. Those two races should prepare me for something I'm already exited for: the Belgian opening weekend, with Omloop het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne - Bruxelles - Kuurne. What follows is a string of increasingly important cobbled races, in all of which I hope to perform well: 3-daagse van West-Vlaanderen, Nokere Koperse, Dwars Door Vlaanderen, E3-Harelbeke, Ronde van Vlaanderen, Paris-Roubaix.
Now I'm not sure about those final races yet. The selection is far from finished, but my early season will definitely have an impact, so I have to perform well! Gent-Wevelgem is not on my agenda because the management thinks DDV and E3 are enough at my age. The races follow each other quickly and they don't want to burn me out.
Part 2: After a break, I'll start again, probably, in the Tour of Belgium. From here on I'll build up to the National Road Race, where I actually find a profile to my abilities, but Jurgen even more so. We're going for a second title with him! Then it's the Tour of Wallonie on to the Eneco Tour. The final race planned (for now) is my first Grand Tour. The team thinks I'll be ready for it and there's no pressure to finish. But I want to give it my all anyway. I'll be riding the Vuelta a España.
Willy Wouters
Part 1: Like Stijn, I'll be starting my career in the Tour of San Luis. As part of the young-rider program of Lotto - Belisol, we have a free role. The expectations for our first race aren't that high, but we want to show our value from the start. Then, it's the Tour of Algarve, followed by the 3-daagse van West-Vlaanderen and possibly the Scheldeprijs. After that, my season will really kick in, but I don't know with what yet. Depending on my results, I'll be either starting in the three Ardennes Classics, or competing in the four-day stage race Giro del Trentino, followed by the highlight of the first part of my season: Tour de Romandie.
Part 2: I'll be starting again in the Tour of Belgium, followed by my second WT race, Tour de Suisse. After another small break, I'll be starting my preperation for my first Grand Tour. Probably through the Tour de Wallonie, I'll be warming up for the Vuelta a España!
We're happy to see many overlapping races. It's an interesting schedule for both of us. We'll have plenty of chances to prove ourselves, as well as show our devotion by supporting the team leaders. Though our first season already poses some early difficulties in our careers. It's all part of the learning curve.
We'll see you in Argentina, for our first professional race,
Stijn & Willy
We are just back in the hotel in Argentina, having returned from our first impressions of professional cycling.
You can put that between brackets, though. Racing in Argentina can't be compared to racing in Europe, but there are some big names here, and it's great to get our first racing here, where there is less stress.
Tour de San Luis - Stage 1
Okay, so the first stage would take us over more or less flat roads. Still, the 3% inclination was enough for the race organisers to put a KoM on the profile.
Stijn: Tour de San Luis is part of the young-rider program of Lotto - Belisol. This means everyone has a chance to shine, as long as you take it with both hands. I've come here to San Luis to try and compete in the sprints. There aren't too many big names here, so I hope for a top 10 place here and there!
Willy: Tour de San Luis has some nice stages. My main priority is competing in the time trial, but I'd love to ride a good general classification, too.
Willy Wouters
At the start of the race, I was found at the front of the peloton. I had good legs and so I decided to try and follow an early breakaway. It'd be good to get some attacking kilometers in the legs to get a kickstart of the season!
The attacks came, and I tried to ride along with them economically, not to waste too much energy.
We tried to get away, but the peloton wouldn't let us ride, and so after only about ten minutes, the peloton was closing in on us.
When we got caught, the pace dropped. I sensed an opportunity to get away. Those KoM points were just up the road, and so I chose the other side of the road and tried to sneak away.
The peloton was hesitant, and I managed to get a decent gap on the peloton.
In sight of the KoM sprint, the peloton sped up. I saw them coming, quickly. I just kept going and hoped to stay out of roach from the attacks out of the peloton for the KoM points.
By some miracle, I withstood those attacks. I crossed the line first, one bike length before Andreas Klier.
I dropped back into the peloton and hoped to finish within the peloton. Unfortunately there were several crashes in the finale, and I came in over 2 minutes down. That means I'll have to reorganise my ambitions here.
Stijn Van Gent
My race was all about the final kilometers. I managed to nestle myself in John Degenkolb's wheel. Suddenly I saw a rider going down on the left of me. I just managed to avoid him!
In the end, the fall didn't hinder me all that much, but it was enough to put Jens (Debusschere) out of contention for today's sprint. I followed Degenkolb's wheel in a sprint with head-on wind. At the end, I tried to get out of his wheel, but I couldn't accelerate any further.
I just stranded on a fourth place. Barely missing the podium, there is no reason to be disappointed. For my first professional race, this is a hopeful start. I'll be looking for more action in the next few days!
And so Willy got on the podium here in Argentina on the first day. His GC dreams are gone here, so the team decided to try and go for that KoM jersey. Willy will turn his focus towards defending that jersey and the time trial later on.
24/02/21 - kandesbunzler said “I don't drink famous people."
15/08/22 - SotD said "Your [jandal's] humour is overrated"
11/06/24 - knockout said "Winning is fine I guess. Truth be told this felt completely unimportant." [ICL] Santos-Euskadi | [PT] Xero Racing
Day two in Argentina. The route is somewhat different today, though.
Stijn: Not my cup of tea, so I'll probably rest my legs. Tomorrow's another chance for the sprinters, and if you can finish 4th, it's not impossible to finish in the podium another day!
Willy: Today, there are lots of KoM points to be earned. Yet I'll have to wait and see how the legs react today. that final climb might be a bit too much on the short effort, but let's hope the legs don't implode!
Stijn Van Gent
I took an easy day, today. I did some water bottle duties and finished in a 19-men group, almost four minutes and a half down on today's winner.
Willy Wouters
Tosh (Van Der Sande) went up the road alone. This meant he'd take 12 mountain points and there would still be 8 points up for grabs when the peloton passed the KoM points. Another 16 points at the stage finish.
I picked up the 4 points easily on both passages. It gives me 14 points, now, It'll be a long way to secure this jersey.
When we hit the final climb, I was positioned well at the front. I didn't want to get surprised here. This is my first measure with the real pro's, so I was very motivated!
I thought I was doing really good, that is, until Kiserlovski accelerated. I was momentarily stunned, but after a few seconds I regained my focus and tried to keep the pace up.
Some more riders jumped away. I knew my legs wouldn't allow a brusque change of pace and so I opted for a good general pace.
Kiserlovski took the stage quite easily. Van Der Sande managed to hang on for a third place, giving him another 6 KoM points. I finished 7th and am quite content with my current form!
Van Der Sande really cleaned up here! He is now leading the points and the KoM classification. We'll have to wait for the tactical meeting later tonight to see what's the plan for the rest of the race.
Both of us are doing very well so early in the season and our careers. We've been preparing for this moment for months and it's nice to see it's not been in vain!
Tomorrow's another chance for the sprinters.
Stijn & Willy
Ian Butler, sir you are the greatest! The quest for 200 now commences!
and a BIG welcome back to Stijn too 
Lars Bak (31)
Gaëtan Bille (23)
Brian Bulgac (23)
Adam Hansen (30)
Greg Henderson (35)
Vicente Reynès (30)
Marcel Sieberg (29)
Mehdi Sohrabi (30)
