First let me apologize for my Kelderman story going dead recently, I have just started back up at university and I am busy busy but I have an interesting assignment for this year. As a journalism major, I must do a lot of writing (obviously) so for the popular journalism class I a taking, I have to do reporting on a fictitious game or something so I chose PCM! Unfortunately the prof would not let me use my Kelderman story for the assignment so I decieded to start a new one with Cofidis. and I will be trying out a new writing style as well, so hope it works better than my last one. I will actually be getting graded on playing PCM, how fucking cool???
So I will be posting my team presentation too, feel free to comment if you want, any little extra hype on the story doesn't hurt me getting an A if you are annoyed or don't like my stories, I am sorry just ignore me! haha
Hello! Welcome to the team presentation for the 2015 UCI Professional Continental team Cofidis, Credits Solutions. My name is Yvon Sanquer and I am the general manager for the team. During this time you will learn who will be representing the Red and White this season, you will meet our key riders, and learn about our objectives for the team this year. Our team has been one of the mainstays in the professional peloton since our inception in 1997 and this year will be no different. In fact, we hope to take a large step forward, in winning major races, showing our brand name at the most presitigous races on the UCI calendar. We are proud to represent France like always and we hope to show out in French races and make our fans, sponsors, and supporters proud. This year we expect a steep increase in victories due to our marquee signing of sprinter Nacer Bouhanni, as well as the experienced veterans who we expect a lot out of. We believe that 2015 could be the most successful year to date. And without further ado, here our riders for the season.
These riders are all world class talents, and we, along with our sponsors are expecting a big season and a major haul of great results this season. Cofidis, our primary sponsor has outlined a number of objectives that they would like us to meet this season. We believe fully that our team will be able to achieve these goals, and much much more!
Now I would like to introduce our key riders and captains for this season, by discipline!
Major Results:
Spoiler
Race
Result
Rider
Race
Result
Rider
1
Stage 2 Vuelta Mallorca
Nacer Bouhanni
1
Stage 2 Etoile de Besseges
Julien Simon
1
Stage 3 Tour of Qatar
Nacer Bouhanni
1
Stage 4 Tour of Qatar
Nacer Bouhanni
1
Overall Tour of Qatar
Nacer Bouhanni
2
Stage 1 Vuelta Mallorca
Nacer Bouhanni
2
Stage 1 Tour of Qatar
Nacer Bouhanni
2
Stage 5 Tour of Qatar
Nacer Bouhanni
2
Stage 6 Tour of Oman
Nacer Bouhanni
2
Stage 2 Tour du Haut Var
Yohan Bagot
2
Overall Tour du Haut Var
Yohan Bagot
3
Overall Vuelta Mallorca
Daniel Navarro
3
Stage 4 Vuelta Mallorca
Nacer Bouhanni
3
Stage 5 Tour of Oman
Rob Ruijgh
3
Overall Tour of Oman
Rob Ruijgh
3
Stage 1 Tour du Haut Var
Florian Senechal
3
Omloop het Nieuswblad
Kenneth Vanbilsen
Goals: Top 5- Omloop het Nieuwsblad Podium- Kuurne Brussel Kuurne
Podium- Paris-Nice
Podium- Criterium internacional
Top 5- Paris-Roubaix
Win- Tro-Bro Leon
1st 4 Jours de Dunkerque
Podium-Dauphine
Podium-French National TT
Top 5- Spanish National RR
Win- French National RR
Stage Win-Tour de France
1st- Tour de l’Ain
Stage Win-Vuelta a Espana
Top 5- GP Ouest Plouay
Win-Paris-Tours Edited by Taaramae1 on 18-08-2015 22:37
Nacer was our premier signing this past transfer season. With 5 Grand Tour Stage wins last year alone, we are expecting Nacer to take our sprint team to new heights. He will have a full-time leadout train, and heavy expectations on his shoulders all season. Nacer has highlighted Paris-Nice, Milano San-Remo, the Criterium du Dauphine, National Championships, and Tour de France as his objectives this season. As a team we expect him to:
Win a stage at Paris Nice, and the Tour de France*
Win the points competition in the Dauphine*
Win the National Championship RR*
Top 10 in MSR*
JONAS AHLSTRAND!
This talented young Swede joined us from Giant-Alpecin where he spent the last few years learning from 2 of the best sprinters in the world, Marcel Kittel, and John Degenkolb. He took 2 fine victories last season, one at the Circuit Sarthe, and the other at the Tour of Alberta. In addition to one of Bouhanni’s lieutenants, he will have his own chances in races like the Volta Cataluyna and the Vuelta a Espana.
GEOFFREY SOUPE!
The big beard of the peloton will join his good friend Nacer Bouhanni on our team for the first time this season! Geoffrey was Nacer’s main leadout man at FDJ.fr and he will bring years worth of experiences and a key knowledge of Nacer’s characteristics to our team. Although he won’t get many chances on his own, we will look to carve out opportunities for Geoffrey to race on his own. He has proved his sprint prowess by finishing on the podium of a stage of the Giro d’Italia previously and will be a key ally for all of our sprinters.
Edited by Taaramae1 on 01-08-2015 16:09
Now, our GC/Stage Race Leaders!
First up, DANIEL NAVARRO!
Daniel Navarro is a seasoned veteran who has finished in the Top 10 of Grand Tours the past two seasons. Last season Dani had a very unfortunate Tour de France due to illness, but he returned to his home Grand Tour in gigantic fashion, taking a Mountain Stage and 10th overall. This year Dani will have the captain role in every race he takes part in, and he will be expected to compete for a Top 10 at the Tour de France, and depending on his condition he will be shooting for a Podium or a stage victory at the Vuelta. Dani will also be tasked with mentoring our younger riders and helping them learn the ropes. With this being a contract year for Dani, we hope to lock him up with a longterm contract come June/July.
Goals:
Top 10: Tour de France
Final Podium/Stage Win (Depending on Form/Recovery from Tour): Vuelta a Espana
Stage Win: Paris-Nice/Dauphine/Pais Vasco
3 additional victories
Next, NICOLAS EDET!
The King of the Mountains at the 2013 Vuelta, Edet has thrived in breakaways the past few years, this year we expect him to take a step forward racing in week long events this year. He took a fine stage victory last year at the Rhone-Alpes Isere Tour, and will be looking to double or maybe triple that total this year. Edet will be targeting races like the Rhone Alpes Isere Tour, Paris-Nice, the Eneco Tour, and he of course will have a supporting role at the Tour this year, looking after both Navarro and Bouhanni.
Finally, GERT JOEAAR!
Our dual Estonian champion will be key in races with Time Trials. Gert has won stage races the past two years because he was able to win the race’s time trial and hold on the rest of the race. Gert will be targeting the Bayern Ruhndfahrt, the tour de Luxembourg, and defending his title at the Drieedgaste van West Vlaanderen. In addition to that he will be a key cog in our TTT Teams and a great helper in a Grand Tour this season!
Edited by Taaramae1 on 01-08-2015 16:10
Florian was stout on the cobbles last year and this year we expect him to take yet another step forward. As a young rider, we believe that Florian has an extremely bright future ahead of us. This year we hope that he can win a cobbled semi-classic like the Tro-Bro Leon, and also achieve Top 10’s in races like Paris-Roubaix, E3 Harelbeke, and Ronde van Vlaanderen. Additionally, he will be a key man in the leadout trains for our sprinters.
Goals:
Top 10: Paris-Roubaix, E3 Harelbeke
Win: Tro-Bro Leon
Top 10: Omploop het Nieusblad
CYRIL LEMOINE!
Our King of the Mountain wearer in last year’s Tour, Lemoine was also able to achieve a Top 10 in the cobbled stage of the Tour, he will be targeting that again this year. Lemoine will also be looking to post solid results in some cobbled semi-clssics, and assisting Florian in the major races. A very good puncheur, we also expect Cyril to take his first professional victory this season at a race.
Finally, JULIEN SIMON!
The Coupe de France winner last season Simon will be targeting that honour again this year. He will be aiming at the hillier classics especially in France. In the Ardennes, he will looking to post a few Top 25’s and potentially a Top 10 if the opportunity presents itself. A very talented sprinter himself, he might be able to take out a few bunch sprints in smaller stage races. Again, we are expecting a lot o
@trekbmc- haha well we all had to pick a popular game to report on and it was either PCM or FIFA and to me that's a no brainer! thanks for following
Cofidis inks 2 for 2015 Roster.
20 January 2015
PARIS, FRANCE –The Cofidis, Solutions Credits team has announced the signing of 2 very important riders joining the Professional Continental Outfit for the 2015 season.
The first rider is Dutch veteran rider, Rob Ruijgh. Ruijgh joins the team after a one-year stint with the Dutch Continental outfit, Vastgoed Service-Golden Palace where he strung together nice results all throughout the 2014 campaign, which was highlighted with his first career victory in the Memorial Philippe van Coningsloo. Prior to his time at VSGP he spent 5 seasons with the now defunct Vacansoleil-DCM outfit, where his top results were 20th overall in the 2011 Tour de France, and 14th overall and a stint in the young riders jersey at the Criterium du Dauphine that same year.
“We are absolutely thrilled to have an experienced rider like Rob Ruijgh joining out team for this season” team manager, Yvon Sanquer said. When Dani (Navarro) told me that Rob wasn’t renewing with his team for 2015, we jumped at the opportunity to have him on the roster. He is a veteran rider who really came into his own last year. He will team up with Luis Angel Mate to provide great support in the high mountains for Navarro, and additionally, he will have many opportunities to chase his own results. We look forward to having Rob with us and seeing what he can do with this opportunity to return to the top of the cycling world,” added Sanquer.
The second rider joining the Cofidis team for the 2015 and 2016 season is Rayane Bouhanni, the younger brother of the team’s sprint captain Nacer Bouhanni. The 19th year old Bouhanni comes off an extremely successful 2014 season at the Men’s junior level. In addition to claming the French National Juniors Road Race championship, he claimed an additional 2 victories and showed flashes of potential that match that of his older brother.
“When we signed Nacer, we also immediately wanted to jump on Rayane as well,” said Sanquer. “We knew that he would be a hot commodity due to his name and we wanted to not only keep Nacer happy, but also groom Ray into what we think could be a World class rider.”
“When Yvon and Didier (Rous, director sportif) said that they wanted to sign Rayane to a 2 year deal, I was absolutely thrilled!” Exclaimed older brother Nacer Bouhanni. “Rayane and I are extremely close, and I made it clear that this would not be an easy apprenticeship, he would have to produce his own results and not follow my coattails.” “I know he will do great, and I cannot wait to see what he shows!”
The younger Bouhanni will not race much with his brother this season, instead he will be placed in some of the lower classed French races this year. It is doubtful that Rayane will see a WorldTour race this season, but depending on his development and results potentially in 2015 he will begin to take part in more prestigious races.
@DiCyc- haha it is pretty sweet! Thank you Also, does anyone know where I could find Bouhanni's Aero helmet with the boxing glove. And how do I install it in-game?
BOUHANNI, COFIDIS COME OUT SWINGING
29 January, 2015
PALMA, SPAIN—The new-look Cofidis, Solutions Credits team took to the road for their first official race of the 2015 season in the 4 day Mallorca Challenge in Spain, and they immediately showed they mean business, and they intend to show themselves for the remainder of the season. The team unveiled its marquee signing, Nacer Bouhanni, who was using the 4 day race as a tune-up for his early season objectives, of Paris-Nice, and Milano San Remo.
The 95 kilometer, criterium style first stage was ideal for the sprinters to have their day. From the onset, the boys in red took to the front protecting their leader, Bouhanni who was targeting victory on the day.
A harmless break went up the road and gained no more than 2 minutes advantage over the main field who was led for the majority of the day by Cofidis and Europcar, the team of Bryan Coquard. As the kilometers ran down, the sprinters teams began to take to the front and there was mass chaos as the Cofidis lead-out began to form.
As the peloton roared under the red kite, the sprinters were raring to stamp their authority on the stage. Unfortunately for Bouhanni and the Cofidis team, lead-out man Geoffrey Soupe lost the wheel of the man in front of him and a gap opened up, one which Bouhanni couldn’t recover from and despite the bike throw at the end, he still came up just short by a length and a half to the winner, Andrea Guardini from Astana.
“With about 2km to go, Geoff (Soupe) lost the wheel of Dom (Rollin) ahead of him and when that happened, we were on our own which meant that we had to wait until very late to launch our sprint which hurt as well, but we also lost the wheel of the Astana boys in front which really set us behind.” Bouhanni said. “This was our first race together in Cofidis colors, so some hiccups were to be expected, despite being 2nd today, I am happy with the result and I am looking forward to continuing ahead tomorrow.”
Tomorrow’s stage 2, the Trofeo Inca, is another flat day, ideal for the sprinters, so Bouhanni and the new Cofidis train will have another shot to get it right.
---
BOUHANNI OPENS HIS COFIDIS ACCOUNT
30 January 2015 Nacer Bouhanni wins Stage 3 in the Mallorca Challenge in Spain
SES SALINES, SPAIN—From 2011-2014 Nacer Bouhanni had an extremely lucrative career with FDJ.fr, during the 4 years he was with the French outfit, he amassed 30 victories, on Friday, he was able to take the first victory in the red and white of Cofidis, holding off a hard charging Bryan Coquard (Europcar), and Matteo Trentin (Etixx-Quickstep) in the bunch sprint of Stage 2 of the Mallorca Challenge in Ses Salines.
It was not only Bouhanni’s first victory of the season, it was also the first for the Cofidis team, and in addition to his victory, Bouhanni was able to claim the leaders jersey heading into Saturday’s Stage 3. He now leads the race, the points classification, and the youth classification all at the same time.
From the onset of the stage it appeared that Bouhanni was serious about the day. He was dominant at the first intermediate sprint, blowing away the competition to take the points and time bonus. From there, his Red Army stayed at the front nearly all day and put him in a beautiful position, and when he launched his sprint, no one could hang with him.
“Wow, what a feeling it is for me to win my first race in the beautiful Cofidis colors!” Bouhanni explained. “I felt great at the beginning of the day, and that was evidenced by me winning the first intermediate sprint ahead of Guardini, I knew if I was anywhere close to the front today, I couldn’t be beaten.” “This win is dedicated to my leadout train all 4 guys, Loic Chetout, Steve Chaniel, Dom Rollin, and especially Geoff Soupe were phenomenal in the run-in to the finish, I couldn’t have done it without them!” “It is beautiful to take over the leader’s jersey, but I fear that it will be coming off my shoulders tomorrow, it is just too much of a mountainous day for me to hold on, but I will enjoy the day nonetheless” said Bouhanni.
Tomorrow’s stage 3 is a mountainous affair that should see General Classification contenders like Vincenzo Nibali and Joaquim Rodriguez come to the fore.
LLUC, SPAIN—The peloton took to the high hills of Spain on Stage 3 of the Vuelta Mallorca, and in the end it was the familiar face of Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) taking the team’s second stage win in 3 days and giving himself the race lead by nearly 1 minute with one day of racing remaining.
As the peloton rolled out of Deia, the start town for the day, Nacer Bouhanni was all smiles as he was in the maroon leaders jersey, however, he would not be smiling at the end of the day, as the French sprinter lost well over 5 minutes and plummetted down to 12th in the overall GC picture.
The climbing started almost as soon as the peloton rolled out of the neutral zone, with 2 small climbs offering a small appetizer of what was to come for the field today. A break of 11 men quickly established itself an opened up a large lead of 12 minutes before Astana and Katusha, the teams of the 2 primary favorites, Nibali and Joaquim Rodriguez took up the pacemaking and began to reel them back.
As the peloton grugingly made its way up the final climb of the day, a Cat 1 climb, Nibali attacked with a vengeance immediately dropping Rodriguez, and Pete Kennaugh (Sky) and going solo trying to catch the break. Daniel Navarro, the Cofidis captain, also tried to respond to the attack, but could not do so, instead settling for hammering out his own rhythm as rider after rider was shot out the back of the splintered peloton.
As Navarro crested the climb, he had a 25km descent to the finish awaiting him, and a 1 minute deficit to Nibali, by the time he crossed the line that deficit grew to over 2 minutes. Nibali used his expert descending skills to catch the brave soul of Dylan Teuns (BMC) the last remaining man in the break, he then proceeded to break his heart by outkicking him for the stage win. Rodriguez came home 3rd 43 seconds down. Navarro then crossed the line 4th 2 minutes and 9 seconds back of Nibali, meaning that he was on the podium, but well down on both 1st and 2nd.
Navarro finished just ahead of a group containing teammate Luis Angel Mate who managed to finish 10th on the day, giving Cofidis 2 riders in the top 10 on the stage and in GC.
“Today was brutally hard for the first climbing day of the season” Navarro said. “From the onset we went straight uphill, I was at my limit well before the biggest climb started. When Nibali attacked, I was already in a bad postion as I was looking to see where Bouhanni was, when I looked back he and Purito were gone, and I was done seeing them for the day.”
Race leader Nacer Bouhanni finished the day in 13th place and fell to 12th overall. “I knew today was going to be hard, but not that hard. I expected to lose the leaders jersey, but it is still disappointing nonetheless” he said. “Tomorrow if I can survive the climbs, I hope to be in contention for the win, but we will see.”
His teammate Navarro echoed a similar statement, “I am thrilled to be on the provisional podium, but we will see if I am there come the close of business tomorrow.”
The Vuelta Mallorca concludes with a hilly 176 kilometer hike from Alcudia to Playa del Muro.
CHAOS REIGNS SUPREME IN MALLORCA FINALE
1 FEBRUARY 2015
PLAYA DE MURO, SPAIN—The Vuelta Mallorca concluded today after what turned out to be a nerve-wracking closing stage. Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) locked up his overall victory, but not after a number of scares on the road including a puncture, and a crash within 10 kilometers from the finish.
Today was supposed to be a rather quiet day that would end up in a reduced field bunch sprint at the end of the day, however it was not meant to be as a small group formed off the front and made the day’s selection. A number of riders high up in the GC missed the split like Louis Mentjies (MTN), M.A. Lopez (Astana), Janez Brakjovic (United HealthCare) and lost countess spots in the GC. For Cofidis, 3 riders made the split, Daniel Navarro, and Luis Angel Mate preserved their GC postions, and Nacer Bouhanni fought it out for the victory and secured his victory in the green points jersey competition for the race.
The race was a real struggle right from the start as no breakaway went clear until the peloton was 75 km in leaving only 100km left to traverse, the peloton began to fall apart rider by rider until there was just a small group of 20 chasing 1 rider out front, Daniel Oss (BMC).
The real action of the day came with just 8 km to go where race leader, Vincenzo Nibali overcooked a corner and wiped out 4 riders, including Nacer Bouhanni. Bouhanni was quick to get up and teammate Mate guided him back into the fold so he could have a shot to go for the win.
Unfortunately for him, Phillipe Gilbert (BMC) took advantage of the chaos and attacked the front of the field and bridged up to his teammate Oss and set an unremitting pace all the way to the line, allowing his teammate to take a well-deserved victory. Just a few seconds behind, Bouhanni dominated the group and took home 3rd, his 3rd podium place of the 4 day race.
“Yeah, I’m alright,” Bouhanni said, “it was a tough fall, but I was able to get back pretty easily, its all thanks to Luis (Mate). Although, I am disappointed to not win today, the team and I did everything to take the win, and I am proud. I look forward to working with these guys the rest of the season, and I am motivated to achieve all of my goals this season.”
“Today was an excellent day for myself and the team” Navarro discussed. “We rode hard on the front, and unfortunate circumstances prevented us from getting the win today, but we can take a lot of positives from this moving forward.” “It’s a great group of guys to work with and I only envision us getting stronger as the year goes on.”
Cofidis’s next race is the Etoile de Besseges in France.
Hi Everyone, these are the write-ups I will do for races that I have simulated (for time's sake, and they are less prestigious races), so let me know what you think of them, and as always comments/suggestions are always welcome!
SIMON, ROSSETTO SALVAGE DISAPPOINTING WEEK IN BESSEGES
FEBRUARY 2015
Caption: Julien Simon (top) and Stephane Rossetto gave Cofidis fans something to cheer about in an otherwise rough week for the team.
ALES, FRANCE—The Etoile de Besseges was the first stage race on French soil in 2015 and Cofidis came into the 6 stage race with high hopes. The team was led in the sprints by Swede Jonas Ahlstrand who was expected to go toe-to-toe with his former mentor, Marcel Kittel (Giant), but unfortunatley that wasn’t to be as Ahlstrand came down with a case of bronchitis a day before the race, and was forced to withdraw after stage 2, having already been over 15 minutes down on GC.
The sprints then turned over to new Belgian Kenneth Vanbilsen who delivered 3 Top 10 finishes, including a 4th place on stage 4 but unfortunately could not get any closer.
The week would’ve been a complete wash had it not been for Julien Simon and Stephane Rossetto. Simon took a fine breakaway victory on Stage 2 out kicking 4 companions for the victory. Not normally a man who would be allowed in a break in a race like this, Simon actually benefitted from losing 3 minutes on Stage 1 while looking after Ahlstrand. “Actually the best thing to happen to me this week was losing those 3 minutes on day 1,” Simon said with a smile. “It was disappointing at first, but I then thought I could switch my focus to the mountains classification, but taking the stage win was a great saving grace for me and the team.”
Rossetto delivered a sterling performance on the final day’s Time Trial to move him up to 8th in the final overall rankings. “I was hoping for a Top 10 finish in GC all week. My final time trial I thought could’ve moved me up into the Top 5, but there wasn’t much chance for me to gain time throughout the week because this was a true sprinter’s race” Rossetto said. “I’m thrilled, nonetheless to start my first race off with Cofidis with a Top 10, and I look forward to the challenges ahead.”
Estonian champion Gert Joeaar managed a 10th place in the final Time trial as well en route to 13th overall.
Cofidis will now head to the Middle East for the Tour of Qatar and Tour of Oman in the coming days. This will be prime proving ground for Nacer Bouhanni and the Sprint Boys.
DOHA, QATAR—The 2015 Tour of Qatar kicked off with a 135 km hike to the Doha Golf Club. The Middle Eastern race is generally known as a sprinters paradise, and that was evident with some of the names present on the start line, Mark Cavendish (Etixx-Quickstep), French National Champion Arnaud Demare (FDJ.fr), Nikias Arndt (Giant), and Nacer Bouhanni.
The Cofidis team for this event was built around protecting Bouhanni, and setting him up for the best leadout possible at the end of the race. There was certainly a lot to compete with as Etixx brought its entire leadout train in hopes of delivering Cavendish to victory. There was also an air of personal rivalry in the air as Bouhanni hoped to show up his former teammate Demare, who beat him out for selection in many prestigious races while they were both at FDJ.
In the early going, a 3 man breakaway went clear, containing Cofidis’s own Rudy Molard who was able to steal 5 bonus seconds from the intermediate sprint points.
The break was reeled in with 15km to go and the sprint trains began to form and the sprinters who hoped to make their mark on the day began sending their teams to the front. Cofidis, Etixx, FDJ.fr, Bretagne, and Giant-Alpecin were the teams that were going for victory today.
In the sprint, it was clear that it would be a two man race as Bouhanni and Cavendish shot out ahead of the rest. Demare, Hutarovich, Arndt, and the rest began to go to the wayside. As Bouhanni pulled even with 25 meters to go it looked like the finish might come down to the photo, but Cavendish found a second kick and lunged at the line taking the win by half a bike length relegating Bouhanni to his 3rd non-victory podium finish of the early part of the season.
When asked about the finish, and what cost him the victory, Bouhanni had one thing to say: “Timing. I launched out too early, if I would’ve waited maybe 2 or 3 more seconds, it would’ve been me surging at the end, not Cav, but he is the best in the world for a reason. I will just have to take this lesson and move on, making sure to never make the same mistake again.” He said. “Stage 3, 4, 5, 6 will offer plenty more opportunities for me”
Tomorrow, the Tour of Qatar changes pace and holds a short, technical Team Time Trial, the first of the season for the Cofidis boys, and Molard (3rd in GC) believes that the team can have a great ride, “we have really worked to improve this discipline in the off season, and we have a good group of TT riders here, I think we can string together a Top 3 and keep myself and Nacer high up on GC. It also helps that we go out last by virtue of winning the team prize today, it'll be nice to know what to expect when we roll out”
but I have an interesting assignment for this year. As a journalism major, I must do a lot of writing (obviously) so for the popular journalism class I a taking, I have to do reporting on a fictitious game or something so I chose PCM! Unfortunately the prof would not let me use my Kelderman story for the assignment so I decieded to start a new one with Cofidis. and I will be trying out a new writing style as well, so hope it works better than my last one. I will actually be getting graded on playing PCM, how fucking cool??? 
if you are annoyed or don't like my stories, I am sorry 
