Here is my new story, I will be taking over the American Continental Team, BMC. The team is lead by veteran Swiss Rider Alexander Moos. Overall the team is almost entirely American, with four swiss riders sprinkled in. The goal for this year is to dominate the U.S. circut, and start building for the future. The goals we have been given are not very hard, and we should be able to complete them.
Note: Before members of the community (also known as rjc_43) get on me for not going far in my stories, I have a viable reason for quitting both. The first had just started when the PCM.daily 08 DB came out, so I wanted to get the DB and therefore had to stop the story. For the 2005 career, I had a strange technical issue where the game would not let me past a race on the fourth of Febuary. Lastly, I have begun to post at the beginning, because I can never remember what happened in the races if i wait for February-March to start posting.
Here is the riders list, I accidentaly got a picture of the riders and not their attributes, and I will post a picture of those soon:
As you can see, I have added two young American talents, Taylor Phinney and Danny Summerhill to the team, both of whom were signed of Slipstream's TIAA-CREF Team, which gave me great satisfaction
The goals are difficult, but Moos is a good enough rider that if I use him correctly, I shouldn't have a problem completing most of them:
The first race of the season is the La Tropica Amissia Bongo, and the report for the first stage should be up in a moment
Edited by Deadpool on 30-04-2008 00:40
The first stage of La Tropica Amissia Bongo is a hilly stage, and with the rest of the stages being flat, will probably decide the race. My plan was to get in the early break, while trying to set up Louder for the win.
Bouygues Telecom had come out in force, and have the top three favorites, along with two of the two star favorites, Louder is considered a one star favorite.
The day would begin, and from almost the start Phinney and my sprinter, Marcel Wyss, would jump on the attack:
In the end, the two of them would form part of the 5-man break:
My main goal was the mountains, and Phinney would take the first mountain sprint, with Wyss coming in third:
At the first intermidate sprint, I sent Wyss on the sprint, but he would only come in second:
Next up was the second mountain sprint, and Wyss would win, this gave him the jersey with 6 points, with Phinney second with 5, so BMC has their first jersey of the year
However, by now the chase was moving, and Louder was left alone as the rest of the team had dropped off:
Despite an attack by another of the breakaway riders, the breakaway was hauled back in, and as they were caught, Jerome Pineau of Bouygues attacked:
With a strong lead, he looked to be the winner, and so Louder finished his drinks and tried to bridge:
He got a good gap, but to stay away he had to ride too hard, and got all four red bars, he was therefore caught with around 1 km to go by the pack of around 25 riders:
Meanwhile, Pineau crossed the line with the victory:
Followed by the chase group:
Louder was the second to last rider to come over the line in that group:
Despite some disappointment, as we thought Louder's move would work, we were still well placed, and had the Climbers jersey. Although Wyss would stay in the pack to be rested for the sprints, Phinney would be looking to be wearing that jersey when the race in Gabon came to its finish.
Next up is day two of La Tropica Amissia Bongo, but here is my team's attributes:
The day was only 73 km long, and classified as flat, but a hill 7 km from the line might give me a chance to breakaway for a win. The plan was to get Phinney in the break so that he could fight for the KOM points, with Louder, Stewart, and Sayers attacking on the last hill to get a gap.
According to plan, Phinney jumped at the gun:
He would eventually settle down with four other riders into a break:
Meanwhile, the team was protecting Louder, with Wyss chilling in the red jersey he was planning to hand over to Phinney today:
At the intermidate sprint, Team MTN's Kinnear would take the points, bonus, and euro's. I told Phinney not to sprint and waste his energy, and he would catch-up not long after the sprint:
Although I did not expect it, Kinnear jumped for the KOM points, and Phinney tried to match, but had to drink so Phinney would take second:
With the pack barreling down on the break, Botha of Konica Minolta jumped, so Phinney matched, and the two would separate:
They were however caught by the pack before the KOM sprint, and so a group of riders attacking out of the pack took the KOM sprint, with, very importantly for the KOM classification, Pineau taking third.
With 8 km left to go, I jumped with all three of my riders, and Pineau quickly followed:
Stewart and Sayers would drop off to the pack quickly, but Louder stayed away with Pineau, Pineau had taken #1 in the KOM sprint, so he would be first in that competition . Still, Phinney would be wearing it tomorrow because Pineau will be in yellow.
Louder and Pineau were caught with around 5 km to go, and although Louder kept trying to dig, he got nowhere, and the disorganized mass sprint began with 3 km to go. Wyss was to far back to try to sprint.
Pineau got a big early gap, but he sat-up, so a Mitsubishi rider could overtake him. In the end, that rider, Vanlandschoot, would win, with BTL taking a 2-3, Florencio and Pineau respectively:
Unfortunately, the plan did not work, but I am still well placed in the KOM classification, and Louder moved up because of his top 10 finish. My plan now is to keep Louder in the top, which I can do keeping him high in the stage classifications, win the KOM classification, and try to win a stage. I believe i can do all three.
Edited by Deadpool on 26-04-2008 01:21
La Tropica Amissia Bongo Stage 3 - A flat, 114km stage, with a hilly section in the middle, and a short cobbled section near the end. The game crashed on me whenever I tried to play the level, so I had to sim. There were no KOM sprints, so I held everyone in the pack. Wyss didn't sprint well and came in down around 20th, With Davis of Mitsubishi winning. The game did not export so I cannot post the results . Hopefully the rest of the season will be less bug-ridden.
Edited by Deadpool on 26-04-2008 13:19
Stage 4 of La Tropica Amissia Bongo - With two early mountain sprints, the plan was to attack early with Phinney *suprise, suprise* and then sit with Wyss for the final sprint.
As planned Phinney jumped early in his spunky red outfit:
I drove him hard up the hill, and he took the first climb unopposed:
The second climb was the same way:
But by now a chase group had formed:
I told Phinney to slow down, and so he joined up to create a four man lead group:
However, on the treeless plain in Gabon, the pack was never out of sight:
And soon the pack started to chase, as they brought down the gap on the downhill, I told Phinney to "infinite relay" on front at 85. All but the Brentagne rider were dropped, but it was not enough, so I told him to drop back to the pack:
With the sprint looming, I told Wyss to find a wheel, but with he bad conditioning he couldn't keep one, and lost it. The only consolation being that Vanlandschoot, in the green jersey was on his wheel and went back with him:
But with a number of very good trains, anyone could win as the sprint began:
With 3 km to go, it appeared to be a 3-man sprint, between Davis of Mitsubishi, Pineau, obviously in good form, in yellow for BTL, and Ladagnous of FDJ:
But Davis had been going alone for a while, and dropped off, while Pineau pulled away:
He would hold till the line:
Phinney would eventually drift in, way back of the pack:
But he now had a very large lead heading into tomorrow in the KOM competition:
Here are the top 10 results heading into the last day:
(The highlighted rider is the rider wearing that jersey)
Alexander Moos - The team leader, he will be our hope for all of out major races, and to be a role model for our younger riders.
Danilo Wyss - It is not out of the question to say he could win Paris-Roubaix some day, he has 72 flat, 67 cobble, 72 sprint with lvl. 1 experience. Hopefully he will be able to train-up to a world class level.
Brent Brookwalter - Possible the next Lemond (a team trainer), he has 66 MO, 67 Hill, 70 DH, and 66 TT, all with lvl. 1 experience.
Darren Lill - With 3 experience he has a 69 hill, 79 downhill, and could be a very proficent rider in the future.
Taylor Phinney - Hopefully the next David Zabriskie (who is my big target to sign), he will hopefully be a great TT (66 already) and a decent climber, although he is at lvl. 2 experience, he is only 17 years old, so hopefully will have time to increase.
Danny Summerhill - With a 65 MO at the age of 18 and lvl. 1 experience, hopefully good training can turn him into one of the best climbers in the world.
Edited by Deadpool on 28-04-2008 02:22
La Tropica Amissia Bongo Stage 5 - The Final Stage
With three KOM sprints, all worht 6 points, a few riders could take the KOM jersey by taking all three sprints. So to be safe, I sent Phinney on the attack:
Eventually 5 riders would settle down into a break:
The first climb was won by Kinnear of Team MTN, and although Phinney did not gain any points, the KOM jersey was now officially his, as Team BMC takes its first win of any sort in the season:
The break would be pulled back in, and so on the final hill, I told Jonathan Stewart, who was feeling amazing, to take a flyer:
He would take the KOM points, and on the descent would create a small gap with a 3CGruppe rider:
Despite Stewart's best attempt (the 3C rider just sat on) they would be caught with a long distance to go:
Despite having a upset stomach and feeling horrible, Wyss moved up to try and take a wheel, as the sprint started, the 3C train was way out in front, and Obst moved into a big lead, with Pineau and Wyss following at a distance, and a big mass of riders on the other side of the road:
Obst would win by a large margin over Pineau, with Wyss battling a MTN rider for 3rd...
And Wyss would just edge out the South African - Podium #1 for Team BMC
Wyss was thrilled with the result:
Here were the final podiums:
Overall:
Sprint:
Unfortunately, Phinney was throwing up sck in the team car, so they could not do the KOM podiums, but here was the U25:
As seen above - Paul Voss of Team 3CGruppe took the U25 Jersey
Although we had not completed out personal goal of winning a stage, we had won the KOM jersey, and taken a podium, so overall a succesful tour for us. Hopefully the next tour we race (still undecided) will bring us a first victory.
Edited by Deadpool on 25-09-2008 14:43
Rider of the Month: Danilo Wyss - a podium at La Tropica Amissia Bongo, along with moving up to level 2
Races: La Tropica Amissia Bongo - Achievements: 3rd - (Stage 5), 1st - KOM Classification
Overall -
Rider of the Month - Mark Renshaw (Credit Agricole) - Races (2 wins), Stages (6 wins, 1 2nd, 1 3rd), Races - Bay Cycling Classic, Down Under Classic
Young Rider of the Month - Stephane Poulhies (AG2r) - Stages (1 win)
Major Races:
Tour Down Under -
G.C. Top 3 - 1. Ignas Konovalovas (Credit Agricole), 2. Sebastian Lang (Gerolsteiner), 3. Nicki Sorenson (CSC)
Stage Winners - Mark Renshaw (1, 2, 4, 6, Credit Agricole), Stephane Poulhies (3, AG2R), Ignas Konovalovas (5, Credit Agricole)
ProTour Rankings:
Individual - 1. Ignas Konovalovas (53, Credit Agricole), 2. Sebastian Lang (42, Gerolsteiner), 3. Nicki Sorenson (36, Team CSC), 4. L.L. Sanchez (30, Caisse d'Epargne), 5. Patrice Halgand (26, Credit Agricole)
Team - 1. Credit Agricole (91), 2. Gerolsteiner (42), 3. Team CSC (36), 4. Cassie d' Epargne (30), 5. AG2R - La Mondiale (23)
Febuary Preview - With the calendar bug occuring, it appears that the only race of the month will be the Amgen Tour of California, from the 17th - 24th, but the month's after will have a lot more races.
Edited by Deadpool on 28-04-2008 22:26
The goals are a Top 10 for Moos and the Climber's Jersey, which is a sponsor goal
Stage 1 - Prolouge - I had to fight over whether to play or sim this level, and I decided to play it - mistake - I will not play a prolouge again - I play on normal, and although that is a realistic level for me normally, including long TT's, but for short "prolouge" TT's I can dominate with bad riders, as shown by me winning with Bookwalter (66), with Galvin (68) second, and Cancellara 3rd. They both had only 61 fitness as well. So although I played this level, I will not play another TT under 12 km. But still, I know have a first win with the team, below are the results, the podium, and assorted pics from the Prolouge.
Although classifed as hilly, the only major incline is a mountain 40 km to the line, and so the goal is to control the break, and catch it after the hill, so the race will come to the line together.
The day began, and BMC was coloring the front of the peloton:
Seven riders got away, and although the other teams put up a hard chase early, then eventually relented and allowed the break to get away. But with Wegmann, Bettini, and Konovalovas in the break, would it be a mistake?
After the second intermidate sprint (look at picture of Moos below for route map) I began the chase, and although initally alone, Team CSC started to pitch in. At the third intermidate sprint, with the gap down from 8 min to 5 min only four riders sprinted, and so the break was split in two, with Wegmann and Bettini making the front group:
The climb was uneventful, and after the descent, CSC and Quickstep (cya logic apparently, they had Bettini in the break) were on front, but with only 15 km to go, and a 1 min lead, I was still afraid of a Bettini attack. It was however, not to be, as the pack swooped them up:
With 3 km to go, Moos, who was feeling great and in the front of the Peloton, decided to give it a go. With 1.5 km to go, he had a solid lead, and with a 67 sprint, should have been able to hold the other sprinters off, but no.....he had to take a drink and was overtaken by Hulsmans of Quickstep with .8 km to go. You should have seen my reaction when he was forced to take the drink:
In the end, Fast Freddy Rodriguez of Rock Racing would take the victory, with Bookwalter my top rider in 11th. But I still had the lead, unfortunately though, Galvin dropped off, so I now had 1st, along with 3-5 in the overall:
One of the very few flat days in the race, the goal is to get the KOM points, and then try to control the race for a sprint:
Six riders would break away. in the lead was Sebastian Langeveld:
He was followed by two chase groups, the second group (third on the road) included Scott Nydam:
Langeveld would take both KOM sprints, but over the second climb, Jens Voigt atatcked. With nothing for him to gain in terms of KOM points, a number of teams responded, and a group of 20 riders pulled off the front of the pack to ride him back in. They did, and I told the team to help bring the group back in, and after they did, the chase was back to normal. After Nydam was pulled in, I told my team to help, and as Langeveld was brought in, Riccio made a move with Matthew Hayman:
This would obviously not stand, and BMC, CSC, and Quick-Step brought them back. Nearing next intermidate sprint, I told Moos to move up to the front. He was feeling great (+5) so the goal was that he woulduse the seperation of the sprint as a springboard to solo away. It worked, sort of.
After the sprint, a group of twenty-riders got away, with Stuey O'Grady, the winner of the sprint, farther up the road. The twenty-man group was strong, and I had Moos help the Bouygues Telecom riders on front. I was thrilled to hear they had a 1 min gap, and were going hard:
However, farther along O'Grady had a lead of around 2 min, and the pack was chasing the now 15-man group so I told Moos to go and bridge. He was followed by Joost Posthuma, and they got a small gap:
However, the group brought them back in, so as it stood, O'Grady had around a 1:30 sec lead on a 12-man group (Moos and a number of sprinters) with the pack 45 sec behind. With around 2.5 km to go, the pack caught the 12-man group, so a great opportunity for Moos to gain a lot of time on the other contenders was lost. As this was happening, Stuart O'Grady crossed the line in first:
While Thor Hushovd took second, leading in the pack, at 1:24 (he had been in the 12-man group), with Freddy Rodriguez rouding out the podium in third:
Although I was disappointed that the move had not worked, I still was well placed heading into tommorow's mountain stage.
Thanks for the tip - I must note that the reason I take so long between posts, and haven't done much yet, is that I just got a job (in a bike store) and I have had a hard time finding time for PCM, but I am determined to keep this story going.
Today's mountain stage will be important, but with two hill stages and a 42 km TT to go, it would not be deciding:
Although Galvin originally got in the break, he was dropped, so the main break of nine sped along, with KOM jersey wearer Wegmann the headliner:
At the top of the first climb, Voigt, Clement, and Gerdemann to a dig, and with no KOM points up for grabs, I had Lill follow. The got a small gap, but were eventually brought back in (mainly by Slipstream for Milliar):
By the time the main climb rolled around, the group had still not been caught, so there were no attacks on the climb, and as the group was pulled in at the summit, it appeared that we were going to see a mass sprint.....................But maybe not! Even though he was feeling bad, with 12 km to go, Moos decided to take a dig, and got a small lead:
But he was brought back in, and in the sprint the Dane Arvesen took an easy win:
With O'Grady surviving today, it appears he may win the race, but my bet now is on Millar, who can get back the time O'Grady has on him in the TT. My goal now is for Bookwalter to try to keep a top 10.
KOM: 1 Dmytro Grabovskyy Quick·Step 18 18
2 Sergei Ivanov Team Astana 16 16
3 William Walker Rabobank 16 16
4 Fabian Wegmann Gerolsteiner 0 10
5 Juan Pablo Magallanes Tecos de la Universidad Autonóma de Guadalajara 10 10
6 Vladimir Gusev Team Astana 10 10
7 Paolo Bettini Quick·Step 0 8
8 Rory Sutherland Health Net presented by Maxxis 0 6
9 David De la Fuente Saunier Duval - Scott 6 6
10 Aaron Olson Bissell Pro Cycling 0 4
A good day for Dane's and Brites, Arvensen wins, and Millar is poised for the overall, so plenty of the forum will be happy
Edited by Deadpool on 01-05-2008 01:46
. Still, Phinney would be wearing it tomorrow because Pineau will be in yellow.
