Welcome to my first attempt at a story. It is something that I have been wanting to do for a while and in these extraordinary times we're living at the moment, I thought I’d finally give it a go, as I will have a lot more time to play the game. I’m hoping as well that it will allow me to play a career for more than a season or two, which is what I have been doing since playing the game.
So for this first venture into a story, I’ve decided to go with Groupama-FDJ, with the hope of ending 35 years of hurt by finally winning the Tour de France with a French rider.
I’ll try and keep it as concise as possible. I will be playing the vast majority of races and I'll focus on the team's objectives and selected races by providing screenshots of wins and of important moments.
Spoiler
Game setting information:
DB: World DB 2020 – Version 0.9.3.2.
Crash Frequency: x1.1
Difficulty: Extreme
Born in 1997 as La Francaise des Jeux, the team has had one of the longest running sponsorship in the peloton. For one year, in 2012, BigMat joined FDJ, but apart from that they have been the sole sponsor until Groupama arrived during the second half of 2018 to take the team to another level. Generally one of the smallest teams, they have had moderate success over the years but now they have one the best climbers in the peloton, in his prime.
Team:
Rider Name
Rider Type
Age
Average
A. Brunel
Baroudeur
21
70
A. Duchesne
Baroudeur
28
70
M. Ladagnous
Baroudeur
35
71
I. Konovalovas
Classics
34
70
D. Gaudu
Puncher
23
76
V. Madouas
Puncher
23
74
R. Molard
Puncher
30
74
S. Reichenbach
Puncher
30
74
A. Roux
Puncher
32
72
R. Seigle
Puncher
25
67
W. Bonnet
Sprinter
37
69
A. Demare
Sprinter
28
76
M. Delage
Sprinter
34
69
J. Guarnieri
Sprinter
32
72
F. Lienhard
Sprinter
26
72
M. Sarreau
Sprinter
26
74
R. Sinkeldam
Sprinter
30
71
B. Armirail
TT
25
70
S. Kung
TT
26
77
T. Ludvigsson
TT
28
70
M. Scotson
TT
25
69
B. Thomas
TT
24
72
K. Frankiny
Climber
25
71
K. Geniets
Climber
22
70
S. Guglielmi
Climber
22
64
O. Le Gac
Climber
26
70
T. Pinot
Climber
29
78
L. Vincent
Climber
24
70
Star riders
Thibaut Pinot (FRA) - 29
Unquestionably, the team leader. Pinot comes out of a decent 2019, where he won Tour Cycliste du Haut Var, Tour de l’Ain, finished 5th at Tirreno Adriatico and was in mix to win the Tour de France until a heartbreaking injury on Stage 19.
For 2020, Pinot is expected to step up another gear and be a contender in stage races, especially the French ones such as Paris-Nice, Dauphine and of course the Tour de France which are important for the sponsors. Pinot is one of the best climbers in the peloton and has decent support, so strong showings are expected of him.
Arnaud Demare (FRA) - 28
The team’s main sprinter. Not one of the best in the world, but always there or thereabouts. He also has a knack of winning in World Tour races, so hopefully this can continue. He had a pretty quiet 2019 with only 5 wins. But he has wins at Paris-Nice, Tour de Suisse, Tour de France and most famously at Milano-Sanremo. The team is hoping for a solid season from him. A decent classics rider, he is also expected to do well in some of the cobbled classics.
David Gaudu (FRA) - 23
The rising star of the team. 2019 was his third year as a pro and he had some great results, finishing 3rd at the UAE Tour, 6th at Liege-Bastogne-Liege but also 5th overall at Tour de Romandie. He was a very important domestique for Pinot at the Tour while also finishing 13th overall and second in the youth classification, behind only winner Egan Bernal. He is the future of the team, hopefully a rider that will turn into a future world class puncher. A good climber, he is also going to be an important domestique for Pinot in the mountains.
Stefan Kung (SWI) - 26
The team’s TT specialist, one of the best in the world and he will be an important domestique for Pinot in the Tour and will be the main engine in the important TTT. Previously with BMC, he joined the Swiss contingent, a country very important for the sponsors. He had a very good 2019, winning 5 races, the best tally of his career, including the Swiss ITT national championships and a great victory at Tour de Romandie after a long breakaway. He is our strongest classics rider, he is expected to do well in the northern classics, hopefully getting some good results, especially at Paris-Roubaix, an important race for the sponsor.
Marc Sarreau (FRA) - 26
The second sprinter. He turned pro in 2015 and has 12 wins in his career, including 5 in 2019. He is not the quickest sprinter, but he is expected to get better. He will target the smaller French races, as well as being an important part of the Demare train and a decent domestique in the classics.
****
Other riders to keep an eye on are Madouas, a rising star in France and a potentially great puncher. We’re hoping that he can reach the levels of Gaudu. Molard and Reichenbach are important domestiques for Pinot in the mountains. We are also hoping that young riders like Thomas, Brunel and Guglielmi can develop into important riders for the future.
Objectives
For 2020, the main objectives of the team is to do well in the main French stage races. Big results are expected of Pinot in Paris-Nice, Criterium du Dauphine and Tour de France. His program will be based on these races, with a view of winning the Tour. Of course, the team will be built around him for the Tour, while the team for the other GTs will be built around Demare in the view of obtaining stage wins in both of them.
High placings in races such as Liege-Bastogne-Liege, Paris-Roubaix and Il Lombardia are also objectives of the team. Then, French races are very important for the sponsors, so strong showings in them are expected. With riders like Demare, Gaudu, Sarreau and Madouas, there is potential for a few wins.
In 2019, Groupama FDJ won 24 races so we are hoping to do as well, but with some more quality, including some big wins for Pinot.
Cool start, always liked to play fDJ in the game as they offer the chance to really go for it in the HC races and being an outside thread for WT races, which obviously changed with Pinot becoming a superstar. I like the choice a lot!
FDJ are a really cool team choice, looking forward to it
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
Always good to see another story popping up, good luck and have fun A couple of tough goals there with the Tour win, but also Top 10 at PR will be a challenge for Démare, I guess. Looking forward to it!
Thanks for the comments. I'm really looking forward to share it with everyone.
@Cunego59. Yes, there are a couple of tough goals here. I was hoping for a top 3 at the Tour rather than 1st. I think Kung will be my best option for Roubaix (and the classics in general), but that will definitely be another tough objective to reach.
Apologies for some of the first screenshots, who either have the in race interface as I forgot to use the Ctrl+U function or sometimes, in the excitement, I forgot to take one and had to take them during the race replay!!
Australian NC races
After a training camp in Alcamo, Italy it’s time for the first race of the season. Scotson is to race the Australian ITT national championship. Scotson is a time trialler but he is far from a favourite. He finishes 20th, a huge 4’21’’ behind the unsurprising winner, Rohan Dennis, who wins the title ahead of Michael Matthews and Luke Durbridge.
Next is the road race. On a course made for punchers, Scotson is again far from being a favourite, therefore it’s decided that he would join the day’s break. After missing the first group, Scotson finally join the rest of the breakaway with 150kms to go. The breakaway is made up of 9 riders and don’t get much more than 5’50 on the peloton. With 58kms to go, the peloton catches the break and we know that it will be difficult from now on. With 4 laps of the final circuit to go, Mitchelton Scott place a big acceleration on the main hill and Scotson struggles to keep up but just about stays in touch. Unsurprisingly, during the next lap, he can’t keep up and is dropped during the climb and quickly loses about a minute. To make matters worse, he falls but luckily he is back up quickly and finishes 62nd. At the front, on the last lap, Simon Clarke places an acceleration at the top of the hill that only Jack Haig can follow. Clarke wins the sprint ahead of Haig. Matthews wins the sprint in the peloton.
Tour Down Under
The next race is the Tour Down Under. The team is still in the middle of training camps, and because of varying forms, it’s an experimental team that goes to Australia. Team: Madouas, Sarreau, Brunel, Roux, Guarnieri, Frankiny and Scotson
As this is a World Tour race, we are hoping for a stage win and a decent showing in the GC.
Philipsen wins stage 1 ahead of Viviani and Van Avermaet in a messy sprint, with Sarreau finishing 6th. Teunissen wins stage 2 ahead of Van Avermaet and Colbrelli (with Sarreau 8th).
Stage 3 is listed as a flat stage but it’s more hilly than it looks. It is a hard stage with a circuit that needs to be done 4 times. And with each passing hills, more riders are dropped. With just under 4kms to go, Roux accelerates on the last hill with Madouas in his wheel. They quickly manage to get a gap and are followed by Kwiatkowski, Pogacar and Wellens. Madouas starts his sprint with 1.5kms to go and wins the stage ahead of Kwiatkowski and Pogacar, 28’’ ahead of the peloton. It’s a great win for the team and Madouas. The aim was for a stage win and it’s done. We’ll now do our best to keep the jersey for as long as possible.
Stage 4 is another difficult one, rather flat for the most part but with Corkscrew coming with about 5 kms from the end. The break goes early and nothing much happens until the approach to the only difficulty of the stage. On Corkscrew, Tony Martin, who was in the break, attacks and gets a gap. No one will catch him and he wins the stage. Behind, Alaphillipe attacks and only Villela can follow. They get a decent gap, but Frankiny, helping Madouas does a great job in the descent to cut the gap and a group of 29 finish 15’’ behind Martin. Madouas finishes 9th.
Stage 5 is another sprint won by Bennett ahead of Hodeg and Matthews. Sarreau finishes 6th.
Stage 6 is the Queen stage with two ascent of Willunga Hill. Alaphilippe is the favourite, but Kwiatkowski is only 4’’ behind in the GC. Alaphilippe attacks straight at the bottom of the second ascent of Corkscrew. Madouas follows but he soon struggles and loses the wheel of the favourites. Landa wins the stage, 11’ ahead of Lopez and Alaphilippe. Madouas, who was struggling for the last couple of kms, finishes 11th, 48’’ behind the winner, so he loses the leader’s jersey and ends up in 7th in the GC. Kwiatkowski wins the GC, ahead of Pogacar and Wellens. It’s a slightly disappointing end to the race, but the stage win makes up for it.
Spoiler
GC
Michal Kwiatkowski
Team INEOS
21h15'32
Tadej Pogacar
UAE Team Emirates
+ 2
Tim Wellens
Lotto Soudal
+ 6
Mikel Landa
Team Bahrain McLaren
+ 13
Julian Alaphilippe
Deceuninck - Quick-Step
+ 24
Miguel Ángel López
Astana Pro Team
+ 28
Valentin Madouas
Équipe Cycliste Groupama-FDJ
+ 33
Greg Van Avermaet
CCC Team
+ 1'01
Mike Teunissen
Team Jumbo-Visma
s.t.
Sam Bennett
Deceuninck - Quick-Step
s.t.
POINTS
Greg Van Avermaet
CCC Team
47
Michael Matthews
Team Sunweb
46
Jasper Philipsen
UAE Team Emirates
45
MOUNTAIN
Davide Villella
Movistar Team
22
Michael Valgren
NTT Pro Cycling
22
Tony Martin
Team Jumbo-Visma
20
YOUTH
Tadej Pogacar
UAE Team Emirates
21h15'34
Valentin Madouas
Équipe Cycliste Groupama-FDJ
+ 31
Jasper Philipsen
UAE Team Emirates
+ 3'38
TEAM
UAE Team Emirates
63h48'27
Team INEOS
+ 37
Deceuninck - Quick-Step
+ 1'05
Australian and Spanish early season races
The team continues its good form in Australia by winning Race Torquay. Anthony Roux attacks with just over 6kms to go and it takes a long time for the bunch to organise itself. By that time he has over 50’’ which is just enough time for him to win the race as he runs out of steam in the last kilometer. Sarreau and Guarnieri also sprint in case Roux can’t hold on and they finish 3rd and 5th respectively. If the race had lasted 100 more meters, Roux would have been caught.
Meanwhile, in Spain, the Challenge Mallorca brings some good results. Gaudu wins the Trofeo Felanitx, Ses Salines, Campos, Porreres after great work for Molard on the last hill. Molard himself finishes second at the Trofeo Pollenca – Port d’Antratx while Demare wins the Trofeo de Palma.
Next come the first objective of our season with Etoile de Besseges, where the sponsors wants first place in the GC.
Team: Demare, Sarreau, Guarnieri, Konovalovas, Kung, Scotson and Sinkeldam.
The race consists of four flat stages which should go to sprinters. We bring our two best sprinters to continue our very good start to the season and hopefully we can meet the first objective of the season. Sarreau has made this his first personal objective, so we hope that he will be on form. Luckily, the level of sprinters is not very high, which means that we should have a great chance. Consonni is probably the biggest threat to the team.
Stage 1 is won by Sarreau, ahead of Consonni and Boudat with Demare tenth. It’s a messy sprint with a couple of 90 degrees corners in the last kilometer or so. But Sarreau shows his strength and form to win the first stage.
With Sarreau in the leader’s jersey, stage 2 is controlled by Groupama-FDJ. The break is caught with about 20kms to go and the stage is won by Sarreau again after great work from Kung to put Demare in a great position to be Sarreau’s lead out man. Demare himself finishes third on an uphill sprint. Several riders start their sprints too early and run out of gas with around 200 meters to go.
Stage 3 is won by Sarreau again, who now has 20’’ on Theuns in second place in the GC. He pretty much needs to finish the race in the main group to win the GC.
However, in a weird fourth and last stage, it is not that simple. The peloton explodes in the last 15kms. A group of about 15 riders is left at the front, including Kung, with around 8kms to go and Sarreau is not in that group. He is in another smaller group about 25'' behind, but thankfully Theuns is in that group as well. There are several Groupama-FDJ riders in that group who work hard to bring the two groups together. This is when Kung attacks and with no domestiques left in the front group, none of the sprinters want to take the responsibility to chase. Kung wins the stage with 55’’ on the peloton with lots of little groups that have regrouped by that point. Sarreau is third behind Theuns. As a result, Sarreau wins the GC ahead of Theuns and Consonni and the first objective of the season is completed. Once again, we were lucky that the sprinting level wasn't very high, which allowed us to win the GC, but winning all 4 stages is a great bonus.
The next big date of the season is the start of the classics season with Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. However, between Etoile de Besseges and Omloop, Pinot has won Ruta del Sol by comfortably winning the queen stage.
Ludvigsson won Stage 2 of the UAE Tour by winning from the break.
Madouas won Stage 3 of the Tour du Haut-Var. Unfortunately, he was not able to make up the 11’’ he was trailing Rohan Dennis by to win the GC. But the team continues its great start to the season.
Omloop Het Nieuwsblad & Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne
Team: Demare, Sarreau, Le Gac, Konovalovas, Ladagnous, Lienhard and Geniets.
Unfortunately, a couple of days before Omloop, Kung injures himself and is out until the beginning of April with a fractured elbow. This is a huge blow as our best classics riders is out for probably the whole duration of it. We're hoping he will be back for Flanders or at least Roubaix.
A group of 9 riders goes very early and they are very strong. They are only caught with 17kms to go on the penultimate berg of the day. Sarreau, who is well placed, follows Matthews’ attack and they catch Christian Knees and Van Hooydonck, who are the last members of the breakaway. There are several little groups everywhere due to a fall during that last climb. A lot of riders seems to have been stuck on the narrow road as Sarreau and the front group quickly get 20’’ on Van Aert, 38’’ on Lampaert. Other favourites include Vanmarcke and Stybar at 1’20’’ or Kristoff, Bettiol and Langeveld who are already 2’01’’ down.
This is a great opportunity for Sarreau to get a great result. On the last climb, the Bosberg, Matthews accelerates but Sarreau can’t follow. He manages to drop Knees and Van Hooydonck but quickly loses time and Lampaert eventually catches him.
Matthews is too far ahead and wins the race, 16’’ ahead of Lampaert. Sarreau crumbles and finishes 3rd, 1’10’’ behind the winner. The peloton containing all the favourites finishes 2’30’’ down on Matthews. It’s a great start to the classics season really, but we were lucky with the fall and the fact that the favourites got caught. Sarreau’s lack of stamina at the end of the race shows that we will struggle to keep up with the best, but we’ll give it a go anyway.
Spoiler
Michael Matthews
Team Sunweb
4h59'45
Yves Lampaert
Deceuninck - Quick-Step
+ 16
Marc Sarreau
Équipe Cycliste Groupama-FDJ
+ 1'10
Dylan Van Baarle
Team INEOS
+ 2'08
Alexander Kristoff
UAE Team Emirates
+ 2'30
Matteo Trentin
CCC Team
s.t.
Sonny Colbrelli
Team Bahrain McLaren
s.t.
Edward Theuns
Trek-Segafredo
s.t.
Zdenek Stybar
Deceuninck - Quick-Step
s.t.
Peter Sagan
BORA - hansgrohe
s.t.
In the second race of Opening Weekend, Sarreau comes second to Degenkolb in Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne. Degenkolb is by far the strongest and easily wins the race.
Edited by gargatouf on 07-04-2020 14:19
The next big race in the calendar is Strade Bianche.
Team: Gaudu, Madouas, Vincent, Frankiny, Molard, Reichenbach and Roux
A four man break is formed pretty early. With about 35kms to go, a split is made in the peloton and only Madouas makes it for Groupama-FDJ. The following group quickly loses some time, so it becomes clear quickly that Madouas will be the team’s best chance. With around 20 kms to go, the break is caught and this is when Muhlberger attacks. A. Turgis is the only one who can follow. They get a 39’’ lead and there is a group of 13 riders behind, including Madouas. Unfortunately, the group does not cooperate and with 15kms to go, the front two have a 1’29’’ lead, which increases again to 1’52’’ with 10kms to go. At that point, Turgis attacks and he will not be caught.
He wins the race, while Madouas finishes 6th.
Spoiler
Anthony Turgis
Team Total Direct Energie
5h17’09
Gregor Muhlberger
BORA – Hansgrohe
+ 1’09
Matej Mohoric
Team Bahrain McLaren
+ 2’47
Mads Pedersen
Trek-Segafredo
+2’57
Gianni Moscon
Team INEOS
+ 3’02
Valentin Madouas
Equipe Cycliste Groupama-FDJ
+ 3’10
Alejandro Valverde
Movistar Team
s.t
Michael Valgren
NTT Pro Cycling
+ 3’15
Loic Vliegen
Circus – Wanty Gobert
s.t
Diego Ulissi
UAE Team Emirates
s.t
Paris-Nice
Next comes Paris-Nice. This is the team’s second objective of the season and a first real test for Pinot. The sponsor wants a Top 5 in that race and to prepare for the Tour de France later on in the season, the team sends a strong team to support Pinot.
Team: Pinot, Madouas, Reichenbach, Molard, Frankiny, Roux and Duchesne.
Gaudu fell ill a few days before the start so Pinot does not have his best mountain domestique. But, it’s a decent squad that goes to race La Course au Soleil.
The first 3 stages are sprinters stages. There are some strong sprinters at the race. Bennett wins stages 1 and 3, while Ewan wins stage 2.
Stage 4 is a more hilly stage and we will try and get Pinot safely across the line with the favourites, while Molard or Madouas can go for the stage if they can.
The break goes clear after the first climb of the day. With 25kms to go, they still have 1’12’’ on the peloton which is now made of just 41 riders, including Pinot, Madouas and Molard. Bora and Deceuninck accelerate and close the gap to about 20’’ before the last climb of the day, Molard does a great job to bring Pinot safe at the top of the climb, and at this point Madouas accelerates. He quickly opens a gap of about 30’’.
Kwiatkowski and De Plus work hard for Bernal and Roglic to bring him back and they can only bring the gap down to about 20’’. Then Bernal decides to chase and then Pogacar attacks. They finally catch him with 3.8kms to go while Pogacar’s attack has dropped a lot of the favourites. Buchmann is on his own 16’’ behind, then there is another group consisting of Thomas. S. Yates and Quintana. Bernal is in another group behind. Pogacar’s attack has broken the front group and thanks to Molard, Pinot is in the front group. Out of the 9 riders, Caleb Ewan is in there, so there is not a lot of hope to win the stage.
Unsurprisingly, Ewan wins the stage ahead of Roglic and Nibali. Pinot is 4th. Bernal, Thomas and Yates make it back to the front group, but Quintana and Buchmann lose 55’’. Other favourites like Froome, A. Yates, Kruijswijk and M.A. Lopez lose 2’02’’.
Spoiler
Caleb Ewan
Lotto Soudal
5h20’08
Primoz Roglic
Team Jumbo-Visma
s.t
Vincenzo Nibali
Trek-Segafredo
s.t
Thibaut Pinot
Equipe Cycliste Groupama-FDJ
s.t
Tadej Pogacar
UAE Team Emirates
s.t
Stage 5 is a TT and Pinot is not on his best day.
Evenepoel wins the stage ahead of Froome and Nelson Oliveira. Pinot is 23rd, 1’23’’ down on the winner and has lost a lot of time. He is now 7th in the table and has some work to do to get in the top 5.
Spoiler
Remco Evenepoel
Deceuninck - Quick-Step
31'30
Chris Froome
Team INEOS
+ 4
Nelson Oliveira
Movistar Team
+ 7
Geraint Thomas
Team INEOS
+ 17
Primoz Roglic
Team Jumbo-Visma
s.t.
Stage 6 is classified as a puncher stage but nothing of note really happens.
The break of 15 manage to keep the bunch at bay and A. Turgis wins the sprint ahead of Gallopin. It’s Turgis’ second big win in a week after Strade Bianche. The bunch comes in about 1’30’’ after the break and is led by Bennett and Ewan who have comfortably survived what was announced as a much hillier day.
Spoiler
Anthony Turgis
Team Total Direct Energie
5h32'07
Tony Gallopin
AG2R La Mondiale
s.t
Jose Goncalves
NIPPO DELKO One Provence
s.t
Michael Gogl
NTT Pro Cycling
s.t
Jan Tratnik
Team Bahrain McLaren
s.t
Stage 7 is the first mountain stage and we need Pinot to climb up the GC.
After his bad performance in the TT, it will be hard, but considering his form, we’re confident. At the bottom of the last climb of the day, the Col de Turini, Pinot and Madouas are the only riders left in the main group, made up of 22 riders, who are almost 2’ behind the break.
The start of the climb is pretty quiet but with 8kms to go, there are multiple attacks from Bernal, Thomas, Lopez and Nibali. Nibali places one big attack which Madouas manages to follow with Pinot in his wheel that destroys the group.
Several riders catch up and there are now only 7 riders in the front group.
Just before the flame rouge, Nibali attacks again. Only Roglic and Pinot can follow and with 500ms to go, Nibali attacks one last time and wins the stage ahead of Pinot and Roglic, who are 23’’ behind. As a result, Pinot now enters the top 5 in the GC.
Spoiler
Vincenzo Nibali
Trek-Segafredo
5h32'07
Thibaut Pinot
Équipe Cycliste Groupama-FDJ
+ 23
Primoz Roglic
Team Jumbo-Visma
s.t.
Miguel Ángel López
Astana Pro Team
+ 42
Egan Bernal
Team INEOS
s.t.
Tadej Pogacar
UAE Team Emirates
+ 1'32
Remco Evenepoel
Deceuninck - Quick-Step
s.t.
Jakob Fuglsang
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
Geraint Thomas
Team INEOS
s.t.
Rigoberto Urán
EF Education First Pro Cycling
+ 2'08
Stage 8 is the final and classic stage around Nice including the Col d’Eze.
The break takes ages to go and is finally made of Gautier, Frankiny and Kochetkov but they don’t get more than 1’25’’. Frankiny and Kochetkov are caught with about 25kms to go and Gautier has 1’48’’ at the bottom the last climb. Reichenbach decides to accelerate with Madouas and Pinot in his wheels which stretches the peloton. Madouas takes over and a group of 28 riders are now in front. This is when Pinot decides to attack, but he never gets a meaningful gap and is caught by the group. Evenepoel starts his sprint with just over a kilometer to go, with Pinot and Pogacar in his wheels. They get a little gap which the group behind will not make up, but unfortunately for us, Pogacar is quicker in the sprint. Pinot is second and Evenepoel third.
With the group of favourites all ending together, there are no changes in the GC. Roglic wins Paris-Nice ahead of Nibali and Bernal. Evenepoel and Pinot complete the top 5.
The GC core of the team being at Paris-Nice, Groupama still sends a strong team to Tirreno, but mainly looking for stage wins, which is something the team wants to achieve in WT races. There are strong TT'ers to try and create a surprise in the opening TTT, while they can also work for Demare for a win in the sprints, while Gaudu, who has recovered from his illness, will have a go at the KoM jersey and hopefully a stage win.
Team: Thomas, Ludvigsson, Armirail, Vincent, Demare, Scotson and Gaudu.
Stage 1 is the traditional TTT stage at Lido di Camaiore.
INEOS, with Castroviejo, Dennis, Moscon and Ganna win the stage ahead of Jumbo Visma (with Martin, Dumoulin and Van Aert). Groupama-FDJ does well and finish third, only 8’’ behind the winners.
Spoiler
Team INEOS
24'50
Team Jumbo-Visma
+ 5
Équipe Cycliste Groupama-FDJ
+ 8
Stage 2 is won by D. Martin ahead of Higuita and Alaphilippe on a slight uphill sprint after a hilly stage. Gaudu was not in a good day and loses over a minute.
Spoiler
Daniel Martin
Israel Start-Up Nation
4h50’25
Sergio Andres Higuita
EF Education First Pro Cycling
+ 7’’
Julian Alaphilippe
Deceuninck – Quick Step
s.t.
Rohan Dennis
Team INEOS
+ 19’’
Alexey Lutsenko
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
Stage 3 is a sprinters stage.
With Gaviria, Viviani and Jakobsen also racing, Demare has his work cut out, but we’re hoping for a decent result. It’s a normal sprint stage, but the first half of the stage is very hilly. With 3.5kms to go, Demare is a long way down, around 20th position in the bunch.
So he starts his sprint earlier than normal. He flies past the three favourites who start their sprint once Demare has gone past. He takes enough of a lead on them to win the stage. It’s an incredible result, considering where we were in the bunch. Gaviria and Viviani complete the podium.
Spoiler
Arnaud Demare
Equipe Cycliste Groupama-FDJ
5h44’33
Fernando Gaviria
UAE Team Emirates
s.t
Elia Viviani
Cofidis, Solutions Credits
s.t
John Degenkolb
Lotto Soudal
s.t
Yves Lampaert
Deceuninck – Quick-Step
s.t
Stage 4 is a hilly stage and a great chance for Gaudu to get some points for the KoM jersey.
Even though he lost more than 9’ on stage 3 and is out of contention for the GC, the bunch does not want to let Gaudu go. He tries and tries again to leave the bunch but they do not let him. So unfortunately, the break will be without himand it will be tough to get the KoM jersey. The team loses one rider after another and Gaudu, knackered from trying to get into the break, is dropped with 14kms to go. Alaphilippe wins a stage that was made for him, ahead of Dennis and D. Martin. Gaudu loses another 6’ in this stage and with one hilly stage left, we’re hoping that the break will let us go next time. Even then, it will be hard to get the jersey, with only 3 categorised climbs.
Spoiler
Julian Alaphilippe
Deceuninck – Quick-Step
4h40’56
Rohan Dennis
Team INEOS
s.t
Daniel Martin
Israel Start-Up Nation
s.t
Rui Costa
Team Jumbo-Visma
s.t
Alexey Lutsenko
Astana Pro Team
s.t
Stage 5 is another hilly stage. We’re hoping the bunch will let Gaudu go in the break for the KoM jersey.
This time, Gaudu manages to get in the break, with 16 other riders. Gaudu wins maximum points at the top of the first 3 climbs and with 22kms to go, the front group is made up of only 4 riders (Gaudu, Hagen, Dombrowski and Rosa) and has 3’36’’ on the peloton, so the stage win is possible.
Ciccone joins the group in the descent and at the bottom of the last climb, the lead group has just under 3’ on the peloton so the win will come from one of these 5 riders. At the bottom, Hagen attacks and is followed by Ciccone and Dombrowski.
Gaudu is in the American’s wheel, who attacks himself and then it’s Ciccone’s turn, in some of the steeper parts of the climb. Gaudu just follows the attacks and at the top of the climb, Gaudu realises that his breakaway partners are exhausted and he attacks.
He quickly gets a gap and wins the stage ahead of Dombrowski and Rosa. It’s another great result for the team at Tirreno and on top of the stage win, Gaudu takes the KoM jersey from Dan Martin.
Spoiler
David Gaudu
Equipe Cycliste Groupama-FDJ
4h53’22
Joseph Dombrowski
UAE Team Emirates
+ 29’’
Diego Rosa
Team Arkea Samsic
s.t
Giulio Ciccone
Trek-Segafredo
s.t
Carl Fredrik Hagen
Lotto Soudal
+ 48’’
Stage 6 is a sprinters stage.
The break is caught with 13kms to go and the sprint trains come into action. This time, Demare is nowhere near a position to win the stage and finishes 6th, with Gaviria winning ahead of Van Aert and Jakobsen.
Spoiler
Fernando Gaviria
UAE Team Emirates
4h46’20
Wout Van Aert
Team Jumbo-Visma
s.t
Fabio Jakobsen
Deceuninck – Quick-Step
s.t
Giacomo Nizzolo
NTT Pro Cycling
s.t
John Degenkolb
Lotto Soudal
s.t
Finally, Stage 7 is the ITT around San Benedetto del Tronto.
We’re hoping for a decent placing from some of our TT specialists. In the end, it’s Leo Vincent who performs the best, finishing 14th, 34’’ down on the winner, Rohan Dennis. Thanks to his win in the TT, Dennis wins Tirreno ahead of Alaphilippe and Dumoulin.
VoetsT wrote:
Pinot fought until the last. So sad you couldn't win in Nice.
He did, we had to attack to try and make up the time lost during the poor TT. But he did well in the mountains which bodes well for later on in the season.
The team stays in Italy for another big day in the calendar with Milano-Sanremo. It’s another objective of the sponsor and a Top 10 is what is required.
Team: Demare, Madouas, Molard, Roux, Ludvigsson, Duchesne and Thomas.
It’s a decent team, with Demare, a former winner, for a potential sprint finish. Madouas and Molard can also play their own card if it’s a more punchy finish, so we’re hoping that a Top 10 is a possibility.
A break of 5 riders forms quickly and they get a maximum of 6’30’’ on the peloton. Just before the Turchino, Duchesne and Madouas are caught in a fall. Fortunately, they are back up quickly and can catch up to the peloton within minutes. At the top of the Turchino, the gap between the break and the peloton is down to 4’00’’ and slowly goes down as the kilometres pass. The break is caught just before Capo Berta and everyone knows that's when the race is really starting.
At the bottom of the Cipressa, there is a break in the peloton. A group of 26 riders, including Roux, Ludvigsson, Molard and Madouas have a 35’’ lead on the main bunch. This is when Van der Poel attacks and creates a small gap.
UAE Team Emirates does a great job in bringing him back towards the bottom of the Poggio and the speed lowers a bit, allowing another group of about 20 riders to join. At the bottom of the Poggio, Van Aert accelerates and creates a gap. A group of 11 riders arenow at the front and then it’s Stuyven’s turn to attack.
No one can really follow and he creates a small gap. Molard, working for Madouas, tries very hard to bridge the gap, but Stuyven has a 15’’ lead on a group of 3 riders, made up of Molard, Madouas and Gaviria. Unfortunately, Molard can’t bridge the gap and Stuyven wins the race. With Gaviria in the group, Madouas can only finish third, but it’s a great result for Madouas and for the team.
Spoiler
Jasper Stuyven
Trek-Segafredo
7h20'48
Fernando Gaviria
UAE Team Emirates
s.t.
Valentin Madouas
Équipe Cycliste Groupama-FDJ
s.t.
Rudy Molard
Équipe Cycliste Groupama-FDJ
s.t.
Dylan Groenewegen
Team Jumbo-Visma
s.t.
Caleb Ewan
Lotto Soudal
s.t.
Sam Bennett
Deceuninck - Quick-Step
s.t.
Matteo Trentin
CCC Team
s.t.
Mathieu Van Der Poel
Alpecin-Fenix
s.t.
Wout Van Aert
Team Jumbo-Visma
s.t.
Volta a Catalunya
The World Tour races keep coming and the team next head to Catalunya. Pinot is racing but he doesn't have his normal support team, but everyone deserves their chance, especially if you want to keep the squad happy. A good showing is expected from Pinot, but he doesn’t have the strongest team around.
Team: Pinot, Guglielmi, Vincent, Bonnet, Brunel, Delage and Armirail
Stage 1 is a hilly stage. The aim today is to get Pinot safely to the end, without losing much time. The break manages to win the stage, with Tim Declercq taking first place ahead of Valgren and Martijn Budding of the Riwal team. The peloton finishes a huge 6’46’’ behind, with Pinot safely in the peloton.
Stage 2 is a flat stage. Armirail goes in the break with 3 other riders and because of the lack of good sprinters, we’re hoping the break can go until the end. At the top of the last climb, with 17.8kms to go, the break has one minute on the peloton. It will be hard but we believe an upset is possible.
With 10kms to go, the gap has gone down to 47’’ but with 5kms to go, the gap is still 32’’. This is when Leknessund attacks from the break, with Armirail in his wheel.
The two other members of the break can’t follow. Leknessund and Armirail work well together and have a 32’’ lead at the flame rouge. This is when Armirail starts his sprint and accelerates a bit more with 500m to go. It’s a slightly uphill finish and Armirail slows down and Cosnefroy is closing down very quickly from the peloton that has caught up with the 2 breakaway riders. But Armirail just abut manages to hold on and wins the stage ahead of Cosnefroy, Kwiatkowski and Garcia Cortina. It’s an exceptional win and by far Armirail’s biggest win of his career.
Stage 3 is a Mountain stage. With riders such as G. Thomas, Bernal, Carapaz and Roglic, Pinot has some competition. On the last climb, Roglic attacks with 6kms to go, only Bernal and Pinot can follow. With 2kms to go, Bernal attacks and no one can follow and he wins the stage, 29’’ ahead of Roglic and 58’’ on Pinot.
Stage 4 is another mountain stage. Pinot tries an attack with 2kms to go, but unfortunately it doesn’t stick. He ends up ninth on the stage with Carapaz winning ahead of Roglic and Martin who are part of an 8 man group that finish alltogether. To make matters worse, Pinot pays for his attack and finish 21’’ behind the front group.
Stage 5 is a hilly stage. After an attack from Dan Martin on the last hill, a group of 18 rider is formed, made up of the favourities. Majka wins the sprint ahead of Kwiatkwoski and Pinot.
Stage 6 is for the sprinters. Delage gets in a big breakaway of 16 and they have over 15’ on the peloton with 90kms to go, so the winner will come from the break. In the last 10kms, they spend a lot of time looking at each other, checking who will make the first move. The best sprinter in that group is Gamper from BORA, so Delage decides to follow him. As predicted, Gamper starts the sprint with 1.4kms to go but he quickly runs of batteries. Delage then starts his sprint but by the time he gets started he is overtaken by several riders and finishes fourth.
Finally, Stage 7 is the classic stage around Montjuic. The stage is won by the break. Jesus Herrada wins the stage ahead of Knox and De Gendt. Pinot tries an attack on the last climb of Montjuic but can’t create a gap as he is caught by the main group with a kilometer to go.
Spoiler
Egan Bernal
Team INEOS
30h13'40
Primoz Roglic
Team Jumbo-Visma
+ 27
Thibaut Pinot
Équipe Cycliste Groupama-FDJ
+ 1'21
Daniel Martin
Israel Start-Up Nation
+ 1'49
Vincenzo Nibali
Trek-Segafredo
+ 1'53
Belgian Classics
While some of the team are in Catalunya, the classics riders continue to ride in Belgium, and Demare is our star rider for the first two races. The first of four races before the two Monuments is Driedaagse De Panne. A fairly quiet race, it explodes into life in the last 25/30 kms with several attacks and Demare finds himself in the front group and finishes second in a sprint behind Trentin and ahead of Laporte, Greipel and Amund Grondahl Jansen.
The second is E3 BinckBank, where Demare does very well to finish 6th in a much hillier race. With 30kms to go, Demare has been dropped but is lucky to be in a group with 5 Deceuninck riders who work hard to bring their star riders to the main group. Stuyven has already attacked from that front group, with Gilbert and Van Der Poel and he is not caught. While in the main group, Demare makes the wise choice to sit on Van Avermaet’s wheel who attacks and creates a gap with 7 other riders. He is one of the best sprinters in that group so he finishes 6th.
Spoiler
Jasper Stuyven
Trek-Segafredo
5h14'20
Philippe Gilbert
Lotto Soudal
+ 21
Mathieu Van Der Poel
Alpecin-Fenix
+ 46
Tiesj Benoot
Team Sunweb
s.t.
Alexander Kristoff
UAE Team Emirates
s.t.
Arnaud Démare
Équipe Cycliste Groupama-FDJ
s.t.
Oliver Naesen
AG2R La Mondiale
s.t.
Nils Politt
Israel Start-Up Nation
s.t.
Greg Van Avermaet
CCC Team
s.t.
Søren Kragh Andersen
Team Sunweb
+ 1'52
The other two races are a bit more difficult for the team. The third is Gent-Wevelgem. As expected, the race finishes in a mass sprint but Demare is boxed in and can only finish 19th.
Spoiler
Sam Bennett
Deceuninck - Quick-Step
6h18'44
Caleb Ewan
Lotto Soudal
s.t.
Giacomo Nizzolo
NTT Pro Cycling
s.t.
Alexander Kristoff
UAE Team Emirates
s.t.
Peter Sagan
BORA - hansgrohe
s.t.
Oliver Naesen
AG2R La Mondiale
s.t.
Mike Teunissen
Team Jumbo-Visma
s.t.
Alberto Bettiol
EF Education First Pro Cycling
s.t.
Magnus Cort Nielsen
EF Education First Pro Cycling
s.t.
Sep Vanmarcke
EF Education First Pro Cycling
s.t.
The final race is Dwars door Vlaanderen. Lienhard, who was in the original break, is our best finisher ending up 17th. Demare fell once and punctured another time so he finishes really far back. Thankfully he is not injured. Garcia Cortina wins the race ahead of Nico Denz and Mohoric.
This all leads to the second Monument of the season, Ronde van Vlaanderen. With Kung injured, Demare, who has showed some promise during the earlier races is our best card, but it will be very hard for him.
Team: Demare, Sarreau, Konovalovas, Le Gac, Lienhard, Guarnieri and Geniets.
A break of 5 riders forms very quickly and they get a maximum of 5’45’’. At the bottom of the first difficulty of the day, the first ascent of the Oude-Kwaremont, the gap has gone down to 2’30’’. The break is caught with over 75kms to go and the favourites are all in the front group. On the second ascent of the Oude Kwaremont, Gilbert attacks and destroys the front group into several smaller groups.
None of the Groupama-FDJ riders can make the front groups. Demare is struggling, so it will be a long day for the team. However, Le Gac makes into the fifth group, with Van Avermaet and Stuyven. However, they accelerate on the Koppenberg a few kilometers later and he is dropped.
With about 30kms to go, on the Kruiseberg, all the favourties are in the front group and Stybar attacks and takes Van Aert, Gilbert, Vanmarcke, Stuyven and Naesen with him.
The rest of the favourites are about 30’’ behind but they catch up a few kilometres before the last ascent of the Kwaremont. On that last climb of the Kwaremont, 4 riders are dropped so the front group now has 14 riders in it.
The last climb of the day is the Paterberg and at the top of that climb, Stuyven attacks.
Van Aert, Gilbert, Van der Poel and Sagan follow and there are several groups everywhere on the road. Lampaert, Kristoff and Vanmarcke join the group a few kilometres later and when the junction is made, this is when Kritoff attacks. With 5kms to go, he has 29’’ on the group behind him but with 3.5kms to go, he starts to really struggle and is caught by the group behind him.
So it’s a mass sprint, which is won by Van der Poel ahead of Vanmarcke and Sagan.
Le Gac is our best finisher, ending 38th. Demare is in the same group and is 45th.
