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Karl Hammarling - Scene 25: The Grand Finale
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 17-12-2013 20:13
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Tour de France Champion
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Joined: 12-05-2012
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@Sutty - Certainly is! New team has breathed new life and ability into him
Act 2: Paved with Good Intentions
Scene 18: So that happened...
*ring ring* ring* “Hey Lucy, it’s Karl. I guess you’re out at the moment, but …erm… I was wondering if you wanted to go out again. I had a great time in Belgium last week, and I’m flying out to the States on the 10th after Sarthe. Let me know your answer ok. Cool, bye” Message received 1st April
*bbzzz* “Hey! Karl I wuld luv 2 go out again. How bout LeMans on 8-9th? XoX” Message sent 2nd April
8th April “Psst… Psst… Karl! You know whats funny? Hehe… How drunk I am! Such an awesome night out… Wanna split a cab to the Hotel?”
I have a love-hate relationship with alarm clocks. Yes they are useful but they always, Always!, ruin a morning. Especially when the hotel bed is warm… really warm.. hmm, it is overly warm… Oh we didn’t…
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 18-12-2013 10:27
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 18187
Joined: 12-05-2012
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Act 2: Paved with Good Intentions
Scene 19: Flying Back
Lucy said goodbye to me in the airport. After more than a year and a half apart we decided to start seeing each other again. It was going to be difficult with me living in Chicago but with Skype and things it shouldn’t be too tough. Major downside being that I was not expecting to race again in Europe until the start of June.
Next up on my calendar were a number of US National Series events. Beginning in Georgia with a 4 day race then heading on to a revived Coors Classic in Colorado. From there it would be down to New Mexico for the Tour of the Gila before the Tour of California! Big race that one. So a number of stage races to test me over the next two months.
In other news Motorola have been going well, taking a number of stage wins in various events across the Americas and in Europe. Still lacking some really big results, my De Panne win is the highlight so far, but with the US based season kicking up a gear things are going very nicely indeed.
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 25-11-2024 11:09
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 18-12-2013 11:59
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 34654
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Looking forward to the USA season kicking off  |
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 20-12-2013 09:32
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 18187
Joined: 12-05-2012
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@All - Holiday season so reduced down to one update a day i reckon... But planning a special Christmas Day update full of awesomeness
Act 2: Paved with Good Intentions
Scene 20: Not Quite Supersize
The Tour of Georgia was unremarkable from my point of view. The revived race is in its second year and attracts some good national level names. Our team was led by the Houle/Boily double and they both finished inside the Top10 GC. That said the team failed to win a stage, struggling a bit to get into the different mentality of the lower category racing.
The Coors Classic was revived for this year and begins life again as a three stage race across a weekend. Despite being in Colorado it’s an almost completely flat race for the sprinters. Stage 1a time-trial was my high point with a 6th place. Stage 1b was a Crit where the team delivered Jake Keough to a terrific 1-2 with Luke Keough. Stage 2, on the Sunday, was taken out by a promising young US star called Adam Speed, but the GC was held by an ageing Danny Pate for UHC.
I Skype with Lucy pretty much every night for a couple of hours. It’s tough doing these things over a distance but so far we are making it work. We’ve both grown since out last relationship and I think this is something really special.
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 20-12-2013 14:42
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 34654
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Nice to see that everything is still ok with Lucy |
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 21-12-2013 09:15
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 18187
Joined: 12-05-2012
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Act 2: Paved with Good Intentions
Scene 21: Tour of the Gila, Part I
The Tour of the Gila marks the real start of the Summer for me. New Mexico is hot and from here cold weather is hard to find. The 5 stage race has been on a great rise through the last few years and again attracts all the top names from the American racing scene. Our squad is headlined by Amador, targeting the GC, but also boasts Brenes, Houle and Boily as threats. The teams main sprinters are in action elsewhere in Europe.
Stage 1 included the races biggest climb. No-one was quite prepared to go all out in a breakaway in the high heat so until the base of the climb the race was nice and relaxed. The race hit the climb with a fast pace and rapidly the lead groups slimmed down, and on the finish line Amador just edged out Acevedo and Craddock to win the day.
Stage 2 was one for the sprinters and was mostly ignored by the team, apart from keeping Amador safe. Adam Speed attracted a lot of attention after he won the day. Stage 3 was a straight forward time trial. My job was to help gauge conditions for Amador, and I must have done a good job as he took out the stage win.
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 21-12-2013 15:12
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 34654
Joined: 22-08-2010
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Amador starting well in the Gila  |
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 23-12-2013 10:41
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Tour de France Champion
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Joined: 12-05-2012
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Act 2: Paved with Good Intentions
Scene 22: Tour of the Gila, Part II
Stage 4 was another criterium and was won by Guillaume Boivin. Stage 5 was the final day and a tough hilly route, made tougher by high winds and heat. Amador held a lead of about 45” over Craddock in second and was favourite to win the race now.
We did our job as a team, keeping a close eye on the breakaway. They stayed inside a decent range all day long and were caught with plenty of time remaining. The fireworks did come when Craddock and Gonzalez, 2nd and 4th GC, attacked with about 10km to go. Instead of chasing himself Amador had us do the work.
It worked as myself and Houle pulled them back with 6km to go. From there Brenes and Amador launched a double move to seal the race victory. Brenes lead over the line to move up to 9th overall, while Amador successfully defended his GC victory. A very nice race for the team indeed.
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 23-12-2013 11:47
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 34654
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Great to see Amador seal the win  |
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 24-12-2013 00:48
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Tour de France Champion
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@My one and only reader!
Thanks for all the recent support. The US season is really delivering for the squad, as the season was designed to.
Ok due to bad news i'm not writing a special Christmas piece, but there will be a great update on Xmas Day. Short but exciting as well
Act 2: Paved with Good Intentions
Scene 23: Tour of California, Part I
Amgen Tour of California is the biggest race in North America. It’s a tough 8 days with some of the biggest names in cycling regularly attending. This year was no different with headline names such as Sagan, Van Garderen, Talansky, Chaves and Ludvigson.
The 8 days started in the south in Los Angeles and slowly worked up, via some mountains, to finish in San Francisco. There was a time trial, 2 hilly days, 2 summit finishes and 3 flat days to complete. Amador lead the GC attack, supported by Brenes, Houle and Boily. I was here to attack, along with Reijnen and Reynolds. Finally Arashiro was to try and pick something up in a sprint finish.
A decent squad but not outstanding. A Top10 GC was possible and we also wanted a Stage win and perhaps a Jersey win as well.
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 24-12-2013 00:56
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 34654
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Lets hope the guys enjoy themselves in California, Good Luck |
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| Ian Butler |
Posted on 24-12-2013 08:37
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Tour de France Champion
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Joined: 01-05-2012
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There are more reading. Only one is commenting at the moment, though. Still a difference. |
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| Dippofix |
Posted on 24-12-2013 11:12
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3906
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Exactly, i'm also reading!
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 28-12-2013 15:34
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 18187
Joined: 12-05-2012
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Act 2: Paved with Good Intentions
Scene 24: Tour of California, Part II
“Karl? Karl?! Karl! Can you hear me Karl? Can – you – hear – me?” Why is my world all fuzzy? And why is some dude asking if can hear him?
Slowly, very slowly focus and clarity began returning to my head. The last thing I remember was a grey thing, must have been a road, moving very fast towards my face. I must have crashed my bike, and hard. My head was killing me and some guy was calling my name.
“Yeah I can hear you dude. Where am i?”
“Oh good. You’re at San Joaquin Community Hospital, Bakersfield.”
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| Dippofix |
Posted on 28-12-2013 15:40
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3906
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Oh shit. 
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 29-12-2013 21:45
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 18187
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@Dippo - Little bit yeah....
Act 2: Paved with Good Intentions
Scene 25: Enforced Rest
Let me catch you up a bit. I crashed out of the AToC on stage 2. Not sure exactly how but I landed head first on the road and have been in hospital for 3 days with a concussion. I also broke my hand meaning I will be out of racing action for a couple of weeks. Fortunately it’s not too bad so I’m getting a special cast fitted that will allow me to ride within a week. Should be almost back to normal in a month.
The race itself is still going on, and Amador is doing well. He sits 11th on GC but there is still a summit finish to come. The team hasn’t got a stage win, but Reijnen is leading the KoM classification and, barring anything too stragne, should win that competition.
My mum wanted to come out and see me, but I convinced her it wasn’t necessary and that I was fine. I did have to promise to go and see her as soon as I got out of hospital and a break. Motorola have cancelled a couple of races for me, so I won’t be in action until the Trofeo Melinda on the 22nd.
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 29-12-2013 23:30
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 34654
Joined: 22-08-2010
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You should count yourself lucky, it could have been a lot worse than it was  |
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 30-12-2013 16:52
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Tour de France Champion
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Joined: 12-05-2012
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Act 2: Paved with Good Intentions
Scene 26: Summer Break
Ok so riding is tough and sporadic for a couple of weeks because of my hand, but I can deal with it. My building has a rooftop pool and the average temperature is mid-20’s, peaking into the low 30’s. So I spend a lot of time chilling and doing basic workout routines to keep my shape.
I would love to be on the bike some more but I don’t want to overdo my hand. Mikey, the teams techy main bike guy, came buy and helped set up a static Turbo Trainer in my flat so I can turn the pedals without needing to put pressure on the bars. It’s a bit odd but it does work nicely.
As an added bonus of the unexpected break, Lucy was able to come out to Chicago. I had 3 weeks of non-racing time and she was able to convince her bosses to rearrange her schedule. It’s been three great weeks of chilling and easy training together. And soon we are both flying back to Europe and back to racing.
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 30-12-2013 16:55
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 34654
Joined: 22-08-2010
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Those three weeks went so quick |
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 31-12-2013 13:42
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 18187
Joined: 12-05-2012
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Act 2: Paved with Good Intentions
Scene 27: Trofeo Melinda
The Trofeo Melinda was my only chance to race before the Nationals. If I hadn’t crashed I would have a full two months of solid racing in my legs and peak fitness. Instead it’s a disrupted training set of legs. Still good fitness, that doesn’t just disappear, but it’s hard to gauge real form without racing.
It gets a decent race list of Italians before their Nationals including, Moser, Ulissi, Battaglin and old favourites like Cunego and Pozzovivo. Our team was headed by Valls but really we weren’t expecting much. And that was how it turned out. None of us had the ability to go with the contenders late on in the race, with Valls finishing 27th and myself in 35th.
Not overly bad but not what I wanted right before the Nationals. I am set on defending my title! The route is really helpful there. It is tough, with a medium level climb each lap, and a tight descent that I love. Based around Bristol they are roads I know well.
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![imgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpg](https://imgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpg)
