Yes please. That would be lovely. Use Asahi as the chest sponsor I think and FilmFour as the other sponsorship flashes. A white/silver with blue would be pretty cool. Red sleeves and sides might work for the FilmFour logo too.
Sky have the money but the other Brits kept the passion.
Why not check out my story of sexy new team Film4 - Asahi in the PCM10 Story section?
Much wub to: Cav, Millar, Lovqvist, Cunego, Hinc, Voigt, Cancellara, Menchov.
Wub to: Wiggins, Boonen, Beppu, Kloden, Gesink, Rogers, Moncoutie, Roche.
ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster wrote:
Yes please. That would be lovely. Use Asahi as the chest sponsor I think and FilmFour as the other sponsorship flashes. A white/silver with blue would be pretty cool. Red sleeves and sides might work for the FilmFour logo too.
SLEEPLESS NIGHT
I didn't sleep at all well last night. Some drunken Italian in the hotel was singing terrible karaoke at the top of his voice into the early hours. Miserable.
Still, turns out that Beppu and Arashiro were drawn to the sounds of karaoke like sailors to sirens, or a fat girl to pie. Soon their dulcet Japanese tones filled the corridor......Before our mechanic, furious at his lack of beauty sleep, stormed down the hall and dragged them back to their room.
At breakfast Arashiro didn't look to slick but Beppu still looked fresh - that lad has an iron constitution and eyelids of steel. I slagged Arashiro off a little but mostly because he hadn't sung "Paint it Black" by the Rolling Stones, which was a terrible oversight on his part.
ONE OF THOSE BORING DAYS....
Having the leader's jersey is great...Good for team morale, good for the sponsors, good for the rider....But I'm learning that it's also a heavy burden. The peloton looks to you to drag them along the stage, to set the tempo, to chase attacks....Of course it's our responsibility as we want to keep Beppu in the lead today and tomorrow, and 8 seconds (with 50-odd over the majority of the field) ain't enough to relax with.
Sure, Lampre helped us out at times, but only to make sure their sprinter Petacchi had a shot at winning a sprint.
A group went away early, stayed away for most of the day and from half way I gave the order for the lads to move to the front to take up the work to reel them back in. All the guys bar Arashiro (looking knackered so on bidon duty at the rear of the peloton), Dall'Antonio (best chance of a sprint win) and Beppu (leaders don't do work unless they have to) took their turn on the front of the group but it was still looking touch and go until first Cool Hand Flens, and then Nicky Roche forced up the pace. Roche is such a powerful man to have at the front of the group. So, we did our job today, kept Beppu safely in yellow, and Dall'Antonio had a go at the sprint but ended up following the wrong sprinter, attacking too soon and fading out of the top ten. Shame.
Special word has to go to Elijzen who protected Beppu strongly throughout and managed to stay in the front group up to the finishing line.
THE DAY'S ACTION IN HANDY PHOTO FORM
Spoiler
Beppu rides comfortably throughout the day in the front third of the peloton, no doubt Japanese Enka music playing in his mind.
"They've just reeled in the escape group!" Roche leaves them hanging out the front for a few more km and then ups the pace to prevent any more breakaways.
Two man sprint. Petacchi is a great sprinter who's on great form...
...But Beppu stays in yellow going into the final, hilly, day.
OR: THE ONE WHERE EVERYTHING GOES WRONG AND I CRASH INTO THE BACK OF THE BMC TEAM CAR IN MY ANGER
Apparantly things go wrong sometimes. I wish someone had told me that before I'd been hired for the job though.
I'll start at the beginning. Afterall, it's a very good place to start.
Not exactly the most terrifying stage ever but one thing was for sure - my team of flat-loving youngsters wasn't gonna to be going about their breakfast with joy and laughter.
Deep down I had worries that Beppu would have a few issues getting over those bumps within 57 seconds of those behind him in the standings but hey, he was in yellow and apparantly the Asahi licencing team were selling thousands of little Beppu figures back in Japan.
TRUE STORY - When Arashiro was involved in that stunning breakaway that survived in the Giro a few weeks ago, J-Sports TV channel in Japan were advertising these horrible little Arashiro figures that they were selling...
Still, the plan was easy. Keep Beppu protected, try to keep Roche as fresh as possible just in case Beppu blew out the rear, chase down the guaranteed big attack of the day and see what happened.
Well, I managed to chase down the attack (eventually) and I definitely saw what happened as the race unfolded, but it left me grinding my teeth as my fingernails started to tear into the retro leather of the steering wheel of our knackered jalopy.
The break went with seven men who built a lead of about 12 minutes. Sadly two of them were in the "57 second back" group.
Enjoy the race notes, cos I sure as hell don't.
Spoiler
+ Guerrieri proves to be a good domestique early in the stage, up and down smaller mountains and pulling a few minutes back on the early break.
+ Bellis spends the day on water duty while Arashiro should have enough strength to protect Beppu after a night without karaoke.
+ Guerrieri pops at 120km after dragging the peloton at a steadily high pace. Elijzen goes to the front with Flens waiting in the wings. We're looking after Roche in case Beppu struggles over the second categorised climb.
+ AG2R and Liqui showing interest at the front of the chase as Elijzen pops at 76km after a decent turn.
+ 45km to go and Arashiro goes forward with Roche to keep an eye on the front. Annoying that we need Roche so close to the wing.
+ The peloton is stretching as smaller groups are falling off the back.
+ Bugger. Beppu's blown his load with 24km to go as Liqui and Lampre cause crazy pressure at the front.
+ Only Roche and Dall'Antonio are in the front group for Film4 - Asahi. Dall'Antonio starts going backwards at 17km with 26 men remaining strong a the front.
+ Down to 17 as the lead group is stretched. Roche looking troubled at the back off the group at 8km.
+ Hoogerland attacks but Petacchi launches past him to win a stunning two man sprint. The front group is split up over a minute. Roche rolls over as the last of the group.
Petacchi takes a rather classy win on the stage AND the overall.
Beppu limps over the line seven minutes back, shepherded by Arashiro and Flens.
The embarrassment is that McEwen managed to finish 20th, ahead of seven of my riders. Bah. The only riders who can take praise from the stage are Guerrieri and Elijzen who domestiqued rather groovily. Roche performed okay I guess to cling on with the final 16.
Meh, Roche finished okay enough. Dall'Antonio got a decent finish but nothing whatsoever in the sprint competition.
The team bosses are still happy with Beppu's reign as the race leader for the few days and it got great coverage back in Japan (not a single wave in the UK though...) but there's some disappointment in the camp that will only improve with a much needed trip to an exciting family FUNFAIR tonight! Whoooo! Ferris wheel!
Edited by ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster on 28-06-2010 17:37
Sky have the money but the other Brits kept the passion.
Why not check out my story of sexy new team Film4 - Asahi in the PCM10 Story section?
Much wub to: Cav, Millar, Lovqvist, Cunego, Hinc, Voigt, Cancellara, Menchov.
Wub to: Wiggins, Boonen, Beppu, Kloden, Gesink, Rogers, Moncoutie, Roche.
After receiving helpful input from internet wildchild jph27, the Film4 - Asahi team has announced its' kit for this season after spending the first month bumming generic kits off of old men.
The colours of white, red and blue are striking, simple and include the colours of both the British and Japanese flags. The standard blue of Asahi and red of Film4 makes this possible. Minor sponsor PCM.daily also gets generous attention on the kit.
We are proud to reveal the new Irish Champion's jersey that team leader Nicholas Roche will be proudly wearing for this season. we feel that it is better than the one originally given to him by the UCI.
After receiving helpful input from internet wildchild jph27, the Film4 - Asahi team has announced its' kit for this season after spending the first month bumming generic kits off of old men.
The colours of white, red and blue are striking, simple and include the colours of both the British and Japanese flags. The standard blue of Asahi and red of Film4 makes this possible. Minor sponsor PCM.daily also gets generous attention on the kit.
We are proud to reveal the new Irish Champion's jersey that team leader Nicholas Roche will be proudly wearing for this season. we feel that it is better than the one originally given to him by the UCI.
....BUT I WASN'T THERE...
Sadly I had to miss this little one day jaunt around such a beautiful part of the world because I was having my backside handed to me by UCI chief Pat McQuaid for smashing into BMC's team car.
I got a hefty fine, a rap across the knuckles and also got an icy stare when I told him that he should have bothered to iron the flag behind him and that it just looked sloppy, like he was running a 2-bit organisation.
He also expressed disappointment that his fellow countryman Niccy Roche had to ride for such a despicable team manager as myself. I managed to hold back the old Cavendish fingers though because I'm a mature and classy individual.
THE RACE
In my absence my Japano-Icelandic assistant Takeshi Takeshison kept an eye on the lads out on the road. Millar was leading for us again and with a few climbs over the day the plan was to use all the other lads (bar Dall'Antonia) to bust a gut to mess up the attacks of any of the decent climbers and keep the pace high until the final climb, before coming to a halt and let Millar attack. The flat run-in would lead to a sprint otherwise.
Our sexy new kits are available for all to see as we take up a prominent role in the peloton with debut-boy De Wit tasked with protecting Millar. Sadly he didn't do a very good job.
UGH! Davey! Two times in two races! Still, he caught up to the peloton without too many problems.
Flens was the first of our lads to push at the front before Arashiro pulled for ages up the climbs. Guerrieri was tasked with sticking to Lampre's form man Petacchi and check out if he looks any good....Not in a gay way you understand, just if he's looking tasty today....I...er....moving on.
Anyway, our plan worked to the final climb and Millar took off! Whoosh! The peloton hadd been heavily split by our aggressive riding and only thirty guys remained up front.
But sadly Liquigas had seemingly marked this up as a possible win and chased him down. So we had to wait and Millar attacked again on the flat but by then it was too late. Dell'Antonia had dropped out of the lead group but dragged himself back for the sprint but was shattered and didn't figure in the final top ten. Shame.
Bennati wins and somehow Michael Rasmussen picked up a top ten in a sprint finish. Hmm. Interesting.
11th for Dally and 20th for Dave isn't too bad this early on but one of these days Millar is gonna stay on his bike all day and win something. As for Dall'Antonio? I worry he doesn't have the speed against the top couple of tiers of sprinters.
Sky have the money but the other Brits kept the passion.
Why not check out my story of sexy new team Film4 - Asahi in the PCM10 Story section?
Much wub to: Cav, Millar, Lovqvist, Cunego, Hinc, Voigt, Cancellara, Menchov.
Wub to: Wiggins, Boonen, Beppu, Kloden, Gesink, Rogers, Moncoutie, Roche.
So, with a few days before our next race I had a chance to relax for a little and think back over our baptism of fire this last week or so.
Seems like I'm making enemies in the sport already. Brailsford clearly doesn't like the competition, despite not seeing me as competition....Pat McQuiad doesn't like my attitude...but then that BMC car just appeared out of nowhere! Honest!
Gavin Chilcott, the American-faced American BMC Team boss was also bad-mouthing me in the US press. Still, I don't have any US sponsors or riders on my books so no real problems there.
The main thing is, my riders still seem to have a high morale. There's a great mood in the camp and I'll fight for my riders to get what they need and what they deserve. Roche is still over the moon. Seb is trying to get me to compete against him at frisbee golf when the team next has a full get-together, and Davey seems to be happy with the vibe in the camp which is great because I knew he was so happy at Garmin.
In fact, I managed to get a few words on the phone with his former director sportif Jonathan Vaughters who seemed like a nice fella. No doubt I'll have Bruyneel and Armstrong badmouthing me in the press any time soon because of it....Not that they know who I am mind you.
TEAM DREAMS:
I sat down to two meetings - one with the bosses and one with the riders. It's hard to balance the targets of the sponsors and higher management with the dreams of the riders.
The young lads are still learning, they're happy to fight and do their part. Millar's a romantic which, for me, is a beautiful way to approach cycling but it doesn't always prove successful for the French teams. Still, I think I can balance the targets and the dreams together.
Basically we're going to search out breaks, give our youngsters the chance of time out the front of the peloton and try and build an exciting team spirit as well as getting our sponsors' names onto as many highlights packages and live racing captions as possible.
On the subject of our youngsters, Filo Guerrieri looked pretty good in the small climbs yesterday and I really want to build on his climbing skills - make him as good a climber as possible. Pingu could make a good classics rider if he can build a faster kick. These are the two who I'm determined to give a real chance to...However with such a small squad I think all the boys are gonna get some serious kilometres in their legs this season.
ALLEZ.
Sky have the money but the other Brits kept the passion.
Why not check out my story of sexy new team Film4 - Asahi in the PCM10 Story section?
Much wub to: Cav, Millar, Lovqvist, Cunego, Hinc, Voigt, Cancellara, Menchov.
Wub to: Wiggins, Boonen, Beppu, Kloden, Gesink, Rogers, Moncoutie, Roche.
Yannick Talabardon 4th how has nobody else seen this haha Legend. This story is quality. Keep it going and hopefully a stage win in a break will follow
So, I was clicking around the cycling blogs while chowing down on a croissant and a nice cup of tea for breakfast and I run into the aptly named "Cycling Blog" which seems to be one of the big guns around these parts. Anyway, I check out the preview for the GP Mediterraneen and I see MY NAME!
Apparantly I said that I thought David Moncoutie would win the race!
Seriously, he's a nice guy and all but there's no way I'd be hyping up another team's rider the day of a big race for us. Still, nice to see they know how to spell my name.
CHOOSING THE TEAMS...
Two tours overlap starting from today. Five days in the Med and six days in Oman. My plan is to spend a few days in the European hills with Roche before flying out to Oman to follow Millar. Takeshison will hold down the fort for the last two days of the Med GP.
It did mean I had to portion out our 17 riders into two teams of 8 with one of our poor boys missing out. After much deliberation it's Jay Whitman who isn't looking too slick at the moment and could do with a few more days pounding up the hills in training before being let loose in a team jersey.
Fortunately the two races are pretty different but are also both important for us. They're definitely winnable and they're nice length races that will carry enough prestige to keep the sponsors happy. The climbers will be staying in Europe while the flat, fast guys will go to Oman which also features a tantalising time trial.
GP MEDITERRANEEN TEAM:
Leader: Roche
Beppu
Kennaugh
Arashiro
Guerrieri
Pingitore
De Wit
Longeran
Roche leads the team and will be looking at the possible overall or at least a top ten. There's no reason why he can't stay with the front group over the smallish climbs that will nonetheless weed out the weaker riders. Kennaugh will get the chance to stretch his legs over the climbs and I want to see what Guerrieri can do. The Japanese riders are there to do what the Japanese riders do.
TOUR OF OMAN TEAM:
Leader: Millar
Dall'Antonia
Meyer
Flens
Lang
Elijzen
Bellis
Wilkinson
This is an exciting team for the TT. We've got four guys who could realistically win it depending on the quality of the field but Millar can win against the Contadors of this world. Dall'Antonia, as our only sprinter, will be going as the other five stages could all be sprint finishes. These guys are all physically strong and if needed could pull back any breaks as well as being involved in any.
AND THEY'RE OFF!
So as usual a few riders have a sniff around at the start and a few breaks go. I'd given Petey Kennaugh the freedom to have a go today if he fancied so he went with a couple of the break attempts but they both came to nothing with the biggest lead being about a minute. Eventually the day's break pulled away from the peloton with none other than our very own Guerrieri within it! Whoo!
So now I get to see what he can do! He rode pretty smartly and did his fair share of work. The other riders in the group weren't the strongest out there and I was a bit worried that none of the big teams had a rider in the group meaning that they were destined to chase it down...Guerrieri attacked at the top of each of the climbs to take first in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Mountains checkpoints. Sadly he was too worn out at the fourth to compete, as the peloton started to drag them back in.
The gaps fell steadily - 5'10" at 63km, 5'02" at 60km, 4'22" at 50km, 3'36" at 40km...Down and down it went with the rest of my lads having a rare day off from leading the chase. Very relaxing for them! After taking on bidon duty, De Wit lifted off into the final kms and rode home behind the main group.
2'06" with 30km to go and finally they were back in sight again for the main group. At 20km the gap was down to just 45 seconds as the lead group split in attempts to stay away.
Eventually, in a very standard day's chase, they were caught at 10km and....
....a win-by-numbers for Fedrigo from BBox.
But...but wait a second....
BOOYAH! The romance is still alive!
Guerrieri celebrates the first special jersey of his career and spends most of the evening just holding the polka and staring at it.
After the evening's dinner, Pingu and Kenno grabbed him and sprayed red spots into his hair, taking photos which Kennaugh put up on his twitter page. A great accomplishment for the young Italian and the team.
In other news, it's nice to see the Tour de France podium getting a run out early in the season.
