Don't suppose anyone could tell me how I can improve the team's kit graphics a bit? I'm a total noob with the graphics side of it, its just one of the kits that was in there, either from the game or the PCM Daily database I dunno. It would be cool to shake things up on it, add sponsors etc.
Not great at graphics and jerseys, but so far it's a very nice story. Really well written and looks good. Keep up the good work mate Edited by Alakagom on 03-06-2012 22:45
Keen to continue their successes at the Tour Down Under, Travelling Man headed to the Tour de San Luis with a completely fresh squad of 8 riders. The team was led by the veteran of the team, 27-year-old climber Jonathan Tiernan-Locke who would be looking to attack in the three stages of the race with uphill finishes along with Peter Kennaugh. Other more high profile squads in the race included Astana, led by Alexandre Vinokourov, Katusha, led by Simon Spilak, and Movistar, led by Benat Intxausti.
Squad
Jonathan Tiernan-Locke (Leader)
Peter Kennaugh
Ian Bibby
John Hill
Leon Jeffrey
Jonathon McEvoy
Charlie Rooney
Andrew Tennant
Course
Stage 1
Stage 1 was a quiet day on the road. Travelling Man’s Ian Bibby got himself into a 10 man break, won one of the intermediate sprints and stayed away until just under 10km remained of the stage. It was then when Katusha decided to take control of the race and set up Angel Vicioso for the sprint. Unfortunately for them, Vicioso had kicked too soon and he was passed by British sprinter Russell Downing of Endura Racing. Downing took the stage ahead of Vicioso and Oscar Gatto of Farnese Vini - Selle Italia. Travelling Man’s Jonathon McEvoy contested the sprint but could only muster a 13th place finish.
Stage 2
Having missed the early break on day 2, Ian Bibby continued his attacking style, bursting out of the peloton with 15km to go, just as the gap to the breakaway dipped under a minute. By the 10km banner he had caught up to the front 4, but as the road kicked upwards at 3.5km left, the 5 riders were caught. Moments later, the duo of Travelling Man climbers, leader Jonathan Tiernan-Locke and Peter Kennaugh attacked together.
It soon became apparent that Kennaugh had better legs than leader Tiernan-Locke on the day. Tiernan-Locke drove Kennaugh up the climb as far as he could before “hitting the wall” as the big hitters from Astana and Katusha swarmed up the climb. Kennaugh kicked into his sprint and accelerated away from the rest alongside Evgeni Petrov of Astana and yesterday’s runner-up and stand-in Green Jersey Angel Vicioso, who was showing great form in varied terrain already. Kennaugh held off the other two to claim the stage win for Travelling Man.
The victory moved Kennaugh to 2nd in the GC, on the same time as Vicioso who took the Yellow Jersey. Kennaugh also grabbed the climbers’ and young riders’ jerseys. Endura’s Russell Downing did well to finish in the top 10 up the climb, and Tiernan-Locke gritted his teeth to hold on for 5th place on the stage, and 7th overall with it.
Stage 3
Stage 3 was a good chance for several of the team manager’s to catch up on their sleep, and frankly it seemed like much of the peloton was snoozing with them. Luckily the day’s breakaway lacked organization and in-fighting led to them being comfortably caught at 17km out. The stage ended in a bunch sprint and SpiderTech’s Keven Lacombe took the win quite comfortably. There were no changes at the top of the GC.
Stage 4
A relatively short 17km time trial on Stage 4 shook things up in the GC quite a bit. Janez Brajkovic and Alexandre Vinokourov had strong showings for Astana, finishing 3rd and 4th. However, another fantastic performance from Angel Vicioso meant he took the stage from Tom Dumoulin of Team Argos-Shimano and eked out a 3 second lead over Brajkovic in the GC while Peter Kennaugh finished 30th and slipped to 3rd overall. Jonathan Tiernan-Locke lost over a minute and slipped to 7th. Andrew Tennant and Ian Bibby came home in 10th and 11th on the day, both moving into the top 20.
Stage 5
Ian Bibby was on the attack early again for Travelling Man on Stage 5, but multiple attacks including both him and Jonathon McEvoy were pulled back by a Katusha-driven peloton. Eventually Androni’s Jose Serpa managed to slip away on his own. With a short sharp incline followed by a short descent at the end of the stage, Astana, Katusha and Travelling Man came to the fore to position the top 3 GC riders at the front of the pack. Once again Travelling Man were aggressive with Peter Kennaugh and Jonathan Tiernan-Locke who caught Serpa with 1.5km remaining on the climb. By the mountain sprint, Team Type 1 climber Julien El Fares caught our duo, and shortly after Alexandre Vinokourov caught them and had the lead at the 5km banner. El Fares wasn’t done yet though, and kicked a second time to pass Vinokourov to take a solo victory. Angel Vicioso showed his form again with a late move to grab 3rd. Tiernan-Locke grabbed 5th for Travelling Man while Kennaugh slipped back to 10th but kept his lead in the young riders standings and 4th in the GC, with El Fares rising to 2nd and Tiernan-Locke moving up to 6th.
Stage 6
Stage 6 was a different style of stage to those before. Out were the short, sharp climbs and in were two longer ones that threatened to sap the energy of weaker riders. Travelling Man’s Andrew Tennant was in the early break, winning the first mountain sprint but was gapped further up the first big climb and was eventually caught by the pack while his fellow escapees lasted it out in front until the 2nd climb. It was on this climb that the big names took to the front of the group and splits soon started to form. Peter Kennaugh and Jonathan Tiernan-Locke were once again aggressive early as they tried to get a jump on their, probably stronger, rivals with quick attacks up the climb. Kennaugh, wearing the white jersey, was shadowed all the way by Katusha as their strong climbers worked hard for Angel Viciosop.
Eventually a group of Vicioso, Simon Spilak and Daniel Moreno of Katusha and Astana’s Janez Brajkovic dropped Kennaugh and by the top of the climb it was Vicioso and Brajkovic out in front. Brajkovic laid it all on the line on the climb but Vicioso was fearless on the descent and left him for dust. Another solo victory for Vicioso, gapping Brajkovic by over a minute and taking a 2’34” lead in the GC. Kennaugh was 7th on the day but held on to 4th overall and the white jersey, while Tiernan-Locke finished 20th putting him 10th in the GC.
Stage 7
In a quiet conclusion to the tour, another sprint finish brought another stage win for SpiderTech and their Canadian rider Keven Lacombe. Peter Kennaugh and Jonathan Tiernan-Locke finished at the front of the pack to keep 4th and 10th overall for Travelling Man. Angel Vicioso contested the sprint and took home the yellow and green jerseys, and Kennaugh the white jersey for best young rider.
Post-race thoughts from Rory Walker
When asked about his team’s performance at the Tour de San Luis, Travelling Man team boss Rory Walker was in good spirits. I’m very happy with what we’ve achieved here over the last week. Peter [Kennaugh] and Jonathan [Tiernan-Locke] both grabbed top 10 places, and with Peter also getting a stage win and the white jersey. That’s a pretty good haul for us here considering we had to deal with the likes of Katusha and Astana who both brought multiple strong climbers. We were always aggressive here and I think that paid off.
Other News
The final stage of the Tour de San Luis also coincided with the one-day 140km race that is the Grand Prix de Marseillaise. Travelling Man sent a sprinter-heavy squad that included Adam Blythe and Andrew Fenn, stage winner and sprinters jersey winner respectively at the Tour Down Under just a week before. The hilly terrain suited a breakaway and it was a group of two Rabobank and an FDJ – Big Mat rider that got away to contest the race. In the end it was Rabobank’s Carlos Barredo that took the win, ahead of FDJ’s Pierrick Fedrigo and teammate Bram Tankink. Andrew Fenn came in tenth.
- It was announced that Rory Walker would also manage the Great British national team at the World Championships later in the season.
- Peter Kennaugh is Travelling Man’s top ranked rider in the Continental Tour rankings, sitting 2nd in the table.
- In the Superprestigue rankings, Andrew Fenn is on top, ranked 6th following his Tour Down Under successes.
- Travelling Man sits atop the team rankings for the Continental tour.
The next race on the agenda for Travelling Man was Etoile de Besseges, a 2.1 classified 5-day race in the South of France, which consisted of mostly hilly stages, with one significant climb on Stage 3, but each stage with a decent chance of a bunch sprint. Team manager Rory Walker selected a squad packed full of sprinters, led by Ben Swift. Other strong squads included Cofidis led by Leonardo Duque and AG2R-La Mondiale led by Sebastian Hinault.
Squad
Ben Swift (Leader)
Ian Bibby
Adam Blythe
Alex Dowsett
Andrew Fenn
Jonathon McEvoy
Nic O'Connor
Chris Opie
Stage 1
Stage 1 Course
Early on in the opening stage, Travelling Man failed in their attempts to get Chris Opie or Jonathon McEvoy into any break that could stay away, although both picked up mountain points in their short-lived escapes.
With those attacks reeled in, Travelling Man took to the front of the peloton along with Rabobank to try to control the race and ensure a sprint finish. With 15km to go, the Travelling Man sprint train that had had mixed result earlier on the season formed and held strong. Alex Dowsett drove the team forward followed by Andrew Fenn and Adam Blythe was the final leadout man for Ben Swift.
Travelling Man sprint train takes to the front
AG2R, Cofidis and Rabobank all attempted to latch onto the Travelling Man train, and Sebastian Hinault led the race round the final corner but Ben Swift was not to be defeated. On paper the best sprinter in the race, Swift was determined to get the win and he took it by a bike length.
Ben Swift wins!
AG2R also grabbed 3rd through Anthony Ravard while Cofidis had 5th and 6th with Samuel Dumoulin and Leonardo Duque. With the win, Swift took the yellow, green and white jerseys, and Chris Opie was in the polka dot climbers jersey.
Stage 2
Stage 2 Course
With most of the day's climbs early on, Jonathon McEvoy attacked to grab some points early but was quickly reeled in after the climbs. The remaining half of the stage was very much uneventful and once again the Travelling Man train formed and held strong, driving the show forward. To their credit though, AG2R did an excellent job of their own, and Sebastian Hinault timed his sprint to perfection, with both himself and his leadout man Manuel Belletti sweeping past Ben Swift in the drive to the line.
AG2R do the double, beating Ben Swift into 3rd place
The win moved Hinault into the race lead and points lead. McEvoy's early attacks meant Travelling Man retained the climber's jersey and Ben Swift held onto the white jersey and 2nd place overall.
Stage 3
Stage 3 Course
With a climb with around 50km to go on the stage, Travelling Man knew they would have their work cut out for them to control the race and ensure a sprint finish. In the end, their leadout for Ben Swift did it's job well, but the breakaway 7 riders from the day's break held out in front and AG2R's Sebastien Hinault managed to get the better of Swift for the 2nd day in a row to claim 8th place and maintain a 4 second lead over Swift in the GC.
Out in front, it was the Landbouwkrediet-Euphony rider Frederic Amorison that out-sprinted fellow escapees Stefano Locatelli and Fabien Schmidt to win the day.
The top 3 escapees sprint it out and Amorison takes the win
Stage 4
Stage 4 Course
Stage 4 was a much flatter stage than the previous, and with the exception of a large-ish crash with 20km to go, the day was very uneventful prior to the finale. Adam Blythe went down in the crash and Alex Dowsett was held up behind it, so there was no option for Travelling Man of constructing their normal leadout. Leader Ben Swift, wearing the sprinters' green jersey, decided to grab the wheel of Leonardo Duque while Andrew Fenn followed Sebastien Hinault. The two Travelling Man men sprinted solo, the old-school way, and each managed to get the better of their man and they took the top two places in the reduced-strength sprint. Swift took his second win of the race and reclaimed the overall lead from Hinault who came in 5th on the day.
(Note - I had problems with my screenshots from stages 4 and 5)
Stage 4 Result
Stage 5
Stage 5 Course
The 5th and final stage of the race was a circuit race with a short ramp up at the end of the circuit to add an interesting extra dimension to the sprint. In the end though, it had very little effect on the outcome, and the top 3 riders overall took the top 3 places on the stage. Travelling Man set up Ben Swift for a hat-trick to seal his race victory and he relished the win in the yellow jersey. Sebastien Hinault and Leonardo Duque rounded off the podium both on the day and in the GC behind Swift.
Stage 5 Result
Speaking after the race, team manager Rory Walker had the following to say:
You can’t say enough about Swifty’s performance here. 3 wins out of 5 stages is outstanding. He was the best rider in the race and it showed. With all that said, you have to credit the whole team as well, though. The leadout for Ben was fantastic and directly led to his success on a few stages here. No one rider ever wins a stage race on their own, so everybody deserves a lot of praise here. We won all three of the main jerseys and that takes a lot of work from the whole team. I’m flying off to the Vuelta a Mallorca tonight, where I hear we grabbed a podium place on Stage 1 today, so these riders can head back to base camp and get some rest, but the work continues tomorrow in Mallorca for me!
Walker also teased that the team had signed a number of sponsorship deals to compliment their income from Travelling Man. He revealed that Travelling Man had commissioned a designer by the name of “baia” to work on their kit and they would be unveiling the kit in Mallorca tomorrow!
Up next for Travelling Man... The new kit is revealed at the Vuelta a Mallorca!
The Travelling Man Pro Cycling Team used the Vuelta a Mallorca as the stage on which to unveil their new kit, which was designed by baia.
Prominently featuring the Travelling Man sky blue logo and sticking with the team’s orange colours also, the Nike kit utilizes black shorts for that “classic” look and also features several new minor sponsors from newly-signed deals.
New Sponsors
2000 AD is a British comic book publishing company, most famous for the weekly magazine of the same name which features Judge Dredd comics and other short stories. Dark Horse is another comic company, US-based, which publishes comics that are from several licensed properties including Star Wars, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly/Serenity, Aliens and Conan. Image Comics are also a comic publisher, and is the leading indie publisher, with the largest market share after DC and Marvel. Top current books from this company include The Walking Dead, Saga, Chew, The Manhattan Projects and many others. Hypergeek.ca is a website featuring comic book industry news, reviews and articles.
Here’s the Travelling Man squad out on the road in the new kit!
Up next for Travelling Man... Race reports from the Vuelta a Mallorca!
Nice jerseys, wow!
I like the story, the presentation is good, though sometimes the overview is lost imo. Maybe you could underline for example: stage 2 course, stage 3 course... So that it seems more neat?
Congrats on the stage wins, very nice!
Ian Butler wrote:
Nice jerseys, wow!
I like the story, the presentation is good, though sometimes the overview is lost imo. Maybe you could underline for example: stage 2 course, stage 3 course... So that it seems more neat?
Congrats on the stage wins, very nice!
Appreciate the advice. I'll smarten it up a bit for the next update.
