TheManxMissile wrote:
loving the look
is it possible to get team stats?

04/02/2012: GP COSTA DEGLI ETRUSHI



Our first Race of the Season is the GP Costa Degli Etrushi in Italy. We have some tough opposition down here with Liquigas bringing Sagan and Quickstep firing up the Tommmeke Engine. Thus our Tactics are simple: Get in the Break of the day and make the best of it. If all fails we still have Luca Conrad to count on!

Here is our Squad:



It took a while for a Break to develop. We ourselves had numerous tries to form or get into the Break with Moreno Angst and Silvan Dillier. Well, all attempts failed. The group was formed by Amore Vitas Colex, Quicksteps Trentin, Astanas Dyachenko and one of the Millions of Masciarellis that ride for Aqua et Sapone... With 156 Kilometers to go, Dillier tried to break away from the pack and bridge the gap to the 4 men upfront, but he never got a greater advantage then 35 seconds. So I simply called him back to the Pack cause there was nothing he could do from his position other than wasting energy. The BOD however had a maximum gap of six minutes. Could that be enough?


It is a real doubtful assumption, as Katusha,RNT and Liquigas are setting the Pace in the Pack halfway through the race and the gap is shrinking quickly.


And Indeed, with only 20k remaining the gap is down to only one minute. It seems like the pack is playing games with the 4 escapees and lets them in to believe that if they waste more energy they can win it (some fools up front). Meanwhile Shiplevski (Ag2r) attacks. He was involved in an off camera crash early in the race but that doesnt seem to have affected his rythm, but can he distance the pack?


NO! With less than 15k to go everyones caught and swallowed by the pack. And with that said, we all know its SPRINTING TIME! Luca went for a bold move and took the back wheel of Ben Swift. Can he make this his advantage? Can he get a podium, possibly, a top ten certainly, no?


Well, turns out he was feeling his legs a bit to much. Swift pulled away slightly on the Home Straight and Luca had to fight for 18th, miles away from todays clear winner, Peter Sagan! He edges out Boonen and a suprisingly strong Nizzolo to take the Win in Italy. Seems like he has great plans for this season (Maybe a green Jersey at the Tour?)

Well, It wasnt an ideal start into the season for our swiss boys, but we can be really satisfied with an 18th place. Afterall, we could have done a lot worse regarding the opposition (yes boonen etc. beat us but hey, who cares! Ride with the best to be the best!)... The only negative of the race was the fact that although we tried 100s of times, we didnt manage to get into the break away group. Hopefully the results get better soon because right now, we are loosing more money than we make...

The Giro della Provincia di Reggio Calabria (or short Giro di Clabria) is a short italian stage race that exissts since 1920. This years route is over 2 stages, one being hilly and one more or less flat. A decent puncheur or fighter coud take this race if te field is weak. With a stronger fireld, this could be a race wheer a sprinter with a strong team can take it.
Record Champion of the race is Michele Dancelli who has a long pedigree of Grand-Tour stage wins as well as wins on the Via Roma in San Remo and also gained a tite on the top of la mur de huy... Well, a perfect puncheur...

miggi133 wrote:
EDIT: Does sombody know how to Export Startlists in PCM 12? I have no idea...

Giro Della Provincia Di Regione Callabria



Well, Race number 2 this season is the 2 day italian stage race Giro di Callabria. The field is pretty strong as riders such as Sagan (obviously Liquigas wants to screw us!), DiLuca (ASA), and Seeldrayers (AST) are here. We ourselves put everything on the first day, so we dint bring Luca Conrad. If we get into the Break of the day we might be in for an ok result in this race overall. So, in order to try to get a top 20 result, we brought this squad:




Well, the plan was to get a man into the breakaway and we achieved that goal by placing Mirco Saggiorato into the Break. The other riders in the group were Amore et Vitas Martins, DiSalvo (Miche) and former Moldovian champion Berdos (Utensilnord Named).



Back in the pack, it was Lampre and Liquigas who set the pace. But they gave the BOTD a lot of leeway and a maximum advantage of 8 minutes. could this be Mircos Chance?



Speaking of which, Mirco was just hanging in the back of the breakaway group. He was obviously being rebellious and planning something, despite strict orders from my side that told him to work in the group.



And that definitely didnt please the pack. With only 60k to go, the advantage of the group was down to only 5 minutes... Well, looks like Sagan will take it again...
And as the gap shirnks numerous (wothless) attacks start, the most notable one being by Vorganov (Katusha)



But Mirco this did not put off by those actions and as the road started to rise he tried to pull clear of the break.



But it didnt pan out. What did though, was the fact that the break still had a 2 minute advantage over the pack. Something was definetly cooking.



And suddenly Mirco breaks free! GO MIRCO GO! YOU CAN DO IT; GET THAT LAZY ARSE OF YOU OVER THAT FINISH LINE!!!



A bad effect of the happenings up front is, that Moreno Angst is the last rider to fall out of the pack... BUT MIRCO IS UP FRONT!!!



Only 5 more Kilometres and a 40 second advantage remain! This might be the best chance we will get for a win the whole season!



But under the red kite, we knew it wouldnt be enough, cause Mirco was caught by the pack. He was pretty exhausted but maybe he could still get a good result in the sprint...



While Capecchi and Sella where fighting for the win, we ewre waiting for Mirco. So two Questions were most interesting for us. First Who the hell won now? And Secondly, what did Mirco get?

Capecchi won the race, but more importantly, After his great and long effort in hte break and as solo rider today, Mirco takes 12TH in the stage and 3rd in the U25 Classification! WHAT A RESULT, UNREAL!!!

Well, overall the Team was again pushed to its maximum by strong opponents. But Mirco's 12th Place made up for a lot of this. It was a great stage for us. We got a top 15 results, and had a lot of great moments during the stage. So all we have to do is to defend 3rd place in the U25 riders classification... Shouldnt be to hard, right? Lets see what tomorrow brings...

sutty68 wrote:
Getting closer to a top ten finish, it won't be long before it arrives

Giro Della Provincia Di Regione Callabria - Stage 2



The Profile of this stage is advertised as a flat one. And with the last hill being so far out, eho can blame the organisers? But we will try the impossible anyways! We want to get into the break with one of our climbers and give it a shot at the stage win (even if it seems very unlikely). Simultaneously, we want to keep Mirco in the Top15 of the GC as well as in 3rd in the Youth Classification. Both goals should prove possible, so lets jump into the race!



The Break of the Day was initiated by Moreno Angst today (the goal of getting one of our climbers into the break: achieved). He was joined by Randazzo (MIE), Tamayo (WIT) and Ratti (IDE). The 4 guys got away pretty early after the start and surely would be riding at the front for a long time...



... as neither Liquigas nor Lampre, nor Androni were prepared to make the pace for the pack. This led to a rapid increase in advantage for the 4 escapees. Would that be good for us?



At around the halfway mark something magical has happenned! Moreno Angst is in the provisional leaders jersey as the advantage on the pack has risen to over 7.45 min! We have to keep this going!!!



But soon after, the pack senses the danger Angst is representing and they start to reel in the 4 guys with Lampre basically doing all the work by themselves...



And the closer the pack gets, the more agressive the mood in the break gets! Knowing that even if they finish ahaed of the pack he wont be in the leaders jersey at the end of the day, Moreno starts an ambitious attack for the stage win 56km out...



... which gets him nowhere other than to the back of the group. So no stage win then either... A top 3 is possible though, no?



Well, I have to disappoint again, because Tamayo attacks, and Moreno is nowhere to be seen. He left to much energy on the hills with his fruitless attacks...



And smart riding brought the other two back to Tamayo while Moreno is dropped. Well, Lets go for a top 5! Go on Moreno!



And yet again, our hops are crushed... With only 10km to go, Liquigas has shown which team has the most power in this race and reeled them in finally. So its up to the sprinters and i would say this is something for the mysterious Slovak Peter Sagan...



BUT HE SHOWS THAT HE IS BEATABLE! Andronis Ferrari sprints to first with Sagan in 2nd, while Capecchi cruises over the line as the winner of the 2012 Giro Della Provincia Di Regione Callabria! But what about Mirco? did he manage to keep the spot in the top 15? YES! Great result for our team here, although on both stages we were unlukcy (especially on the first one) but we take this race as a good sign for the future!

Well, we didnt win a stage, we didnt win a jersey, we were marginal in the Team Classification and overall, we lost 3 places in the overall on day 2. But we got a top 15 in the gc a third in the young riders classification and a lot of media exposure through Mirco and Moreno in the breakaways. I think that is something we can all build on and thnak to our few followers which I have seen on the track today! We'll move on to the next race with a lot more confidence and the hope of a weaker starter field!