Sorry about this - after my save game was corrupted and I had to restart, I couldn't resists the itch to alter the team - so here is the 2006 Shell team
Team Presentation 2006
Leaders
Mountains – Jose Chacon (28, Venezuelan)
A stunning climber, Jose has always had a talent when the road starts to rise, and is looking to lead the team in its forte this season. He will be looking to blast away the competition in long stage races like the Vuelta a Colombia.
Sprints – Kirk O’Bee (28, American)
Bought from Navigators, the classics specialist is the team sprinter, but also has the legs to get over hills. He will be looking to excel in shallow hilly races, such as the Tour of California, his home race.
Hills – Darren Lill (23, South African)
Still young, Darren is strong all round, making him a valuable super-domestique as well as our hill leader, and will be looking to do well in his home race, the Giro del Capo.
Climbers
Saul Raisin (23, American)
Our climbing prodigy, Saul has ridden for ProTour Credit Agricole, coming 37th in the Tour de Suisse, but has moved down to a lower division to have a chance at leading a team. He will be concentrating on stage races where his climbing ability can shine through.
Dario Cataldo (20, Italian)
One of the most promising riders in the world, our coaching team will help him follow in the footsteps of Italian greats like Coppi, and will target the toughest climbs on our calendar.
Ed Clancy (20, British)
Possibly the strongest all round rider in the team, Ed should begin to specialise this season, and deliver the promise he has been showing in the coming seasons. He will be looking to improve his natural fitness, and will therefore, be looking at tough, mountainous stage races
Brad Viera (19, American)
Just 19, but already touted as the next Lance Armstrong, Brad’s focus this year will be gaining valuable experience and improving on his already impressive stamina.
Alex Ardila Cano (22, Colombian)
Another strong climber, Alex is fashioned in the same mould as our leader, Jose Chacon, and loves those high altitude climbs.
Sprinters
Geraint Thomas (19, British)
Geriant is a strong all round rider, but this year is looking towards specialising as a sprinter, and with so many years ahead of him, can alter his career direction whenever he wishes, so gaining experience is key this season
Danilo Wyss (20, Swiss)
Danilo is already a strong sprinter, and at 20, the future can only be bright. He’ll be leading and coordinating our sprint chain whenever Kirk isn’t around
Theo Bos (22, Dutch)
Theo has decided to switch from his excellent track career and go into road racing – he’ll try to build up his stamina and get to those finishes, where he should be unbeatable
All Round Domestiques and Young Talents
Dermot Nally (25, Irish)
The Galway rider is set on helping the team do its best this season, and is always a positive influence on the team
Rory Sutherland (23, Australian)
Another strong all round rider, the young Aussie will hope to improve during the season and send the team in a new direction as he trains for the northern classics
Marcel Kittel (17, German), Mark Jamieson (21, Australian) and Cameron Meyer (18, Australian)
3 strong and promising time trialists, he will focus on gaining experience and helping our leaders
And finally…
Director Sportif - Will Reader (Old, British)
Will, a former Shell employee and winner of our Star Search contest, will take his debut season in charge of a cycling team, and is looking forward to the challenges ahead
Edited by Crommy on 27-10-2007 16:44
So my team is looking better than I expected actually – I’ve got a focus on young talents, but given they’ve all got 2 year contracts minimum (apart from Kirk O’Bee), the ProTour goal is looking less and less impossible. Now all I’ve got to do is meet the, train them, race them, keep them healthy, make sure they steer clear of drugs, win the Continental Tour within 2 seasons, then the Tour de France within 4, and I’m sorted. Ok, simple? Well, first part’s over, I’ve sorted out a January schedule – we’ll have 3 races in January, beginning with the Aussie Champs for our Australian riders, then the Tour Down Under just after that (an extended holiday for the team), and we’ll finish with the Doha International GP, which should be good exposure for the team and the sponsors
French Alps, December 28th
I met the riders today, and talked to each of them personally. They all seem geared up for the season ahead, and really want to make this new team successful. But, and a big but here, there is a feeling among quite a few of the riders that I’m way too inexperienced for this job. I can’t fault them – I’m unproven, and have got a job many have worked years towards, but I hope it doesn’t spread. Cameron Meyer seems to be the most resentful towards me, and he has been influencing quite a few of the riders, especially Geraint Thomas, who seems to be a little down. I’ll prove to them I’m good enough though – starting tomorrow, with our first training session.
Opening Training, Gap, France, December 29th
A crisp cold morning greeted us as we went out on our first training ride, through the climbs around Gap – it immediately became apparent that the team was lacking stamina, so only some short, shallow climbs were taken. Cameron Meyer has already signalled his intent openly, he really doesn’t like me – he refused to do his fair share of work, but the only one who doesn’t benefit is him – he won’t build up his stamina, he won’t get fit, so he won’t race. Everyone else though was laughing and joking, glad to be riding with a team again, and Kirk O’Bee definitely helped me relax, chatting to me and getting to know me. Let’s bring on those races.
I've nearly decided to stop this story - Mads Kaggestad won a race. I'm prepared for some forages into unrealistic results, but this is something else :x:x
Crommy wrote:
I've nearly decided to stop this story - Mads Kaggestad won a race. I'm prepared for some forages into unrealistic results, but this is something else :x:x
Australian Championships
14th January 2006, Mt Torrens
My first race ever was the Aussie national champs, and we had 3 riders competing: Cameron Meyer, Mark Jamieson and Rory Sutherland, and our sole aim was to try and get into a break, as with only 47 riders, a break would most probably win.
So, I nearly had a heart attack when all 3 of my guys set off straight away. That wasn’t what I wanted. But it worked. 3 other riders followed, and given Rory was our only rider in any semblance of form, he sat in, whilst the other 2 worked, to open the gap.
Charge of the shell brigade
With 50km left, Mark and Cameron had dropped off, but the break was secured, and whilst Mark focused on staying in front of the pack, Cameron abandoned, unhappy with himself, and angry at me for forcing him to work so hard.
However, Ben Brooks of Navigators then began to up the pace, and Rory couldn’t hold on, so Brooks took it easy to win. Rory sprinted hard against ProTour rider Trent Lowe to give us our first runner-up spot of the season, but he was still unhappy – with these kind of races, its first or nowhere.
Brooks wins whilst Rory battles hard for 2nd
1 Benjamin Brooks NAVIGATORS INSURANCE 4h58'44 2 Rory Sutherland SHELL CYCLING + 57
3 Trent Lowe DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
4 Matthew Hayman RABOBANK + 2'10
5 Benjamin Day CARVALHELHOS - BOAVISTA + 7'31 11 Mark Jamieson SHELL CYCLING s.t.
The press were a bit stumped by our tactic, and most journalists have said it’s my inexperience, and this was just luck. But hey, it worked, didn’t it.
Jacob’s Creek Tour Down Under
17th January
My first proper race ever, and I don’t think I’ve slept for a week – well that’s what it feels like. Planning, preparation, tedious paper work mean longer hours than I thought, but I’ve still loved every second of it.
Anyway, our team here is led by Darren Lill, who should do well in the hills, but we’ve also got Danilo Wyss for the sprints, Rory Sutherland to break away in his home country, and of course, Theo Bos, if he ever gets to a finish line
Stage 1: Adelaide
My first ever stage, and it went totally wrong. Firstly, I took pictures with the lens on all day, so I can’t show you any of the events. Which is actually a good thing. Given the Adelaide circuit was short enough for Theo Bos, I told our sprint team to latch onto one of the best sprinters in the field – Petacchi, McEwen or Hushovd. So Theo found Hushovd, and followed him. Needless to say, the Norwegian decided not to go for the sprint, and I could only despair as Theo crossed angrily in 12th. Damn.
1 Ashley Hutchinson SOUTHAUSTRALIA.COM - AIS 1h02'09
2 Robbie McEwen DAVITAMON - LOTTO s.t.
3 Alessandro Petacchi TEAM MILRAM s.t.
4 Oleg Grishkine NAVIGATORS INSURANCE s.t.
5 Dean Downing DFL – CYCLINGNEWS s.t. 14 Theo Bos SHELL CYCLING s.t.
16 Geraint Thomas SHELL CYCLING s.t.
23 Danilo Wyss SHELL CYCLING s.t.
50 Ed Clancy SHELL CYCLING s.t.
57 Mark Jamieson SHELL CYCLING s.t.
68 Rory Sutherland SHELL CYCLING s.t.
79 Marcel Kittel SHELL CYCLING s.t.
Stage 2: Mawson Lakes - Angaston
A small slope at the beginning provided me my first opportunity to get some glory after yesterday’s fiasco, and I told Rory Sutherland to make it his priority to be at the summit first. He joined the initial break of 4, and did exactly that, fighting off Rony Martias for a jersey, and wore a big grin as he heard me cheering in the support car behind.
Success!!!
They were caught with 20km left, and Theo already had been dropped, along with Danilo Wyss, who wasn’t in great shape, so it was up to Geraint Thomas to go up against the likes of Petacchi and McEwen. My jaw almost dropped as he came in 11th, beating the likes of Hushovd (who decided to sprint today) – Geraint shouldn’t be anywhere near them, he’s not in the best shape either.
Grishkine surprises with a win, but Geraint is our little star
1 Oleg Grishkine NAVIGATORS INSURANCE 3h33'21
2 Bram De Groot RABOBANK s.t.
3 Alessandro Petacchi TEAM MILRAM s.t.
4 Robbie McEwen DAVITAMON - LOTTO s.t.
5 Simon Clarke SOUTHAUSTRALIA.COM - AIS s.t. 11 Geraint Thomas SHELL CYCLING s.t.
71 Ed Clancy SHELL CYCLING s.t.
72 Darren Lill SHELL CYCLING s.t.
74 Rory Sutherland SHELL CYCLING s.t.
80 Danilo Wyss SHELL CYCLING + 2'48
82 Marcel Kittel SHELL CYCLING + 5'33
88 Theo Bos SHELL CYCLING + 8'03
89 Mark Jamieson SHELL CYCLING + 8'43
Stage 3: Stirling - Hahndorf
Another day, another break, and another set of mountain points for Rory as he spent the whole day grinning in front of his home crowd, cheering him on in his glorious climber’s jersey.
A good day for Rory...again
Surprisingly, the original 4 escapees were joined by 2 others, including Astana’s Sergio Paulinho, who lay the hammer down, and somehow, despite the best efforts of a formidable Davitamon train, stayed away and took a stunning stage win, as well as the race lead.
The specialist dopers take their first big win
However, the story of the day for us was Geraint (again!!!), as he slipped his way into the top 10 for the stage, and 11th overall. I'll give him his due, he isn't happy off the bike, but put him on it, and he's totally professional.
It was about 40 km long though, and he still struggled 
