Very harsh Father...I like it!! Your building a team to win, any deadwood do away with them.
Who else is likely to be in the lead out train for Farrar? Boeckmans is good option for final lead out man, though don't be surprised to see him pull away from Farrar once or twice.
As for the story itself, big fan of your work Ian, writing style is good and flows nicely. Definitely have a follower here. Best of Luck in Australia (ps I am disappointed at the lack of Brits in the team)!
owen10ozzy - Boeckmans certainly has his own agenda, too I think it'll be a nice duo, both can score. Thanks for the kind words, I'll try to look out for British talents
Cycleman123 - Thanks a lot! I'll do my best.
anderspcm - Thanks very much for making that pack, it's really nice! Let's hope the story and the pack are complementary
wackojackohighcliffe - Thanks I have no idea what that is, looked it up and something about banks? Anyway, I would've picked another team but the pack is just too good not to use, so it's Citigroup
After days of hard work for both the team and myself, we're 100% ready for the new season. I'm already in Australia with the team that's supposed to race here in a few days. The boys are all excited, and so am I. The start list is quite weak compared to other years, so we have a big opportunity to show what we stand for immediately. We're here for success, nothing more, nothing less.
Anyway, I've put together a sort-of calendar for the year. Much is still left to be decided, but I already laid out the big lines, so that's WT races and their leaders/sprinters.
Of course, I only listed the big names here. With our new system, it's not a certainty that Van Avermaet will lead the Tour of Beijing if he's starting there. This also helps in masking race tactics and clouding our movements. The competition will be in constant doubt about what our plan is, we can use every rider in the race. Team spirit is the word here, Ego doesn't belong in our team.
KEEPING A CLOSE EYE
Even though the schedules are far from finished and wrapped up, every rider has received a certain agenda to follow. I have asked permission to make those of the three particular talents I'm following publicly. Their first season in the World Tour will go like this:
Rik Steenacker
Rik will start in minor races, most likely Oman, followed by the Belgian opening weekend. Then follows the Tour of West-Flanders, a must-race for young talents. I think he'll be sent down to Milan - San Remo, though that would need conformation later in the season. If he performs decent in the opening weekend, he'll have a spot at the Cobbled Classics squad, possibly followed by the Amstel Gold Race.
What follows are minor stage races. His first WT stage race might be Tour de Suisse, immediately followed by the Tour de France. He's only 20 years old but we have the utmost confidence in him. The final week is extremely tough but he needn't finish. In fact, I forbid him to finish. Come the second rest day, I pull him out.
His first season is all about getting to know the sport, so we'll put him in Tirreno - Adriatico and Catalunya. He learns quickly, he'll cope.
Then another big risk, but with such a talent it's worth taking. Tour de Suisse and Tour de France. He'll learn what's riding in a peloton in the Tour, we hope. It might not be the best decision, but I'm willing to risk it. Either way, he has to prove he's worth a spot first, though!
After the Tour, it's mostly American races for him.
Tom Butler
'Aye, the apple of my eye, like. He's a good kid. But we'll see what he's worth on a bike. Paris - Nice kicks off his WT program, followed a bit later by The Basque Country and the Ardennes Classics, if he's worth the spot. If not, Trentino and Romandie.
Afterwards he'll be going to the Tour de Suisse and potentially the Tour de France. Once again, that right has to be earned first, though. I'll be extra tough on him.
The Vuelta is his thing, with all those climbs and almost no time trials, followed by the Canadian Classics, I reckon.
That's it for now. I have a meeting at 12:00 to reckon the finish of the first stage of the Tour Down Under. The profile looks perfect for Tyler, and with the lack of top sprinters, I think we have a good chance of a stage victory early on in the season!
Also just found this now. Great to see ya back Ian. Will be interesting to see you take up the responsibility for the whole team instead of your traditional one(two)-rider approach. Will try and stop by often but your stories just move so fast sometimes it's hard to keep up.
baseballlover312, 06-03-14 : "Nuke Moscow...Don't worry Russia, we've got plenty of love to go around your cities"
Sarah Palin, 08-03-14 (CPAC, on Russian aggression) : "The only thing that stops a bad guy with a nuke is a good guy with a nuke"
Big thanks to jdog for making this AMAZING userbar!
Mresuperstar - Appreciate it! I'm curious how it'll go, too. Hope you can keep up. Normally it shouldn't go as fast as other stories. (excluding today, starting day is always busy)
As you notice, it's the 3th of February already. I was supposed to bring you reports from the Santos Tour Down Under, but I got suspended for a few days after "irresponsible driving", like. It sounds worse than it was, you got to hit it hard sometimes, in a race things can get chaotic and you have to think fast. Made a bad decision so I got put out of the race, it's all right, though, they were right in doing so.
RACE SUMMARY
Anyway, a quick catch-up for all of you here then. We prepared stage 1 to the maximum detail. After sending Wellens in the breakaway, we set up our sprint train. Tyler Farrar re-launches his career officially by taking the first WT win of the season. He did well, thanks to Boeckmans with an impressive lead-out.
Spoiler
1
Tyler Farrar
Citigroup Pro Cycling Team
3h11'03
2
Daryl Impey
Orica-GreenEDGE
s.t.
3
Christopher Sutton
Sky Pro Cycling
s.t.
4
Kris Boeckmans
Citigroup Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
5
Samuel Dumoulin
Ag2r La Mondiale
s.t.
6
Assan Bazayev
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
7
Matteo Tosatto
Team Saxo-Tinkoff
s.t.
8
Geoffrey Soupe
FDJ
s.t.
9
Vasil Kiryienka
Sky Pro Cycling
s.t.
10
Karsten Kroon
Team Saxo-Tinkoff
s.t.
The next two stages were a bit more grim. Rabottini lost quite some time on a small dirt road which really shouldn't have been in the race.
The next flat stage, we set up our train again. Sutton sneaked the win and Tyler managed a fourth place.
Spoiler
1
Christopher Sutton
Sky Pro Cycling
2h46'20
2
Graeme Brown
Blanco Pro Cycling
s.t.
3
Andrea Guardini
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
4
Tyler Farrar
Citigroup Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
5
Daryl Impey
Orica-GreenEDGE
s.t.
6
Gregory Henderson
Lotto Belisol
s.t.
7
Kenny Van Hummel
Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
8
Aidis Kruopis
Orica-GreenEDGE
s.t.
9
Roberto Ferrari
Lampre-Merida
s.t.
10
Geoffrey Soupe
FDJ
s.t.
The next big meeting with success was on Willunga Hill. Rabottini broke away in the final 600 meters and won our second stage!
Spoiler
1
Matteo Rabottini
Citigroup Pro Cycling Team
3h48'24
2
Andrey Amador
Movistar Team
s.t.
3
Simon Clarke
Orica-GreenEDGE
+ 30
4
Lieuwe Westra
Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
5
Luca Paolini
Katusha Team
s.t.
6
Tony Gallopin
Radioshack Leopard
s.t.
7
Pieter Weening
Orica-GreenEDGE
s.t.
8
Karsten Kroon
Team Saxo-Tinkoff
+ 41
9
Assan Bazayev
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
10
Eros Capecchi
Movistar Team
s.t.
Our race was already a big success, but the final day it became even ten times better. Firstly, Tim Wellens got into his third breakaway in this tour and conquered both the Points Jersey and the Mountain Jersey. Secondly, we set up a great train. But the best was yet to come, I must admit, an idea I set up...
In the final bend, Tyler left a small gap on purpose. Kris (Boeckmans) went full gas. By the time everyone realized Tyler wasn't going for it, it was too late. We had quite a celebration that night, let me tell you!
Spoiler
1
Kris Boeckmans
Citigroup Pro Cycling Team
1h55'34
2
Daryl Impey
Orica-GreenEDGE
+ 21
3
Simon Clarke
Orica-GreenEDGE
s.t.
4
Pieter Weening
Orica-GreenEDGE
s.t.
5
Tony Gallopin
Radioshack Leopard
s.t.
6
Hayden Roulston
Radioshack Leopard
s.t.
7
Guillaume Van Keirsbulck
Citigroup Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
8
Assan Bazayev
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
9
Dmitry Kozontchuk
Katusha Team
s.t.
10
Brett Lancaster
Orica-GreenEDGE
s.t.
TOUR DOWN UNDER IN PICTURES
Our impressive lead-out train in the first stage
Tyler winning the first stage, hopefully relaunching his career
Three trains battling it out in the streets of Tanunda
Tyler finishing fourth, after a strong Sutton, Brown and Guardini
Kris Boeckmans winning the final day criterium in a proper fashion
Well, I guess our tactic works so far. Tyler leading the one sprint and Kris sneaking away in the other. We're confusing those poor, traditional team managers like crazy. So far it's great.
This race was a big success for the team and it's an amazing start. We took a grand start here at the WT level, but now we can't start floating, we should keep working hard.
So I can get back in the DS car for the next race. I'll be reporting from the Tour of Oman daily, so see you then!
Excellent Results to begin with! First tour definitely goes down as a success. Perhaps best to leave the speeding down to Tyler & Boeckmans, we don't want you being thrown in jail and unable to manage the team!
Will definitely follow.
But I'll be following anyway 
Anyway, I would've picked another team but the pack is just too good not to use, so it's Citigroup 
