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Joel Wallin | Finished
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| SSJ2Luigi |
Posted on 06-02-2014 20:54
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World Champion
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amazing idea to do a story on one a regen from the Nordic Cycling story. I love the references to those races
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| The Rider |
Posted on 06-02-2014 20:59
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Joel already has some decent races under his belt already. He definitely needs to hit those cobbles more often though, I would have thought Sweden would have some at least. Nice to have someone with a big heart (good fighter stat)..... 
Loving that picture of Joel.  |
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| Atlantius |
Posted on 07-02-2014 17:22
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Team Leader
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SSJ2Luigi: Thanks. Happy you like the idea and hope you'll like teh story as well
The Rider: Most of the cobbles in that area is inside towns, so I guess it affects how hard he has been able to train on those. Hopefully he'll get better later in his career!
Credit for the picture goes to the amazing comic "Scandinavia and the World": https://satw.us/
Edited by Atlantius on 07-02-2014 17:23
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| the_hoyle |
Posted on 07-02-2014 18:00
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Grand Tour Champion
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Nice to see the Nordic live through Joel  I will follow
.: Manager of :.
.: My Awards :.
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| Atlantius |
Posted on 07-02-2014 19:45
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the hoyle: Happy to have you on board. The next installment will be up momentarily.
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| Atlantius |
Posted on 07-02-2014 20:11
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2016 part 1: Early Season Beatings
I had my season planned so that I should always be fairly fit and ready to jumo in if needed. They also made me take another test, which gave these results indicating a bit of progress already:
I did get a few chances to chase the breakaway, but in the early part of the season everyone had their eyes on us, so I was reeled in quicker than I could get away every single time.
I guess that’s the downside of being on one of the world’s best teams…
Speaking of best team I actually got to go on the podium with the rest of the guys at the end of Vuelta a Andalucía. I don’t think any of my finishing times had anything to do with it, but it was a great experience even though some of the more experienced riders didn’t really seem to care too much about it.
When I was suffering after having pulled for the team in Tirreno that moment on the podium in Spain was what I thought about to make the pain bearable.
And then I tried using the old tactic of my big idol Jens Voigt saying “shut up legs”, but I think Jens’ legs have better ears than mine…
And then finally on stage 5 of Catalunya, I actually managed to get in the decisive break. I finished 2nd last in the sprint as I was very tired after a hard days racing. A hard day, but it was great for my morale to be part of the finish and for the first time as a pro actually being close enough to the front to see the winner cross the line.
In País Vasco things became too much for me and I missed the time limit on the queen stage. Never have I felt so bad after a day on the bike as that night.
After País Vasco I was sent to Rheinland-Pfalz Rundfahrt to rebuild some confidence. I didn't really do anything noteworthy, but still finished 74th in the GC which was better than I felt.
In spite of feeling completely drained I was sent with the Ardennes-team. I had absolutely nothing to give since i was completely drained after a busy early season.
To sum up:
Edited by Atlantius on 07-02-2014 20:33
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| Ian Butler |
Posted on 07-02-2014 20:26
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 21854
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Wow. What a charming face he has  |
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| Jakstar22 |
Posted on 08-02-2014 00:03
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I love his Avatar. hahahaha.
Good luck in the Ardennes
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 08-02-2014 02:56
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 34654
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“shut up legs” |
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| welker3257 |
Posted on 08-02-2014 06:22
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Small Tour Specialist
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Joel will have a rough time with those stats
Gig 'em Aggies
Fast N' Loud Cycling Project - ICL
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 23-11-2024 19:01
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| Atlantius |
Posted on 08-02-2014 08:54
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Ian: hehe, didn't you know all Swedes look like that?
Jakstar: A shoutout to the great people at "Scandinavia and the World". The Ardenens were a hard experience for him finishing in the bottom 20 in all three races...
sutty: To bad they won'y listen though
welker: The WT definitely isn't going to be a walk in the park for him!
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| Atlantius |
Posted on 08-02-2014 09:14
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Having had a long break since Liège – Bastogne – Liège I was reasonably fresh when we came to the national championships, but with no recent race days I couldn’t do much more than help Tobias win the race. Nice for a youngster like me to be on the same team as the double champion!
I had hoped to ride a good enough championship to get to ride the Tour de France, but ended up as the 10th rider on the list. A huge disappointment for me at the time!
It all ended up with a good side none the less as our local luxury spa Ystad Saltsjöbad offered me free access to their facilities the rest of the year in order to help me restitute better when training at home. Even including free massages and stuff!
That really was a great help and comfort for me being able to fing my legs again near my family without compromising my training.
So I was in great shape and extremely motivated for IKEA Cup Grevie. I managed to get in the break, but didn’t get a lot of help from the 9 others, so we couldn’t match the pace from the peloton in the end. Still I managed to show that I mean business.
In August I was sent to Eneco Tour, which was very nice as it’s one of the races I hope to be able to contest in the future. I avoided a huge crash on stage 2, but then later on dropped out of the front group in order to lose some time to make it easier to get in a break.
And I managed to get in the break the next day. Unfortunately we were closed down with 10 km to go, but it was nice to stretch the legs a bit.
I got out there again on the final stage, but once again we were pulled in.
Still I was happy with getting in the breaks hoping that the management would notice my effort.
Later on the boss said he wanted me in some of the late classics since the Vuelta route was much too hard for me to do anything. So still no GT for me in spite of being in great shape...
And the usual sum-up:
Edited by Atlantius on 08-02-2014 09:14
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| Shonak |
Posted on 08-02-2014 10:46
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Tour de France Champion
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A fantastic way to recap Joel's progress. I notice that many one-rider stories struggle especially in the beginning, either way they don't have any results or the results are already a bit too... well, good. But just renarrating the whole year in a detail way is a nice choice of catching up while also not losing too much time.
Joel seems like a great guy.
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
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| Cycleman123 |
Posted on 08-02-2014 11:11
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Great start, as expected . Don't think that you could really hope for a GT at your current level.
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| SSJ2Luigi |
Posted on 08-02-2014 11:18
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World Champion
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don't you hate your manager for not taking you to the GT's
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| Ian Butler |
Posted on 08-02-2014 11:36
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 21854
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Too bad he's missing out on GTs, but he'll get there, everything in its time. He's not very good for a GT at the moment anyway, despite his form, sorry |
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 08-02-2014 18:10
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Tour de France Champion
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free massages and stuff!
Interested to know what the stuff may be |
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| Atlantius |
Posted on 08-02-2014 23:15
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Team Leader
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Shonak: I think he has reached a fair level when the story really kicks off where he should be able to get some good results in smaller races. I tend to agree with your view of the start of one-rider stories so I hove I have cracked it
About GT's the team invited to each GT a rider with worse training stats than myself, so I feel I have the right to be disappointed! Hate is a strong word, but I really feel I could have done at least as much as Karjalainen, Olafurson and Arntsen who all got to ride a GT, but barely were able to pick up bottles!
sutty: I see how the bit about "stuff" might sound, but they both have other kinds of treatments as well as a nice restaurant
/Joel
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| Atlantius |
Posted on 09-02-2014 09:09
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2016 Part 3: Getting Stubborn
The manager was probably right to not put me in the Vuelta since races like Vattenfall, Post Danmark Rundt and Quebec suit me much better than such a mountainous race. They just doesn’t bring me much publicity back in Sweden…
In Vattenfall Cyclassics we came without any pressure. The team was fairly strong, but Kristoff hadn’t really shown that he can win on top level so no one expected much from us. Still we managed to bring him to a 4th place while I myself finished 25th after doing a lot of work all day. My best result in a WT classic so far!
Post Danmark Rundt is one a race of great importance to the team, but also a race where some of us got a chance to make surprises.
I got away on the first stage after a lot of struggling, and surprisingly we were allowed to ride for the stage win. Later I’m told a big crash is what caused the peloton to slow down.
I did my best to put in a decent sprint, but I had plenty to do just keeping to the others wheels. Still my first pro top 10 was a good thing to get.
I went away again on stage 4, but nothing came of it.
In Quebec everyone had a free role, but I didn’t quite have the legs needed on the day and failed to take my chance. And once I had lost contact with the front group I just rode the rest of the race as a training ride alongside Quaade.
I had hoped the strong efforts in that part of the season would have made the national coach take notice of me for the worlds but alas no. I wasn’t among the chosen six even though the last two (!) finishers of the race was Swedes and the best placed Swede was Michael Stevenson on 129th. I’m sure I could have done that better!
Summing up this part:
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| Ian Butler |
Posted on 09-02-2014 09:26
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Tour de France Champion
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Really liking this story, mate |
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Rheinland-Pfalz Rundfahrt
