Due to me not being able to take losses against god damn level 9 Brawl Pikachu's AI (), Europcar is available for co-management. If you are interested in helping out a beloved team or just wanne help me because I am such a helpful and funny member, just click the orange button that says PM on the lower left side of the post box.
Can you actually do that? I suppose you can, can other managers take part in other teams (hint*hint* come to IAM Pierre, come to IAM Tommy).
Edited by jandal7 on 26-01-2015 18:56
24/02/21 - kandesbunzler said “I don't drink famous people."
15/08/22 - SotD said "Your [jandal's] humour is overrated"
11/06/24 - knockout said "Winning is fine I guess. Truth be told this felt completely unimportant." [ICL] Santos-Euskadi | [PT] Xero Racing
jandal7 wrote:
Can you actually do that? I suppose you can, can other managers take part in other teams (hint*hint* come to IAM Pierre, come to IAM Tommy).
Wait, what?
Are you responding to SSJ2Luigi and co-management or and you talking about EPIC riders (Lipawsky and Hinault????) Because I think you just changed subject mid-sentence, or most likely that I'm just confused.
After Heimdal Hägg held on to his leaders jersey to win the Tour de Gabon, it was time for the Tour Down Under. We had early stage wins for Wesenbach and Kristoff, and the latter managed to hold on on Willunga Hill to grab a surprising GC win. Villella and Mohoric won from a break, while Gasparotto won the queen stage. Greipel took the last flat stage.
Kristoff in the blue points jersey hangs on in the back,
as Gasparotto wins on Willunga Hill
jandal7 wrote:
Can you actually do that? I suppose you can, can other managers take part in other teams (hint*hint* come to IAM Pierre, come to IAM Tommy).
Wait, what?
Are you responding to SSJ2Luigi and co-management or and you talking about EPIC riders (Lipawsky and Hinault????) Because I think you just changed subject mid-sentence, or most likely that I'm just confused.
Oh haha, it was me saying if trusted with half of Europcar I might accidentally sell Pierre (Rolland) and Tommy (Voeckler) to IAM! Edited by jandal7 on 27-02-2015 19:36
jandal7 wrote:
Can you actually do that? I suppose you can, can other managers take part in other teams (hint*hint* come to IAM Pierre, come to IAM Tommy).
Wait, what?
Are you responding to SSJ2Luigi and co-management or and you talking about EPIC riders (Lipawsky and Hinault????) Because I think you just changed subject mid-sentence, or most likely that I'm just confused.
Oh haha, it was me saying if trusted with half of Europcar I might accidentally sell Pierre (Rolland) and Tommy (Voeckler) to IAM!
After a bunch of preparation races, the World Tour now turns to France and Italy. This year's Paris - Nice is hilly and lacks a time trial, so it will be one for the climbers and puncheurs rather then the tradition stage racers. It shows on the startlist, where the biggest names are Mollema, Gilbert, Sagan, Martin, Kreuziger, Valverde, Kwiatkowski, Uran, Moreno and Betancur. The more traditional stage racers all go to Tirreno - Adriatico, so we have a long list of names like Nibali, Kelderman, Van Garderen, Wiggins and Talansky, Kangert, Van den Broeck, Quintana and Costa, Porte, Evans, Froome, Contador, Horner and Basso. The biggest names missing are Joaquim Rodriguez, Thomas Hinault and Kim Po-ding.
The sprinters are a bit split as well. Sagan, Coquard, Farrar, Kristoff, Calzone, Cavendish, Bennett, Bouhanni and Mezgec choose for France, while Bos, Hanzen, Bennati, Guardini, Matthews, Boasson Hagen, Nizzolo, Viviani, Guido and Ciolek go to Italy. And you can see, Greipel and Kittel surprisingly prefer to prepare for Milan - San Remo elsewhere.
A few flat stages to start with, the big question was how many bonification seconds Sagan would take before going into the hills. None on stage 1, an easy win for Cavendish in front Kristoff and Coquard.
Cav takes stage 2 as well, with the same two guys on the podium, but reversed.
Then the Cavendish saga was over. Kristoff takes stage 3, with Sagan as an interesting second and Coquard gets third again.
Stage 4 had the first GC actions. Daniel Martin stays ahead of Sylvain Chavanel and Rigoberto Uran. Suprisingly, no time gap was given, but the peleton did split. Kwiatkowski, Moreno, Kakhi, Kreuziger and a bunch of others sddenly found themselves 1'32 down!
Stage 5 was made for Sagan, but Dries Devenyns won after attacking form the break. Sagan has to settle for second, and Calzone takes third. After the easier stages, Cavendish still has the yellow. Sagan has taken some precious second on the competition already, but probably not as much as he had hoped for.
Stage 6 was the queen stage and would probably decide the GC. Valverde and Kwiatkowski tried, but a suprising Mollema took the stage and the yellow jersey. Kwiatkowski got second and Sagan third, with the latter only a few boni seconds away from the overall win.
But stage 7 suprised. Muriel took the stage in a sprint with Hardy, but behind them Valverde attacked Mollema's jersey. Mollema cracked and saw Valverde and Sagan pass him. Valverde even distanced Sagan just enough to take 3rd place and the GC lead.
But it wasn't over. Stetina won stage 8 in a breakway sprint ahead of Vichot and Mohoric and Betancur went all or nothing and got Martin, Valverde, Uran and Kwiatkowski with him. Mollema and Sagan could not follow. Alejandro Valverde takes the overall win here!
Final Classification
1
Alejandro Valverde
Movistar Team
32h40'38
2
Daniel Martin
Garmin - Sharp
+ 48
3
Peter Sagan
Cannondale Pro Cycling
+ 1'02
4
Carlos Betancur
AG2R La Mondiale
+ 1'15
5
Bauke Mollema
Belkin Pro Cycling Team
+ 1'26
6
Rigoberto Urán
Sky Procycling
+ 2'29
7
Ion Izagirre
Euskaltel - Euskadi
+ 2'39
8
Michał Kwiatkowski
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team
+ 3'19
9
Pierre Rolland
Team Europcar
+ 5'08
10
Mikel Landa
Euskaltel - Euskadi
+ 7'00
Points: Peter Sagan
Mountain: Maxime Monfort
Youth: Peter Sagan
Team: Belkin
Edited by Ollfardh on 24-03-2015 15:17
The 2014 World Championships will take place in Geelong, Australia. There will 6 races, a Time Trial and a Road Race for each of Europe, America (both North and South) and Aufrasia (Australia+Africa+Asia).
Aufrazian Time Trial
In 2013, we saw Kim Po-ding destroying the field, but the Australians want revenge on their home continent. Riders like Dennis, Meyer and Durbridge have grown stronger, and there's still guys like Porte, Rogers and Evans. Marouane Shaqif is the hope of Africa, while Po-ding Kim is the hope of ... we, probably just North Korea.
American Time Trial
Last year we had a duel between BMC riders Taylor Phinney and Tejay Van Garderen, with the latter winning. It is most likely they'll repeat their duel this year. Biggest outsiders are Amador, Tuft and Talansky, and from South America Quintana, Henao and Uran.
European Time Trial
A big suprise last year, as Sir Bradley Wiggins humiliated the competition by winning with more than a minute over Froome and Martin. It'll be a rematch this year, but with a few notable names like Cancellara and Nibali missing. Possibly challenging the top 3 from last year are Malori, Birtles, Grawunder, Castroviejo and Dowsett.
Aufrazian Road Race
Simon Gerrans is looking to defend his title at home, and Orica does seem the strongest team here. With Goss, Matthews, Howard and Impey they have plenty of options to win. Another strong team is Champion System, with Kim in support for Kakhi. African team MTN probably wants to go for Abasi Abundi in a sprint. Haussler would be a favourite here, if only he had a team mate. Some othe rinteresting names are Renshaw, Kaha, Brookes, Henderson and Sutton.
American Road Race
A big surprise here, as defending champion Carlos Betancur will not return due to manager problems. This makes the race very open. Two teams managed to fill the squad, Garmin going for Farrar and Colombia with no clear finisher. Caja Rural is looking strong with Arredondo and some Haedos. Sky is hoping for a heavy race for Uran or Henao. BMC aims for Phinney and Movistar for Quintana or Duarte. U23 World Champion Jorge Cristobal Riquelme can be a favourite here as well, though he only has one team mate. All other teams probalby need a breakaway to win, but watch out when that happens, cause Marc De Maar is here!
European Road Race
And yes another defending champion not starting because of management issues. Fabian Cancellara will not defend his title. But there's more, John Degenkolb is another favourite not starting. The favourite is obviously Peter Sagan, but he did lose in Milan - San Remo against Kittel. A similar race but the uphill finish here will be in Sagan's advantage. Another important advantage is that Kittel's train has gone to other championships. The third in San Remo, Adrien Hanzen, is a big favourite as well, though with Gilbert and Van Avermeat, he might not lead the team. Greipel is another favourite here, with his powerfull sprint. Sky goes for Cavendish-Weschenbech-Hagen again, a move that did not work well in San Remo. Other interesting names are Kristoff, Boonen, Ciolek, Pozzato, Demare, Guido, Martinez Machado, Viviani and of course Calzone. Or will it be a puncheur after all?
Orica GreenEDGE Winner Anacona Diego Johnson Svein Tuft
Team Sky Sergio Henao Danny Pate Rigoberto Uran
Tinkoff - Saxo John Darwin Atapuma Eduard Beltran Jamel Johnson
AG2R La Mondiale Carlos Bonilla
Bardiani Valvole Hugo Houle
Champion System Zachary Bell Ruben Companioni Ryan Roth
Colombia Esteban Chaves Christian Muriel Jarlinson Pantano
Team NetApp - Endura Ian Boswell Jose Alberto Juarez
31 riders from the Americas are here hoping to do well but in reality only a handful of riders have a shot at winning the race.
Diego Johnson is the first strong TT'er to go out on the route today.
Zabriskie follows right behind but can't quite find the same pace as Johnson.
As national champion of USA Van Garderen is ahuge favourite for todays race and he does set best time on both intermediates.
Tuft seems far of the speed needed today.
The same goes for Talansky.
And Amador…
In fact it quickly gets obvious that only the last rider of the day Phinney has a chance of challenging Van Garderen.
![imgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpg](https://imgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpg)
), Europcar is available for co-management. If you are interested in helping out a beloved team or just wanne help me because I am such a helpful and funny member, just click the orange button that says PM on the lower left side of the post box.
Jorge Cristobal Riquelme
