[CT] Podium Ambition
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cio93 |
Posted on 16-06-2016 11:55
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World Champion
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Did you call off the huge deal from this morning, or is that getting an own announcement?
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jt1109 |
Posted on 16-06-2016 12:08
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Good luck with De Vos hope he goes well in the next few years |
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DubbelDekker |
Posted on 16-06-2016 13:02
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Small Tour Specialist
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Hope Nardin does well! Would love to see him shine again.
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TheManxMissile |
Posted on 16-06-2016 13:10
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Tour de France Champion
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@Cio - We refrain from comment at the moment. All will become clear at the appropriate time.
@jt - Glad you didn't come along for him yourself! Needed to keep my Canadian end up somehow with Lululemon and the Canuks still associated with the team.
@DD - If he doesn't do a 2013 i'm coming for a refund
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TheManxMissile |
Posted on 08-07-2016 18:08
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Tour de France Champion
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The Great Big "Predictions" Post
The season is just about ready to get going. We've gotten our bikes in late after a delay shipping from Avanti in New Zealand to our riders across the world, come race day it'll all be sorted without issue. A big part of the final pre-season is the MG Predictions! Everyone loves them as we get to really discuss the teams and upcoming season in depth and detail. A few CT predictions have come out, enough to run through here, and we hope a few more before the racing begins.
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The Rider - 4th
The Rider has had a successful time in the MG since he joined and his is an opinion we value highly. 4th place is where he puts us, just ahead of La Poste and just behind Ferrero. 4 Thumbs Up, 4th place it's not bad. Our cobbles squad impresses him, as does our sprint train for Nelson. The weakness is a reliance on the flat with hills and mountains passed over. It's a fair comment, as the most succesful teams tend to compete on the steeper roads.
We disagree in some way with that as we feel Simon Yates is a more than capable option. He might not be the best purely uphill but he's not going to be dropped easy and he can out accelerate and sprint almost every other puncher in the division. We also don't see missing Gabon/Langkawi as a bad thing as it reduces a huge race day risk on a long tour and focus on PPrD in short tours and classics.
But 4th would be Promotion and Goal Points. So thank you The Rider!
Croatia14 - 1st
Croatia14 is new the MG, so without meaning offence, take his predictions with a fair pinch of salt. His prediction also comes with no explanations. So we're guessing but the dominance on Cobbles, combined with Sprinting power and adding a good puncher and decent climber gives us an impressive all-round ability. Hopefully it's that all-round consistency that can lift us to a title!
matt17br - 3rd
matt17br promoted last year from the CT, so he must have some idea what makes a good CT team. 3rd is a good position to target then, middle of the auto-promotion spots. Then again, he predicted Carlsberg to Win the division, so this isn't the most convincing of predictions. Still that position would more than do and indicates that with a touch of extra luck a title challenge is a genuine possibility.
jph27 - 2nd
The former PT manager is a game veteran at this point. 2nd Place indicates we can make a title challenge, which is on par with what we and others think. Putting MOL at #1 is unique so perhaps it may be best to temper expecations of this prediction, or is going against the grain a sign of his experience? Either way it's another ringing endoresment of our promotion and our title hopes!
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Obviously our own prediction is 1st place because we have that big fat Win CT Division goal over our heads. Less reliance on luck this year as well and more faith that we actually have riders who can challenge for big results should only lead to good things. Get the Cobbles team working as a unit to put others under pressure. Form the Lead-out properly to release the power. Top off with some solid placings in a few breaks and on the hills and mountains. It's a recipe to challenge for the title that so far others seem to agree with, only good things can happen now right?!
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Ad Bot |
Posted on 23-12-2024 05:18
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DaveTwoBob |
Posted on 08-07-2016 21:55
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Kraftwerk have also been predicted in various top 5 places, looks like we are rivals for the title. Looking forward to a great battle and hoping for good racing with a close finish. Best of luck.
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TheManxMissile |
Posted on 06-09-2016 12:16
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Tour de France Champion
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The Great Big "Sponsor Changes Already?" Post
Just a few months into the season and the rumor mills are surging strong. A season start that sees the reformed Podium Ambition taking a lead in both the Rankings Table and Projected Rankings, as well as two wins and a plethora of Top10's. However it's not good enough for a certain sponsor.
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Bulgaria were a title sponsor for 3 years! Bulgarians still make up the bulk of the squad, and are all having great seasons. However the Bulgarian Tourist Board is pulling sponsorship at the end of the year we can confirm! Why? Simply put, the atrocious showing at the Tour of Bulgaria, means game over for them. The relationship was stretched at best and it's snapped.
Luckily the early announcement means a few things. First it gives us plenty of time to start sourcing a response. Early rumors include companies like Cyanide Studio, a French game developer, and Sky PLC, a multi-national media company based in the UK. It's far too early to comment on such rumors, except that the Bulgaria replacement will be European.
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Rumors of a team merger?! Well yes and no. No we will not be merging with Vivacom and we have little intention to sell any of our remaining Bulgarian riders given their performances so far this season. Yes in that we hope to maintain a good relationship with them and this could extend to preferential Loan treatment and First Chance to Buy clauses.
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And did i mention we are leading the Rankings and Projected Rankings? Peace out!
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Shonak |
Posted on 06-09-2016 12:18
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Well done so far, promotion is probably just a formality but this is definitely more about the win than just promo.
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
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TheManxMissile |
Posted on 06-09-2016 14:41
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Tour de France Champion
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@DTB (from a while ago) - Certainly seems to be playing out that way. Both of our teams are in great shape and pressing hard for the top spots. Of course this means we can't be friends anymore...
@Shonak (from today) - I wouldn't say it's a formality, we're not even hitting April properly yet! But yes it's shaping up where anything less than a title fight (Top 3) would be a real let down.
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ivaneurope |
Posted on 06-09-2016 18:29
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It is always a privilege to make business with your team. And I won't try to poach any of your current Bulgarian riders as I've set my eyes on other targets (can't be named). I hope that promotion to PCT is on the horizont for your team
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TheManxMissile |
Posted on 04-10-2016 11:55
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The Great Big "Success Breeds Money" Post
As a certain un-nammed pro once said "pro cycling is a business". Without money we wouldn't exist. And you get money from sponsors. And you get sponsors from being successful. Well for the first time we seem to be a sort of successful team! The resulting peak in sponsor interest, then, should come as no surprise. It's already known we would have one open sponsor space, now what?
Two sponsor spaces! Lululemon Athletica will not be part of our team next season. Previous title sponsor but we've been doing well and got North Americans on the team. Simply put, they've been outbid my a rival! For 2018(?) we will have a new Clothing sponsor/supplier. Who will it be? Well, we wouldn't want to give away all the answers now, there's no fun in that!
How's the replacement for Bulgaria shaping up? Safe to say Cyanide Studio is out of the question, the small game developer couldn't afford a potential PCT contribution. And team GM TMM reportedly has some issues with them. With wins from Simon Yates and Geraint Thomas interest from British sponsors is soarin! Sky PLC have stated interest. McLaren Technology Group is sniffing around. British Ariways, GSK, Shazam... it depends who you ask.
As long as the team keeps bringing in the results (3 wins and 5 podiums so far) then we can start a pure bidding war over the sponsor place. Add in promotion and we're going to be able to build a great and stable financial future for the squad.
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TheManxMissile |
Posted on 05-10-2016 22:26
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The Great Big "Lies, Damn'd Lies and Statistics" Post
The great Benjamin Disraeli made the quote famous. It's held alongside such truths as "There are two certainties in life: death and taxes", thank you Benjamin Fanklin. Now it must be said these 'truths' are not quite so true. Just ask Amazon or Jimmy Carr about taxes. But what about Statistics, surely numbers can't lie?
A statement was put forth: "we just need to turn the crash ratio somewhat down though". (lets be honest, a Benjamin would have phrased that better). What followed as quick fire set of opinions based in pure speculation. So the people behind the scenes at Podium Ambition got the books out and did some old fashioned research. So old fashioned we even got this guy to help!
A random sample of races was taken from across all three divisions. This would include Hills, Mountains, Sprints and Cobbles (and unfortunately a few TT's, because you can crash in a TT, just ask Dumoulin or Rasmussen). After a good bit of work 53 race days were covered for their reported crashes. Please not the emphasis there, this was the only way we could verify the result as is as close to official as we can make it.
In those 53 days, all from races in this season, there were 36 separate crashes. The crashes themseleves ranged from individuals to mass bunch falls. They ranged from on flat dry roads to twisty wet descents. Averaging a crash every 0.68 days of racing we can make a recomendation.
Crash frequency does not need chaning. Certainly some races are hit harder than others, the Giro and AToC going over 1.2 crashes per day (when TT's are taken out of the equation), and again some don't take any like KBK or Omloop. We can most definitely conclude crashes are random though. And we at Podium Ambition have had our fair share.
But there you go. An interesting little extra piece of fact for you Man-Game statisticians. A tease of more content like this?
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TheManxMissile |
Posted on 18-10-2016 21:44
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The Great Big "Sponsor Anticipation" Post
The sponsor rumors are whirling every which way. With the team continued on it's path to promotion the bidding war is a full blown, global conflict. Well at least that's how it feels to us at Podium Ambition HQ. The communications come thick and fast every day.
What can we say for now? Our new European sponsor will be from the United Kingdom. The team is headlined by two Brits and the offers this is drawing is unparralleled. Sky PLC has been a forerunner in the rumors for a while now, but there are some slightly uncomfortable ethical questions with them. McLaren Technology Group are right in the mix, but their link with Specialized could become a sticking point as we have a multi-year deal with Avanti already. British Airways are always looking for new ways to get themselves seen. GSK want to join the legacy of big pharma in cycling. Shazam wants to get in on the new big sport.
It is certainly a 5-way battle for the sponsor opening. And a decision will be made in the next two weeks. That's early some may say, but we want to get the deals done early to allow us maximum time to prepare and focus on the cycling going forwards. No last minute scrambling again for Podium Ambition!
Oh, and we'll announce that new clothing sponsor then as well. So keep your eyes peeled for that, and much much more here at Podium Ambition HQ!
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TheManxMissile |
Posted on 03-11-2016 21:37
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Tour de France Champion
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The Great Big "New Sponsor" Post
A rumble of the royale variety best describes the sponsor situation over the past two weeks. But as we promised a decision has ben made regarding the space on the team jersey for the 2017 PCT season (yes we're feeling confident enough to call it already!). That's one brand new Kit sponsor and one brand new Partner to the Podium Ambition project.
Hincapie Sportswear joins us! They will replace Lululemon Athletica. Hincapie is a well known name in cycling thanks to big George. This company has grown from a small family affair into a competitve business and they are hoping we can help them grow further. Spured on by our success and continued interest in North American riders it's a great fit for them. Plus we get to cash in on decades of cycling experience from the Hincapie family. And of course some fantastic quality kit.
McLaren Technology Group take the vacant space leaft by Bulgaria. The British group is a well known sporting name with more than 50 years of heritage. We are so excited by this. They can supply with more than just finances. From wind tunnel sessions, to high end tech, to cars, to their link with GSK. This is hopefully going to take the team to a whole new level of competition. And if the management gets to go to the British GP, well that's just a nice perk.
The question raised from McLaren is, "What about Avanti?" Yes McLaren has a relationship with Specialized but they are looking to expand or move. Basically we'll let Specialized sort that one out between the two. We're going to carry on with McLaren and Avanti separately.
Nice and simple. Nice and easy. Nice and early. Now we've got plenty of time to update out jersey and figure out our planning for 2017. Fast cars, good rum, posh hotels and registed on two fantastic Islands. If only we had hot girls.... oh wait we've got them too!
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TheManxMissile |
Posted on 26-11-2016 22:33
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Tour de France Champion
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Miguel98 wrote:
Implying Ricki Nelson will ever win a stage in a stage race
With back-to-back wins in Juarez, just thought i'd dig this one out
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sammyt93 |
Posted on 27-11-2016 01:24
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Battle of the F1 inspired teams next year is it? Even here I think McLaren will end up stronger than Sauber as I doubt I'll be able to build as strong a team as you.
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baseballlover312 |
Posted on 27-11-2016 01:56
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Tour de France Champion
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So, how much did you pay off Jph for the double header?
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy
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TheManxMissile |
Posted on 27-11-2016 09:48
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Tour de France Champion
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Depends if we win the remaining stages and GC as well
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TheManxMissile |
Posted on 28-11-2016 19:03
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Tour de France Champion
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The Great Big "Popping Cherries" Post
Not like that! You dirt minded sod! How dare you think such filthy thoughts! Honestly...
That said it has been an 8 days of incredible firsts for the team. Ticking off two of the biggest markers a team can have in 8 days, made for a pretty good week+1. As such we thought it was a good time to also take a quick look at our season and another first the team had in the past.
0-5. 0-10. 0-15. 0-17. We always had the motto "Go big, or go home" and that came through in our goals. Nothing but a Win would satisfy the team. It did lead to a few issues, in that we went three complete seasons without completing a goal. Normality continued, as normal, in our first Goals this season in Geraardsbergen and Benelux. Then one fateful day in Germany everything changed.
"G" rode a near perfect race in the Saachsen-Anhalt Classic. To be fair it was a near perfect parcours for him, over 200km of tough and almost pan-flat cobbles. Yet he still had to win and win he did! 1-17. Such a small change, such a huge moment for the team.
Right there we were happy with the season. On course for easy promotion and we nailed a Goal. Contented as management. But our second big leader? Oh our Ricki wasn't going to be outdone! The near pan-flat Circulo Juarez was calling. The premier Mexican event beckoned for the sprinter to do something special.
Ricki did that as he won the opening two stages. That alone was more than satisfactory for us. A wobble on the final stages gave some causes for worry as we started to dream of what we had thought impossible. If Ricki stuck in there and the other sprinters kept beating each other, we were on the verge of a really big win. And Ricki stuck it in there, and the other sprinters pounded each other.
First ever Goal Success. First ever GC win. Sheer beauty and joy! And we celebrated with Emma, Kirsten and Cobie. And some Mount Gay Rum.
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Those success have pulled our tally of wins up to 8 for the season. This will by far be our best year yet on that front, although we are painfully short on the Stage Wins Goal. But for a team realtively lacking in success, what was our first ever win?
Francesco Chicchi, Stage 5, Tour of the Middle East. Way back in the day now this one. Chicchi was our lead sprinter in year one and bagged just one win. But it was our first, and that makes it special. He finished off and easy stage as our leadout was dominant, for the only time. A great moment that cemented Sprinting into the core of our team dna.
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Back to the future. The team is well on its way to promotion. From here you would imagine it taking a rather incredible implosion to fall short of that aspect. The CT Title is still at a stretch, but if this vein of form runs on for a few more races that could come back towards us. 8 Wins already in the books, we have to think that 10 will be put up before too long, 15 by the year end would be brilliant. 5 other podiums is nice, and that will grow as well.
Just a brilliant season. Such a turn around from previous years of mediocraty and struggle. The positivity is flowing right around every aspect of the team. So much so we've already got our next jersey sorted.
Still fantastic. Thanks to the_hoyle for updating it with out new sponsors. You'll hopefully be seeing it a lot in the PCT next year.
And we'll leave you with the usual...
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baseballlover312 |
Posted on 28-11-2016 19:45
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Yes, I disliked it because I'm jealous.
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy
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