rogvi97 - Thanks! Me, too. That transfer really boosted my motivation majorly!
TimoCycling - Coming up today!
Jesleyh - The team's atmosphere is great, all great riders!
PCM rulezz - That sure would be nice. Paycheck they're getting, I guess they will be
sutty68 - Glad you liked them! I tried to make them as realistic as possible (keep it short and USA mostly focuses on Tour and Roubaix, they're not very interested in other races, I heard).
Four flat stages, a hilly stage and a final time trial, that awaits us for our first race of the season.
Stijn: All cards on the table here. I'm officially a team leader, so that gives me some stress to perform right away. Usually I would say I'm here to build up form and hopefully take a stage. Now I'm saying I need a stage and possibly the points jersey.
Willy: The profile doesn't suit me as a stage racer, so I'm mainly here to support Stijn and show my Rainbow Jersey in the final time trial.
The Race
Willy Wouters
I simply love riding around in the Garmin jersey! Here I am (left), talking to Robert Hunter. We talked for quite a while, turns out this is his final year as a pro, he'll be retiring!
Stijn Van Gent
Hunter had to do without a lead-out, as the team was too far down for the sprint, but he launched me nevertheless.
Unfortunately I couldn't finish it off. Fifth in my first race of the year. I wouldn't say that's bad! I think I can snatch away a stage here!
Results
Aftermath
Nothing important happened here today. Tomorrow's another day. There are some strong sprinters here, but one stage win should definitely be a possibility!
Though the DS has assured me there's no pressure, I feel it's there!
Stijn: A more hilly stage, which increases my chances of victory.
Willy: Today there's nothing for me.
The Race
Willy Wouters
The wheels turned around and around, nothing to report!
Stijn Van Gent
Today, because of the terrain, Sep Vanmarcke controlled late attackers and brought me to the final 5 km!
He launched me for what would be an incredibly fast sprint finish!
I held the lead for a long time, but the final 20 meters were too much. Second, after Viviani.
Aftermath
Official results are still not released, for some reason. Oh well, not too important. Tomorrow another chance for the sprinters.
See you then,
Stijn
Edited by Ian Butler on 21-04-2013 10:12
krisa - Well, here it's Lokoil you know the ingame sponsors are fakes (sforza = sporza, tv3 = the current Vier...)
I'm going pretty fast now, but it's only GP de Bessèges.
There's a problem, though, all exported results fail. I hope this is only so in GP de Bessèges and not a new problem that the game causes
EDIT: and now there's a problem with screenshots.
I'll just race the entire GP de Bessèges and write an overall report, because I can't work without results and screenshots of stage 3. Sorry, but it's only the first race of the year anyway!
Edited by Ian Butler on 21-04-2013 10:45
Jesleyh - Very true. and the 2nd part of the race went much better, even an amazing result, wait and see
krisa - Is it a problem for me?
PCM rulezz - Well, I think I figured it out (see below)
Good news and bad news. The good news is, the error/bug is constricted to GP de Bessèges. I'll remember that when making my schedule in the next seasons. But I should be able to export other results (did a test in Mallorca, that worked).
Bad news: I have no results from GP de Bessèges, but I will take some screenshots. Either way, this is a small, starting race which will be forgotten soon enough, though
After a bumpy start for Stijn, he seized to victory in stage 4. It was the first victory for him and for the team this season, so the relief was great all around.
But things even got better. The next day, in a 80 km stage, Willy took the peloton over a little hill, with Stijn in his wheel. For the finale, he set such an effort that, in combination with the wind, they and two others split with the peloton.
Stijn only had to finish off the work, and he did. 2 for 2!
The peloton was struggling against the wind and Willy even managed to finish 2nd. 1 Stijn, 2 Willy! Once again together on the podium.
For the final time trial, Willy had to start in the Young Jersey. He refused and said he wanted to start in his rainbow jersey, but they wouldn't cave. So Willy left with the white jersey.
It was an uphill time trial for the second part, so he took an astonishing 14 seconds on Cancellara and won the stage!
Stijn clearly hasn't been practising on his time trial bike. Luckily aerodynamics don't matter too much going uphill, so Stijn secured his yellow jersey!
Results
Yellow Jersey: Stijn Van Gent (Team Garmin) Green Jersey: Stijn Van Gent (Team Garmin) Mountain Jersey: Edward Talansky (Team Garmin) Young Jersey: Stijn Van Gent (Team Garmin) Best Team: Team Garmin
Aftermath
Well, we really went for it there. Team Garmin shows its strength by taking away all possible prizes. Stijn started decently but picked up the pace fast and was unstoppable for the final races. Willy showed good early form by splitting from the pack.
All in all, this has been a major success. Our pre-season training in the US of A, with the scientific approach, is doing wonders. Our form is good. One more preparation race and we should be ready for the real season!
GP de Bessèges - Stage 1 
