I knew you'd enjoy that, Ian! Except for Gilbert, the Belgians are all doing pretty well actually.
1.2: Grand Prix of Moscow
As preparation for the important upcoming 4 Jours de Dunkerque, we're lining up in Moscow for this flat one day race. Perfect opportunity for Siskevicius to top the form, as well as practice sprinting a little bit, against an easier field than the one that awaits us in the next few days.
As mentioned, it's all for Siskevicius. The race doesn't really allow any leeway for potential attacks, so Perichon will probably just relax throughout the day and then assist towards the end. If necessary that is.
Startlist:
Although it's clearly similar to writing your own death-note in a flat classic like this, two men tries out an early breakaway. Maximilian Bormann and Pit Schlechter at least makes sure that their team jerseys are seen in front of the cameras throughout the day.
The duo gets company from two others quite late in the race, when Ian Wilkinson and Oscar Riesebeek attempts to catch the peloton off guard with an attack at the 40-kilometer mark. As you can figure out easily yourself, they only stay away for a short while before Chipotle brings them back.
A more dangerous move is staged a little while later. About halfway through the penultimate lap, Anton Vorobyev sets off. Wilkinson and Riesebeek make sure to catch this train as well, just like Russell Downing, Dylan Van Baarle and surprisingly, LKT Brandenburg's fast finisher Nikias Arndt.
This turns into a full alert situation when suddenly Chipotle pull aside back in the main field, slowing down the chase considerably. Fortunately Paillot swiftly moves to the front, taking over inside of fifteen kilometres left.
Riesebeek and Wilkinson works incredibly hard to stay clear, but the inavitable end finally arrives just as the sprint is kicked off. Martinez leads it out for Siskevicius, followed by Steele Von Hoff and Maximiliano Richeze.
Richeze can't hold back for long and goes for an early pounce a long way before the kilometer mark. Siskevicius and Von Hoff promptly moves into the Argentinian's slipstream, profiting from an unintentional leadout.
Inside the final k, young home rider Vyacheslav Kuznetzov storms out of nowhere into the lead. Von Hoff finds another gear and just about nips past to take it on the line. Siskevicius on the other hand can't match the acceleration and has to settle for third, just topping Marko Kump.
In my eyes, a good day. The leadout train worked nicely, and Siskevicius picks up a few more points for our ranking position. Things are looking bright at the moment!
He certainly is doing well at the moment. It took a while for him to charge up form, but it has definitely been worth the wait!
2.HC: 4 Jours de Dunkerque
Here we are - one of the most important races on our calendar. The route includes two very interesting stages. First the second day, where the finish line is located just after a short, cobbled climb.
The other crucial stage will be two days after the first one. The difficulties will be the same things. However, on this stage it will feature all day. A real killer.
We'll focus completely on one thing - getting a stage win. The sponsors wants us to. It's going to be difficult considering the category of this race, but we'll do everything we can. Siskevicius will try to surprise on the flatter stages, while Perichon will attempt to sneak away wherever an opportunity opens up.
Several big teams are lined up, but luckily for us - most of them haven't sent top class squads. John Degenkolb could be a nightmare to face if his shape is alright, but discounting him, there are no real stars on the list.
We'll be keeping an eye on Giovanni Visconti for sure. He's the big favourite in my eyes, especially after a strong season opening. Other names include the aforementioned Degenkolb and perhaps even Lars Petter Nordhaug?
I recommend you hold onto your hats, because there's some crazy racing coming up!
2.HC: 4 Jours de Dunkerque: Stage 1, 2, 3
To mess things up a little bit for the sprinters, Perichon gives it a little dig on a small climb ten kilometres from the finish. He goes past the early breakaway in the flick of an eye, launching into a solo lead.
Just like we hoped, the sprint setup gets completely messed up behind. Perichon manages to build up an advantage of almost a minute before Argos finally organize themselves for Degenkolb.
They do cut the gap down to around half a minute when the sprint is kicked off. Adrien Petit and Tony Hurel position themselves behind the Dutch squad, with Siskevicius and Martinez doing their best to stall the chase.
Argos and the other teams have left it far too late anyway. Perichon comfortably paces himself up the slight uphill final kilometer to celebrate victory!
An out of form Degenkolb isn't even able to take the sprint for second. Instead it's Arthur Vichot who just about edges out Siskevicius. Then a little gap, and Martinez in fourth! Three riders in the Top 5! HC race, eh?
1
Pierre-Luc Perichon
La Pomme Marseille
4h07'28
2
Arthur Vichot
FDJ - BigMat
+ 27
3
Evaldas Siskevicius
La Pomme Marseille
s.t.
4
Yannick Martinez
La Pomme Marseille
s.t.
5
Luke Rowe
Sky Procycling
s.t.
Realizing the team's strength, we actually set up a small train in the finale of stage two. Martinez takes the lead in the last five ks, keeping Perichon and Siskevicius out of trouble ahead of the cobbled uphill finish.
Manuele Mori and Luke Rowe are the only ones who decide to latch on to the back. Behind them, a gap even appears!
Martinez runs out of steam quite early, but surprisingly it's Rowe who takes over - already at just under three ks left. The young Briton proves to be incredibly strong however, cracking Perichon on the final "climb".
Siskevicius gets stuck behind his team mate for a little while, and then doesn't quite have the legs to close down the gap Rowe built up. Therefore it's an impressive victory for Team Sky, and more bonus seconds for us!
The train trend continues also into stage three, this time with the addition of Paillot at the front as well. But for some reason, none of the other sprinters follows us!
This causes the biggest WTF moment of all my years playing PCM. The rest of the field simply lets out train go! It's a La Pomme TTT!
Paillot finishes his work and hands over to Martinez, who leads out the sprint from our trio. Siskevicius then goes for it with a kilometer and a half left, storming to victory in the dangerously narrow finish. Perichon just follows right behind all the way - making it an insane double victory!
Oh, that's right. Martinez holds on to third place - it's a triple!
Unfortunately I didn't slow down Martinez in the end, so the rest of the field are given the same time as him, + 25 seconds, instead of the 40 they finished behind the winning duo. Well, you can't have it all, can you?
1
Evaldas Siskevicius
La Pomme Marseille
4h19'09
2
Pierre-Luc Perichon
La Pomme Marseille
s.t.
3
Yannick Martinez
La Pomme Marseille
+ 25
4
Arthur Vichot
FDJ - BigMat
s.t.
5
Lars Petter Nordhaug
Sky Procycling
s.t.
Perichon and Siskevicius are also first and second in the GC. Although I expect it to be impossible for them to hang on during the brutal stage four, we've certainly got a nice position. The peloton is currently a massive 1'32 down!
I'm just as shocked as you are. I guess it was partly because of the narrow roads, since that really bugged up the AI.
Thanks for stopping by btw. I really appreciate the support.
2.HC: 4 Jours de Dunkerque: Stage 4, 5
The domination so far strikes back a little today. A breakaway group escapes at the start of the day and their lead blasts out to a massive twelve minutes in a matter of kilometers. And to make it even more annoying, all teams wants us to chase.
Delaroziere and Paillot manages to reduce the gap a little over the next part of the race, but still not quickly enough. Inside the final thirty ks, the gap is still over four minutes. With no domestiques left, Perichon sets off in pursuit by himself.
Meanwhile up front, Simon Geschke splinters the group to a million pieces. Or wait, that's not entirely true. Danny Pate just lets go to be nice.
None of his companions are able to make it back to him, so Geschke wins the stage all by himself. Pate follows in second place, after stopping to take a nap on the way up the final climb. And now the clock starts for Perichon...
Giovanni Visconti and John Gadret surges up the climb to the finish, and finishes a little bit ahead of Perichon. Nordhaug also sneaks past, but none of them gains enough to pass him in the GC. Unfortunately it's too late, and Geschke takes over the race lead in front of Pate.
Siskevicius also defended himself pretty well over the climbs, and crosses the line in 13th place. He still loses quite a bit of time unfortunately, and drops down to ninth in the GC. Still, far above our expectatations.
Just an easy sprinter stage left then. Sky and Argos do all the work throughout the day, but near the end we move up to challenge the British boys with our train.
It ends up being a very messy finish somehow, as all attempts at organized leadouts broke up somewhere on the way. Instead, it's Latvian champion Aleksejs Saramotins who charges into the lead with a kilometer left. Just behind him, Siskevicius and Degenkolb both ready to pounce.
But Luke Rowe nets it on the line! Degenkolb and Siskevicius were both unable to keep up the high speed all the way to the finish. So a rather surprising podium, with Davide Vigano and Nikolas Maes joining Rowe.
1
Luke Rowe
Sky Procycling
4h13'11
2
Davide Viganò
Lampre - ISD
s.t.
3
Nikolas Maes
OmegaPharma - Quickstep
s.t.
4
John Degenkolb
Team Argos - Shimano
s.t.
5
Giovanni Visconti
Movistar Team
s.t.
Geschke finishes near the front and secures the overall victory. Pate in second, whilst Perichon cashes in an amazing third place, along with the points jersey. Siskevicius ends up in ninth place, adding another few points to the amazing total amount we'll pick up from this superb race!
Thanks a lot for the comments. A big motivational push!
2.1: Tour de Picardie
Another sponsor target race is up next. An overall Top 10 is the goal in this three day sprinters' race. None of the stages include any kind of difficulty, so it's probably all for the sprinters!
Siskevicius should be the only one of our riders with a serious chance. Perichon will probably lay himself down as a domestique as well, as there are really no opportunities for surprising moves at any point during the race.
As expected, it ends up in a mass sprint on the opening stage. As also expected, it's Lotto in charge - setting up Greipel. Siskevicius finds a good position as well, right behind the Lottos and young Belgian Joeri Stallaert.
Greipel stays calm and waits until the last moment to jump out from his train's slipstream. With a swoosh he powers up to the line, netting victory dominantly. Siskevicius loses a bit of speed in the final meters and settles for a very decent fifth place. Actually very good, considering the names ahead of him.
For some reason, Lotto fails to repeat the perfect setup from the opening day, leaving Katusha the opportunity to give it a shot. The Russian squad decides to go for a very strange tactic - Freire leading out... Vantomme!
Freire pulls aside just before the kilometer mark. Vantomme is obviously not able to stay in the lead for long, and gets flushed away when Greipel makes his move at 800m out. An observant Siskevicius doesn't hesitate to follow.
There's nothing to do about Greipel obviously. The Gorilla just accelerates away with a gear nobody else comes close to, and cuts the finish line far ahead of the rest. Yet another "shit small victory" for the German.
A couple of metres behind, Van Poppel pips Siskevicius for second place. At least a few, very important, bonus seconds for us. A frustrated Boeckmans misses out in an incredibly even sprint.
Something very strange happens with around 20k left of the final stage. Just when the break is in sight for the main field, the chase is blown off. We realize it rather quickly, and decide to make something out of it. Therefore Perichon finally gets the chance to release his attack-energy.
Perichon goes straight up to, and past the escape group, creating an advantage of almost a minute in the process. Vacansoleil wakes up however, and begins hunting him down. Siskevicius just marks Greipel.
The solo man in front doesn't stand much of a chance as soon as the field picks up speed again, and the inevitable end comes three ks from the line. Van Poppel and Rojas meanwhile pushes Siskevicius off Greipel's wheel.
A move from Vantomme far out almost pays off, but he gets eaten up in the very last meters. Greipel gets caught behind some wheels, and doesn't make it out of there in time to stop Roy Curvers from bringing home a clash victory.
Siskevicius got boxed in as well, and lost track of the wheels in narrow finale. He eventually finds his way back, jumping back up to a sixth place.
Greipel wins the GC easily, as everyone expected him to. Van Poppel and Curvers completes the podium, both definitely deservedly. Siskevicius performances takes him to a fifth place, well inside of the best ten. Another sponsor goal - achieved!
1.2: Grand Prix of Moscow
2.HC: 4 Jours de Dunkerque
