rorzcp wrote:
I really think its offensive to say ' and some crappy australians '
Well, the Australians in that team ARE crappy (In terms of their stats, skills or whatever... no offense regarding their nationality)
Indeed, I just tried to say that GreenEDGE is an Australian team, but they don't have any good Australian.
I like australia, it's an nice country with great talented cyclists and Cadel Evans is one of my favourites. I can replace "crappy" with not that good if you want me to
Looking extremely nice so far. Hope the season gets going, really love the squad, the presentation, the Tour of Germany and of course, your promo posters!
oh sorry marc i totally mistook what you meant, i thought you were implying australia was crappy. thats all good then! Also, im suprised you didnt put in Luke Durbridge anywhere.
Lotto - Pirelli (former Omega Pharma - Lotto) is Italian/Belgian team is lead by a Irishmen and good old Valverde. Roche is the team leader and he has to be good if this team want to stay in Pro Tour. The belgians also has to perform well while the Italians in this team will have to wait a couple of seasons for their chance. Rank: +
Quickstep
Quickstep is an team for the classics, lead by Boonen and Peeters. Roelandts is the best sprinter in this team but if we are not talking sprints or cobbles this team is just empty. Both Belgian teams could be forced to leave Pro Tour by the end of this season. Rank: +
Team Rabobank
Rabobank's squad is 100 % dutch, oh, sorry I just spotted Yatim. With only dutch rider, and Yatim, this is and team for classics and sprints. There is no GT leader here but their squad is good enough to stay in Pro Tour. However, they will be far away from the top. Rank: ++
Renault - ELF
Renault - ELF (former Leopard - Trek) is back! This is an "all-round" team. The riders are from countries all around the world and they can do well in all terrains.With that said they will end up somewhere between the middle and top-3 depending on what their leader, Uran scores this season. Rank: +++
RadioShack - Nissan - Trek
R-N-T (former RadioShack) is the second luxembourgian team in Pro Tour. "The Shack" is increadible strong in sprints an in stage races, with Schleck as their leader. However, there is no leader for the cobbled classics here and a team-time-trail would be like Armageddon for this team. Rank: ++++
Team Sky
Team Sky is like an dream at the early season with Gilbert, Haussler, Boasson Hagen, Matthews, Swift and Thomas. Now it's time towake up! It's time for the Grand Tours and Sky can only go for stage wins, what an shame after their excellent spring. Rank: ++++
Sodexo
Sodexo (former Bretagne - Schuller) is an team with french riders and Igor Anton. Igor Anton is their leader after Justin Jules depart to Commerzbank. Actually, Anton is their only hope if they want to stay in Pro Tour. However, an top-5 in any of the Grand Tour's would be just enough. Rank: +
UniCredit
UniCredit (former Colnag CSF) is another region-based squad, coming up from Continental a few years ago. "Unicred" is stronger than Sodexo, though. Ricco and Ardila will lead the team this year and they will in up in the middle. More important, they have to avoid doping scandals especially Ricco! Rank: +++
Vlaanderen
Vlaanderen (former Landbouwkrediet) is the third team from Belgium. Vlaanderen is an mix of small companies from Vlaanderen who tries two build an Belgian team with some quality, rather than 3 weak teams. Baugnies will make some great results at the cobbles but other terrains doesn't suit this team. Especially not mountains... Rank: ++
Final Comment
Ladies and gentlemen, that's Pro Tour 2017!
@kitface: thanks, I am hoping for more great screens!
@Heine: thanks for the kind words, I tried to keep it realistic after letting the readers decide the leaders This story is on pcm'10 but yes, the squads are old and there is only 3 riders under the age of 25 with 80 or above in any terrain and we find them in CT. For some reason, you find almost every scputed rider in CT for some reason. The best young rider in PT is Juan Muniz. He is riding for RadioShack with 82 MO and 80 HI, aged 26.
@rorzcp: Well, adding jerseys and minishirts for all teams and building the put the Commerzbank squad together in an editor was enough for me. I want to play now! So I didn't add Durbridge or any other rider, I didn't deletead Weylandt and Tondo or lowered the stats of Ricco, Kolobnev and Valverde.
We went to Australia some days earlier to watch kangaroo's and avoid jet-lag. We spotted kangaroos and avoided the jet-lag. So far so good.
We had selected an 7 man rooster for TDU and Tino Thömel was supposed to lead the the team. However, in case of the hills on stage 3 or Wilunga hill on stage 5 would be to difficult for Thömel we bringed Jan Bakelandts and John Degenkolb to back him up. Degnkolb were also meant to be Thömel's lead-out man. Nevertheless, everythin turned out to be upside down...
Team Commerzbank
Squad
Leader: Jan Bakelandts Sprinter: Tino Thömel Free Element: John Degenkolb
Team Mates: Hendrik Hase, Jan Simon. Michel Koch, Marcel Sieberg
Mission:
We don't have any goal but a stage win in our first PT entry would be nice!
Plan
Work for Thömel. Save Bakelandts and help him on the hilly stages when both Degenkolb and Thömel is struggling. Koch and Sieberg should try to join early breaks while Hase ans Simon should protect Thömel and Bakelandts.
The first stage at TDU is the first race of the year for many of the riders and that makes the race pretty nervous. The guys were told to be in the front at the start of the race to avoid crashes. Koch and Sieberg should also try to join the break. However, they failed and a break gained a gap.
Nevertheless, the break was caught by the end of the day in we formed our lead-out: Simon, Koch, Degenkolb, Thömel. Simon relayed until it was 5kms to go. Koch made an 2 km pace, taking Degenkolb to the front of the pach with 3kms to go. It was an great lead-out but Thömel didn't had the legs today. Insted, Thömel faded down to 12th while Sieberg and Bakelandts passed him. Sieberg was 4th and Bakelandts 6th. Great results, but I am worried. Our best sprinter is out of shape and neither Sieberg nor Bakelandt has what it takes to take an stage win in a bunch sprint.
Results:
1
Marco Bandiera
Liquigas - Cannondale
3h37'48
2
Bartlomiej Matysiak
GreenEDGE Cycling Team
s.t.
3
Ben Swift
Sky ProCycling
s.t.
4
Marcel Sieberg
Commerzbank
s.t.
Stage 2
Hendrik Hase started the stage in the jersey for the best young rider. I had told him to stay calm during the breakfast meeting but clearly, he couldn't.
Hase joined the break with an huge boost of confidence. He was the strongest in a break who gained a lead of 7 minutes and with 20 kms to go their lead was 2'30. It looked like the break would stay clear and Hase would have to fight about the stage win with Ventoso (Eroski) who was the pther good sprinter in the break.
Sadly, Hase and the rest of the break faded and they were caught with 2 kms left. The bunch passed in great speed with Boeckmans (Lotto) taking the win and Thömel took 6th after showing better legs than yesterday, but still not good. However, Hase fighted and finished as 8th an impressive ride!
Michel Koch finally achived his mission by joining the break on stage 3 and gave the team another easy day in the bunch on our way to Stirling. However, we were afraid that this stage would be to hard for Thömel, who seems to be out of shape, so Bakelandts were given all support and protection he needed.
Alejandro Valverde (Lotto) tried to make an move with 3 kms to go. In that moment, Degekolb was in the front of the bunch with Bakelandts on his wheel. Bakelandts stayed calm, since I've told him to stay calm in case of any attacks during th fianl kms. However, his sprint wasn't enough today and he ended up as 9th. Romain Feillu (FDJ) won the stage while Valverde was 4th after his late attack.
Everything looks nice. Only one but...... Wouter Weylandt still in the game. How hard is death is, to my opinion he should be out of the game, just as Tondo (don't know if he's in). But that's my opinion.
Further the story looks great.
dienblad wrote:
Everything looks nice. Only one but...... Wouter Weylandt still in the game. How hard is death is, to my opinion he should be out of the game, just as Tondo (don't know if he's in). But that's my opinion.
Further the story looks great.
I will rename and change their profiles tomorrow then.
With Thömel out of shape and Bakelandts to slow for winning an bunch sprint we took an easy day. We didn't put any rider in the break or did some work in the bunch. The stave eventually ended up in a bunch sprint won by Michael Matthews (Sky). Bakelandts was our best placed rider today, at 9th.
Stage 5
Stage 5 is probably the hardets stage of TDU, climbing Wilunga Hill twice. However, the climb is to far away from the finish so we decided to wait for the sprint. Bakelandts were supposed to lead the team, with Degenkolb as lead-out in the final kms.
The tacticts turned out perfect but Bakelandts wasn't fast enoug today. Instead, Romain Feillu (FDJ) took his 2nd stage win and jumped into the overall lead before the final stage. Kris Boeckmans (Lotto) remains 2nd, 4 seconds behind. Our best rider in the GC is Michel Koch. Koch is 14th, 16s behind Feillu.
Results:
1
Romain Feillu
FDJ
3h09'06
2
Justin Williams
RadioShack-Nissan-Trek
s.t.
3
Ben Swift
Sky ProCycling
s.t.
...
5
Jan Bakelandts
Commerzbank
s.t.
Stage 6 - Final Stage
We said we had nothing to loose at the team meeting so Jan Bakelandts joined the first attacks in an desperate try to move up in the GC and take an stage win. If it turned out badly we would still have Thömel and Degenkolb for the sprint. The break, with Jan Bakelandts, gained almost 3 minutes before the bunch started to chase them down.
With Bakelandts brought back we decided to work for Degenkolb. However, the lead-out failed and he only managed 14th. A bad result but, at least, Bakelandts took some bonus at an intermediate sprint and moved up to 10th in the GC.
The final stage was won by Michael Van Staeyen (Liquigas) while Romain Feillu (FDJ) kept his lead and won the GC.
With 4th as best result on a stage, 10th in the GC and a couple of other top-10 results TDU was an small disappointment for us. It was also our first competition as a team and some of us were out of shape. Hendrik Hase did an decent ride, winning the U25 rankings and finishing 8th at stage 2, even though he have been in the breakaway.
Thömel, Degnkolb and Bakelandts was our leaders for this toour but none of them managed to really "lead" the team. Better luck in next race, hopefully in better shape!
I like the reports. I'm sure when the riders have more days of competition and their Festive Holidays 'diet' changes, your team will show its potential.
Steve Majerus was caught with 10kms to go and it was now up to the sprinters to fight about the stage win. We putted our lead-out in the front: Schmieder-Van Vooren-Beuret-Jules. Beuret started the sprint with 3kms to go in a good posistion but the narrow streets of Bellegarde he was stuck behind with Jules. William Bonnet (Sodexo) won the sprint. Justin Jules was 5th. I think he is able to make better results in this tour, he is in good shape.
Results:
1
William Bonnet
Team Sodexo
3h22'42
2
Nikolai Trussov
Team Gazprom CT
s.t.
3
Benoît Sinner
Saur - Sojasun
s.t.
...
5
Justin Jules
Commerzbank
s.t.
Stage 2
Marcel N. Schmieder was in the break on stage 2. Again, the break was caught when the sprint was about to start. However, today Van Vooren and Beuret made the perfect lead-out and Beuret was in the front with Jules on his wheel when the sprint started.
With the perfect lead-out, Jules took our first win ever! Hopefully, it's not the last but what an victory for Jules in his home-country and he also jumped into the overall lead. After the stage Jules was grateful to his team-mates, especially Beuret and Van Vooren who made the excellent lead-out.
Tomorrow, we will see Jules in the Orange leader shirt.
Results:
1
Justin Jules
Commerzbank
4h01'08
2
Jens Keukeleire
Vlaanderen
s.t.
3
Josep MarÃa Galdos
Movistar Team
s.t.
Stage 3
Marcel N. Schmieder was in the break again. Why? Simply because we are lazy and don't want to defend the leader jersey. Instead, other teams works and we save our guys to the final kms.
Our lead-ot worked good again, but Jules couldn't repeat yesterday's win. Diego Milán (Movistar) won the stage ahead of Gianni Meersman (Vlaanderen) and Justin Jules was 3rd. With 8 bonus seconds, Jules kept the leader jersey. In other words, we will be in the break tomorrow as well.
Results:
1
Diego Milán
Movistar Team
3h38'17
2
Gianni Meersman
Vlaanderen
s.t.
3
Justin Jules
Commerzbank
s.t.
Stage 4
Another stage, another break. Today it was Majerus turn again when he joined the first attacks at a rainy stage. However, they were not given any huge gap and the bunch caught them halfway through the stage.
We putted our lead-out up in the front again and Jules managed another podium result. Jens Keukeleire (Vlaanderen) won the stage and Jules was just behind him at 2nd. Jules is still in the lead in GC but Keukleire is just 8 seconds behind and the final stage suits him good. Jules will have to fight if he wants to defend the lead, and he want off course.
Stage 5
Justin Jules had to beat Jen Keukleire on the final stage to keep his overall lead. With 3kms to go everyting looked bright. Our lead-out was in the front and Laurent Beuret started the sprint.
Sadly, Jules was tired agter all up and downs on today's stage and he was chanceless in the sprint. Keukleire won the stage and the GC. Jules finished as 7th today and ended up as 2nd in the GC. However, we are satisfied with this race. Our first victory and 4 stages in the leader shirt is pretty good in my opinion!
Tour de Med is made up by 2 flat, 2 hilly and 1 mountain stage and we decided to use it as an test for our team and leader, Tony Martin, before Tour of Germany. To help Tony we sent our best possible squad:
Leader: Tony Martin Sprinter: Tino Thömel Luxury team-mates: Simon Geschke, Roman Zimmermann Team-Mates: John Degenkolb, Matthias Plarre, Tim K. Hartung, Tobias F. Häusler
As mentioned before, Martin is here to lead our team. Thömel is hre for the sprints and he is also looking for his shape, who was lost during Tour Down Under. Geschke and Zimmermann are here to help Martin at the hilly stages but they could also be wildcards for an stage win. The same for Degenkolb who could win a sprint on his own but I think he better help Thömel since Thömel needs an win before Tour of Gemany. Plarre, Hartung and Häusler will have to do a lot of work here but since the mountain stage is the last stage we may don't need to defend the leader jesrey before the last stage unless Thömel wins a sprint or Martin suprises in a hilly sprint.
Race Report
Stage 1
A short stage, about 100 kms so it was high pace from start to finish and not much happend other than full gas! Thömel was up there with 4kms to go but then he suddenly faded and Degenkolb had to make an really long sprint. 6 riders passed him in the final meters and send him down to 7th while Thömel was 10th. Baptiste Planckaert (Jong Vlaanderen) won the stage, a real suprise. It's also worth to mention that Tony Martin was 13th, a sign that tells us he is shape!
Stage 2 was the first hilly stage in this tour so Thömel wouldn't be the man for the stage win today. We made up two plans: either we go for Degenkolb in the sprint or we pace hard and then Martin attacks at the top of the final climb. Degenkolb struggled in the beginning of the stage so we decided to go for the other plan. After an hard pace led by Simon Geschke, Tony Martin made his move and quickly gained 40 seconds!
'
Tony was brought back by the french teams and the sprint was won by Matthieu Ladagnous (Ag2r) before his team-mate Jonas Aaen Jørgensen. Degenkolb felt better at the end but only managed to follow Jørgensen before doing an small sprint at the end. However he ddn't passed neither Jørgensen or Anthony Geslin (Saur - Sojasun) and ended up as 4th. Still, it's a good result.
Results:
1
Matthieu Ladagnous
AG2R La Mondiale
4h10'24
2
Jonas Aaen Jørgensen
AG2R La Mondiale
s.t.
3
Anthony Geslin
Saur - Sojasun
s.t.
4
John Degenkolb
Commerzbank
s.t.
Stage 3
Another flat stage and another fail for Tino Thömel. Nevertheless, his performance today was better than on stage 1 since he finished 7th today but he is still far from top shape. He is also suffering a lack of self-confidence at the moment but hopefully he will be bettar at Tour of Germany. The stage was won by Christoph Sokoll (Saur - Sojasun).
Results:
1
Christoph Sokoll
Saur - Sojasun
2h38'02
2
Cristiano Fumagalli
Acqua & Sapone
s.t.
3
Igor Abakoumov
Donckers Koffie - Jelly Belly
s.t.
...
7
Tino Thömel
Commerzbank
s.t.
Stage 4
Tony Martin really hates uphill sprints so decided to attack with 10kms to go after an hilly stage were his team-mate Roman Zimmermann had earned the KoM jersey. He got a nice gap but the frenchies hunted him as they were crazy!
Martin was caught an Anthony Roux (Sodexo) won the sprint. Martin was 15th which means this was one of our worst result ever. However, he didn't loose any time so everhing will be decided tomorrow at Mont Faron.
Matthieu Ladagnous (Ag2r) is currently leading the GC. Martin is 7th, 30 seconds behind.
Simon Geschke attacked shortly after the today's break was caught. Roman Zimmermann had been in that break and took 16 pts in KoM classificatios which meant he win it! However, Geschke attacked and got a gap of 40 seconds when the bunch started the downhill-selection before the final climb.
Tony Martin took his own pace uphill Mont Faron and after an short while he found himself alone between Geschke and the bunch. What should he do next? He asked me and I said: "ATTACK"!
Martin joined Geschke after his effort but the gap was only an half minute. Geschke started to pace while Martin sat behind saving his energy for the sprint.
Today, our tactiscs worked out smoothly and we took an 1-2! This is our 2nd victory ever and our first double.This move also made Tony Martin to the GC winner and Geschke moved up to 4th. Other than that we also won the KoM jersey with Roman Zimmermann. Even though the fail by Thömel this was an successfull tour for us!
(In terms of their stats, skills or whatever... no offense regarding their nationality)
This story is on pcm'10 
I'm sure when the riders have more days of competition and their Festive Holidays 'diet' 
