I can only agree with tsmoha. Great and especially quite original presentation. I like that you write about the personalities of the riders as well, an aspect that is missing in most (every?) other story. I would love it if you kept that up.
This is a great idea for a story, and an interesting choice of team.
The stats for the team are a bit bizarre though. Bagdonas is the big star on An Post these days - winning eight races last year, and its pretty clear that he and Eeckhout will be the main leaders this year. An Post didn't think they'd be able to keep him, but he was signed by Geox and then was left without a team when they collapsed. The guy won a couple of stage races, along with his ITT nationals and various stages but here his stats are those of one of the lowliest water carriers on the team. I suspect that little attention is paid to the smaller teams when the data base is updated.
Edited by ZinovievLetter on 03-02-2012 03:15
Lovely team presentation. Incredibly nice looking.
And I also want to second Zinovievletter on Bagdonas. I reckon he really does deserve better stats. Something around 68-72 time trial and a bit higher flat and hill as well.
But that's up to you, it's just a small suggestion to give you a more realistic team.
@cunego59: Thank you for noticeing the personality aspect. Before the start of the story i was also quite determined that i wanted to keep it that way, so it's great that you like it
@ZinovievLetter: Thanks
I'm really glad that you've noticed Bagdonas' stats. I have to admit that i didn't know Bagdonas before the team presentation, i just trusted the PcmDaily PublicBeta DB, where i haven't changed any major stats apart from Bellis'.
I've just looked through his results from 2011 and they're astonishing, he may be one of the best, if not the best on the team.
I'll try to correct some of his stats, even though i won't focus that much on the team, in perspective to Bellis himself. Thanks once again
@Mresuperstar: Thanks I'll soon start racing, even though the first report only will be a monthly review, because Bellis won't participate in any race in January
@Pellizotti2: Thank you very much
I'll certainly comply you and Zinovievletter's suggestions. It would make the team much more realistic, and it would also be nice to have another captain than Eeckhout to ride for
Soon I'll publish the first monthly reveiw of the season.
That means I won't start with a race report, since Jonny won't participate in any races in January
Welcome to the first monthly review of the season.
I haven't raced any races this month, but my team has still participated in some races which i think you should know about.
I also want to tell you a little about how i feel and something about the upcoming month of February, but first here's a little overview of January
January was a real season opener with two nationals and the first ProTour race of the season. Therefore the month created a lot of suspense.
The team's first races was the Australian championships, where we were participating with our only Australian Scott Law.
Scott was in the decisive breakaway in the RR which held on to the finish, but though he couldn't beat the best he managed to become 7th.
A really great result to start the season of with. Two days later he became 25th in the national TT's.
Another race which the team participated in, was the Giro della Calabria, which was a warm up for the riders who is going to ride the Tour of Qatar in February. Nico Eeckhout was the captain and managed to get some nice results, among others a top 15th spot on stage 1. Also Mark McNally rode very well and became 7th in the youth competition.
I didn't get to see Kreuziger in action in Tour Down Under, but my Australian team mate Scott Law, was following the race in Australia. We talked about the race, and he wasn't in doubt who was the strongest. Kreuziger had several top results and got a deserved overall victory in the race, which was enough for Cyclingnews to rate him as the rider of the month.
A quite unknown 24 years old Australian rider named Jack Anderson from Endura, was rated the best young rider of the month by Cyclingnews.
He was awarded with the price because of his result in the Australian championship, where he came in as 5th.
Quite of thought provoking since Scott Law who is 20 years old became 7th in the same race. If he'd overtaked Anderson, he maybe would have won the price.
My own start of the season
While the other guys from the team have been racing their first races of the season, me and my training mate Mark Christian, have been on Mallorca to get ourselfs into better shape. We've enjoyed the great weather and the great cycling conditions on the Spanish island, and we've got a lot of training kilometres into our legs.
While Mark will be heading towards Britain tommorow for some track racing, i'll be heading home to Italy to finetune my shape towards my first race Tour of Oman.
It will be exciteing to ride in Oman, but i won't have any high expectations for myself. I'll be riding the race to warm up towards the belgian classics, and to help my captain Sam Bennett in the sprints.
But let's see. The first race of the season doesn't always count on racing schedules and skills, but more on how you've trained through the winter season, and i've got a fine feeling in my stomach.Edited by andy222c on 05-02-2012 14:56
The race has 6 stages including 4 flat, 1 mountain and 1 TT stage.
My team has brought a fine team, but still a team who aren't favorites in any kind of way.
My job in this race will be to help my sprint captain Sam Bennett and overall GC captain Bagdonas. But even though i have to take care of them, then i'll get to ride my own chances if i'll spot a clear chance.
Tour of Oman - Stage 1
Bagdonas and McNally has just arrived from the Tour of Qatar, so they are in a very great shape, in relation to me and the other guys.
At this first stage our team will try to ride for Sam Bennett, which without no doubt is the best sprinter among us. But we won't try to set up a leadout train, because our team simply doesn't have the strength to do so.
Therefore i've been given a kind of free role on the team. I have to support Bagdonas and Bennett, but on the crucial kilometres i can ride my own chances.
Stage favourites
M. Goss
O. Freire, F. Ventoso
D. Galimzyanov, A. Vicioso, A. Davis
"I'm quite nervous here before the start of the race. It's the first race for my new team, An Post Sean Kelly, and it's the first race after the end of last season. So of course i hope that my winter training will pay of, and hopefully i can follow the others - It's a very tough lineup"
The Race
After a breakaway with 11 riders, including Mark McNally, was driven in, a new 12 man break was builded.
In this breakaway my training comrade Mark Christian was included. It seemed as though he had benefited from our training camp on Mallorca.
Mark Christian in todays break
After the pack agreed on letting the escape go, our team could relax in the fact that we had a man in front. Therefore i was given the green light to ride as i wanted, and let time show how i was going to ride.
Me relaxing in the pack
The breakaway collapsed and the pack had the full control with 10 kilometres to go. Therefore it came down to a mass sprint.
I had just secured that Sam Bennett was where he should be, in the wheel of A. Vicioso, which was great for him.
But i decided to stay in the front, which was a great idea since there began to be some disturbance in the sprint trains.
Suddenly i saw the rider in O. Freire's wheel began to drop down. I thought that it was the perfect moment for me, so i placed myself right behind him.
Me in the wheel of former World Champion O. Freire
Freire was placed just behind M. Goss who had a great leadout train in Greenedge. His team-mates rode perfectly, which brought him, Freire and me in perfect positions.
At this point i was near a collapse. They were driving incredibly fast!
Goss, Freire and Me in front!
I didn't know what Freire had in mind when he suddenly with 3 km left, turned dramaticly fast to the left, leaving me without a wheel to follow.
With 3 km left, Freire drops down
I was already completely exhausted, and simply couldn't follow the other riders pace, while i was droping down. Sam Bennett also overtook me on the last kilometre. He had riden very tactically and managed to go from wheel to wheel.
I got completely exhausted and fell down, while Bennett passed me
Meanwhile Matthew Goss takes i totally deserved victory, after a complete domination from his Greenedge team. Second is Freire who strangely came back on the last kilometre, and third is A. Vicioso.
Matthew Goss takes stage 1
I tried my best to hold on and finished just a few places down on Sam Bennett in 20th spot.
Me, crossing the line in the 20th place
Results
1
Matthew Goss
GreenEdge Cycling Team
3h29'34
2
Óscar Freire
Katusha Team
s.t.
3
Ángel Vicioso
Katusha Team
s.t.
4
Denis Galimzyanov
Katusha Team
s.t.
5
Robert Förster
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
6
Allan Davis
GreenEdge Cycling Team
s.t.
7
Alexei Markov
RusVelo
s.t.
8
Francisco José Ventoso
Movistar Team
s.t.
9
Roberto Ferrari
Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela
s.t.
10
Pablo Lastras
Movistar Team
s.t.
...
20
Jonathan Bellis
An Post - Sean Kelly
s.t.
Spoiler
11
Luca Paolini
Katusha Team
s.t.
12
Manuel Cardoso
Caja Rural
s.t.
13
Dean Windsor
Endura Racing
s.t.
14
Sam Bennett
An Post - Sean Kelly
s.t.
15
Robbie McEwen
GreenEdge Cycling Team
s.t.
16
Paul Voss
Endura Racing
s.t.
17
Simon Geschke
Project 1t4i
s.t.
18
Ian Bibby
Endura Racing
s.t.
19
Alexandre Blain
Endura Racing
s.t.
20
Jonathan Bellis
An Post - Sean Kelly
s.t.
21
Tom Stamsnijder
Project 1t4i
s.t.
22
Jonathan Castroviejo
Movistar Team
s.t.
23
Gustavo César Veloso
Andalucía
s.t.
24
Fabio Duarte
Colombia - Coldeportes
s.t.
25
Javier Chacón
Andalucía
s.t.
26
Rory Sutherland
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
27
Danail Petrov
Caja Rural
s.t.
28
Ivan Rovny
RusVelo
s.t.
29
Jeffry Romero
Colombia - Coldeportes
s.t.
30
Caleb Fairly
SpiderTech powered by C10
s.t.
31
Raymond Künzli
SpiderTech powered by C10
s.t.
32
Jason McCartney
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
33
Jesús Rosendo
Andalucía
s.t.
34
Alexander Mironov
RusVelo
s.t.
35
Mart Ojavee
Champion System Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
36
Stuart O'Grady
GreenEdge Cycling Team
s.t.
37
Rubens Bertogliati
Team Type 1 - Sanofi
s.t.
38
Juan Pablo Suarez
Colombia - Coldeportes
s.t.
39
Iván Gutiérrez
Movistar Team
s.t.
40
Michael Rodriguez
Colombia - Coldeportes
s.t.
41
Craig Lewis
Champion System Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
42
George Preidler
Team Type 1 - Sanofi
s.t.
43
Sebastian Langeveld
GreenEdge Cycling Team
s.t.
44
Pengda Jiao
Champion System Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
45
Javier Francisco Aramendia
Caja Rural
s.t.
46
Enrico Montanari
Team WIT
s.t.
47
Giairo Ermeti
Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela
s.t.
48
Jonathon McEvoy
Endura Racing
s.t.
49
Martin Gilbert
SpiderTech powered by C10
s.t.
50
Cameron Meyer
GreenEdge Cycling Team
s.t.
51
Valery Kaykov
RusVelo
s.t.
52
Mark McNally
An Post - Sean Kelly
s.t.
53
Michael Hepburn
GreenEdge Cycling Team
s.t.
54
Eduard Vorganov
Katusha Team
s.t.
55
Fabricio Ferrari
Caja Rural
s.t.
56
Carlos José Ochoa
Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela
s.t.
57
Vladimir Gusev
Katusha Team
s.t.
58
Ian Wilkinson
Endura Racing
s.t.
59
Kai Reus
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
60
Jay Thomson
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
61
Karl Menzies
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
62
Jens Keukeleire
GreenEdge Cycling Team
s.t.
63
Miguel Ubeto
Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela
s.t.
64
René Mandri
Endura Racing
s.t.
65
Boy Van Poppel
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
66
Fausto Fognini
Team WIT
s.t.
67
Fabio Felline
Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela
s.t.
68
Gediminas Bagdonas
An Post - Sean Kelly
s.t.
69
David Boily
SpiderTech powered by C10
s.t.
70
Ivan Savitsky
RusVelo
s.t.
71
Adrián Palomares
Andalucía
s.t.
72
Igor Boev
Itera - Katusha
s.t.
73
Wilson Marentes
Colombia - Coldeportes
s.t.
74
Enrique Sanz
Movistar Team
s.t.
75
Sergey Chernetskiy
Itera - Katusha
s.t.
76
Zakkari Dempster
Endura Racing
s.t.
77
Alfredo Balloni
Farnese Vini - Selle Italia
s.t.
78
Tyron Giorgieri
Team WIT
s.t.
79
Julián Sánchez Pimienta
Caja Rural
s.t.
80
Marcos García
Caja Rural
s.t.
81
Xavier Florencio
Katusha Team
s.t.
82
Hernâni Brôco
Caja Rural
s.t.
83
Denis Menchov
Katusha Team
s.t.
84
Vincenzo Garofalo
Team Nippo
s.t.
85
Daniele Callegarin
Team Type 1 - Sanofi
s.t.
86
Lucas Euser
SpiderTech powered by C10
s.t.
87
Zachary Bell
SpiderTech powered by C10
s.t.
88
Evgeniy Kovalev
RusVelo
s.t.
89
Luis Felipe Laverde
Colombia - Coldeportes
s.t.
90
Joe Eldridge
Team Type 1 - Sanofi
s.t.
91
Serguei Klimov
RusVelo
s.t.
92
Kohei Uchima
Team Nippo
s.t.
93
Joey Rosskopf
Team Type 1 - Sanofi
s.t.
94
Ryan Roth
SpiderTech powered by C10
s.t.
95
Dimitry Kozontchuk
RusVelo
s.t.
96
Alex Meenhorst
Team Differdange - Magic-Sportfood.de
s.t.
97
José Luis Roldán
Andalucía
s.t.
98
Kiel Reijnen
Team Type 1 - Sanofi
s.t.
99
Jacobus Venter
Team Differdange - Magic-Sportfood.de
s.t.
100
Henry Frusto
Team Nippo
s.t.
101
Vyacheslav Kuznetsov
Itera - Katusha
s.t.
102
Simon Lambert-Lemay
SpiderTech powered by C10
s.t.
103
Alexander Serebryakov
Team Type 1 - Sanofi
s.t.
104
Antonio Cabello
Andalucía
s.t.
105
Davide Frattini
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
106
Víctor Hugo Peña
Colombia - Coldeportes
s.t.
107
Juan Forero
Colombia - Coldeportes
s.t.
108
José Luis Cano
Andalucía
s.t.
109
Kun Jiang
Champion System Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
110
Muhamad Othman
Champion System Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
111
Remco Broers
Team Differdange - Magic-Sportfood.de
s.t.
112
César Bihel
Team Differdange - Magic-Sportfood.de
s.t.
113
Tomohiro Hayakawa
Team Nippo
s.t.
114
Mark Cassidy
An Post - Sean Kelly
s.t.
115
Biao Liu
Champion System Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
116
Ilnur Zakarin
Itera - Katusha
s.t.
117
Simone Campagnaro
Team Nippo
s.t.
118
Dmitry Kosyakov
Itera - Katusha
s.t.
119
Tobias Ludvigsson
Project 1t4i
s.t.
120
Patrick Gretsch
Project 1t4i
s.t.
121
Thierry Hupond
Project 1t4i
s.t.
122
Kevin Kohlvelter
Team Differdange - Magic-Sportfood.de
s.t.
123
Igor Frolov
Itera - Katusha
s.t.
124
Gang Xu
Champion System Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
125
Jordi Simón
Andalucía
s.t.
126
Andrey Solomennikov
Itera - Katusha
s.t.
127
Vladimir Karpets
Movistar Team
s.t.
128
Julien Antomarchi
Team Type 1 - Sanofi
s.t.
129
Cameron Wurf
Champion System Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
130
Sean Downey
An Post - Sean Kelly
s.t.
131
Frank Dressler
Team Differdange - Magic-Sportfood.de
s.t.
132
Miguel Rubiano
Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela
s.t.
133
Karol Domagalski
Caja Rural
s.t.
134
Rafael de Mattos Andriato
Farnese Vini - Selle Italia
s.t.
135
Alexandre Geniez
Project 1t4i
s.t.
136
Francesco Failli
Farnese Vini - Selle Italia
s.t.
137
Juan José Cobo
Movistar Team
s.t.
138
Roberto De Patre
Farnese Vini - Selle Italia
s.t.
139
Diego Caccia
Farnese Vini - Selle Italia
s.t.
140
Connor McConvey
An Post - Sean Kelly
s.t.
141
Jonathan Monsalve
Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela
s.t.
142
Beñat Intxausti
Movistar Team
s.t.
143
Davide Ricci Bitti
Farnese Vini - Selle Italia
s.t.
144
Tom Dumoulin
Project 1t4i
s.t.
145
Jackson Rodríguez
Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela
s.t.
146
Luca Mazzanti
Farnese Vini - Selle Italia
s.t.
147
Leonardo Giordani
Farnese Vini - Selle Italia
s.t.
148
Alexander Zdanov
Team Nippo
+ 2'56
149
Mark Christian
An Post - Sean Kelly
s.t.
150
Mathieu Sprick
Project 1t4i
+ 12'51
151
Kirill Baranov
Itera - Katusha
s.t.
General Classification
1
Matthew Goss
GreenEdge Cycling Team
3h29'14
2
Óscar Freire
Katusha Team
+ 8
3
Ángel Vicioso
Katusha Team
+ 12
4
Ivan Savitsky
RusVelo
s.t.
5
José Luis Cano
Andalucía
+ 14
6
Muhamad Othman
Champion System Pro Cycling Team
+ 16
7
Rafael de Mattos Andriato
Farnese Vini - Selle Italia
s.t.
8
Tobias Ludvigsson
Project 1t4i
+ 18
9
Denis Galimzyanov
Katusha Team
+ 20
10
Robert Förster
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
...
25
Jonathan Bellis
An Post - Sean Kelly
s.t.
Points classification
1
Matthew Goss
GreenEdge Cycling Team
25
2
Óscar Freire
Katusha Team
20
3
Ángel Vicioso
Katusha Team
16
4
Denis Galimzyanov
Katusha Team
14
5
Robert Förster
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team
12
Young classification
1
Ivan Savitsky
RusVelo
s.t.
3h29'26
2
José Luis Cano
Andalucía
s.t.
+ 2
3
Muhamad Othman
Champion System Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
+ 4
4
Rafael de Mattos Andriato
Farnese Vini - Selle Italia
s.t.
+ 4
5
Tobias Ludvigsson
Project 1t4i
s.t.
+ 6
...
8
Jonathan Bellis
An Post - Sean Kelly
s.t.
+ 8
I've just arrived to the hotel, and is actually feeling quite fine at the moment. It's a shame that Freire suddenly fell back, which could have brought me in a perfect spot on the last kilometre. But even if he had stayed, i'm not sure i could have driven any much further because of exhaustion.
Todays stage was like a test, so the nervousness in the pack tommorow won't be as much as it was today, so i'm looking forward to see how it goes.
Your story is really awesome graphical-wise and it is great also in the other aspects, i really like it. Tough start for Jonathan, good luck in the next stages
I'm also quite convinced that Bennett well develop very much, he's a great rider.
Can't wait for the races to start, because you got the graphics part down. Now lets see if you can put out the results 
