Dubois was now again in the office but merely for a few hours. He was annoyed with how the Beverbeek Classic turned out but he resigned himself to accepting these type of things happen. He was ready to fly out to South Africa for the Giro del Capo and he was going to take a risk as regards the first stage....he wasn't going to take a sprinter, despite the long downhill to the finish. It was still going to be a tough race, make no mistake, but he was ready for the challenge.
His secretary entered, there were various forms to fill out, responses to young fans who'd formed a fanclub in the local area, life was busy between this and the racing. No matter, he found himself enjoying it, apart from one aspect. Thus when the secretary said a courier had arrived, his mood darkened. It was another letter and Dubois was starting to get fed up of this anonymous person, who seemed to be critiquing everything he did. He opened with a combination of weary resignation and annoyance.
Ah things did not go so well for you in Belgium. Never mind, as they say, tomorrow is a new day. I have no doubt you'll refrain from taking a sprinter to South Africa, ergo that is your choice, maybe it'll work out, maybe it won't. Let's play a little game in the instance you haven't figured it out. The first is the first, be bold.
Dubois let out a grunt of anger, he had no time for this nonsense. He put these letters together with the first on top, be bold he thought as he rubbed his eyes. He let go and turned back to the first letter, in the instant his eyes relaxed, he spotted something. The bold text! He noticed the first letters of the text in bold on letter one spelled something else, he quickly glanced at the second letter and did the same. A look of wonder came across his face, his secretary asked him what was wrong. With a look of confusion and quite possibly fear he turned to her and revealed the message.
Squad: Chedhomme, Le Boulch, Thire, Mederel, Haddou, Mazet, Brouzes and Mombaerts.
Taillefer is the first rider to attack today.
A duo sets off in pursuit.
The three are soon together and they begin to function as they hope to stay away.
Auber sit nicely in the pack waiting for their chance. The break is reeled in late on and on the final climb and downhill there's an attack!
Thire, Haddou, Brouzes and Mombaerts light it up and get a gap....
4 against a determined peloton though, not good odds and they are caught with 7 kms left.
A very competitive sprint opens up........
Geslin rockets into the lead......
He holds on for victory!
1 Anthony Geslin Française des Jeux 2h32'06
2 Geoffroy Lequatre Agritubel st
3 Bruno Lima Madeinox Boavista st
------------------------------------------------------- 49 Nadir Haddou Auber 93 stEdited by tonymcf on 22-05-2009 02:56
Dubois had much to think about as he headed towards the team hotel. His main riders had a shot today but with hindsight the downhill had been too long. Now he had things to think about and decisions to be made. Stage 2 looked quite inviting to him but he now had to examine how much he took out of his star riders and whether they'd have the energy to contest the finish. His mind was on other things too, namely the message that Toto was coming. He knew who Toto was, he was a famous manager at one point but had a reputation for failing to even finish a season with most teams. Nevertheless he had much success in those times, a very good time with Sunweb at one point as well as taking the KOTM and other climbers jerseys with Ivan Santaromita when both were at Quick Step.
Things have changed though, Toto had a very short spell with Rock Racing before he stormed out. No one knew why he had done so and no one knew where he was now and to be honest it seemed like not a lot of people cared. Dubois however was unnerved, there had been reports that Toto had become "eccentric" while others said he'd gone nuts and was forever muttering about some woman called Erin. the big questions though for Dubois were, Where is Toto coming from? What is his objective? and What does this have to do with me? These questions would have to wait for the time being, Dubois had to retain focus on the race. Reaching the hotel he passed through the lobby on his way to his room. He was unaware that he was being watched......
Dubois however was unnerved, there had been reports that Toto had become "eccentric" while others said he'd gone nuts and was forever muttering about some woman called Erin.
The peloton begins it's journey on the queen stage.
As the initial attacks go from the peloton.
More riders jump from the peloton.
There's a large break up front now.
As the stage progresses, it becomes clear that the gap isn't coming down quick enough. Auber try to light it up on the climb to the finish but their attacks are smothered.
The break makes it! Rui Pinto takes the stage and assumes leadership of the race!
As Auber riders arrive in a very large peloton, so much for the queen stage.
1 Rui Pinto Barbot - Siper 3h06'53
2 Steve Chainel Bbox Bouygues Telecom st
3 Alberto Fernández Xacobeo-Galicia st
---------------------------------------------------- 22 Johan Mombaerts Auber 93 (+1'41 st as 17)
Richard Dubois was stressed. The last 2 days had been stressful racing wise. Just when the team's energy looked good enough to contest the win, the break had made it to the finish and despite their best efforts, they arrived with a peloton. The team realistically only had one more chance of bagging a stage win, the final stage was an ITT and that being a major weakness, he wasn't holding out hope of doing anything there. The questions of Toto remained, the man himself was nowhere to be found and thus it looked like these questions were going to go unanswered. Heaven forbid (he thought to himself sarcastically) that Toto would show up and put his mind at ease. He was determined however to focus on the racing, this was becoming a harder task as members of the French press were now beginning to ask questions about Dubois' credentials, abilities and tactics. Things were going to get rougher from here on out. Doubois got in the team car and as they pulled away, he noticed a rather tall gentleman was watching him........
Dubois was agitated. Things had not gone so well, on the penultimate stage the team messed it's tactics up and he had to take some of the blame for the lack of communication. the stage race was basically a wipeout and the team was leaving empty handed. To top it all off, the gentleman he spotted watching him had been hanging around a lot, this did not help his mental state but today he was going to do something about it. The gentleman appeared outside the team hotel but Dubois was waiting and decided to confront him
"Who are you? What do you want from me?" asked Dubois in a mixture of annoyance and anger. "You know who I am" said the man. Doubois was slightly taken aback, "You're obviously not Toto, you're too tall for a start. So.... you would be..... the one sending me the messages" said Dubois speaking quickly at the end as it dawned on him. "Now that you've figured it out, I'm Seamus Cassidy" said the man. "I'm just here to warn you that Toto has developed a keen interest in what you're doing, particularly with Auber". Confusion and questions raced through Dubois' mind, "But why me, what makes me so important?" The man sat down on one of the outdoor chairs and Dubois did likewise. "The truth is" said Seamus "No one actually knows". Dubois was annoyed by this, it seemed as though Mr Cassidy wasn't going to be able to provide answers. "I can tell you though that Toto doesn't really need a reason for anything. Take the fact he bought a Rubik's Cube. He twists it, he turns it but he doesn't even try and solve it, he says it just gives him something to do". "How do you know all this?" Dubois was intrigued. "I knew Toto for a bit and the people that still know him a bit are acquaintances of mine, so they talk to me about him, he's interesting as a person." "Why tell me all this though?" Dubois enquired. "You see it's quite simple, Toto is..... mad. His interest in you could be good, could be bad, like I say, no one knows what he wants with you so be careful. Don't do anything to antagonize him or you may regret it. I'll contact you again and provide assistance if it's needed. He may have an interest in returning to cycling in some capacity and that could be what he wants with you". Seamus got up and went to leave "Hey" called Dobois "Is it true about his madness over some woman called Erin?" Seamus sighed "Yes it is indeed, don't be near him if he's watching ESPN's Wednesday Night Baseball, that's when he's at his most volatile".
Several days later Dubois was back in Paris, he bought L'Equipe and headed into a cafe, he ordered some coffee, not the best idea if your mind was racing as his was. "Toto, Racing, Seamus Cassidy" he drifted off into his thoughts and became oblivious to what was going on around him. Particularly.....
A short man, dressed completely in black, seemingly staring at, perhaps talking to a wall.........
Right so the bugs are happening, such as the Tirreno one etc. So I'm moving out of career mode and filling out the calendar in single race mode, thus we'll lose rankings and the other races, the story aspect will continue alongside it. To make up for it, I'll have Auber participate in some the French ProTour races (except Paris-Nice) which had already taken place. So the Calendar as it stands is:
March
Cholet-Pays de Loire
Criterium International
