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La Pomme Marseille - Bye for now!
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| Pellizotti2 |
Posted on 17-12-2012 07:54
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World Champion
Posts: 10121
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Hope you're all enjoying the success! Topping the form at this point of the season never strikes wrong! 
@ dienblad - You'll find out soon, in the season summary.
 1.HC: Tour de Vendée
We've arrived at our last race this season. A basically pan flat route lies ahead, with plenty of quality sprinters lined up with their eye on the victory. However, since our only actual sprinter isn't really top notch, we'll be trying some more of the late attacking that has payed off so well earlier this year.
Considering his performances in the last couple of months, Alexander Serebryakov must surely feel the pressure of being watched here. Probably also highly motivated for his last race before joining our team!
Other names that catches my eye are Adrien Petit and Andy Fenn, who are both coming from superb breakthrough seasons. However, the winner could really come from any of the teams. It's a very open race.
Straight to the action, with Perichon kicking off on a slight incline with two laps to go, following the plan we made up before the start.
Perichon trying to escape the field.
The move proves to be perfectly timed. Moments after the gap appears, Team Type 1 pulls aside from the front of the peloton, looking for help from other teams. The problem is - nobody takes over!
This causes the speed to drop significantly. In a matter of three kilometers, Perichon extends his advantage to over two minutes!
Nobody wants to do the pace!
The sprinter teams eventually start chasing again, but far too late. Perichon cruises home to a solo victory, really catching everyone off guard. Talk about perfect way to end the season: four consecutive wins for us!
Stunning win for Perichon!
1'44 later, the sprinters lead home the peloton. Bacquet wins the battle for second, topping Favilli in a photofinish. We even get two men in the top 10, with Koretzky finishing in ninth, while celebrating his team mate's victory!
| 1 | Pierre-Luc Perichon | La Pomme Marseille | 4h59'23 | | 2 | Fabien Bacquet | Auber 93 - BigMat | + 1'44 | | 3 | Elia Favilli | Farnese Vini - Selle Italia | s.t. | | 4 | Joeri Stallaert | Landbouwkrediet - Euphony | s.t. | | 5 | Lloyd Mondory | AG2R La Mondiale | s.t. | | 6 | Sergey Lagutin | Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team | s.t. | | 7 | Andrew Fenn | OmegaPharma - Quickstep | s.t. | | 8 | Romain Feillu | Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team | s.t. | | 9 | Clément Koretzky | La Pomme Marseille | s.t. | | 10 | Daryl Impey | Orica - GreenEdge | s.t. |
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 17-12-2012 08:05
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Tour de France Champion
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Yet another Great victory to add to the Palmares |
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 23-11-2024 19:00
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| Ian Butler |
Posted on 17-12-2012 08:08
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 21854
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4/4, brilliant! |
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| ste_18 |
Posted on 17-12-2012 09:30
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Wow, another victory! A great end of season. |
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| FreitasPCM |
Posted on 17-12-2012 10:58
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 8389
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A superb season ending!  |
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| Pellizotti2 |
Posted on 20-12-2012 23:34
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World Champion
Posts: 10121
Joined: 01-05-2010
PCM$: 200.00
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Thanks everyone!
My apologies for the lack of updates in the recent days. With help from lluuiiggii, I've begun the long process of manually updating everything for the new season.
Some of you may remember that I did the same with my old story: Project 1T4i. It's quite a lot of work, so it's probably going to take a week or two to finish. No big deal, as it's going to be worth it in the end!
But before that little break - this!
Summary of the 2012 season
Results, WorldTour races:
| Race | Winner | | Santos Tour Down Under | Luis León Sánchez | | Paris - Nice | Alejandro Valverde | | Tirreno - Adriatico | Fabian Cancellara | | Milano - San Remo | Mark Cavendish | | Volta a Catalunya | Daniel Moreno | | E3 Prijs Vlaanderen | Tom Boonen | | Gent - Wevelgem | Tom Boonen | | Ronde van Vlaanderen | Maxime Vantomme | | Vuelta al Pais Vasco | Alejandro Valverde | | Paris - Roubaix | Fabian Cancellara | | Amstel Gold Race | Simon Gerrans | | La Flèche Wallonne | Jelle Vanendert | | Liège - Bastogne - Liège | Michael Albasini | | Tour de Romandie | Bradley Wiggins | | Giro d'Italia | Michele Scarponi | | Critérium du Dauphiné | Robert Gesink | | Tour de Suisse | Bradley Wiggins | | Tour de France | Christopher Froome | | Tour de Pologne | Marco Marcato | | Eneco Tour | Fabian Cancellara | | Clásica de San Sebástian | Michael Albasini | | Vuelta a España | JoaquÃm RodrÃguez | | Vattenfall Cyclassics | Tom Boonen | | GP Ouest-France | Marcel Kittel | | GP de Québec | David Veilleux | | GP de Montréal | Enrico Gasparotto | | Il Lombardia | JoaquÃm RodrÃguez | | Tour of Beijing | Beñat Intxausti |
The Spaniards really dominated the season's first couple of months, only matched by Tom Boonen, the cobbled classics' top man. The other nations finally started getting involved by the Ardennes classics, where GreenEdge surprisingly dominated - spearheaded by Gerrans and Albasini.
Then we reached the stage races, and inevitably - the Sky dominance. Wiggins picked up the overall titles in both Romandie and Suisse, before getting crushed by his team mate Froome in the Tour.
After the British period, the Spaniards took over again, with Vuelta winner Rodriguez and world time trial champion Contador in charge. The latter almost wrapped up the season last race, Beijing, as well - but ended up just short of his compatriot Intxausti.
No doubt that this year will be remembered as "Spain's super season"!
Three of the season's protagonists.
UCI WorldTour Individual Ranking:
| 1 | Fabian Cancellara | Radioshack - Nissan | 674 | | 2 | Tom Boonen | OmegaPharma - Quickstep | 621 | | 3 | JoaquÃm RodrÃguez | Katusha Team | 487 | | 4 | Bradley Wiggins | Sky Procycling | 478 | | 5 | Jelle Vanendert | Lotto-Belisol Team | 465 | | 6 | Alejandro Valverde | Movistar Team | 432 | | 7 | Daniel Moreno | Katusha Team | 414 | | 8 | Simon Gerrans | Orica - GreenEDGE | 373 | | 9 | Chris Froome | Sky Procycling | 370 | | 10 | Michael Albasini | Orica - GreenEDGE | 348 | | 11 | Vincenzo Nibali | Liquigas - Cannondale | 341 | | 12 | Beñat Intxausti | Movistar Team | 313 | | 13 | Enrico Gasparotto | Astana Pro Team | 312 | | 14 | André Greipel | Lotto-Belisol Team | 308 | | 15 | Luis León Sánchez | Rabobank Cycling Team | 268 | | 16 | Michele Scarponi | Lampre - ISD | 264 | | 17 | Alberto Contador | Team Saxo Bank - Tinkoff Bank | 259 | | 18 | Matthew Goss | Orica - GreenEDGE | 256 | | 19 | Robert Gesink | Rabobank Cycling Team | 249 | | 20 | Damiano Cunego | Lampre - ISD | 242 |
It's hardly a surprise that Cancellara wins this, after the amazing season he has behind him. In addition to a third Roubaix cobblestone, he also wins three stages + the overall in Eneco Tour and one stage + the overall in Tirreno.
And that's just the victories. It can't be forgotten that his season also includes a second place in Amstel Gold Race, 5th overall and the polkadot jersey in the Tour, 5th in the Ronde and 6th in Milano - San Remo. What's next for this man?
An insanely strong season for Spartacus.
UCI WorldTour Team Ranking:
| 1 | Sky Procycling | 1326 | | 2 | Orica - GreenEDGE | 1087 | | 3 | Katusha Team | 1085 | | 4 | OmegaPharma - Quickstep | 1068 | | 5 | Lotto-Belisol Team | 1016 | | 6 | Radioshack - Nissan | 970 | | 7 | Movistar Team | 942 | | 8 | Rabobank Cycling Team | 784 | | 9 | Liquigas - Cannondale | 766 | | 10 | Lampre - ISD | 589 | | 11 | Astana Pro Team | 523 | | 12 | Garmin - Sharp | 491 | | 13 | BMC Racing Team | 463 | | 14 | Euskaltel - Euskadi | 430 | | 15 | Team Saxo Bank - Tinkoff Bank | 368 | | 16 | FDJ - BigMat | 347 | | 17 | AG2R - La Mondiale | 332 | | 18 | Vacansoleil - DCM | 325 |
Overall victory and four stage wins in the Tour. Points jersey and four stage wins in the Vuelta. One stage win in the Giro. Victory in San Remo. Overall victory in Romandie. Overall victory in Suisse.
Needless to say, Sky have taken the WorldTour by storm this year. Second best team, GreenEDGE, aren't even close. And the scary part is that even though Cavendish is leaving, they could easily repeat this feat next year.
In their own league this year.
Continental Tour Individual Ranking:
| 1 | Alexander Serebryakov | Team Type 1 - Sanofi | 917 | | 2 | Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg | MTN - Qhubeka | 819 | | 3 | Evaldas Siskevicius | La Pomme Marseille | 818 | | 4 | Tom Veelers | Team Argos-Shimano | 759 | | 5 | Jempy Drucker | Accent Jobs - Willems Verandas | 671 | | 6 | Jonathan Tiernan-Locke | Endura Racing | 660 | | 7 | Boy Van Poppel | UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling | 598 | | 8 | Andrea Palini | Team Idea | 580 | | 9 | Cristian Cominelli | Team Idea | 563 | | 10 | Clément Koretzky | La Pomme Marseille | 551 | | 11 | Steven Tronet | Auber 93 - BigMat | 451 | | 12 | Joseph Dombrowski | Bontrager - Livestrong Team | 444 | | 13 | Carlos Betancur | Acqua & Sapone | 434 | | 14 | Nico Eeckhout | An Post - Sean Kelly Team | 420 | | 15 | Roy Jans | An Post - Sean Kelly Team | 413 | | 16 | Sébastien Chavanel | Team Europcar | 387 | | 17 | Adrien Petit | Cofidis, le crédit en ligne | 381 | | 18 | Vyacheslav Kuznetsov | Itera - Katusha | 378 | | 19 | Steele Von Hoff | Chipotle - First Solar Develop Team | 373 | | 20 | Franco Pellizotti | Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela | 372 |
The impressive surge Serebryakov made during the season's second half proves to be enough to come out on top of the CTour. It'll certainly be interesting to see if he can reach this level once again while representing us next season!
Speaking of us, we end up with two riders in the top 10. Evaldas ends up in third place, just a point shy of second. There's no way he would've been able to challenge for the title anyway, so no reason to complain. Koretzky also finishes among the ten, mainly thanks to the excellent riding in the final races.
Serebryakov's amazing season has come to an end.
Continental Tour Team Ranking:
| 1 | Team Type 1 - Sanofi | 2279 | | 2 | Team Argos - Shimano | 2242 | | 3 | La Pomme Marseille | 2123 | | 4 | Itera - Katusha | 1908 | | 5 | An Post - Sean Kelly Team | 1583 | | 6 | Team Idea | 1451 | | 7 | Endura Racing | 1281 | | 8 | Team Europcar | 1273 | | 9 | MTN - Qhubeka | 1232 | | 10 | UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling | 1132 |
To a delibarative part thanks to the man above, Team Type 1 finishes atop the table, just a few points in front of Argos. They haven't been granted any WT license however, so they'll continue to compete with us in the PCT next year, under the new name Novo Nordisk.
But obviously, the best part about this ranking is looking at the third place. Tactical planning, good teamwork and some smart moves has taken us to a level I couldn't even dream of reaching already this year. Next up, PCT!
Things have gone far above expectations for TT1.
Individual CQ Ranking:
| 1 | Fabian Cancellara | Radioshack - Nissan | 3449 | | 2 | Tom Boonen | OmegaPharma - Quickstep | 3285 | | 3 | JoaquÃm RodrÃguez | Katusha Team | 2792 | | 4 | André Greipel | Lotto-Belisol Team | 2179 | | 5 | Alejandro Valverde | Movistar Team | 1948 | | 6 | Bradley Wiggins | Sky Procycling | 1837 | | 7 | Matthew Goss | Orica - GreenEDGE | 1829 | | 8 | Jelle Vanendert | Lotto-Belisol Team | 1798 | | 9 | Daniel Moreno | Katusha Team | 1733 | | 10 | Vincenzo Nibali | Liquigas - Cannondale | 1637 | | 11 | Michael Albasini | Orica - GreenEDGE | 1441 | | 12 | Mark Cavendish | Sky Procycling | 1421 | | 13 | Simon Gerrans | Orica - GreenEDGE | 1379 | | 14 | Peter Sagan | Liquigas - Cannondale | 1329 | | 15 | Christopher Froome | Sky Procycling | 1321 | | 16 | Ryder Hesjedal | Garmin - Sharp | 1302 | | 17 | Alexander Serebryakov | Team Type 1 - Sanofi | 1296 | | 18 | Beñat Intxausti | Movistar Team | 1295 | | 19 | Luis León Sánchez | Rabobank Cycling Team | 1231 | | 20 | Alberto Contador | Team Saxo Bank - Tinkoff Bank | 1142 |
The fact that the top three is identical to the one in the WT ranking must surely be considered proof that they have been a cut above the rest. Once again it's Cancellara on top, asserting his position at the top of the world.
Fab takes this title as well!
Team CQ Ranking:
| 1 | OmegaPharma - Quickstep | 8024 | | 2 | Sky Procycling | 7831 | | 3 | Katusha Team | 7095 | | 4 | Radioshack - Nissan | 6973 | | 5 | Lotto-Belisol Team | 6892 | | 6 | Orica - GreenEDGE | 6808 | | 7 | Liquigas - Cannondale | 5720 | | 8 | Movistar Team | 5653 | | 9 | Rabobank Cycling Team | 4930 | | 10 | BMC Racing Team | 4121 | | 11 | Garmin - Sharp | 4047 | | 12 | Astana Pro Team | 4034 | | 13 | Lampre - ISD | 3725 | | 14 | Team Argos-Shimano | 3685 | | 15 | Team Type 1 - Sanofi | 3275 | | 16 | FDJ - BigMat | 3025 | | 17 | Euskaltel - Euskadi | 2968 | | 18 | La Pomme Marseille | 2835 | | 19 | Team Saxo Bank - Tinkoff Bank | 2792 | | 20 | Vacansoleil - DCM | 2790 | | 21 | Team Europcar | 2786 | | 22 | AG2R - La Mondiale | 2720 |
No double for Sky on the other hand. OmegaPharma's consistency pays off with this victory. Worst of all WT teams is AG2R, all the way down in 22nd. Best of the non-WT teams is Argos, taking revenge on TT1 for the missed CT crown.
And once again, you can see how great our season has been. Almost 3000 points, and in front of three WT teams. With the squad growing stronger and stronger, we could actually be targeting a WT license for 2014!
A perfectly oiled team machine.
Individual Victories:
| 1 | Tom Boonen | OmegaPharma - Quickstep | 21 | | 2 | André Greipel | Lotto-Belisol Team | 20 | | 3 | Alexander Serebryakov | Team Type 1 - Sanofi | 18 | | 4 | Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg | MTN - Qhubeka | 16 | | 5 | Fabian Cancellara | Radioshack - Nissan | 15 | | 6 | JoaquÃm RodrÃguez | Katusha Team | 14 | | 7 | Alejandro Valverde | Movistar Team | 13 | | 7 | Matthew Goss | Orica - GreenEDGE | 13 | | 9 | Tom Veelers | Team Argos-Shimano | 12 | | 10 | Bradley Wiggins | Sky Procycling | 10 |
Serebryakov can't reach the top in time, so Boonen holds on to the victory. Gent-Wevelgem, E3 Prijs and Vattenfall Cyclassics are some of the Belgian's more notable wins. Still, he closely misses out on all the monuments - so probably not a season he's fully satisfied with anyway.
Best from our team is Koretzky, who has managed to snatch no less than six wins. Evaldas and Perichon follows closely behind, with five and four on their respective accounts. Will be interesting to see how many Serebryakov gets in 2013!
Tommeke is back to his best.
Team Victories:
| 1 | OmegaPharma - Quickstep | 48 | | 2 | Sky Procycling | 45 | | 3 | Lotto-Belisol Team | 43 | | 4 | Orica - GreenEDGE | 38 | | 5 | Radioshack - Nissan | 37 | | 6 | Katusha Team | 35 | | 7 | Team Argos-Shimano | 33 | | 8 | Team Type 1 - Sanofi | 30 | | 9 | Movistar Team | 29 | | 10 | MTN - Qhubeka | 28 | | ... | | | | 13 | La Pomme Marseille | 19 |
Almost half of them might come from Boonen, but still - 48 wins in one season is really impressive. And this is far from what they could've reached if Martin hadn't got struck by the curse of the rainbow jersey. The former world champion is surely motivated to take more than two wins next year.
And to round off, we end up on 19 - split over five riders. 2012 has without any doubt been an amazing year, and I hope that we will reach the same standard also in 2013. With some strong new names and more money to back us up - I believe that it's very possible!
We'll see you on the road soon again!
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| kimiopn |
Posted on 20-12-2012 23:40
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Excellent summary with great pictures! |
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| Ian Butler |
Posted on 21-12-2012 07:50
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 21854
Joined: 01-05-2012
PCM$: 400.00
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A great season overview, the team did excellent! Next goal: winning the PCM Awards |
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| Avin Wargunnson |
Posted on 21-12-2012 08:00
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World Champion
Posts: 14236
Joined: 20-06-2011
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Really nice season finish witth so many great results, especially Koretzky did well. And also the overview is very nice, i am looking forward to the next year with Serebryakov and few others added.
Also for me there is no doubt about the team story of the year, i actually nominated only your story! 
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| Ian Butler |
Posted on 21-12-2012 08:02
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 21854
Joined: 01-05-2012
PCM$: 400.00
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Well, in my opinion it'll be a fight between this and Petronas, though. But it's unpredictable and not too important. The main thing is the story's still alive and kicking and I can't wait for the next season! |
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| Miguel98 |
Posted on 21-12-2012 08:37
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World Champion
Posts: 10497
Joined: 23-06-2011
PCM$: 200.00
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Very good summary of the season. Really hope that next season's is even better. Btw, did you got promoted? |
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| Pinktay3 |
Posted on 21-12-2012 09:33
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Breakaway Specialist
Posts: 959
Joined: 08-04-2012
PCM$: 200.00
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Nice review. Very detailed. Can't wait to see the new team with Serebryakov |
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 21-12-2012 09:39
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 34654
Joined: 22-08-2010
PCM$: 200.00
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Great review really enjoyed it
And nice to see La Pomme finishing in third places both individually and as a Team |
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| FreitasPCM |
Posted on 21-12-2012 10:50
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 8389
Joined: 08-09-2009
PCM$: 200.00
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C'mon man, excellent reporting, excellent season summary, ever thought of having a career in journalism?  This certainly is the top favourite for Best Story. |
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| andy222c |
Posted on 21-12-2012 10:57
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Sprinter
Posts: 1537
Joined: 23-05-2009
PCM$: 200.00
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Vantomme took the Ronde!? Haven't seen that coming Great review, there's no doubt La Pomme Marseille has had an amazing season. 18th in the CQ rankings is crazy
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| Pellizotti2 |
Posted on 21-12-2012 14:03
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World Champion
Posts: 10121
Joined: 01-05-2010
PCM$: 200.00
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Thanks all for supporting throughout the season. It's what keeps me going!
kimiopn wrote:
Excellent summary with great pictures!
Glad you liked it!
Ian Butler wrote:
A great season overview, the team did excellent! Next goal: winning the PCM Awards
Winning an award would be awesome, especially after closely missing out on two last year - but I doubt I'll get any. The story awards are all dienblad's.
Avin Wargunnson wrote:
Really nice season finish witth so many great results, especially Koretzky did well. And also the overview is very nice, i am looking forward to the next year with Serebryakov and few others added.
Also for me there is no doubt about the team story of the year, i actually nominated only your story!
Wow, thanks a lot! Very much appreciated!
Miguel98 wrote:
Very good summary of the season. Really hope that next season's is even better. Btw, did you got promoted?
To quote myself, from the summary:
"Next up, PCT!"
FreitasPCM wrote:
C'mon man, excellent reporting, excellent season summary, ever thought of having a career in journalism? This certainly is the top favourite for Best Story.
Thank you so much for the nice words! I'll do my best to keep things on the same level as currently, but for the moment I think I'm continuing with my technology studies.
andy222c wrote:
Vantomme took the Ronde!? Haven't seen that coming Great review, there's no doubt La Pomme Marseille has had an amazing season. 18th in the CQ rankings is crazy
Yeah, that was a pretty funny one. He was in a successful breakaway that also included Van Winden and Lodewyck. Boonen in fourth place was probably pretty pissed.
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| valverde321 |
Posted on 21-12-2012 17:24
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World Champion
Posts: 12986
Joined: 20-05-2009
PCM$: 530.00
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Well this is certainly my favourite story, Pelli
And hopefully you wont have to re-do all the manual changes about 3 times like last year.
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| dienblad |
Posted on 21-12-2012 17:36
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3772
Joined: 10-09-2010
PCM$: 200.00
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Nice season review!! Good luck in preparing for the next season.
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| Pellizotti2 |
Posted on 22-12-2012 10:27
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World Champion
Posts: 10121
Joined: 01-05-2010
PCM$: 200.00
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valverde321 wrote:
Well this is certainly my favourite story, Pelli
And hopefully you wont have to re-do all the manual changes about 3 times like last year.
Thanks man, that means a lot to me!
And don't worry, there wont be any problems this time. I remember what I did wrong last time, so I'm not falling into that pit again.
dienblad wrote:
Nice season review!! Good luck in preparing for the next season.
Thanks!
Still one thing left of the season - the Vélo d'Or award! I'll present the nominees later today, as soon as I come up with a nice way to do so!
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| Ian Butler |
Posted on 22-12-2012 10:34
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 21854
Joined: 01-05-2012
PCM$: 400.00
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Exciting. Wonder who'll win that prestigious award. I vote Evaldas |
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