25/3-28/3 2015 Driedaagse van De Panne-Koksijde (cat.2.HC)
Stage 3/4 De Panne - De Panne 112.1 km
Christina reports: Today is a short flat stage without cobble’s, starting up along the coast, then a roundtrip inland before a finish back in De Panne. The only challenge is the possibility of crosswinds.
The village Adinkerke in the municipality of De Panne, has been inhabited since the 5th century BC. In the Late Iron Age producing livestock and salt. Adinkerke was the largest village, in what is now De Panne municipality until the 20 century.
Saint Audomar Church in Adinkerke
Profile:
The morning break of 7 is not very strong, we have got Patrick Clausen in the breakaway a good finisher, but definitely not a strong breakaway rider.
On a short stage like this, the peloton doesn’t leave mush hope for the breakaway and it is caught in good time for the teams to set up a sprint train, the pace is high is hard on our riders, but we get a fine train up, Lampaert - Schumacher – Enger, Pacheco was caught a little too far back at this point.
We are just a little bit too far back, and then suddenly a couple of riders fall back, between Lampaert and Schumacher almost knocking Schumacher of his bike, and the train falls apart. Both Schumacher and Enger glide far back.
The race is won by Bryan Coquard (Orica) over Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma), our best was Lampaert (18)
Christina: My god, things don’t turn out as we are hoping they would, now we just has the ITT left to get a result.
25/3-28/3 2015 Driedaagse van De Panne - Koksijde (cat.2.HC)
28/3 Final Stage 4/4 De Panne - De Panne ITT 11.2 km
Christina Reports: Today a relative short ITT, from the center of De Panne to Koksijde-Bad and back.
The village of De Panne developed in the late 1700’s, In 1831 the first “Pavillon des Bains” (Bathing Pavillon) was set up, from there De Panne slowly changes from a fishing village to a tourist town.
The name refers to the dunes, a “pan” is a cup-shaped deep in the dunes.
The dunes of De Panne:
Profile:
The stage was won by Taylor Phinney (Omega Pharma)
Situation between the previous top 5 in the GC:
No. 5 Maxime Vantomme lost 26 sec. ending on GC 11.
No. 4 Johnny Hoogerland lost 1 minute, ending on GC 41.
No. 3 Bryan Coquard lost 47 sec. ending on GC 17.
No. 2 Daryl Impey lost 17 sec. staying on GC 2nd
Tom Boonen lost 32 sec. keep his lead winning over Daryl with just 3 sec.
The stage winner Phinney took the last podium.
Our best was Stefan Schumacher (37) losing 39 sec. also our best in the CG (28)
Race winner Tom Boonen on the route:
Christina in the Tour bus: Boys, just forget about this, move on, we got to race again soon. It was a bad, but it is over now.
Stage:
1
Taylor Phinney
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team
14'42
2
Jérôme Coppel
Jules
+ 6
3
Julien Vermote
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team
+ 10
4
Travis Meyer
Orica - GreenEdge
+ 11
5
Kristof Vandewalle
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team
+ 13
6
Andriy Grivko
Astana Pro Team
s.t.
7
Thomas Löfkvist
IAM Cycling
+ 14
8
Daryl Impey
Vodafone
+ 15
9
Alex Rasmussen
Garmin - Sharp
+ 17
10
Jérémy Roy
Orica - GreenEdge
s.t.
GC:
1
Tom Boonen
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team
11h13'32
2
Daryl Impey
Vodafone
+ 3
3
Taylor Phinney
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team
+ 20
4
Jérôme Coppel
Jules
+ 26
5
Julien Vermote
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team
+ 30
6
Travis Meyer
Orica - GreenEdge
+ 31
7
Andriy Grivko
Astana Pro Team
+ 33
8
Kristof Vandewalle
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team
s.t.
9
Jérémy Roy
Orica - GreenEdge
+ 37
10
Alex Rasmussen
Garmin - Sharp
s.t.
Points:
1
Tom Boonen
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team
70
2
Daryl Impey
Vodafone
64
3
Bryan Coquard
Orica - GreenEdge
41
Team: Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team
Young: Taylor Phinney Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team
Hope you bounce back from the terrible 2nd,3rd and 4th stages on this race in the other races.This race is over but there are a lot of races to win and straighten out this race's disappoint.
Christina:
Hi, Im in London, The board have had a meeting, evaluating the first 3 months of the season, compared to last year at the same time. As expected they are dissatisfied with the fact that we did not do well on our selected goals, but when it comes to the ranking we are actually doing very good right now.
1/4-5/4 2015 Circuit de la Sarthe-Pays de la Loire (cat. 2.1)
1/4 : Stage 1/5 Fontenay-Le-Comte - Ligné 177,6 km
Christina : I am here in Fontenay-Le-Comte in western France close to the Bay of Biscay, for the start of Circuit de la Sarthe-Pays de la Loire, another high profile race for us, the board expects a top GC result. The first stage is quite flat, but very bumpy with 3 cat.4 climbs included on very small hills.
The origin of Fontenay-le-Comte date back to prehistoric times, most likely due to its placement near a shallow place in a Vendée River. During the middle age, the town was fortified and a castle was build. Today a town (commune) of about 15.000 people.
Tour Rivalland (Construction 1880-1881)
Pre-race startegy, we expect a mass sprint finish with Enger as a possibility, but we would like Mitchell or Martin to breakaway if possible, to fight for KoM points.
Profile:
Roster
Anton Grøn
Lasse Christiansen
Martin Pedersen
Mitchell Lovelock-Fay
Sebastian Balck
Sondre Holst Enger
Stefan Schumacher
Yves Lampaert
A cloudy morning with a temperature of 11 °C, but it is not raining, a morning breakaway of two riders, Louis Verhelst (GUNK) and, Jonathan Dewitte (Wallonie) takes of right from the start.
Right after the first sprint, Martin Pedersen takes of trying to catch the breakaway. At this point the break has 6 minutes, with 95 km to the line. Finally Martin Pedersen catches the front group, but too late for the KoM points. Now the group has about 4 minutes, 45 km to go. The rain has started to fall.
At the same time Yves Lampard crashes in the peloton with high speed, doesn’t look good. Yves Lampaert is our fastest lead out man.
Yves Lampard has supreme legs today, with his bruises and scratches he jumps on the bike, and even though the peloton is riding very fast, he gets back. In the meantime the break is over. Lampard advances up the peloton, and in time we get a train up: Lampard – Schumacher – Enger. We are in a good spot then the sprint starts.
Enger hangs on to Schumacher until the right moment, and then sprint towards the line. Sondre Holst Enger takes his first win of the season, over Maxime Vantomme (GUNK) and Francisco José Ventoso (Banco Santander)
Christana: So nice with a start like this, after the disappointment last week.
Stage:
1
Sondre Holst Enger
Christina Watches - Onfone
3h55'27
2
Maxime Vantomme
GUNK
s.t.
3
Francisco José Ventoso
Banco Santander
s.t.
4
Daniele Bennati
Team Europcar
s.t.
5
Stefan Schumacher
Christina Watches - Onfone
s.t.
6
Arnaud Gérard
FDJ.fr
s.t.
7
Chris Froome
Banco Santander
s.t.
8
Yves Lampaert
Christina Watches - Onfone
s.t.
9
Evaldas Siskevicius
Sojasun
s.t.
10
Lars Petter Nordhaug
Sojasun
s.t.
GC:
1
Sondre Holst Enger
Christina Watches - Onfone
3h55'07
2
Maxime Vantomme
GUNK
+ 8
3
Louis Verhelst
GUNK
s.t.
4
Francisco José Ventoso
Banco Santander
+ 12
5
Jonathan Dewitte
Wallonie - Bruxelles
s.t.
6
Kenny Van Hummel
Team Argos - Shimano
+ 18
7
Martin Pedersen
Christina Watches - Onfone
s.t.
8
Daniele Bennati
Team Europcar
+ 20
9
Stefan Schumacher
Christina Watches - Onfone
s.t.
10
Arnaud Gérard
FDJ.fr
s.t.
Points:
1
Sondre Holst Enger
Christina Watches - Onfone
25
2
Maxime Vantomme
GUNK
20
3
Francisco José Ventoso
Banco Santander
16
Mountain:
1
Louis Verhelst
GUNK
13
2
Jonathan Dewitte
Wallonie - Bruxelles
11
3
Martin Pedersen
Christina Watches - Onfone
3
Team: Christina Watches - Onfone
Young: Sondre Holst Enger (Christina Watches - Onfone)
Edited by Tamijo on 12-02-2016 21:46
1/4-5/4 2015 Circuit de la Sarthe-Pays de la Loire (cat. 2.1)
2/4 : Stage 2/5 Ligné – Angers 93.9
Christina : The stage starts where we finished yesterday, some 140 km north of Fontenay-Le-Comte in Ligné, for just 93,9 flat km towards Angers, including a very tiny cat 4 climb. In the early middle age Ligné was a small community centered around The Castle of La Musse, It seems the castle somehow disappears or was abandoned in the 1600’s. Today Ligné is a town of about 5000 people.
Chateau de la Rochefordiere:
Pre-race strategy: We will stay in the peloton to avoid a strong break, fighting for Sondre Holst Enger yellow Jersey.
Profile:
The weather is very rough, 15°C with a very hard rain. Right from the start a high pace is set be the peloton, trying to avoid a breakaway on the short stage, but eventually a break get a gap. It is 5 relative strong riders.
Nicolas Vogondy (BigMat), Fabio Polazzi (Wallonie), John Murphy (UnitedHealthcare), Evgeniy Kovalev (RusVelo) and Benoit Jarrier (Bretagne).
The hunt never stops, and the break never gets more than a minute. We are taking part in the pursuit when necessary. For a while the rain has stopped and a little sun, lights up the peloton.
Sondre Holst Enger gets a puncture, and even worse the team realizes the problem too late, we are not able to get him back without risking Stefan’s possibilities in the GC. Race leader Enger loses more than 10 minutes today.
The break is caught and we set a train of Yves Lampaert - Martin Pedersen - Stefan Schumacher, trying to get a good finish for Schumacher before tomorrow’s ITT. Now it is raining very hard again. Our train is leading the peloton with 4 km to the line.
The Stage is won by Maxime Vantomme (GUNK) over Lluis Guillermo Mas (Banco Santander), Martin Pedersen gets 4th, and Stefan Schumacher 7th.
Christina: So unfortunate with Enger especially that we did not provide help in time, but otherwise fine result on the stage.
1/4-5/4 2015 Circuit de la Sarthe-Pays de la Loire (cat. 2.1)
3/4 : Stage 3/5 Angers (ITT) 6,9 km
Christina : Today it is just a shots ITT in Angers. The area was settled in the stone age, and before roman times it was a Celtic fortification. The City was first mentioned in 150 AD, known as Juliomagus, later civitas Andecavorum, and from the 12 century Angiers. Some remains of antic city walls still exists, build around 275 AD. Today a city of about 400.000 in is metropolitan area.
Château d'Angers (origin 9 century):
Pre-race strategy: Our best shot today is Stefan, hopefully he gets a good result before the coming hill stages.
Profile:
The top 5 in the current CG:
No.5 - Joeri Stallaert, lost 46 sec. falling to 34 in the GC.
No.4 - Francisco José Ventoso, lost 32 sec. falling to 17 in the GC.
No.3 - Lluis Guillermo Mas, lost 20 sec. he is still 3rd. in the GC.
No.2 - Louis Verhelst, lost 45 sec. falling to 25 in the GC.
No.1 - Maxime Vantomme, lost 15 sec. he is still in the lead of the race.
Race leader Maxime Vantomme on the route.
Other results:
Kanstantsin Siutsou (Accent Jobs) lost 13 sec. rising from 22 to 5th, in the GC.
Chris Froome (Banco Santander) lost 13 sec. raising from from 14 to 3rd, in the GC.
Alex Dowsett (Banco Santander ) won the stage raising from 39 to 2nd, in the GC.
Stefan Schumacher came 18th, losing 24 sec. he is now 16 th. 41 sec behind the race leader.
Christina: OK stage, Schumacher is still only 11 sec. outside a top 5, if we do very good in the last 2 hilly stages maybe it is not over yet.
(NOTE: In real life Scheldeprijs includes seven cobbled sections, but in my game version of the race it is a long flat race, without cobbles, could be to avoid a cobbles specialist win, as the race in real life is normally a sprinters paradise)
Rasmussen: I am here in Antwerpen for the semi-classic Scheldeprijs. Antwerp was first mentioned in the 4 century, at that time settled by the Franks, but evidence have shown a Gallo-Roman settlement from about 150-250 AD. Between 628-670 the area was evangelized by the missionary bishop Amandus or Saint Amand.
The Shrine of St. Amandus
Early 13th century with significant later additions.
Pre-race strategy : Stefan Schumacher got a 15th. last year, we expect another top 20 again this year, as many teams usually send their top sprinters to this race. And our best sprinter is not in top scape just now. We will do our best to help Pacheco.
There is a morning break of 3 weaker riders, it is most unlikely they will hold.
The peloton holds a relative high pace, led by all the strongest sprinter teams.
Again we are a little unlucky, you 2nd sprinter Nielsen, supposed to start the sprint for Pacheco crashes with about 15 km left, he ends up in the back of the peloton, but can’t make it to the front in any kind of useful shape, due to the very high pace.
We are not able to follow the very hard pace and deliver Pacheco near the front, our best is Würts Schmidt (23), the race is won by Kittel over Degenkolb.
Missed the export:
Rasmussen: Worse than expected, hope we have better results in France.
1/4-5/4 2015 Circuit de la Sarthe-Pays de la Loire (cat. 2.1)
4/4: Stage 4/5 Angers - Pré-en-Pail : 186.1 km
Christina: Not much to say about our destination today, Pré-en-Pail is just a small town of about 2000 inhabitant. But the route on the other hand is more interesting today, for the first time a very hilly stage right up to the finish, not very likely it will end in a mass sprint today, at least not with a full peloton.
Pré-en-Pail 1909
Pre-race strategy: The focus is on Schumacher’s GC, but Martin Pedersen is allowed to break if the gets the chance, to try and grab the KoM.
Profile:
We get Pedersen in the morning break of 3, the others are Perrig Quemeneur (Europcar) and Arnaud Gérard (FDJ) they get a maximum of almost 9 minutes.
But the peloton is not in the mood for a breakaway win, with a tight GC, they starts the hunt as soon as they get to the hills, the break is over before the 20 km sign. The pace is high, and now many attacks are attempted, but all gets caught. Then with 8-9 km to go Lars Petter Nordhaug (Sojasun) and Chris Froome (Banco Santander) gets a gap.
Both Stefan Schumacher and Mitchell Lovelock-Fay has very good legs today, Mitchell decides to attack with Schumacher on wheel to try and catch group Froome.
Stefan & Mitchell gets contact with the front, but soon Mitchell Lovelock-Fay and Lars Petter Nordhaug can’t keep up with the high pace from Froome, it is now only Froome and Schumacher in front.
Schumacher takes his first win of the season, in a close sprint over Chris Froome. they take 32 sec on the next group.
Christina at the debriefing: Fantastic stage, Stefan got right back where we want him to be, and let’s not forget Mitchell’s brave attack; he exploded at the right moment, creating this victory.
, pity he couldn't hold o to the yellow jersey though 
