Hacecky and Stauff stayed safe over the last 5 stages of Langkawi to deliver our first stage race wins in an incredible race for Kraftwerk.
Hacecky in the leaders jersey on the front during stage 5.
Stauff in the points jersey wins the peloton sprint for 9th on stage 9.
Hacecky got the GC and KOM plus a stage win Stauff won the Points plus a stage win Ikibe bagged the Young Riders Kraftwerk were 2nd in the Team
Edited by DaveTwoBob on 03-09-2017 11:29
Whats playing on the Kraftwerk Man Machine Team Bus during May?
This month features, The Robots, from the 1978 album The Man Machine .
Pic from Kraftwerk website
Kraftwerk - The Robots - Minimum Maximum Tour 2005. The robots 'perform' this song in concert. BTW I was lucky enough to get tickets for the Kraftwerk UK tour, roll on June 2017. https://www.youtu...khQtoQFG5s
Here is a look at the racing programme of Kraftwerk Man Machine during May.
Barcelona Classic C2HC (Flatish)
Prediction - Stauff/Park Top 10
Startlist - Stauff Park Maikin Terasaki Denz Soler Brockhoff Politt
Euskal Bizikleta C2 (2*Flatish, 2*Hills)
Prediction - Klemme Top 3
Startlist - Klemme Kurth Tatarinov Ikibe Terasaki Vachon Denz Soler
Total Race Days 6 52% (YTD)
After a busy and fruitful April, May is very quiet. We have already raced over half our race days.
Hacecky gets the month off after his heroics in Malaysia, Stauff's only outing is to the Barcelona Classic but I suspect the sharp climbs might find him out, if so Park could be good for a top 10.
Klemme has a great chance in Euskal Bizikleta where the final day is a brutal uphill finish.
Edited by DaveTwoBob on 03-09-2017 11:30
Klemme attacks on the final days climb to get a decisive gap and win Euskal Bizikleta.
Our amazing run of good luck and good form means Kraftwerk now has a nice lead in the CT division, but the PCM AI is a fickle beast that can take away as well as give and there are plenty of race days left so not counting our chickens just yet.
Edited by DaveTwoBob on 03-09-2017 11:34
Here is a look at the racing programme of Kraftwerk Man Machine during July and August.
Tour de Pologne C2HC (Hilly)
Prediction - Klemme Top 3
Startlist - Klemme Hacecký Maikin Tatarinov Denz Soler Brockhoff Politt
La Tropicale Amissa Bongo C2HC (6*Flatish)
Prediction - Stauff Top 3
Startlist - Stauff Kurth Park Ikibe Walsleben Bontenackels Terasaki Vachon
Volcan de Agua Classic C2HC (Mountains) GOAL - Win (LOL)
Prediction - Hacecký Top 10
Startlist - Hacecký Kurth Gerdemann Tatarinov Ikibe Bontenackels Vachon Denz
USA Pro Cycling Challenge C2HC (3*Flatish, 2*Hills, 2*Mountains, 1*Hilly TT)
Prediction - Hacecký Top 20, hoping for breakaway success
Startlist - Hacecký Gerdemann Tatarinov Ikibe Denz Soler Brockhoff Politt
Cigar City Brewing Twilight GP C2 (Cobbles)
Prediction - Kurth Top 10
Startlist - Kurth Walsleben Terasaki Denz Soler Brockhoff Politt Ackermann
Grands Prix Cyclistes C1 (2*Hills)
Prediction - Klemme Top 3
Startlist - Klemme Hacecký Park Maikin Gerdemann Tatarinov Ikibe Ackermann
Tour de l'Avenir U23
Prediction - Soler Top 20
Startlist - Denz Soler Brockhoff Politt Ackermann
Tatranska Klasika C2HC (8*Mountains in one day)
Prediction - Hacecký Top 10
Startlist - Hacecký Gerdemann Tatarinov Ikibe Denz Soler Brockhoff Politt
Total Race Days 29 89% (YTD)
We welcome stagiaire Pascal Ackermann to the team, his first race is the Cigar City Brewing Twilight GP where he will support Kurth on the cobbles.
Most of the team leading falls to Hacecky in Volcan de Agua Classic, USA Pro Cycling Challenge and the brutal Tatranska Klasika. We are not expecting better than top 10s as the routes don't really suit him and the competition is really strong. Volcan de Agua Classic is our win goal and I will eat my cycling shorts if we achieve that!
Stauff should go well in La Tropicale Amissa Bongo and we have sent a strong team to support him.
Klemme has good chances in Poland and Canada.
Finally our youngsters visit the Tour de l'Avenir for some valuable experience.
Edited by DaveTwoBob on 03-09-2017 11:34
Whats playing on the Kraftwerk Man Machine Team Bus during September & October?
As it's the end of the season I have chosen the song Kraftwerk finish their concerts with, Musique Non-Stop
Video featuring animated versions of the band
Rebecca Allen created the cutting edge rendered 3D graphics from the mannequin heads used in Robots. In 1983 this was amazing stuff, we have come a long way since then. https://www.rebecc...e-non-stop
Wired article https://www.wired...cca-allen/
Compare the far more simplistic graphics in the 1986 Dire Straits video Money for Nothing https://vimeo.com...
Here is a look at the racing programme of Kraftwerk Man Machine during September and October.
Acropolis Cup C2HC (Hilly) GOAL - Top 5
Prediction - Klemme Top 5
Startlist - Klemme Stauff Park Maikin Tatarinov Terasaki Vachon Ackermann
GP Yekaterinburg C2HC (Hilly)
Prediction - Klemme Top 5
Startlist - Klemme Park Gerdemann Vachon Denz Soler Brockhoff Politt
Milano - Torino C1 (Hilly)
Prediction - Klemme Top 5
Startlist - Klemme Gerdemann Tatarinov Vachon Denz Soler Brockhoff Politt
Giro dell'Emilia HC (Hilly)
Prediction - Klemme Top 30, just here for fun
Startlist - Klemme Hacecký Park Maikin Gerdemann Tatarinov Ikibe Vachon
Tour du Faso C2 (2*Cobbles, 1*Flat)
Prediction - Kurth Top 10, Stauff stage win
Startlist - Stauff Kurth Walsleben Terasaki Denz Soler Brockhoff Politt
Zuri Metzgete C2HC (Hills)
Prediction - Klemme Top 5
Startlist - Klemme Park Terasaki Vachon Denz Soler Brockhoff Politt
In 5 out of the 6 races the team leading falls to Klemme and if we are to win the division he need to deliver better than the predicted top 5s in 4 of them, especially in the goal race of the Acropolis Cup. We entered the HC race Giro dell'Emilia for fun little thinking we would be in a title race.
Stauff and Kurth need to be on top form for the Tour du Faso to keep close to rivals Podium Ambition who should score heavily in this race.
Promises to be an exciting finish to the season.
Edited by DaveTwoBob on 03-09-2017 11:35
I am delighted to announce Kraftwerk Man Machine has achieved promotion to the PCT in our first season finishing in 3rd place. This was way beyond my expectations when setting the goals, however that all changed after the transfer season went incredibly well!
Congratulations to Ferrero for winning the CT crown with a solid strategy and strength in depth, and to Podium Ambition for a very close second.
1
Ferrero - Samruk
1996
2
Podium Ambition
1907
3
Kraftwerk Man Machine
1783
4
Chiquita - Universal
1515
5
Carlsberg - Danske Bank
1439
Season Highlights
Andreas Stauff claiming our first ever win in the Betonxpressz GP
Martin Hacecký won the Tour de Langkawi backed up by a great team performance
Hacecky got the GC and KOM plus a stage win Stauff won the Points plus a stage win Ikibe bagged the Young Riders Kraftwerk were 2nd in the Team
Domenik Klemme triumphed in Euskal Bizikleta
Achieved 3 Goals out of 5
Acropolis Cup
Top 5
Failed
Tour of Bulgaria
Top 5
Achieved
Tour de Langkawi
Top 5
Achieved
Volcan de Agua Classic
Win
Failed
CT standings
Top 15
Achieved
Next Season
Strava have set the bar very high with a double promotion to the PT. To match that amazing achievement I would have to have even more luck in the transfers than this season and I can't expect lightening to strike twice.
I will be very happy if we can achieve a mid table finish and have some fun doing it.
And of course Ruby the cat will be on hand to help me with the season planning as long as she gets that bowl of cream I promised her.
Thanks
Finally a massive thankyou to Roturn and the admins for running the game and the reporters for brining the races to life. I really appreciate the effort that goes into making this such a fun and well run game.
Now off to celebrate by listening to some Kraftwerk Edited by DaveTwoBob on 03-09-2017 11:38
Well in terms of back to back promotions with Evonik doing it as well the year before you promoting teams have a bit of pressure to make it 3 in a row Seriously though simply amazing first season from you guys and all down to fantastic transfers and planning from you Congrats on what looks like easy promotion, bit of a shame you fell away in the end though
24/02/21 - kandesbunzler said “I don't drink famous people."
15/08/22 - SotD said "Your [jandal's] humour is overrated"
11/06/24 - knockout said "Winning is fine I guess. Truth be told this felt completely unimportant." [ICL] Santos-Euskadi | [PT] Xero Racing
@ jandal - Cheers and yes I am feeling the pressure a bit to follow knockout and shonak straight into the PT but enjoying the ride is more important than the destination (he says not 100% convincingly )
@ knockout - thanks, Ruby Twoface got me thinking about Ruby Tuesday, perhaps the Rolling Stones could co-sponsor, that would make Rigoberto Uran my main transfer target
@ whitejersey - that's true if I get that lucky again it will be possible but surely not, will give it a go though, thanks
Congrats on what looks like easy promotion, bit of a shame you fell away in the end though 
