Welcome to the team thread of Auber 93 - Look for the 2011 Pro Tour Season. The team has undergone serious reconstruction during the transfer season, with focus having moved from Spanish riders, and Grand Tour general classifications to flatter, more Northern Hemosphere focused races.
This thread will contain race results of the team throughout the season, as French cycling makes a great come back into the Pro Tour. The ultimate aim of the team is to discover and develop French riders so that they may progress onto the greatest race of the calender, le Tour de France.
The team for this season is led by a very able home grown talent in Jerome Coppel. His aims for the season are in the Tour de France, Paris-Nice and the Individual Time Trial that has replaced the Chrono des Herbiers. A very strong time trialist, he should be able to clinch a few victories this season, along with leading the team in the Tour as Captain.
Other notables in the time trial front are Maxime Bouet, Pierre Rolland, Kai Reus, and Lars Boom. All of whom will look forward to supporting the strong team we have in time trials, as well as focusing on other races throughout the season. Rolland has another lead role in the Tour, while Boom is focusing on cobble and hilly races. Reus will be a very strong rider to reckon with in many races.
Patrik Sinkewitz is our second capable leader of the team. Unlike Coppel, his focus is not in time trials, but rather on the shorter, puncheurer climbs, like those seen in Amstel Gold, Liege Bastogne Liege and Fleche Wallone, rather than longer climbs as seen in the Vuelta, Giro and Tour. His main aim of the season is to attempt to win Paris Nice. The race to the sun is pivotal to our sponsors continuing with cycling.
To back up Sinkewitz, the team is possibly weakest here, we have Mehr-Wenige. After a year of development, Dietmar has come into his own on the hills, and will look to take advantage of breaks in the big races when he doesn't have to support Patrik.
Our last main aims of the season are in our other important home race, Paris - Roubaix. For the hope of performing well here, we have a strong team. Nikolas Maes leads the team, with able back up from Damien Gaudin, Lars Boom, and Sebastian Langeveld. Langeveld was left to lead the team here last year, and will relish the chance to learn from Maes and his time at Wikipedia.
Other support riders for the cobbles are Steven Tronet and Marc Machado.
For any sprints, we will rely on Heinrich Haussler and Mathieu Drujon.
Edited by rjc_43 on 16-05-2010 17:18
With a complete rebuilding of the squad underway, it was upon uncertain grounds that the goals for Auber 93 - Look Cycling Team were founded on. One thing was certain, however, and that was that Boom, Langeveld and De Haes (who has now left) are very much key riders in the staffs' eyes. With this in mind, and with hopes to secure other key cobble riders, success on our home ground for the team would be brilliant. Winning Paris - Roubaix was therefore the biggest expectation set upon the team, yet one that would be rewarded with a multitude of thanks.
Speaking of home turf, Paris - Nice is a strategically perfect race for the team. With focus shifting, as previously mentioned, to Northern, hard men races, time trials, hills and cobbles often go hand in hand. A Top 10 placing in Paris - Nice would be an amazing achievement for the team, especially as little in the way of plans for GC riders are in fruition.
And so we come to the biggest of all races, the Tour de France. What can a French team expect but to wish, desire, need, to Win a Stage of the Tour. It'll be easy really. Honest.
Perhaps our most ludicrous goal to date, a Top 10 Placing in the Overall Team Rankings. We fully expect to not manage to achieve this, but, you can never tell what luck may come our way, or what bad luck may befall others!
Lastly, with focus shifting slightly, our desire to sign another great time trialist, like Boom, will aid us in our aim to place riders in the Top 10 of the Individual Time Trial.
Goals
Top 10 in Team Overall Ranking
Win a Stage of Le Tour De France
Win Paris-Roubaix
Top 10 General Classification, Paris-Nice
Top 10 in the Individual Time Trial, Location TBC
For our budget this season, our sponsors have kindly given us 4 million euros. A smaller amount than many Pro Tour teams, but enough to achieve most of the goals required of the team, or so we hope.
Edited by rjc_43 on 16-05-2010 17:36
Whilst Auber 93 - Look have performed admirably for the 2011 season, it has been announced that they will no longer sponsor a cycling team for the 2012 season. With the massive cut in budget that is expected, the team will not be applying for a Pro Tour license for the coming season.
A complete team overhaul is expected, with only a very small core of riders being kept, if at all.
With Auber 93 - Look's season ending with a bit of a resounding belly flop, the riders are as insecure as they come. With the management keeping a tight lid on the prospective comings and goings, places to be taken by the existing riders are rumoured to be a total of 3.
With 3 spaces available, the riders' agents are in a panic, and to try and soothe the worries, the management released the following statement:
"Only the riders who truely applied themselves to training this season, along with suitable results for the upcoming seasons goals will get offered a new contract. Though if a rider were to approach the management with such a low contract demand as to be deemed foolish to ignore, then that's an entirely different matter."
When quizzed by the waiting media as to whom would be filling the spots of the other 25 odd riders, the management were quick to jump on the name of Voeckler;
"Thomas Voeckler is well known, and it's also well known that he likes riding bikes. Where better than at Focused Cycling, where he'll be able to ride a Focus bike? We expect to have to pay out upwards of a quarter of our budget for him, but it'll be worth it in the long run with the media attention he demands."
