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Team Cofidis on the road to Pro tour status.
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| TheRevolutionExodus |
Posted on 17-07-2011 13:25
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Junior Rider
Posts: 38
Joined: 10-08-2009
PCM$: 300.00
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EDIT: This EDIT will show you the latest news. Recently our team is on the 9th stage(9/10) of the 'Tour of Malaysia'.
Hi,
After reading a lot of interesting stories and considering the fact that I like writing, I decided to give it a go and start my own story. I hope I can provide you a lot of pleasure and interesting results. I am open to critics since this is my first story and there are probably things that are not perfect. 
So let's get started! First off I'd like to precise the settings I'm using:
-Evolution of attributes: 0.6
-Database: Original Database with 'Random' on. (random evolution of attributes)
-Difficulty level: Hard/Hard (The First 'Hard' is the financial difficulty that you choose before selecting a team; the second 'Hard' is the actual difficulty level which is selected in the settings menu)
I choose the Team 'Cofidis, Crédit en Ligne', because I' am a fan of Moncoutié and because I like the team since I did a three years career in PCM 2009 (or early 2010, not sure) with Cofidis.
The Season 2011 starts for Cofidis with the announcement of a new manager: (myself!)
Name: Andy S.
Date of birth: May 1992
Nationality: Luxembourg
Edited by TheRevolutionExodus on 21-07-2011 02:16
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| TheRevolutionExodus |
Posted on 17-07-2011 13:28
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Junior Rider
Posts: 38
Joined: 10-08-2009
PCM$: 300.00
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The new year begins for our team with a call of our main sponsor. After discussing the impossibility of some goals, Cofidis stay on their position and we have to face hard challenges for the Season 2011.
Here are the most important goals for our sponsor(Five Stars):
-Wear the leader's jersey at 'Tour de France'. For me this will be very hard to achieve, because the second stage is a TTT and we will lose time here. Hopefully we will be able to win the first stage by a breakaway.
-Win '5 Jours de Dunkerque': This interesting race will be a challenge for our Belgian riders which handle this profile quite well. Hopefully they can make a good result!
-Stage win at 'Paris-Nice': This goal should be completed by a breakaway win or a sprint win by Samuel Dumoulin. Rein Taaramae will be our leader for this race and he won't be able to beat the favorites on the mountain stage, so we may achieve this goal also by sending him into a breakaway group.
Here are the 'Four Stars-Goals' of our Sponsor:
-Stage win at 'Protour du Benelux': Dumoulin and Duque will try to win a stage of this mainly flat stages in the sprint.
-Top 10 ranking in 'Dauphiné Libéré': Rein Taaramae is going to reach his form peak for this race, so he should be able to ride in the top ten.
-Top 10 at 'Gran Premio do Lombardia': This one will only be possible if we can win in a breakaway group.
Here are the 'Three Stars-Goals' of our Sponsor:
-Top 10 at 'Milano-San Remo': Impossible!
-Top 5 in 'Critérium International': This one should be possible.
-Top 10 at 'Flèche Wallonne': Will be very hard, quite impossible.
I will announce one and two Stars-Goals when the rider's start a respective race.
Edited by TheRevolutionExodus on 17-07-2011 15:45
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| TheRevolutionExodus |
Posted on 17-07-2011 13:38
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Junior Rider
Posts: 38
Joined: 10-08-2009
PCM$: 300.00
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Now it's time to show the fans what they want to see; here are the riders which will do all they can to lead our team to great success.
Our leaders are: (The strange background on the screens is my desktop, don't know what happened there)
Rein Taaramae whose main objectives for the Season 2011 are Paris-Nice, Milano-San Remo, Critérium International, Dauphiné Libéré and to finish his season the Tour de France. Rein Taaramae is strong when it comes to the mountains. Right now he can not compete with the stars, but the future looks bright for the 23 years aged talent.
David Moncoutié is a loyal fellow of our team since 1997 and famous for his breakaways in the Tour de France and his triple KoM-Jersey in the Vuelta in the last three seasons. His main focus will be on the Tour de France and when we are allowed to participate in the Vuelta, he will try the quadruple. His strengths are definitely in the mountains, although he doesn't have the punch to win out of a bigger group. However he can ride a high pace over a long distance through the mountains.
Nicolas Vogondy, another legend of the French cycling sport, is our third leader and also quite strong on hilly an mountain stages. He will focus on the smaller stage races and classics in august to october.
Jens Keukeleire is a very promising young belgian rider. The 22-year old talent is our leader for the classics in spring and october.
Every of our four leaders will have his own team which will stay more or less the same over the season. So we will have four teams which will overlap in some races in order to have always a team of eight riders. Here are the team mates and their respective leader and teams:
1)Team Taaramae:
Samuel Dumoulin (Sprinter)
Julien El Fares (Luxury Team Mate for Taaramae)
Jean-Eudes Demaret (Leadoutman for Dumoulin)
Aleksejs Saramotins (Rouleur (don't know who to call that in English, but I guess you know what I mean))
Michael Buffaz (Team Mate, Rouleur)
Kalle Kriit (Supplyguy(supplies the team with waterbottles), Rouleur)
2)Team Moncoutié:
Leonardo Duque (Sprinter)
Damien Monier ( Luxury Team Mate for Moncoutié)
Rémy Cusin (Team Mate, Rouleur)
Nicolas Edet (Supplyguy, Rouleur)
3)Team Vogondy:
Tony Gallopin (Sprinter)
Adrien Petit (Leadoutman for Gallopin)
Luis Angel Mate (Luxury Team Mate for Vogondy)
Florent Barle (Team Mate, Rouleur)
Julien Fouchard (Rouleur)
Yoann Bagot (Supplyguy, Rouleur)
4)Team Keukeleire:
Kevyn Ista (Luxury Team Mate for Keukeleire)
Nico Sijmens (Team Mate, Rouleur)
Romain Zingle (Rouleur)
Tristan Valentin (Rouleur)
Arnaud Labbe (Supplyguy, Rouleur)
General Overview of our team:
EDIT: Added some screens
Edited by TheRevolutionExodus on 17-07-2011 16:34
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| TheRevolutionExodus |
Posted on 17-07-2011 14:12
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Junior Rider
Posts: 38
Joined: 10-08-2009
PCM$: 300.00
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Now as the formalities are done, the season can begin. As every year the first race are the Australian Championships. My favorite for the Road Race which is quite hilly is Cadel Evans or Simon Gerrans.
Simulating Game... and Simon Gerrans did it. He is now allowed to ride for at least one year in his country's colours. Here is the top 5:
1st: Simon Gerrans (Team Sky)
2nd: Greame Brown (Rabobank)
3rd: Stuart O' Grady (Leopard – Trek)
4th: Lachlan Norris (Drapac)
5th: Cadel Evans (BMC)
The first race our team is participating is the tour of malaysa. Here is our team for this 10-stage tour:
Rein Taaramae (Leader)
Samuel Dumoulin (Sprinter)
Julien El Fares (Luxury Team Mate for Taaramae)
Jean-Eudes Demaret (Leadoutman for Dumoulin)
Aleksejs Saramotins (Rouleur)
Michael Buffaz (Team Mate, Rouleur)
Kalle Kriit (Supplyguy, Rouleur) |
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| VladuuTs |
Posted on 17-07-2011 15:01
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Stagiare
Posts: 246
Joined: 03-02-2011
PCM$: 200.00
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oh, looking forward to it  . my favourite is rein taaramae . also el fares, dumoulin, moncoutie (for vuelta KoM) and Keukeleire, the new Boonen are very good riders. |
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| TheRevolutionExodus |
Posted on 17-07-2011 15:42
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Junior Rider
Posts: 38
Joined: 10-08-2009
PCM$: 300.00
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@VladuuTs: Thanks for your feedback. I also like Taaramae, he is very talented and will probabely compete with the stars in 2-3 years. |
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| TheRevolutionExodus |
Posted on 17-07-2011 15:43
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Junior Rider
Posts: 38
Joined: 10-08-2009
PCM$: 300.00
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1st Stage: Dataran Long – Kuah (93.2 km/Flat)
Race Estimation:
This stage will most probably end up in a sprint finish and with Dumoulin and Demaret we have a great sprinter and a great leadoutman in our team. Our goal is to protect those two rides through the race and see what we can do in the last kilometers.
Race Report:
The second breakaway is also the breakaway group of today's stage. After the group of 9 riders make a gap of 1 minute, a second group of 3 riders attacks out of the peleton. After a few kilometers, they can close up with the head of the race, so both groups merge into a strong group of 12 riders. For the first half of the race two teams are making the pace in the peleton, team Endura Racing and Ana Pest. The breakaway's maximum gap is due to the short stage and the high pace in the peleton only 3'30''. In the last 50 kilometers Garmin-Cervélo sends two riders in front of the peleton which causes that the gap is reduced to 1'27''. 20 kilometers before the finish line we are sending our riders to the front of the peleton.
5 kilometers before the finish line the last escabies have to surrender due to a high pace of El Fares and Saramotins over the last 15 kilometers.
Taaramae sets himself now in front of the peleton to keep the pace high. Demaret and Dumoulin are in his wheel, so it looks good for us. 3.3 kilometers to go: Taaramae is powered out and falls back, Demaret is very early in the wind. He launches the sprint 2.6 kilometers before the finish line and makes a small gap to the other sprinters, Dumoulin is still in his wheel. 1.8.km to go: Demaret is powered out and falls back, Dumoulin has to do the rest on his own. Unfortunately about 8 riders overhauled him when he was passing the backfalling Demaret. However Dumoulin has a lot of energy left and it is going to be very close.
Dumoulin wins the stage! A very close win though, but a great start in the season. A very good performance also by Saramotins and El Fares who went a very high pace over the last 20 kilometers. Also a great performance by Jean-Eudes Demaret who had to go very early in the wind
EDIT: Added some screens 
Edited by TheRevolutionExodus on 17-07-2011 16:06
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| VladuuTs |
Posted on 17-07-2011 15:47
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Stagiare
Posts: 246
Joined: 03-02-2011
PCM$: 200.00
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nice but can't you put some screens from the stage ? |
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| TheRevolutionExodus |
Posted on 17-07-2011 15:51
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Junior Rider
Posts: 38
Joined: 10-08-2009
PCM$: 300.00
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@VladuuTs: I see what I can do. I wanted to do a video, but it was too big for the upload. I'm trying to get screens of good quality, but the video is very bad quality already...
EDIT: Got some nice screens from the video now
Edited by TheRevolutionExodus on 17-07-2011 15:56
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| Eden95 |
Posted on 17-07-2011 16:51
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4505
Joined: 05-10-2010
PCM$: 900.00
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Nice team choice  I like Taaramäe and Dumolin from Cofidis.
Indosat - ANZ HQ
"This Schleck sandwich is going to cause serious indigestion for Evans" - Phil Liggett |
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| vangerner |
Posted on 17-07-2011 17:16
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Neo-Pro
Posts: 258
Joined: 15-04-2010
PCM$: 200.00
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Eden95 wrote:
Nice team choice I like Taaramäe and Dumolin from Cofidis.
+1 |
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 23-11-2024 07:38
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Bot Agent
Posts: Countless
Joined: 23.11.09
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| vangerner |
Posted on 17-07-2011 17:17
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Neo-Pro
Posts: 258
Joined: 15-04-2010
PCM$: 200.00
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Good luck with this story! I will follow it |
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| TheRevolutionExodus |
Posted on 17-07-2011 17:49
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Junior Rider
Posts: 38
Joined: 10-08-2009
PCM$: 300.00
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@Eden95 and @vangerner:
Seems that Taaramae and Dumoulin are quite popular. Hopefully they can make some good results |
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| TheRevolutionExodus |
Posted on 17-07-2011 18:29
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Junior Rider
Posts: 38
Joined: 10-08-2009
PCM$: 300.00
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2nd Stage: Kangar – Butterworth (173.5km/Flat)
Race Estimation:
This stage is similar to the first one and should end in a sprint final. This time it will be a bit more complicated for us, because we will have to make the pace of the peleton.
Race Report:
At the beginning of the race the KoM-leader Biswell takes the initiative and a first breakaway group of three riders has made a gap. Again team 'Endura Racing' is making the pace with two riders, but after some kilometers another breakaway including a Endura Racing-rider attacks. Now it's our turn to make the pace. Saramotins and Kriit set themselves to the head of the peleton. In the mid stage the breakaway groups surrender to the high paced peleton. Unfortunately we paced too high and Saramotins and Kriit are no more able to keep the pace high, so another breakaway of four riders is able to make a gap. KoM-leader Biswell and Goesinnen are also attacking but they can't close up with the other breakaway group. Now also other teams are interested in pacing up, so we can relax a bit.
Biswell and his companion are caught 13.9km before the finish line.
The last four escabies are caught 8.4km before the finish line.
6.8km to go: About 15 riders fall at the back of the pack. Fortunately no Cofidis-rider envolved.
4km to go: The pack isn't able to follow Taaramae's pace, so he can make a gap. Unfortunately Demaret has to go into the wind very early now. This will be very hard for him.
2.6.km to go: Taaramae is caught by the peleton.
2.2km to go: Dumoulin has to sprint on his own, because Demaret is powered out.
Win for Andrea Guardini of team 'Farnese Vini', placed 2nd on the first stage. Samuel Dumoulin reaches the 7th place which is ok since we had a troubled end phase due to Taaramae's 'breakaway'.
Guardini is the new 'maillot jaune' with 12secs to Dumoulin.
Saramotins and Kriit arrive both several minutes behind the peloton, because of the great effort they did during the race.
Edited by TheRevolutionExodus on 17-07-2011 18:34
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| brewers90 |
Posted on 17-07-2011 18:45
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3711
Joined: 01-09-2010
PCM$: 200.00
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Cofidis to the ProTour...tough!
Taaramae got 2nd in the Paris-Nice on my game so I think a lot rests on his shoulders. Good luck.
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| TheRevolutionExodus |
Posted on 17-07-2011 18:51
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Junior Rider
Posts: 38
Joined: 10-08-2009
PCM$: 300.00
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@brewers90:
Thank you! It will be tough, but with some good results we'll beat the rivals. I hope Taaramae can repeat those results |
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| TheRevolutionExodus |
Posted on 17-07-2011 21:32
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Junior Rider
Posts: 38
Joined: 10-08-2009
PCM$: 300.00
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3rd Stage: Taiping – Sitiawan (125.4km/Flat)
Race Estimation:
This stage is again for the sprinters, however the breakaways in the last two days seemed quite strong, so we will send Saramotins who confirmed his great Rouleur-skills over the last stages.
Race Report:(Again I had problems with the screenies, no pictures for this stage. Sorry.)
The first Breakaway is the breakaway of the day, consisting 5 riders including Dimitry Fofonov and the malaysian rider Othman. Since we wanted to be part of the breakaway group Saramotins attacks when the breakaway group has already a gap of 1'37''. Kahler and van Poppel follow him. 3 kilometers before the mountain sprint they close up to the first group. The pace is made by 'Farnese Vini' with the yellow jersey among their riders and who else than 'Endura Racing' again. The maximum break is 5'20'' at 60km before the finish line and the breakaway group seems to have no chance to resist. Althought the gap is 4'27'' at 40km to go and the chances for the breakaway are rising. 28Kilometers to go: Saramotins attacks without success. 4Km to go: The peleton has 36'' on the breakaway group, it doesn't look good for the peleton. Unfortunately Saramotins and one other rider have lost the wheel of the others. Our train Taaramae-Demaret-Dumoulin is in first position of the peloton. Our sprint works again very well, but the advantage of the remaining escabies was too high, so Dumoulin sprints again on the 7th place. Guardini is still in yellow (and leader in points ranking and best young rider).(I will post the general ranking after the next stage)
Edited by TheRevolutionExodus on 17-07-2011 21:34
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| TheRevolutionExodus |
Posted on 17-07-2011 21:44
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Junior Rider
Posts: 38
Joined: 10-08-2009
PCM$: 300.00
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4th Stage: Ayer Tawar – Cameron Highlands (172.3km/Hilly-Mountain)
Race Estimation:
This is the hardest stage until now and we will see gaps, that's for sure. It is also a nice stage for breakaways, so Saramotnis will have the chance again. Moreover Saramotnis will sprint for the KoM-jersey when he manages to get in the breakaway group. However our main focus is on Rein Taaramae who will be protected until the last climb(or the second last climb if the peleton is small enough). If his form is fine(everything better than 0) we he will surely attack. So this stage will be very interesting throughout the whole race.
Race Report:
Saramotins immediately attacks after the start and is followed by Morczynski(CCC Popol), Krivtsov(Lampre) and Failli(Farnese – Vini). Failli has decided to take no relay on the 50 first kilometers. The first mountain sprint was won by Morczynski(6 pts.), 2nd Saramotnis(4 pts.) and 3rd Krivtsov(2 pts.). This should be the only points won by Saramotnis on this day. 53 kilometers before the finish line Stetina from 'Garmin-Cervélo' attacks without success. The breakaway group has made a gap of 2 minutes at this time. The form of Taaramae is '-1', so he will attack only on the last climb. Dumoulin has a form of '+4', so if he stays with the first group over the mountains he could also sprint for the win. On the second last climb the escabies have to surrender and a group of 27 riders is left on the foot of the finish climb which is 8km long. Among those riders, there are still 4 of our team; Buffaz, El Fares, Dumoulin and Taaramae. After a hard attack by David Millar, the pace in the group goes up and only Taaramae is able to stay in the group. 3.3 kilometers to go and Millar has 42 secs on the group with Taaramae: attack by Taaramae. Only Iglinsky is able to follow. Taaramae can almost close up with Millar in the sprint and finishes 2nd. Iglinsky loses about 20 seconds an Taaramae.
Here are the stage results:
1 Millar
2 Taaramae +21''
3 Iglinsky +38''
4 Morabito +51''
5 Bertagliati +1'06''
And here is the general overall:
1 Millar
2 Taaramae +33''
3 Iglinsky +48''
4 Morabito +1'13''
5 Pietropoli +1'30''
Tomorrow is the last mountain stage with a long climb in the end. The general will be decided tomorrow and then we'll have 5 flat sprinter stages, so let's hope for a good form for Taaramae.
Edited by TheRevolutionExodus on 17-07-2011 23:49
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| duckman |
Posted on 18-07-2011 07:40
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Under 23
Posts: 61
Joined: 14-06-2008
PCM$: 200.00
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i love the Cofidis team, they are the team i am using in single player till the PCM DB comes out.. so many options
Good luck! |
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| TheRevolutionExodus |
Posted on 18-07-2011 16:58
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Junior Rider
Posts: 38
Joined: 10-08-2009
PCM$: 300.00
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@duckman: Thank you very much and also good luck with Cofidis. |
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