I'll share this one with you guys too, it's a parallel career with the VC La Pomme one.
David Collins, 37 year old Sports Psychologist.... at least that's what he was qualified to do, he was currently unemployed. Hey at least he'd given that stuck-up university dean a piece of his mind before he got fired. At least he had that to be proud of, no regrets..... well that's what he kept telling himself. Looking at the jobs section of yesterday's paper he groaned at how desperate for work he was becoming. Circled in red ink was the title "Refuse Technician". a binman??? Is it really that bad? he thought. 'Jeez they're making it sound like you need a load of qualifications to do that these days' he said to nobody.
Going into the kitchen to get himself some coffee he found only mouldy mugs and cleaned one as best he could for now. Boiling some water and adding the coffee he grabbed the sugar bowl.... 'empty' he thought. He poured the water into the mug and went for the milk.... 'Oh for..." he bit his tongue (in a manner of speaking) as he realised he had no milk either.
He muttered to himself 'David what are you going to do?'. He didn't know right now but he knew he had to do something, he couldn't live like this, unemployed, no money and living like a tramp. There was always the welfare option but David was still too proud to go to sign on, he never needed to before and felt like it was stealing from the taxpayers. David took a drink.... and let out a string of obscenities as the piping hot coffee almost set his tongue on fire. He turned to the kitchen sink and jumped with fright, sending the mug of coffee crashing off the wall behind him. The cat from next door (the cause of David's fright) scarpered from the window edge. David calmed himself and began to drink from the cold water tap when there was a knock at the door......
David answered the door and was shocked to find famous cycling boss Anthony 'Toto' Mc Fadden standing before him. Mr Collins? Toto asked him. 'Ye...yes... I'm sorry, do come in'. Toto entered and looked around, needless to say he was intrigued by the mess of the place. David noticed the look on Toto's face and quickly made excuses. 'I'm a busy guy these days Mr. Mc Fadden'. Toto asked to be called 'Toto' instead.
You may call me David then. David cleared a chair and offered it to Toto. I would offer you food or coffee but ah...' Toto told him it was fine as he had just had breakfast. 'Why have you come to see me?' said David. Toto then sat down and explained to David that he knew about David's current situation. He was here to offer David an assistant DS role with his new team. David protested that he knew nothing about such responsibilities but Toto assured him he'd learn the ropes quickly. Toto explained he wasn't just looking for anyone to fill the role but someone who could motivate the team. Someone who could help the riders imagine success in the fashion that it would make them more positive. Someone who could build team cohesion and someone who could raise the resistance of the riders to factors such as crowd noise, 'looks' from other riders (it was obvious what he was referring to here) and other factors. David was the type of man he was looking for.
David sat and he could barely contain how positive it was to him as Toto explained it all. David felt he had no choice but to accept and both men shook hands. Toto mentioned that David would sign a proper contract at the team training camp in Italy. As Toto was heading out the door however, David realised he forgot something. 'Who am I working with?' Toto rapped on the door and it was clear. The team is OTC Doors.Edited by tonymcf on 30-11-2007 20:52
Well I'm Italy here. The team training camp for the pre-season has just reched it's coclusion and I think there's a lot of potential with this crowd. It was also a chance for the riders and staff to bond as well as for Toto to lay out his plans for the year. There's a lot of ambition here as well as with the sponsors and Toto aims to do well, in the target races and others too.
He'd only added one further rider to the squad, young Marco Corti. When the team was out for one of it's relaxing rides, Toto remained in the hotel as did I. I remarked to him that it seemed strange he had thus far added just the one rider. Toto explained to me that he was waiting until the time around the U23 races before adding anymore. I protested that they wouldn't have the legs for the rest of the season at such a point. Toto however stated they'd be U23 riders because the squad doesn't have enough yet and that they'd only race the U23 races initially.
He also said he wantec to sort other expenses first and try and save a good chunk of the budget. Corti is the only rider who'll be here for sure next season, the others may or may not sign even if offered a contract. The scouts had also been busy but the main scout wasn't exactly impressed with a lot of the Italian talent. They'd been given a few days off before being dipatched elsewhere again. A team of 3 scouts and also 3 trainers. Toto justified 3 trainers by saying they'd be able to work more effectively in 3 smaller groups and that 3 scouts would get reports back to him from various areas. a lot quicker.
Truth be told, I haven't had a lot to do thus far, Toto assured me that my skills and knowledge would become more important as the season begins and wears on. So that's it from me for now, I'll leave you with the stats of the riders.
In at the deep end! That's right, I'm taking charge of the team for the GP Costa degli Etruschi! I'm still shocked and nervous as hell but there's a reason for this.
D'Amore is not in good condition, in fact he's that poor I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't race anything more than 20 days this season. Needless to say, Toto is furious but rather than allow me to try and motivate him, Toto decided on a 'Tough Love' approach. So D'Amore is at a training camp with Toto and 1 mechanic. No-one else and Toto made it clear he's going to make him sweat. The trainers (Toto has added another one) have changed their routines as well in order to work D'Amore to the bone when he returns.
So we're about to race for the first time and the bookies have told us that we don't have any favourites, it could work to our advantage, it could not but Corti will be the protected rider in his very first race.
That's not all, Toto is having to alter his transfer policy as a result of the D'Amore debacle. So expect two more signings and possibly the roster for next season being added to already.
No favourites today so we decided to go with young Marco Corti as I mentioned before.
(1) Three men went away today, looking for glory. (2) In the last 50kms the gap was coming down and there were a number of attacks from the peloton. Here Verheyen of Quick Step has a bash. (3) Predictor-Lotto rider Vansevenant also had a bash, both were futile though and the peloton set it for the sprint.
A close sprint today, one yellow jersey and a green one amongst a sea of varying shades of blue, Jesus Del Nero of Saunier Duval edging the win.
1 Jesus Del Nero SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR 4h45'09
2 Enrico Gasparotto LIQUIGAS s.t.
3 Enrico Poitschke TEAM MILRAM s.t.
4 Fabio Sabatini TEAM MILRAM s.t.
5 Daniele Bennati LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
6 Kevin Van Impe QUICK STEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
7 Matteo Tosatto QUICK STEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
8 Danilo Napolitano LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
9 Sebastian Siedler TEAM MILRAM s.t.
10 Daniele Di Nucci TEAM UNIVERSAL CAFFE' - ECOPETROL s.t.
Our highest finisher: 13 Marco Corti OTC DOORS - LAURETANA s.t. Player
Not a bad start for the young rider.
I got a call from Toto not long after, he told me things were going OK and was pleased with the result, as were the sponsors. He told me he's already added 3 riders to the team roster for next season, all are scouted talents.
Finally he informed me of plans to add 2 more to this year's team after the Trofeo Laigueglia. He warned me that it could be a few weeks before I could use them as there'd be no time for one further training camp and thus it would be down to the trainers to get them into shape, by the end of the current camp (post-Laigueglia) though, D'Amore will be racing, whether he likes it or not.
Not much hope for us today, Toto requested a squad of riders on the phone. Our line-up was: Bruson, Cannone, Di Lorenzo, Di Silvestro, Zagorodny, Genovesi and Reda (designated leader as he was the better hilly rider).
3 riders did have a crack at staying away and gained a lot of time. Come later however and the peloton was cranking up the pressure, one by one we began to lose our riders off the back. The break got reeled in and things exploded on the 3rd and final climb, attacks everywhere and it was bad for us as Reda was by himself.
Reda attacked late on to try and bag a top 10 but hit the wall at the worst possible moment and dozens of riders came past him in the bunch sprint. Moments before, Garzelli and Carrara had battled it out for the victory.
With the Unibet Rider triumphing.
1 Matteo Carrara UNIBET.COM 5h07'32
2 Stefano Garzelli ACQUA & SAPONE - CAFFÈ MOKAMBO s.t.
3 Sylvain Calzati AG2R PRÉVOYANCE s.t.
4 Jelle Vanendert CHOCOLADE JACQUES - TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN s.t.
5 Sandy Casar FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
6 Tadej Valjavec LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
7 Oscar Freire RABOBANK + 1'16
8 Sergei Klimov TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS s.t.
9 Salvatore Commesso TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS s.t.
10 Michal Golas UNIBET.COM s.t.
Highest OTC Rider
45 Francesco Reda OTC DOORS - LAURETANA +1'16
