I have decided to do my own cycling world tour for the current season over a ten month period. Unlike most other stories, I won’t be controlling just one team but a different team for each race on the calendar. The reason for this, is that I always get bored being the same team for every race and always like to race with different teams and riders, also I’m not really into doing the management and development thing of a team either, and much prefer to manage the whole world cycling calendar myself.
I’ve got quite a vast knowledge of cycling that goes way back to the early 1990's, when I first started to watch it and back then and the biggest stage riders of the day were Miguel Indurain, Gianni Bugno, Claudio Chiappucci and Tony Rominger, with the best riders in the classics being Johan Museeuw, Maurizio Fondriest and Laurent Jalabert, and there was also some great sprinters in Djamolodine Abdujaparov, Mario Cipollini and Jean-Paul Van Poppel. I’m sure at some stage I’d like to play a database from this era, but that’s for another time.
I’m starting this season with the season opener the “Tour Down Under” and in general I’m following the correct race schedule, but have re-arranged certain sections of the calendar to my own liking, such as making the Belgian Flanders season more intense, expanding the Belgian Ardennes season and spreading some of the week long tours out over the season, using a certain geographical logic when planning. I’ve also introduced my own points system, which means that I’ve increased the categories from major tours and monuments down to lesser tours and semi-classics, all with their own designation. Also as a second competition I've re-introduced the whole world cup competition which ended about a decade ago, which will be like a competition within a competition and will run over 12 one day races in the calendar. I’ve also lessened the team amounts for races as well, with the max being 22 teams and the minimum being 16 teams depending on the race. I've also made the team's a bit smaller with no team now having more than 23 riders and the smaller teams with 16 riders. Also to make it more interesting, a lot of the ProContinental Tour teams will be entering the main calendar and so some of the ProTour teams will be racing a bit less. This means that all the big riders won't be riding the same races all the time and give more coverage to lesser known riders. Also I’ll be doing my own startlists and have my own database, where I can record where riders will race. I also have my own team schedules already designed, so I know which type of riders I want entering which kind of race (if I’m in doubt then I’ll consult the real life startlist)
Now this will be the first time that I’ve ever done a story with a cycling game (have done stories with other subjects though) and have spent the last few months playing PCM12 a hell of a lot, to get myself up to a good level and most importantly understanding the game’s mechanics (even though I need to work on sprinting more) therefore the new PCM13 is the right place to start now for a new season. For the story and each race, I’ve taken some inspiration from some other good stories that I like on here and will include a pre-race guide and then photos and results and commentary etc about the race.
Now most importantly, I actually started my own season with PCM12 and did a lot of the races from the Tour Down Under up to the Giro and as I really enjoyed those races I will use them as part of my historical background (after all this is a fantasy story and season For example Hubert Dupont won the Tour of Down Under I played, Taylor Phinney the Ghent-Wevelgem, Joaquim Rodriguez won all three Ardennes Classics and Ryder Hesjedal won the Giro for a second time and all the other jerseys as well! I also had Tom Boonen missing much of these races and Alessandro Ballan some of them, so I'm keeping what happened in those races. Now that I’m doing my own season, I won’t be affected by real-life injuries and suspensions for doping, so will use my own decision whether a rider is out or not. So when I do my own pre-race guide, don’t be surprised if the winner in the first part of the calendar is not the same as in real life!
Next post will be the "Tour Down Under" the season start.
Edited by Tafiolmo on 30-06-2013 14:33
@Selwink- Well I aim to be every team in the ProTour and ProContinental tours at least once, but I will see how it goes and will probably want to be the main teams more often than not. It depends if I want to participate in the race to win or be more of a spectator. Just think of it as playing a season of football with say Pro Evolution or Fifa and playing all the matches each week and then doing your own league like this.
@Sutty and Ian Butler- I'm curious as well, my only concern with doing the game this way, is that the continuity with the management style game doesn't influence things as they would in a career type scenario. For example I did the three Ardennes classics with PCM12 and was Astana in all three and Joaquim Rodriguez won all of them which was great. This made him a big favourite for the Giro, but he was terrible and was never in contention for the overall. I think in a career scenario, the AI would've taken his form into consideration and carried that across to the Giro. I might be wrong but it is a thought.
Apart from that concern, when I did the a section of the season on PCM12 it was enjoyable and interesting, and had no real problems with realism. I know in the editor, I think you can change rider's priorities as well and this may help them focus on the races that I want them to focus on and create even greater realism.
As I aim to do this story on most days of the week, I'll be posting quite a lot and taking a big interest in other prople's stories as wellEdited by Tafiolmo on 30-06-2013 18:43
This is the month where the cycling season prepares itself for the bigger up and coming races in Europe, by allowing the peloton to race in a warmer climate. This is the month where some of the lesser riders can get noticed and pick up a lot of points, whilst the better known riders are slowly easing their way into the season and the sprinters can pick up a lot of stages. The season starts in Australia with the Santos Tour Down Under and the Australian Championships, then goes to Argentina for the Tour de San Luis and then onto the Middle East for the Tour of Qatar and the Tour of Oman, and finally it arrives in Southern Europe for the Tour of the Algarve and the European season proper.
Edited by Tafiolmo on 02-07-2013 22:20
The curtain raiser for the new season, sees the peloton heading for the heartland of Australian cycling which is based around Adelaide in South Australia. Despite the early points on offer, only a modest turnout has arrived headed by Orica GreenEdge, Team Sky, Movistar and Belkin Pro Cycling, the four biggest teams here. The route again favours both flatmen and climbers, and despite the large amount of good Australian time trialists on offer, there are no prologues or time-trials on the route.
Race Favourites
The pressure will be on Orica GreenEdge in their home tour, for both the overall and stage victories. Simon Gerrans and Cameron Meyer will lead Orica and Matthew Goss will be the best sprinter on show for stage victories. The biggest threat to Orica though, comes from Ritchie Porte (Sky) probably the best stage rider on show with Rui Costa (Movistar) Also watch out for Tom-Jelte Slagter (Belkin) who is a useful climber. Last year’s winner Hubert Dupont (Ag2r) will be looking to do the double and he heads up a strong French contingent as well.
Race Records
Only three different riders have won the race twice and they are Stuart O’Grady, Simon Gerrans and Andre Greipel. Two of those riders will be here and Simon Gerrans will fancy his chances for a third victory.
Team Sky
Racing here with Team Sky and with Ritchie Porte leading the team. The aim will be the overall GC, and with guys like Dario Cataldo, Vasil Kiryienka, Matthew Hayman and Christian Knees on the team, I should be able to control the peloton and attack or defend when needed.
Santos Tour Down Under Stage 1
Prospect - Lobethal: 133.2 kms - Undulating
An undulating course with the biggest hurdle being the steep Checker Hill climb which comes early on the course and then three laps around Lobethal. The stage is open for a lone rider to take the leader’s jersey or more likely for a bunch sprint if the peloton stays together. Matthew Goss will fancy the stage and the reace leader's jersey.
The stage got underway with very hot conditions of 33 degrees.
The early break saw Arthur Ershov (RusVelo) Clinton Avery (Champion) Anthony Delaplace (Sojasun) Bjorn Thurau (Europcar) Gordon McCauley (Drapac) and Angelo Furlan (Cristina) getting away before Checker Hill and the break at one stage reached 6 minutes.
Team Sky and Movistar were among the teams pulling the breakaway back, and the big loser of the day was last year’s winner Hubert Dupont (Ag2r) who crashed and ended up losing over 2 minutes.
The breakaway was pulled back about 15 kms from the finish and Orica with a leadout train of Stuart O’Grady, Baden Cooke and Allan Davis gave Mathew Goss the perfect leadout to claim the opening stage. Team Sky sprinter Christopher Sutton finished way down in 8th spot.
Stage Result
1 Matthew Goss Orica GreenEdge 3h 07’ 45”
2 Simon Geschke Argos-Shimano s.t.
3 Mark Renshaw Belkin Pro Cycling s.t.
4 Julien Simon Sojasun s.t.
5 Gerald Ciolek MTN-Qhubeka s.t.
Points Jersey
1 Artur Ershov RusVelo 12
2 Clinton Avery Champion System 10
3 Gordon McCauley Drapac Professional Cycling 8
Climbers Jersey
1 Bjorn Thurau Team Europcar 10
2 Anthony Delaplace Sojasun 6
3 Clinton Avery Champion System 4
Young Riders Jersey
1 Tom-Jelte Slagter Belkin Pro Cycling 3h 07’ 45”
Team Classification
1 Orica GreenEdge 9h 23’ 15”
General Classification
1 Matthew Goss Orica GreenEdge 3h 07’ 45”
2 Simon Geschke Argos-Shimano +4”
3 Artur Ershov Rusvelo +4”
4 Clinton Avery Champion System +5”
5 Mark Renshaw Belkin Pro Cycling +6”Edited by Tafiolmo on 03-07-2013 00:00
Only in mine but not in real life, I played a season from the Tour Down Under to the Giro in PCM12 and then stopped when PCM13 came out and have decided to keep all the results.
After all this is a fantasy cycling worldEdited by Tafiolmo on 02-07-2013 22:35
For example Hubert Dupont won the Tour of Down Under I played, Taylor Phinney the Ghent-Wevelgem, Joaquim Rodriguez won all three Ardennes Classics and Ryder Hesjedal won the Giro for a second time and all the other jerseys as well! I also had Tom Boonen missing much of these races and Alessandro Ballan some of them, so I'm keeping what happened in those races. Now that I’m doing my own season, I won’t be affected by real-life injuries and suspensions for doping, so will use my own decision whether a rider is out or not. So when I do my own pre-race guide, don’t be surprised if the winner in the first part of the calendar is not the same as in real life! 
