Dubbed by everyone as the rubbish Protour team, this was a challenge for my first managerial challenge in any world of cycling. Having the least budget, no star quality in any of the 5 main success paths of Cobbles, Mountains, Hills, Sprints and Time Trials, its just evidence that this was going to be a hard job.
First race was The Tour Down Under, which I used to test out the riders in my team. I decided to work the riders I had chosen, which happened to be some of the best ones due to inexperience. I sent them, one by one, in breakaways, some having two riders from my 8-strong team in a breakaway that I was hoping would succeed. Of course, they never do. Though, on Stage 3, a solo effort from Laurent Brochard from 30kms out was enough to give me my first ever PCM07 victory, of which I was over the moon to get. Though, when the tour finished, I had 5 riders in the bottom 6 of the entire field. Too much attacking - but it was a helpful learning curve.
Tours of Qatar and Malaysia didn't bring much joy at all. No victories, inexperience paying off, etc etc. Though, I had found one shining light. Pierrick Fedrigo managed a couple of decent finishes in the Malaysian mountains to place 11th overall.
Throughout February, victories deserted me, and I was beginning to fear for my job already, being inexperienced. But, typically, it would be the man who has "been there and done that" who would help me make the first steps of a glorious journey. In the Tour du Var, a French one day event, Laurent Brochard outsprinted Sylvain Chavanel and another rider whom I forget to make me a very happy manager. Pierrick Fedrigo proved his potential by coming 4th in the same race.
Thankfully, March wasn't the Brochard et Fedrigo show. Other riders had begun to show me what they were made of. Notably, Anthony Geslin, who came up with a sprint victory and a couple of Top Threes, not bad for a 72 rated sprinter, up against the likes of Bernhard Eisel. And arguably Bouygues most recognisable rider, Thomas Voeckler, who rode his way into a Top 10 in the Vuelta Valenciana, and a 11th place in Paris-Nice. Though Bouygues didn't go empty handed in the Protour, as Jerome Pineau climbed a late hill in Tirreno-Adriatico to claim a fantastic victory and to get the team off the mark, every point would be needed to ensure we were safe from "relegation". Yoann Le Boulanger also went away with the Mountains jersey in the Paris-Nice. March ended with sprinter Said Haddou winning a hilly Brantbrijse-Alsemberg in a breakaway of 15.
Confidence was booming, and as the experience the manager had grew, the amount of wins would grow as well. Due to the fact that I had no chance of winning Paris-Roubaix, and the fact that it crashed on me the last time I tried to race it, the ultimate classic was simulated. Xavier Florencio came third, which would have been impossible in a 3D race for sure.
It was May that more riders started showing their colours. Thomas Voeckler took 2 victories in the Tour de Romandie, spurting out of the Peleton late on, and once winning a sprint between Cunego and team mate Fedrigo. As the roads rised in Switzerland, the Bouygues boys fell out of the Top 10, although Johann Tschopp's ability hadn't gone unnoticed, and his freshness whiling helping out Voeckler in the mountains wasn't just fluke. So, with a bit of training and a bit of research Tschopp would lead the team in the Tour of Cataluna later that month. Meanwhile, in a Giro where the team was barely good enough to claim a Top 50 place, Anthony Geslin won a breakaway sprint to claim Bouygues biggest victory. Simoni won the overall.
In Spain, Tschopp impressed. It was also here that I became aware of the red bar, as Tschopp would have won if it hadn't had reached its top!!! But Contador claimed the top spot, with a super Johann Tschopp coming 2nd in this Protour race. There were no stage wins, but the performance from this man was enough to get me excited. He was reasonably young and had an experience level of 3 meaning that he had two major improvements to come in his career.
June produced more wins in smaller continental races. I had now grown the ability to pop out of the peleton with 15kms to go and win almost every time. Laurent Brochard secured two wins in the Tour of Luxembourg by just this method. Although, an error calculating a victory cost me of overall glory, something I had not yet had!!! Thankfully, you learn from your mistakes, and this was not going to happen again for a very long time. In the Protour, Jerome Pineau continued his decent season to claim a stage of the Dauphine Libre. And with Johann Tschopp performing brilliantly in his home tour, Tour de Suisse, with a mountain top stage win (outsprinting Dekker) and a 3rd overall, relegation was nothing to worry about.
Though I was having problems with my sprinters. I couldn't judge it quite right, and Said Haddou and Aurelian Clerc, my main two sprinters, had only claimed one flat stage sprint victory between them all season!!! In smaller races, Andy Flickinger was performing well, especially at the art of jumping out of a peleton late on to steal victory.
So then came the national championships, of which the main concentration was on the French event. Laurent Lefevre wouldn't be the first person to jump into your head when you mention "French Cyclists", but he claimed victory, with Voeckler and Pineau coming in 4th and 5th. Didier Rous managed 2nd in the time trial version, with Johann Tschopp being Bouygues only other winner in Switzerland.
I will continue with my story soon...Edited by TschoppChop on 23-12-2007 23:04
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DEVONIAN
*****[EPIC]***** Agent of Aaron Arblaster and Robert Andrews DS of Sojasunas Morgan Schneiderlin
Bouygues improvements were about to be tested by its ability to perform with some of its best riders in the Tour de France. Team selection was suprisingly not so hard, with the decision not to take any decent sprinter probably being the one thing you could question from team selection, but really, would a 76 sprinter in poor form compete with the McEwens and the Freires?
Andy Flickinger, Jerome Pineau, Thomas Voeckler, Laurent Lefevre, Mathieu Claude, Olivier Bonnaire, Johann Tschopp, Pierrick Fedrigo and Nicolas Crosbie were given the honour to start the race. And, into Canterbury, Andy Flickinger stormed out of the Peleton and held off the sprinting competition to satisfy the sponsors greatly by claiming an incredible stage win. Thomas Voeckler finished 2nd in the hills to Aucun, and a stage win by Jerome Pineau in the final win from a breakaway was really all there was to shout about. Johann Tschopp managed 19th overall, which was alright in my opinion. Vinokourov won the overall, with Freire in Green.
Meanwhile, the team was having a blistering Qinghai Lake tour, well, not really the team, but Mathieu Sprick. Its no mean feat to claim 6 stage wins in a row. But come Stage 8, Bouygues let slip the lead with Angel Vicioso taking victory instead of Sprick, and even Yoann Le Boulanger who came 2nd overall. Also, Aurelian Clerc finally claimed a stage win!!! Though it was against little competition in the Joaquim Agostinho race in Portugal. Stef Clement claimed a time trial victory in the Sachsen Rundfahrt and Mathieu Sprick continued a great month to win the Tour de Wallonie.
August saw Bouygues Telecom do little in terms of the Protour, but in their home country they tore apart the difficult Circuit De L'Ain, winning 4 out of 4 stages with different riders each time, and claiming every jersey apart from the young riders. Pierrick Fedrigo was the teams winner. Jerome Pineau also dominated the Route du Limousin late on in the month.
Come September, all you want to do as a new manager is buy and sell. And I had my first contract signed for next season - Yves Galli. On the cycling front, Bouygues most anticipated classic, the GP de Plouay, was dealt with proffesionally but could have been better, with the team managing a couple of top 10 finishes with their strong team. In the Vuelta, Yoann Le Boulanger was riding well until an injury sustained in a crash again left Bouygues with a rider not in the top 50 of a grand tour. But two stages wins made up for this, Anthony Geslin claiming a 2nd grand tour win in one season and Xavier Florencio winning into Madrid on the final day, part of a suprise breakaway win!!! Alberto Contador dominated this race to win overall.
Shockingly, with Bouygues winning about 10 races every month, it was quite a shock to be without a win in the whole of October. But the boys had done the job, claiming 13th in the Protour standings, 1st in the victories table and an admirable 4th in the Superprestige table. It was time for the part I was looking forward to - the transfers!!!
Some 2007 Stuff:
Bouygues Rider of the Year = JEROME PINEAU
Bouygues Young Rider of the Year = JOHANN TSCHOPP
Overall Rider of the Year = OSCAR FREIRE (rab)
Overall Young Rider of the Year = THOMAS DEKKER (rab)
Relegated = Francaise Des Jeux, Milram
Promoted = Wiesenhof, Panaria
SIGNINGS
The budget was fantastic after a fantastic season to say the least!!! Well, not compared to most Protour teams, and the wage allowance was small as well. Still, it was enough to convince young potential Andre Cocchi and world-class Time Trialist David Zabriskie to join the Bouygues Boys. Although, no transfers in and out could be made, and all that was done was free buys and releasing. Yohann Gene, Erki Putsep, Dmitri Champion and Vincent Jerome were let go, due to not being good enough or for being unhappy (in Champion's circumstance). Though, with a bit to spare and a need for talent considering that no-one was replying to any offers made in late November and December, it was with big risk that Alessandro Petacchi, signed from relegated Milram on a free, was taken on board. Would he be worth the money in the coming season? Planning was underway, and now with the sufficient experience and entire knowledge of how the game works, surely the following season cannot fail?
One or Two More Large Parts like this before the more frequent updates, which hopefully will look a bit cooler than this!!!Edited by TschoppChop on 24-12-2007 19:20
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DEVONIAN
*****[EPIC]***** Agent of Aaron Arblaster and Robert Andrews DS of Sojasunas Morgan Schneiderlin
With my team slightly changed, I decided to be much more patient and only use my best riders when they were needed most. In the opening stage of the season in the Tour Down Under, Aurelian Clerc just missed out on winning against Thor Hushovd, signalling that he may have a much better season than of previous. Though it was Thomas Voeckler who stole the show, securing Stage 3 and doing enough to hold off Grivko in Stage 5 to take overall victory. In the Tour of Qatar, Alessandro Petacchi was handed his debut in Bouygues colours, and emphatically took every stage possible - some achievement and total dominance. The season was looking bright.
In February, debuts to youngsters Galli and Cocchi in the Tour of Malaysia, where Bouygues brought a team incapable of overall victory in the mountains. Although, Aurelian Clerc won a stage and the battle for the green jersey against Lequatre of Unibet in the race. Wins were coming frequently, with Mathieu Sprick claiming overall victory in the GP de Mediterrainian, and Thomas Voeckler in the Besseges. The team was warming up well for the coming season. David Zabriskie started his Bouygues career well also, winning his home race, The Tour of California, which the team entered especially for him. Alessandro Petacchi took stages here as well. The month finished with Bouygues holding their Tour du Var throne with Pierrick Fedrigo taking victory. Strangely, the 29 year old had stated he would end his career at arguably his peak in October.
March was all about getting off to a good start in the Protour. Paris-Nice didn't go too well though, with Thomas Voeckler and Johann Tschopp failing to secure the sponsors wished for Top 3 placing. But in Tirreno-Adriatico, a superb David Zabriskie claimed 2nd overall, missing out on Bouygues first ever Protour overall win by 2 seconds after coming behind from 11th on the final time trial. Alessandro Petacchi began to show signs of what was to come, taking no victories. In Milan-San Remo, the team raced well to claim 2nd and 4th, the points for Thomas Voeckler taking him very close to top spot in the Protour standings. Petacchi was 4th. Bouygues were also much more concentrated on the Northern Classics, with Andy Flickinger coming a creditable 2nd behind Boonen in Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne.
April never looked on paper to be an exciting month for Bouygues, and as expected the wins came on the smaller races. In the Protour, there was litte success in any of the Classics. The best position was Pierrick Fedrigo finishing 4th in Liege-Bastogne-Liege. Jerome Pineau and Mathieu Sprick had secured Top 10s in the Fleche-Wallone and the LBL respectively. Xavier Florencio couldn't repeat his 3rd in Paris-Roubaix the previous year, though a long breakaway from Franck Renier was pleasing, and Florencio managed a top 20 place alongside Andy Flickinger.
May came and it was time to get moving. Alexandre Pichot got his first taste of team leadership at the 5-Jours de Dunkerque. And he stunningly stole victory from Bridge of T-Mobile in Stage 4 to please the squad greatly. Said Haddou managed to take the sprinters jersey in the same race. The sprinters had been greatly improving for the 2008 season. In the Giro, Thomas Voeckler, who had done a lot of early races, was selected as team leader for fitness purposes. The popular Frenchman was probably reluctant to sacrifice a place in his home tour. But Voeckler took an incredible 4 stage wins at the Giro, with Anthony Geslin and Alessandro Petacchi taking one each as well, totalling 6 victories in one grand tour for Bouygues. Incredible!!! Voeckler managed 15th overall, as Cunego took overall glory. After a 3rd overall in the Tour de Romandie, Johann Tschopp was frustrated again in the Tour of Cataluna by Cobo Acebo, having to settle for 2nd in 2 successive seasons in the race.
In June, the decision was made not to renew the contracts of golden oldies Laurent Brochard, Didier Rous and Franck Renier. All of which wanted to stay on, but I felt the need for youth in the future seasons. In response, it was Brochard who seemed on fire at the Tour of Luxembourg, taking a victory and setting up Said Haddou for his sprints superbly. In the more important races, there was to be ultimate glory for the ever progressing Johann Tschopp in his home country. It seemed as if he would be again 2nd best behind Valverde in Switzerland, but a stunning solo victory by 3 minutes put to bed any questions of who would be winner, and Tschopp rode out the race to win overall, claiming Bouygues first ever Protour overall win. In the Dauphine-Libre, an early Time Trial win for David Zabriskie was all there was to shout about. But again, at least it was a sponsor goal ticked off for the better.
Again, to end June would be the National Championships. Laurent Lefevre didn't have the confidence on the day to try and retain his throne, but Bouygues still claimed victory with 3 riders in the Top 4, Thomas Voeckler winning with Jerome Pineau and Anthony Geslin in 2nd and 4th. In the Time Trials, Stef Clement managed 2nd in Holland, though David Zabriskie won in America. The only other winner over the 3 days was again Johann Tschopp, who worked well with fellow Swiss riders Aurelian Clerc and Andre Cocchi to earn victory again.
NEXT: The rest of the 2008 season
AFTER: A more detailed look at things
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DEVONIAN
*****[EPIC]***** Agent of Aaron Arblaster and Robert Andrews DS of Sojasunas Morgan Schneiderlin
