Hello, my name is Carlos Ortega and I am the new manager of the cycling team Burgos BH-Castilla y León. But first, please allow me to introduce myself.
I am a local, born in Burgos, the capital of the Castile and Leon region in northern Spain.
My family has always been heavily involved in sports. My father played football for Barcelona’s under-18 squad. After having a moderately successful career as in local football, he returned to Barcelona and served there as a trainer for many years. My mother and two older sisters have all represented Spain at international gymnastics meetings. My oldest sister even won a bronze medal at the World Championships.
As for me, I was not as successful on the sporting field. In my early 20s I took up cycling as a hobby but was never seriously invested in the sport. However one day, that would all change.
A friend at the local cycling club told me he was working with the RFEC (Spanish Cycling Federation) and they needed volunteers to help out with the National Championships later that year and asked if I would like to help out. Two months later and I was completely hooked on cycling. I immediately sought out a position within the federation and was fortunate enough to be given a chance to prove myself.
For the past eleven years I have been working with the national cycling team, and have gradually moved up the ranks to become the Assistant Manager. In October last year I received a call from the owner of the then-named Burgos 2016 team inquiring if I would be interested in a major role in the team. Apprehensive at the big responsibility, I replied that I would think about it and get back to him. And then promptly forgot all about it.
A month later, I received another call politely demanding to know if I had made up my mind yet. I knew there was something I’d been forgetting! On a whim, I decided that I should at least turn up for the interview. To my surprise, the owner called back a few days after the interview to offer me the role of team director! I was humbled by the offer, and gratefully accepted.
Now I am tasked with the difficult task of growing this team from a struggling Continental team to a future major tour contender. Wish me luck!
Okay, so this is my first attempt at a story in PCM. I’m still fairly new to the game, so please bear with me if I don’t understand some aspects of career mode just yet.
Game Details
Database: PCM.Daily Expansion Pack (with some very minor edits to riders’ reputation levels - see spoiler)
Spoiler
Reputation changes (all riders had 0 reputation at the start)
Rui Costa to 66
Danilo Di Luca to 53
Ijo Keisse to 35
Matteo Trentin to 15
Alejandro Valverde to 77
Career Difficulty: Normal
Race Difficulty: Normal
Rider Evolution: 0.5
Random Potential: No
I will next post a quick description of our squad. After that, feel free to post any questions, comments or suggestions here, and thanks for reading!
Hello, it’s Carlos here again. This is the squad that the previous management has signed for our 2012 season. I wasn’t expecting much, but they seem to be a decent bunch of riders, some of whom I’ve met briefly before. They also seem to get along well as a team which gives me some confidence in our chances for the season ahead.
Team Leaders
David Belda
Previous Team(s): 2011 - Burgos 2016 Castilla y León
The most well-known rider in our team, David is a talented climber and a real standout in this team. Most likely, he will be our top rider this coming year as he should be the outright leader for many of our stage races. He is also the oldest rider in the squad which means he will act as a mentor and role-model for the younger riders.
Damien Branaa
Previous Team(s): None
A similar rider to Belda in many ways, he may end up taking over his duties in other races. Another good puncher who will be protected well and given plenty of chances to shine in his own right, Branaa will probably be our biggest drawcard in French races.
Lluis Guillermo Mas
Previous Team(s): 2010-11 - Burgos 2016 Castilla y León
This young man is going to go places in the near future (hopefully with us!). He is easily our best rider on the flat, and even if GC victories may be asking a bit much of him at this point, he will undoubtedly go well in the young riders classification. Not an out-and-out sprinter but he has a quick turn of speed and will be our first choice in sprint finishes.
Second-Tier Riders
Francisco Manuel Antón
Previous Team(s): 2010-11 - Burgos 2016 Castilla y León
A decent sprinter who is our designated lead-out man Lluis Mas, who he has been a team-mate of for the past two years. Still young and has plenty of time to develop into a top rider if he applies himself.
Nicolas Capdepuy
Previous Team(s): None
Our other Frenchman, Nic’s main strength is his strong ability as a fighter. Interesting to see how he develops over the next two years, but not one of our top riders right now.
Efren Carazo
Previous Team(s): None
A strong all-rounder, Efren is definitely one to look out for long into the future. His climbing ability will see him as a solid support rider for Belda or Branaa, with the possibility of doing more as the season progresses.
A mainstay of the Burgos structure in the last few years, he may find his role being taken over by others such as Carazo but is nevertheless a valuable member of the squad who given the right circumstances could have a big impact.
Oscar Santamaria
Previous Team(s): None
Only 18 years old, and a project rider for us over the next three years. Another who will be given time and opportunity to prove what we see as plenty of good potential. If we enter any cobbled races he will be given freedom to work for himself and hopefully get some results.
Pablo Torres
Previous Team(s): None
One of our best riders on the flat, Torres will be expected to provide support for Mas primarily, with the option of sending him out solo to try his luck on some flat stages due to his stronger stamina.
Thrid-Tier Riders
Jóni Brandão
Previous Team(s): None
The sole Portuguese rider at Burgos, Jóni is a skillful rider who could surprise some people with some strong performances in the next two years. His riding in prologues is among the best in the team, as is his talent as a fighter.
The only native rider from the Castile and Leon region, Ruben will be the third man in the sprint train for the moment, but could see his role evolve further in the next three years.
Carlos Verona
Previous Team(s): 2011 - Burgos 2016 Castilla y León
A solid rider who will likely be used as a versatile utility for the top riders in the year ahead. Still just 19 years of age and his main objective is to continue to further his development.
Overall a young squad who seem to be quite versatile as well. Here’s hoping we can pull off a few upsets over the bigger, more-fancied teams this year.
Thanks for the support guys, much appreciated
______________________________________________________________________
The new year has begun and already it’s down to business. First on the agenda was to meet with the team’s two main sponsors, Burgos and Castilla y León to discuss the team, and what they wanted out of us for the year ahead. They each set us a few goal races for the season, but more on that later.
They both had basically the same opinion of the team’s squad; there was no individual rider who was popular enough to represent the team (with David Belda being the most well-known) and that having only one local rider in Jimenez was nowhere near enough.
Next up was to meet with race organisers to ask for invitations to appear in races throughout the year. Although it wasn’t necessary to ask for every race just yet, it would definitely help for our planning of the rider’s schedules. Fortunately, we got invites to most of the races our sponsors had in mind, along with the two other races mentioned as important by our sponsors (Vuelta a Burgos and Vuelta a Castilla y León).
Our first race will be the Vuelta a Mallorca in the start of February, which will be a great chance to get some race days in before our first major goal in the Tour of South Africa. Until then we’ve set out some basic training plans and will hopefully be fully prepared by the time it comes around.
I got a phone call today from the RFEC regarding the national team. I thought it was all sorted out last year when I informed them of my new job at Burgos! Or so I thought.
It turns out they still want me to be part of the selection team despite my involvement with a tour team. Apparently our riders aren’t good enough for it to be considered a conflict of interest! We’ll show them I thought, but they were probably right. For now.
~Carlos
______________________________________________________________________
Summary of January 2012
Thanks, it will be tough but I hope it will be rewarding in the long term. 1st stage will be up tomorrow, the write-up is taking awhile.
________________________________________________________________________
Race Preview Vuelta a Mallorca
The big names announced for this year’s race have been the following
• Thomas De Gendt (VCD)
• Maxim Iglinskiy and Enrico Gasparotto (AST)
• Fabian Cancellara and Haimar Zubeldia (RNT)
• Joaquim Rodriguez (KAT)
• Bradley Wiggins (SKY)
Full startlist:
Spoiler
As for Burgos BH, all our three leaders (Branaa, Belda and Mas) will be appearing to get some race days in before their main objectives begin. Expect us to try our luck in breakaways, with even our strongest riders being clearly outclassed by some of cycling’s biggest stars. If that fails, Belda and Branaa could surprise in the hills with Lluis Mas being our best hope in the first two days. We don’t expect much, but would love to finish in the top 10 in a stage and have a rider in the top 20 GC.
Here they are at the starting line.
The race referee waves the flag to start the race!
There are plenty of early attempts at a breakaway, but the front of the peloton is not letting them get away. Kristoff (KAT) takes the opening sprint. Breakaway just after the sprint line and this time it works;
D. Kostyuk (LAM)
N. Sijmens (COF)
D. Van Winden (RAB)
F.J. Moreno (AND)
Lars Bak (LTB) attempts to break too, but the peleton are quick to react to that and he is stopped. A sudden abandonment from J.F. Aramendia (CJR). Farnese Vini and Euskaltel are keen to set the pace while Wiggins (SKY) is at the front, making sure nobody gets away from him, alongside his team-mate Puccio.
Just past halfway, most of the big teams have two riders near the front now.
Horrach (KAT) has fallen, but bravely gets back on his bike to see out the stage.
Now is when we start to get more active in the race. Anton and Mas are moved toward the front of the peloton by Orengo and Verona to prepare for a closing sprint as the breakaway is fast losing ground. With 19kms left, Branaa attempts an attack.
Unfortunately for him, they’re prepared and he won’t get away. Our sprint train is now set up; Orengo-Verona-Belda-Anton-Mas. Verona is unable to keep up though. With the breakaway caught 10kms from the finish, Sijmens (COF) decides to give it one last shot.
At 5kms to go, he is caught. Chaos at the back of the pack, several riders fall including Roe (BMC), Parrinello (AND), Klier (GRS) and Porto (CMP).
Belda leads the duo of Anton and Mas right to the front, we might be a chance!
But they can’t quite stay up with the best of them, as Roelandts (LTB) leads out the sprint. Boasson Hagen (SKY) charges past with 100m to go and takes the 1st stage!
Florencio (KAT) continues his outstanding form of late coming in 3rd.
Not a great day for us, but only to be expected really with such a strong field. Belda showed some impressive speed late, so hopefully he’ll be in some good form soon.
I actually had the whole thing as one table before, just seperated it into two now. Couldn't figure out a way to colour the whole line my riders are in either unfortunately.
OZrocker wrote:
I actually had the whole thing as one table before, just seperated it into two now. Couldn't figure out a way to colour the whole line my riders are in either unfortunately.
I'm afraid you'd have to do that for each part of the line, which is rather annoying.
Plenty of riders are keen to get in a breakaway right from the start. Burghardt (BMC) and Cardoso (CJR) are the first to get a 20 second break, with Ubeto (AND), Urtasun (EUS) and our own Oscar Santamaria are among the dozens trying to follow.
The two are soon caught as more riders try to attack. In the flurry of movement, Gene (EUC) breaks free temporarily Buffaz (COF) joins him, but they too are stopped. Finally a break that works! Marycz (STB) and Maaskant (GRS) are out in front here, with Santamaria (BUR) and Van Emden (RAB) trying to keep up.
Soon it is only Maaskant and Van Emden left, joined by Bertagnolli (LAM) and Orbe (ORB). Bak (LTB) manages to bridge the gap by the first sprint.
Canola (COG) is the only other rider to try anything and is slowly catching the main breakaway. With only a third of the race remaining, Canola finally joins the lead groups who now have put a 4’39” gap between themselves and the peleton, led by Sky, Farnese Vini and Katusha riders.
Back in the peleton his team-mate Lombardi (COG) falls, but miraculously everyone else avoids him on the slippery roads.
As expected, the two weakest riders in Orbe and Canola crack on the second 4th category climb as the breakaway try desperately to remain in front.
With 19kms left, Branaa gives it a shot again for us! Slightly more successful this time, but not enough as the front of the peleton take off to set up for the sprint. We were caught out by the sudden change of pace and could only watch on as Boasson Hagen (SKY) takes out his second stage of the tour.
His team’s hard work at the front has paid off big time as he extends his overall lead to 28 seconds thanks to the bonus points!
Break off the line comes from Rolland (EUC) and Pietropolli (LAM), two riders with a good chance of holding off the peloton. More including Martin (GRS), Ten Dam (RAB) and Gasparotto (AST) are trying to get out the front too, which causes a split in the peloton! Branaa has been left behind alongside his team-mates Brandão and Antón.
A second split sees only Mas, Verona and Orengo (riding as a free element) in the front group, with Santamaria, Belda and the fast-moving Branaa within the main peloton. The leaders at the moment are:
Rolland (EUC)
Pietropolli (LAM)
Sella (AND)
then Garcia (COF).
He is followed by
Ten Dam (RAB)
Roldán (ACG)
Gasparotto (AST)
Just before the first sprint the front 7 come together, and Lluis Mas tries to bridge the 20-30 second gap to take some points. Not to be, but he easily
catches the front-runners as they slow down to join back with the 54-man leading group.
As the others drop back, Pietropolli keeps the attacks coming and this time Jerome (EUC) offers a counter-attack, followed by riders including Martin (GRS) and Posthuma (RNT) amongst others. Orengo tries but can’t keep up with their pace.
The three riders in front of the race now are
Martin
Pietropolli
Pozzato (FAR)
Halfway up the second climb the Branaa-Belda group have rejoined the pack, soon followed by the rest of the field. The race is wide open again with anyone a chance to win.
At the top of the moutain Moncoutie (COF) attacks, with Bertagnolli (LAM) and Orengo (BUR) trying to counter.
Coming up to the halfway sprint, there is a group of 6 in front, the first three joined by Moncoutie, Bertagnolli and Grivko (AST)
+2’54” to Orengo,
+another 2’38” to the peloton
+4’00 at least to Piechele (COG) and Porto (PRT), who is clearly struggling with an injury sustained in the first stage. Neither will rejoin the race and
sadly will be disqualified from competing in the final day of the tour.
Rogers and Puccio are leading the chase for Team Sky and Boasson Hagen.
Orengo sits up as the pace increases from behind and he voluntarily drops his 2 minute advantage on the peloton.
The 3rd climb is upon us, with plenty of riders now being dropped for a second time. Brandão and Antón stay back in the 2nd pack, with Mas dropping back to join them. Not going well for our other domestiques either, with Santamaria and Orengo unable to follow the pace.
After all his hard work, Verona is only just able to hang on at the back and won't be any more use to our leaders, but his protection of Branaa means we still have a chance to do something in this stage.
The second last categorized climb of the day, Verona barely keeps in touch with the back of the peloton. While Orengo protects Mas at the back, Branaa now steps in to protect Belda as well as he can.
With the peloton consistently gaining on the breakway, Moncoutie goes alone on the downhill section. Monfort (RNT), de Clercq (LTB) and Navarro (STB) break from the pack with intentions of catching the breakaway first themselves.
Sky still have 5 men on the front for Boasson Hagen...
...until the final categorised climb of the day, where Movistar help them out a bit at the front. The three-man chase group catch the leaders which causes a split.
Over the top it's Navarro and Monfort in the lead.
Branaa has finally had enough, and falls back in the peloton leaving Belda to fend for himself.
With 20.8kms left, Monfort (RNT), Navarro (STB) and de Clercq (LTB) lead.
+25" to Moncoutie (COF)
+10" Grivko (AST)
+50" Bertagnolli (LAM), Pozzato (FAR)
+50" to the remaining peloton
With 14kms left the final climb begins, with all but the three leaders now reeled in. They have 1'25" on the remaining riders, but will that be enough?
Kreuziger (AST), Horner (RNT) and Moreno (KAT) all charge out in front, leading the peloton to split in 2 for the final time. Belda is left in back half,
today will not be his day despite an incredible effort to stay with some of the best in the world.
25 men remain to sprint for the line. Kreuziger leads the sprint out with Boasson Hagen (SKY), Florencio (KAT) and Scarponi (LAM) among the favourites. And the winner is...
Moreno! A Katusha double as Florencio takes second.
A good showing from our boys today, Belda showing incredible strength to outdo Moncoutie and Hivert in the final stages after having to go it alone near the end. Verona's resilience was also impressive in the second half of the race to stay just off the back right to the end after being one of the last from our team to be dropped.
Unfortunately, Branaa is not able to keep up after doing the hard work early. Battaglin also falls back into the peloton, who are putting a bit of effort in to stop them with Feillu (+3'12) and Pires (+3'54) still a chance to win overall if they stay out in front. Zubeldia, Pires and Bookwalter join the breakaway after the 2nd climb of the day.
With 118.3 kms left, they increase the gap out to 2 minutes with Sky easing off on the pace.
Movistar, Saxobank and Astana are all prepared to help out with the chase. The gap finally settles at around 5'15.
Just over 80kms left now, and Radioshack send 4 men to the front of the pack despite having Zubeldia in the breakaway, perhaps he is just sitting there for a late charge from either of his well placed team-mates in Monfort or Horner. They are joined by Astana who also have 3 men rotating through the front, most likely for Kreuziger's chances.
Back out in the breakaway, Sella (AND) takes the next mountain sprint easily with a short attack, but it's not enough to knock Moncoutié (COF) off the top of the mountain rankings and he will take the honours in that category.
While we were trying to set up Mas for an intermediate sprint, it soon becomes obvious that the breakaway will stay out front until the final two non-categorised climbs. Branaa keeps near the front alongside Belda, who is protected by Verona once again.
At the first sprint mark the breakaway are being mown down very quickly, with most of Astana giving it everything alongside a few Radioshack riders, with Zubeldia continuing to offer nothing to the breakaway out front although they are almost certain to be caught and soon.
After the conclusion of the last sprint only 34.5kms remain. The breakaway have just a 2'22 lead over the peloton, with many riders falling off the back. For Burgos only Belda, Mas, Branaa and Verona remain. This doesn't last long as in the next few kms all but Branaa are dropped with some sudden and persistent attacking from Moncoutié (COF) and Ulissi (LAM) among others. However, this is great news for those who can keep up with the gap between them and the leaders now shrinking to nothing almost immediately.
with Belda and Branaa both struggling to hold on, we turn our attention also to the front of the race with Scarponi (LAM) jumping out of the saddle to catch the breakaway himself.
Drama unfolding behind him with a puncture to Kreuziger (AST) mid-climb! After all of team Astana's work it may be in vain as most of his team drops back to help him back to the front.
With the front group only having a 45 second advantage on Scarponi and not much more on the peloton, Zubeldia finally makes his move and attacks. Also aggressive are Costa (MOV) and Duarte (COL) who bridge the gap to Scarponi who can only watch as the breakaway shatters just in front of him.
Wiggins (SKY) continues to set an incredible pace that sees anyone not up to the task fading away very quickly. Jérôme (EUC), Zubeldia (RNT) and Navardauskas (GRS) try to go alone as the breakaway is swallowed up, but the Wiggins group is going way too fast for them to last long.
Off the back of their efforts Rubiano (AND) and Horner (RNT) now attack. Meanwhile Kreuziger only has Grivko (AST) left to make up time on the leaders for him.
He will not make it back despite a valiant and moderately successful team effort.
Only 18kms left now and only 18 riders are left chasing Horner and Rubiano. Florencio (KAT), Costa (MOV), Sanchez (RAB), Madrazo (MOV) and de Clercq (LTB) among the conteneders to fall back and now out of contention.
At the 11km mark, Scarponi's earlier attacks have come back to haunt him as he is the final rider dropped from the group.
A bunch sprint now looks certain as Rubiano and Horner are caught 6km short of the finish.
One final attack comes from Navarro (STB) and Egoi Martinez (EUS) but they never stood a chance to break free with Boasson Hagen (SKY) taking the front position to make sure he isn't vulnerable to late attacks.
The sprint begins with almost 3kms left, Horner leading it off but Boasson Hagen quickly takes back the advantage. Monfort (RNT) races up to him, but it's no use as Boasson Hagen holds firm to win!
He takes the GC, Points and Youth Classifications in a dominant effort.
Not a great tour for us by any means, but it served it's purpose as a good warm-up and a chance to see how we compared to other teams.
At this point I'd like to pause for a moment and ask for your feedback. If you have any opinions on what you'd like to see included (or not included) in this story, please don't have any hesitation to leave a comment. The one thing that I will probably be changing is that I will turn down graphics settings because at the moment it's causing the game to run very slowly which in turn means I can't get through the game as quickly as I'd like to. Everything else (inclusion of screenshots, race previews, backstory, presentation and writing styles, formatting etc.) is really up to what you would like to read.
PS: Thanks for the support so far, I hope that the story will continue to grow over time.
(OGE)
(RNT)
(RAB)
(SKY)
(STB)
(BMC)
(MOV)
(SKT)
(RCS)
(OPT)
(ALM)
and Enrico Gasparotto 
and Haimar Zubeldia 
