"We've held this press conference today to draw the curtain on cycling's newest top level competitors. My name's Richard Cordt, and as the new directeur sportif of the squad, I'd like to present to you Cycling Team LOOK - Campagnolo. This is the glowing result of months of work: scouting riders, dealing with sponsors, arranging transfers, building a staff that's capable of supporting our team on the way to our goals. I can't talk about the specifics yet, but I assure you all, they're lofty enough.
"Our vision, here at team LOOK... our directive, if you will, was to put together a young team of cycling's brightest, young French talents. Perhaps to return the yellow jersey of Le Tour to a Frenchman in the years to come. Our focus will be on stage racing, this much is certain. We haven't the experience, nor the desire, to challenge the throne on the cobbles yet, perhaps in the future when bigger budgets and bigger success are in order. We know that we aim to cause a stir, as these colors always have.
"With this in mind, we went headhunting. Our scouts have found several young riders without a professional team in their past. We've also managed to steal away some brilliant young talents from other teams. We only hope we can help them achieve their own lofty goals as they help us toward ours.
"I can't name every name just yet, but I have a couple they tell me I'm allowed to reveal. For the lead sprinter for our first squad, we managed to steal away Nacer Bouhanni from FDJ - BigMat! Leading out his sprint train will be the Italian Sacha Modolo, a violently fast sprinter in his own right, and Frenchman Tony Gallopin, a powerful all-rounder, from Colnago - CSF Inox and RadioShack Nissan, respectively. Likewise, from AG2R La Mondiale, we've come away with Christophe Riblon, adding a bit of experience with his age to our first team's support riders. With him, we also caught the interest of young Romain Bardet, who will head up the domestiques of the second team.
"We are still waiting for our team bikes, and may not have them for a season yet, but our kit is in, and it looks as good as it ever did with La Vie Claire. This morning I got some photos in from a training last week in the Pyrenees, I believe."
"Our title sponsor is LOOK cycles, of course, with a modern take on the old La Vie Claire jersey for our new look. We struck deals with Campagnolo, Fizik, and Assos for secondary sponsors, with Campy taking a place in our team's name as well.
"Our competition begins at the Professional Continental level, according to the UCI's judgement of the overall level of our squad. However, we believe they will, over the next five years, be competing at the highest level, and in our three year plan, we expect to see a promotion to the UCI World Tour and a run at the GC in at least Le Tour de France, if not all three Grand Tours.
"For now, this is all, but I'm excited to tell you that in the coming days, I will be with you again with our full lineup, the squad divisions, and a preliminary schedule. Thank you, and I'll open the floor to questions now."
Figured I'd give this a shot, as I recently started playing this game, and reading this forum. Happy to hear any constructive criticism on the story, the team, or the jersey, as well!
Career Information:
Database - Slightly edited PCMdaily DB
Difficulty - Hard
Development of attributes - 0.5
Random potential - Off
"It's time for the release we've been waiting for. With our rider lineup finalized, let's start with the reveal of our first squad! These eight riders (along with support from the strongest in our second squad when a team of nine is required for entry) are our weapons with which we will fight our way to the top of the UCI World Tour over the coming years. Their largest goal this year, specifically, is to make a run for the green, white, and polka-dot jerseys and at least one stage win at Le Tour de France. We believe they have more than what it takes to accomplish these goals."
First Team:
Spoiler
FRA - Thibaut Pinot - Climber
Our big surprise, and obvious leader of the first squad, Thibaut is an absolute monster in the mountains, a very competent time trialist, and an easy decision to lead this squad to glory. We hope to see him competing for the GC in the grand tours within the next five years. This 22 year old mountain goat is the sharp end of our stick, and we intend to give him all the support he needs to prove it.
FRA - Nacer Bouhanni - Sprinter
Our fastest sprinter, 22 year old Nacer Bouhanni is tail end of what is destined to become one of the most powerful sprint trains in cycling this year and many to come. He's violently fast, and we expect him to steal away plenty of points and podium places from the likes of Cav and Greipel.
FRA - Bryan Cocquard - Sprinter
Bryan Cocquard is our second most powerful sprinter, and Bouhanni's direct leadout man on the first squad. At 20 years old, and only a fraction less quick than his man Bouhanni, we expect the two of them to battle over the top sprinter spot here for some time, and with some hard work, a few good 1-2 finishes this year would not be surprising.
FRA - Tony Gallopin - All Around
Tony Gallopin is good at everything, and we love him for it here. He's strong in the hills, he's a solid time-trialist, and he's plenty fast enough to make him a clear choice for third man forward in the sprint train ahead of Cocquard and Bouhanni.
FRA - Christophe Riblon - Domestique
Riblon brings with him years of experience to Pinot's side as the leading rider of his four domestiques. As a particularly strong time-trialist, we hope to see him contesting the ITT World Championships this year, as Christophe's age in comparison to the rest of the team seems to be doing little to slow him down.
FRA - Romain Bardet - Domestique
What's to say about young Romain Bardet? We caught his interest while in talks with Riblon, and he came asking after us. For such a strong young rider, and a Frenchman at that, we had to have him on our squad, and we anticipate a very healthy career for Romain at LOOK - Campagnolo.
FRA - Alexandre Geniez - Domestique
Alex Geniez was another obvious choice for us. Strong in the mountains, his support of Pinot will be crucial to our GC attempts, and if we have it our way, we'll see this young man wearing polka dots this year next to Thibaut's yellow.
JAP - Shinichi Abe - Domestique
For our only non-French rider in our primary squad, he could be nothing less than a huge talent, and Japanese Shinichi Abe is a huge talent, if he's anything at all. Greatness is in this young man's future, this much is certain, but for his lack of experience, a few seasons will see him working in support of Thibaut Pinot until he's ready to strike off for his own glory.
Second Team:
Spoiler
SWI - Marcel Wyss - Climber
Our second team being more international, we felt it was fitting enough for their leader to be Marcel Wyss. Hailing from Switzerland, he's a strong talent, and perfectly suited to his season's goal of tackling the Tour of California.
ITA - Sacha Modolo - Sprinter
The Italian, Modolo, is a fast young sprinter, and perfect to follow the train for our second team. We expect lots of points in his future.
ITA - Enrico Battaglin - All Around
Enrico Battaglin is a powerful all-rounder, strong on the flat, in the hills and the mountains, and he can even throw out a believable sprint if called upon. We can see no better man to lead Marcel's supporting cast than Enrico.
ITA - Daniele Ratto - All Around
The young Italian Ratto is a prized acquisition from Liquigas-Cannondale. He can sprint, ride the hills, and is an incredibly powerful weapon. We'll have him as first or second man in his countryman Modolo's train almost certainly.
FRA - Justin Jules - Sprinter
Another sprinter, Jules will be Modolo's direct lead man, and is a strong sprinter himself. We knew we needed a strong French presence, even on our backup team, and Jules seemed like a perfect choice.
FRA - Yannick Martinez - Sprinter
Martinez is yet a third strong sprinter on our second team. He's strong enough in the hills to be fresh at the end of a hilly stage, and will be taking the wheel right behind Daniele Ratto in our sprint train.
BLR - Sadig Zhidkov - Domestique
Sadig Zhidkov is our youngest rider, and likely to be one of our strongest in the future. We expect great things from him in the years to come, and he'll be learning under the captain of our second squad, Marcel Wyss.
USA - Lawson Craddock - Time Trialist
Another wildly promising young talent, the American, Craddock, is going to be one of the great time trialists there has ever been, one day. Mark our words.
Thanks guys! Tough to find time to do all the writing that comes with all the playing I want to do, but the story is my motivation here, and this team is bound to have a great one. I updated the roster post as well.
SQUAD GOALS AND SCHEDULE
The team have released their schedule at last. I think it won't surprise many, upon seeing our roster, but we do admit there are some respectable targets set. Our goal was to plan a season in which our two core squads rode together for most of their season. We believe it builds bonds amongst the sportsmen in each team, and is a vital part to our team structure. That said, as you may understand it has been quite a process finding two series of races that eight individuals were all interested in performing their finest in! However, we have managed, and we believe the schedule reflects our ambitions, and those of our riders,
February:
Tour Mediteraneen - 2.1 - Second Team
Tour of Oman - 2.HC - First Team
Tour du Haut Var - 2.1 - Second Team
Vuelta a la Region de Murcia - 1.1 - First Team
March:
Strade Bianchi - 1.1 - Second Team
Roma Maxima - 1.1 - Second Team
Paris-Troyes - 1.2 - Second Team
Paris-Nice - UWT - First Team
Cholet - Pays De Loire - 1.1 - First Team
Criterium International - 2.HC - First Team
Tour de Normandie - 2.2 - Second Team
April:
Circuit Sarthe - Pays de la Loire - 2.1 - First Team
GP de Denain Porte du Hainaut - 1.1 - Second Team
Giro del Trentino - 2.HC - First Team
Tour de Bretagne - 2.2 - Second Team
May:
5 Jours de Dunkerque - 2.HC - First Team
Amgen Tour of California - 2.HC - Second Team
Glava Tour of Norway - 2.1 - First Team
June:
Criterium du Dauphine - UWT - First Team
GP de canton d'Argovie - 1.1 - Second Team
ProRace Berlin - 1.1 - Second Team
Route du Sud - 2.1 - First Team
Boucles de la Mayenne - 2.2 - Second Team
Schweizer Meisterschaft - NC
Championnat de France - NC
Campionato di Italia - NC
July:
Tour de France - UWT - First Team
Tour of Qinghai Lake - 2.HC - Second Team
Tour Alsace - 2.2 - Second Team
August:
Tour des Pyrenees - 2.2 - Second Team
Tour de l'Ain - 2.1 - First Team
USA Pro Cycling Challenge - 2.HC - First Team
World Ports Classic - 2.1 - Second Team
September:
Settimana Ciclistica Lombarda by Bergamasca - 2.1 - First Team
GP Ouest France - Plouay - UWT - Second Team
GP de Fourmies - 1.HC - Second Team
Tour of Britain - 2.1 - First Team
October:
Milano - Torino - 1.HC - First Team
Giro del Piemonte - 1.HC - Second Team
Il Lombardia - UWT - First Team
Tour de Vendee - 1.HC - Second Team
Giro dell'Emilia - 1.HC - First Team
Paris - Tours - 1.HC - Second Team
Chrono des Nations - 1.1 - As Needed
Japan Cup - 1.HC - As Needed
GOAL RACES
"I'd also like to now explain to you my goals for both of our squads, as the DS of LOOK - Campagnolo. This is a strong team, and while our application to compete in the World Tour from the beginning was rejected, it does not change our intention. We will be competing at the highest level this season, come hell or high water. We will work hard, we will ride clean, and we will see our riders making waves amongst the professional peloton."
Paris-Nice - 1st in Climber Ranking
Paris-Nice - 1st in Points Ranking
Criterium International - Top 5
Criterium du Dauphine - Top 3
Top 10 in Swiss, French, Italian road and ITT championships
Tour de France - Stage Wins
Tour de France - 1st in Climber Ranking
Tour de France - 1st in Points Ranking
Tour de l'Ain - Top 3
Chrono des Nations - Top 5
"Now, we realize these goals are lofty, and that we may well not meet some of these expectations, but we have a squad that is capable, and a team that can bring us there with the appropriate dedication. We will be overjoyed to see 60-70% of these goals met."
So far, my plan is to provide results for non objective races, and a full story for those on the sponsor objectives. Is that pretty par for the course?
Also, if anybody likes, I can make the jersey available for download, though it isn't quite perfect yet, there's some problems I can't quite fix.
GL with this, and what you report and not report depends on you, it's all about quality and the storyline.
baseballlover312, 06-03-14 : "Nuke Moscow...Don't worry Russia, we've got plenty of love to go around your cities"
Sarah Palin, 08-03-14 (CPAC, on Russian aggression) : "The only thing that stops a bad guy with a nuke is a good guy with a nuke"
Big thanks to jdog for making this AMAZING userbar!
"What rides for Thibaut and Marcel, no? We couldn't have dreamed of a better start to our season. We beat everyone we believed we were stronger than, and most importantly, in regards to Nibali's victory over Pinot in Oman, we made it known that we are not far off of the heels of the best. Thanks to all of those following us, fans of the riders, and new fans of our new team, and we look forward to bringing you similar results in March during Paris-Nice and the Criterium International."
Thibaut pinot is the best placed rider in the continental rankings, and well deserved, too! As well as sitting at the top spot in Continental, he sits at number 7 in the CQ rankings.
The team itself is in the number one spot in the Continental rankings as well, and 12th on the CQ ranking table!
We know it's early in the season, but it's difficult not to be happy about news like this after our first month in competition. We'll see you soon for race reports from Paris-Nice. Thank you all.
Today was a day of damage control for our best time-trialists, and relaxation for those who weren't competing on the day.
A hard rain covered most of the day's race, and apart from Pinot, Riblon and Gallopin, who were our favorites on the day, the rest of our riders took it easy and allowed themselves to lose a lot of time, making our men Romain Bardet, Shinichi Abe, and Alexandre Geniez more useful in the breaks during the stages to come.
As expected, Tony Martin completely blew the field away with 3'42" as his time, leaving Bradley Wiggins only two seconds behind, and the rest of the riders much further back.
Our riders with interest in competing on the day, Riblon, Pinot, and Gallopin only managed to place 93rd, 74th, and 56th respectively all within 23 seconds of Martin. The others took it easy, considering the weather and the race days to come.
On good news for the day, Enrico Battaglin let our second team to the 3rd spot on the podium at the Roma Maxima! Brilliant result for Enrico on his home turf after only managing a difficult 17th at the Strade Bianchi just a day before.
What a race! Shinichi Abe went out for an all day breakaway with three other riders, and picked up the 4 mountain points on offer for the stage. He didn't contest either of the intermediate sprints, due to being a much weaker rider on the flat than the other three in his break.
Of course, this being a flat stage, we ordered him back to set up a sprint finish for our men Coquard and Bouhanni. Well, you know how they say a picture is worth a thousand words? We have a few for you. Even in the rain, Bouhanni and Coquard took the one-two finish dominantly, and we couldn't be more proud of them.
I know! The kid's an absolute monster at all of 22 years old. Looks remarkably like Cav up and over the bars.
Bad weather and big struggles saw Coquard take a 5th place with Bouhanni behind him on Stage 3, though. Stage 4 was ugly as well, Pinot tried a break at 15km that failed, and Bouhanni managed 13th in the end. Powerful in the hills, that one.
Stage 3: Vimory - Cerilly, 200.4km
Spoiler
Stage 4: Chatel-Guyon - Brioude, 170.9km
Spoiler
Abe maintained his polka dots the whole time, riding in an early break on stage 4, collecting both category 3 climbs in first place, and catching third on the cat 2 while he was down on energy.
EDIT: With the mountains coming up, Pinot is still in the running for the GC at 21 seconds back, and Gallopin stands even higher at 18 seconds from the leader, Martin.
Edited by hellarar on 10-10-2013 02:06
