not so much a story but an online log of my progress. not sure how often i'll be able to update with my other commitments but i'll do my best. also not sure how long the game will hold out for, atm i've got no roads (well not real roads anyway). they are either blue, seem to reflect whatevers above them or just aren't there at all leaving the riders going through fields, rivers and whatever else the game decides to throw in. if anyone can help with this problem it'll be greatly appreciated.
Anyway, i dedided to go with milram because i had a nice little career going with them till my game went all wierd and i had to un-install it. as you probably know, they're no the strongest team in the peleton and i'll be relying heavily on Petacchi and Zabel to get most of my wins to keep me in the pro tour.
a bit of basic info:
sponsors goals: win the milan-san remo
win the gent-wevelgem
finish as leading sprinter in the giro and le tour
win the vettenfall cyclassics
win the deutschland ruunfahrt
at least the sponsors recognise our only real strength is sprinting and have listed their goals accordingly.
key riders:
Alessandro Petacchi: on his day unbeatable in a group sprint, only problem is he relies very heavily on a strong leadout train so my tactics will need to be perfect to keep the wins coming in.
Erik Zabel: probably not as strong a sprinter as petacchi but he makes up for it in other areas. not as reliant on a train and so will be a valuble asset in the hillier classics and stage races. obviously not in the mountain though.
Fabio Sacchi: another specialist sprinter though nowhere near as much class as petacchi. will be a good lead out man and leader in some of the minor one dayers and stage races.
Mirko Celestino: not really much to say. it says alot about the strengh of your squad when this guy is your best hope at a gc placing. will be alright in some of the flatter stage races but definately no grand tour contender.
Igor Astarloa: former world champ will be a good asset in the hillier classics. again not really a contendor for gc in any major tours. will be leader if we have any minor races in spain.
January: i'm down to ride both the tour of australia and qutar this month. pettachi's and celestion stated they doesn't want to ride either so they'll get the month off. i'll prob send astarloa to australia along with brett lancaster and a few youngens for experiance. to qutar i'll send zabel, sachi and the milram train to make the most of the dead flat stages and hopefully get some early season wins for confidence.
nothing too exiting. sent teams to the tour down under and the tour of qatar without really expecting too much. just a bit of early season race practise.
Australian Championships: Won by Allan Davis
Brett Davis finished 19th
Tour Down Under: Team: Astarloa (L)
Sacchi (S)
Lancaster (F)
Velo (F)
Ongarato
Scognamiglio
Lorenzetto
Rigotto
sent a pretty young italian squad to australia without to many expectations. the train worked well on a couple of stages and Sacchi managed to get a couple of decent top 10 placings. however he wasn't strong enough to match the australian sprinters. on the penultimate stage i managed to get Astarloa into a successful break which gave him a final gc placing of 5th which i was quite happy with.
Top 5 GC: McEwen - Predictor Lotto
Eeckhout - Chocolade Jacques
Pineau - Bouygues Telecom
Kalesnikov - Unibet.com
ASTARLOA - TEAM MILRAM
Tour of Qutar: Team: Zabel (L,S)
Siedler (S)
Grabsch
Sieberg
Dyudya
Schroder
Muller
Schwager
sent a team of germans to qatar with the hopes of getting my train rolling and maybe getting an early season win to boost moral. however, a combination of a strong field, weak team and Zabel never haveing a daily rating of more than -2 made it impossible. The train worked well on the last stage and Zabel claimed 8th, but with the likes of Boonen, Forster and Flecha, Zabel didn't really stand a chance in his condition.
GC Top 5: Boonen - Quickstep
Clerc - Bouygues Telecom
Pichot - Bouygues Telecom
Lafevre - Bouygues Telecom
Forster - Gerelsteiner
Febuarary Programme.
After a weeks training camp at the start of the month feburary see's Petacchi's first race of the season at the Coppa costa degli Estruschi. will prob send a strong team to try and get that train moving and a first win of the season. Then for some reason my 3 leaders all want to ride the Vuelta ciclista a Andalucia, which is suprising seeing as it's quite lumpy and we won't have much of a chance of getting any wins. but i'll send a stong aquad to prepare for the Paris-Nice and the Tirreno-Adriatico the following month.
other then that, the only other two races i'm down fo is the Giro di Laigueglia which is again quite lumpy withnot much chance of success (will probably send Petacchi and the italian train) and the Volta a regiao do Algarve which is a hillyish tour but might suit the likes of Astarloa or even Zabel.
i'll report back at the end of Febuary.
p.s i hope to add some pictures to the story later on. but i'll only do it for the pro-tour races or the races my sponsors see as a major goal. otherwise it'll take too long and i'll get fed up!
After managing to sort out the problems with my lap-top my stories back with a bang. Main aims for this month are to build up my leaders fitness for the start of the pro-tour in march.
Coppa costa degli Etruschi
A fairly flat 177km gives my team a very good chance of picking up their first win of the season. Its Pettachi's home race and he's keen to get a good result, and i'm keen to give it to him. I send a pretty strong squad but i find that Quickstep have sent their A team. Looks like it could be a sprint between Pettachi and Boonen.
My initial tactic was to get someone into an early break so i wouldn't have to do too much chasing. However Astarloa's early group is quickly chased down so i decide to just sit in the bunch till the sprint. Another group goes away containg 4 riders. They get about 5 mins before Quickstep go to the front signalling their intentions for the race! As the breakaway got reeled in i sent my train to the front.
As we headed into the last 15k the trains of milram and quickstep began to take shape. this was going to be a sprint-out between Pettachi and Boonen. Despite quickstep getting a nice looking train of 4 riders, Boonen decides to latch on to the wheel of Petacchi and the Milram train.
Heading into the last 3k Zabel led out Pettachi perfectly. As the Sprint started Boonen quickly jumped around Pettachi and into the lead. It looked like it was going to be Boonens day. However, Pettachi wasn't finished yet and showed his true class. He was simply able to maintain his speed for much longer then Boonen and clawed his way Back to win by half a bike lentgh
An excellent win for the team and a great early season psychological blow for Boonen. Pettachi was simply the fastest man.
Vuelta ciclista a Andalucia
After the great win in Andalucia the team went into this 5 stage race full of confidence. Again i sent a strong team to give my leaders a bit of race practise before the start of the pro-tour next month.
Stage 1 : a very bumpy stage with an uphill finish. 4 kom sprints so this stage could be crucial to the overall kom standings. I decide to send Ghisalberti into the early break to pick up as many of these points as he can. He wins 3 and comes 2nd in 1 making him leader of the comp. As the group gets cought i set up my train. The finish is slightly steep for Petteachi but he's on good form so i decide to keep face. The sprint however doesn't go well as Petacchi struggles to 18th place. Astarloa however manages 6th in the stage won by Kirchen.
Stage 2 : Another lumpy stage. Ghisalberti's main rival in the kom comp Yon Bru Pascal of Euskaltel gets into the break and i send Celestino into the break to counter his attacks on the hills. He can't stop him from taking the jersy but limits his lead to just 2 points. The finish is again uphill and once again Petacchi struggles into 9th. However Zabel gets 3rd and Astarloa 4th in a stage won by new race leader Rodriguez Oliver. The next two days are perfect for Pettachi and i hope to take advantage.
Stage 3 : A quiet day in the kom. only one sprint and none of the contenders go for it. As expected a break goes away and is cought with about 30k to go. Pettachi is in good form and takes the stage easily, making him the new overall leader of the race on equal time with Kirchen and Rodriguez Oliver. Great result, however we now need to protect the jersey. Atm, i've got 3 riders in the top ten on GC.
Stage 4 : Another perfect stage for Petacchi. The only mountain comp of the day comes after only 10k and i send Ghisalberti off o claim the points and the jersey back. I intended to bring him back into the peleton to help Pettachi but he is joined by 3 other riders so i have him sit at the back of the breakaway contributing nothing. The group is again cought with about 30k to go. Again the train works perfectly but unfortunatly i forgot to give Pettachi his drink before the sprint starts and he decides to take it half-way through:cry: He still holds on for 3rd behind McEwan and Hunter and increases his lead on GC to 8 secs and takes the Points jersey. All 3 going into the last day
Stage 5 : classed as hilly but has long flat sections so will prob end in a sprint. Still have 3 riders in the top 10 on GC so if a break does go i could try to get Astarloa or Zabel into it in the chance it stays away. In the KOM comp Ghisalberti has a six point lead over Bru Pascal who gets into an early break. I try to get Ghisalberti across but it's too late and it's a case of hoping he can't make up the points. He gets nothing from the first sprint and can only manage 3rd in the next. The kom jersey is safe (who would have thought Milram would win a kom comp:lol. The break is cought thanks to some good work from my team at the front. and once again i set up my train. It goes Zabel, Astarloa, Sacchi, Pettachi. Zabel accelerates amazingly, he's cleary in good form and only Pettachi can keep up. At the sprint point Zabel and Pettachi are ahead of the other sprinters and i'm sensing another victory. Only problem is Pettachi has a daily rating of -5, obviously the last 2 days protecting the jersey has taken it out of him. He struggles home in 10th with very little chance of holding onto his jersey. However, Zabel is clearly in great form. He actually sprints so well that he builds a 13 second gap ahead of the peleton!!! He wins easily and with the 20 second win bonus takes over the overall lead. ZABEL WINS!!! What a result. We've won the overall gc, kom and the team comp.
I also sent squads to the Giro di Laigueglia and the Volta a regiao a Algarve but there was nothing to report.
let me know what you think of my story and how i can improve it. Now that we''re into the meat of the season i'll start to report on the races individually instead of monthly cause it's too much to report at once. However i'll only do full reports of the Pro-tour events cause otherwise it'll take too long.
March sees the start of the Pro-Tour with 3 major races. Unfortunatly the Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico overlap meaning i will have to split my team, thus weakening it. However, my A team will be brought back together on the 24th for the Milan-San Remo which is my first major goal of the season. Both Pittachi and Zabel have been in great form so far this season and i hope to get the win.
As i said the Paris-Nice and the Tirreno-Adriatico overlap. Because i like to keep the game as realistic as possible i will only control one of them and leave the other to one of my fellow DS's (in other words sim it). Does anyone have any prefferance as to which one i report in detail. I was thinking i should do the Paris-Nice because Pettachi has the class to win a stage without me.
A pretty dissapointing race for me as it gave a clear indication of the weakness of my team and the struggle i'm going to have in keeping them in the pro-tour. Again my tactic was to get someone into an early break to so i could do as little chasing as possible. Grabsch went into a break of 9 riders but none of them were really prepared to work. A number of the rider attacked to try to get an advantage but they all failed. As the pack increased its speed a group of 25 riders broke away from the peleton but Zabel missed the break. i moved my riders to the front of the peleton to try to bring the group back with the help of t-mobile and discovery. But the group that had got away had some pretty elite riders and they were working well together. it began to become clear that the group wouldn't be cought. with about 25k to go the group was down to 14( Gilbert, Hoste, Pozzato, Boonen, Cancellara, Nuyens, Flecha, Hoj, Guesdon, Gretskens, Petito, Rosseler, Van Impe and Steels) and the chasing peleton was down to 25 (still including Zabel and Sacchi). With about 20 k to go Boonen and Hoste attacked strongly and were never going to be cought. At the end nither had the energy to sprint to the line but Boonen had just enough energy to get his nose in front and take the win from Hoste with Pozzato 3rd. Both Zabel and Sacchi bonked before the end with Zabel finishing 26th at 9.10 and Sacchi 34th at 12.45:cry:
Not a very good day at the office. Learnt a few lessons and i've got the Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne tomorrow to try and put them into practise.
But as i said, it's gonna be a real struggle to keep this team in the Pro-Tour on this performance!!!
The season isn't made just around the classics A few top 10 finishes in like the Deutschland Tour and Eneco (Which Pettachi/Zabel could do well in) Can result in enough ProTour points to stay up above the classicly rubbish Bouygues and UniBet squads
rjc_43: the teams' classification of the ProTour is only made up of the teams classifications of each individual event. Individual results have no direct bearing.
The preceding post is ISSO 9001 certified
"I love him, I think he's great. He's transformed the sport in so many ways. Every person in cycling has benefitted from Lance Armstrong, perhaps not financially but in some sense" - Bradley Wiggins on Lance Armstrong
i know the classics aren't the whole season but my squad is more suited to the classics then it is the major stage races. but as i said, i've learnt a few lessons. that was my first ever classic on this game because it usually crashes by the end on january.
issoisso, so do individual stage wins in tours not count for anything? or do you mean its the team standing within the event that is more important then that of the individual riders?
Individual stages in a tour score 3 points for a win, 2 for 2nd, and 1 for 3rd. Look it up And i meant an overall top 10 in a rubbishy stage race gives you some pro tour points which all helps. And with Milrams rather average stage racers, they should be able to get a few top 10s throughout the year.
A much better day at the races. Another strong field with alot of the same names as the day before, but no Boonen. On one of the first cobbles climbs of the race Van Petegem got a puncture and the whole quickstep team dropped back with him. I tried to take advantage of the situation and with the help of Lotto we crancked up the pace. The quickstep team managed to get back into the peleton but we did succeed in thinning out the peleton to 50 or so riders, with still 7 from Milram. A number of breaks went away leaving the front of the field looking like this.
Peleton: Sacchi, Zabel, Burghardt, Hammond, Schreck, Klier, Hincapie, Gusev, lecha, Von Bon, Leukmans
E4: Van Petegem, Van Impe, Steegmans, Pozzato, Paulini, Gilbert
E3: Guesdon, Lvanov, Barbe
E2: Hoste
E1: Devolder
Devolder was caught and passed by Hoste who seemed in great form. Guesdon, Ivanov and Barbe all ran out of steam and on the final climb Sacchi and Zabel were still in the largest escape group with 10 others. Pozzato, Steegmans and Van Petegem were ahead behaind the lone escapees of Devolder and Hoste. On the final descent of the day the group containing Sacchi and Zabel split with Sacchi in the front half and Zabel in the second half. Sacchi had a rating of +5 and looked in great form as he worked with the group to pull away from the group containing Zabel who just didn't have the strength today. In the end Hoste won easily ahead of Van Petegem and Pozzato who had powered away from the others in the last few k's. Sacchi finished at the back of the group containing the 4th placed rider to claim a creditable 9th, and Zabel won the sprint in the next group to take 10th.
The profile of the stage is flat but there is a medium sized climb right at the end. The course should suit Petacchi if we can keep the pack together over the climb. A group of 14 riders go away and build up a lead of 6.30 mins. There aren't any big names so there's no panic in the peleton. The group gets pulled back easily but when it gets down to a minute a group of 8 jump across to make the lead group 24, including Chavenel and Ignatiev. This new group starts to increase the advantage but they are cought at the bottom of the final climb with about 25 k to go. i move my whole train to the front to try to keep it together but 4 still manage to get away. Ignatiev (again) and Marzoli from Tinkoff, Merckx from T-Mobile and Pellizotti of Liquigas get a gap that rises to 1.30 at the top of the hill. My train is going flat out to bring the escapees back but there isn't enough time. Ignatiev is dropped on the decent after working hard for Marzoli up the hill.
In the final sprint Marzoli pipped Merckz and Pellizotti to take an impressive win. My train leads out Petacchi, who overtakes Ignatiev, to easily take the bunch sprint for 4th and Sacchi maintains his impressive form to get 7th.
Petacchi had a daily rating of +5 so it was a shame we could reel in the escape group otherwisw he would have been garanteed the win.
Not really much to report. I was with Zabel in Belgium during this race so my fellow DS took control. Astarloa, Celestino and Grivko all finished in the top 50 on GC but no-one even managed a top 20 placing. Just some good training for the Paris Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico.
Next in the calender is the Paris-Nice. I hope to have the prologue later today or tomorrow at the latest.
rjc_43 wrote:
Individual stages in a tour score 3 points for a win, 2 for 2nd, and 1 for 3rd. Look it up And i meant an overall top 10 in a rubbishy stage race gives you some pro tour points which all helps. And with Milrams rather average stage racers, they should be able to get a few top 10s throughout the year.
Really? then cyanide has it all wrong.
The continental tour should be like that, but not the ProTour
Edited by issoisso on 20-03-2008 19:21
The preceding post is ISSO 9001 certified
"I love him, I think he's great. He's transformed the sport in so many ways. Every person in cycling has benefitted from Lance Armstrong, perhaps not financially but in some sense" - Bradley Wiggins on Lance Armstrong
Well it's finally here, the first Pro-Tour race of the season. All the big teams are here with strong teams meaning it will be difficult to achieve my goals for the race. My goals are to try to keep Zabel up amongst the placing in the first 3 flat stages, supported by the whole team. Then, in the later, hillier stages i plan to let Celestino and Astarloa loose and see what they can do. Celestino will be my leader in this second phase of the race.
Stage 1
Stage 1 is a 7.5k prologue. I don't really aim to achieve much from this stage because a) i'm rubbish at time-trialling and b) there are lots of quality tt'ers on the start sheet.
Sorry there aren't any pics for this stage. I didn't know there wern't any replays for tt stages
Grivko put in an amazing ride and got a provisional placing of 3rd quite early on. I expected him to be easily toppled but it took to the last round of riders for him to finally be knocked out of the top 3. None of my other riders managed to get into the top 25 but i still lie 6th in the team classification so a pretty satisfactory first stage before the real racing starts tomorrow.
The second stage is dead flat and will definately suite the sprinters. However it might be to flat for Zabel to get an advantage over the likes of McEwen and Forster but i'm still aiming for a podium place.
I try to get a rider into the early break but Rabobank won't let anyone go early on. They seem determined to keep the race together for the race leader Dekker. However a number of riders attack individually and group up down the road to make a lead group of 11. Rabobank don't let the advantage go above 5 mins.
The group is reeled in with about 35k to go and the teams start setting themselves up for the sprint, including Milram.
Zabel is looking good and with a daily rating of +4 looks set to get something from the sprint. My train takes his to the front of the peleton.
However disaster strikes on the last corner of the race. A touch of wheels brings down a number of riders, including Zabel, and down go my chances of taking anything from the stage.
The final sprint is won by O'Grady from McEwen and Forster.
A pretty disapointing day but i've still got the next two stages to get a win for Zabel. The next 2 days will still most likely end in a sprint but are a bit more bumpy so will suit Zabel more then most other sprinters. The GC remained unchanged with Grivko still sitting in 4th.
As you can see, todays stage will still most likely end in a bunch sprint. But its constant rolling and small hill at the end might play into the hands of someone like Zabel, i hope!
Like yesterday i tried to get someone into the early break, and once again that person was Poischke. The break of 7 gets a gap of about 5.30 before Rabobank start to chase them down.
The break is cought with about 45k to go and no one seems willing to go to the front of the bunch. Knowing that this will play into the hands of some of the stronger classic riders in the field i send a few people to the front to hold it together and stop any attacks getting away on the last climb of the day.
Only problem is everyone in my team seems to be havng a bad day and 4 of my riders, including 4th place Grivko, struggle with the pace going over the last climb and get dropped. This leaves just Celestino, Astarloa and Siedler to lead out Zabel, who's daily rating is -2. In the final sprint my train is simply not strong enough and Zabel is completely off the pace. He just abut scrapes into the top 20 in 18th with Celestino holding onto his wheel to take 19th. So much for my plans for Zabel to get me some placings in the first few stages.
Sprint was won by Wegmann, with Pozzato 2nd and Mondory 3rd.
Sorry, but i forgot to jot down the full final standings for the stage. I think from now on i'll take a screenshot. The only change in the GC was that Grivko dropped out of the top ten after geting dropped. My team is so weak once you get passed to first team.
as you can see from the profile, while this race is classed as flat there is a nice hill at the end that could be dangerous to the yellow jersey and my chances of getting Zabel a placing. i still aim to try to lead Zabel out if it stays together but i might try something with Celestino or Astarloa if they are in good form.
As exected a group goes away. They get up to 8 mins before Rabobank move to the front to chase them down with the help of Liquigas, Predicto Lotto and CSC. At the bottom of the final climb Celestino is looking in good form so i decide to send him on the attack.
he quickly reels in the remaining escapees and is first over the KOM sprint at the top.
At the top he has a minute over the peleton but they are chasing him down hard. It's only a matter of time before he's cought.
Once he is cought i send him back to help Zabel come through to try to set something up for the sprint. But on the final little drag up a group of 17 break away from the rest of the peleton. The group cantains alot of big names and it is clear that they are goin to stay away.
On the line O'Grady wins from Pozzato with Sanchez in third. Zabel wins the sprint in the peleton but it's still a dissapointing day.
Here are the final standings and how todays race has affected the GC.
In other news today saw the first stage of the Tirreno-Adriatico. Despite it being a perfect sprinters stage and having a strong train with him, Pettechi only managed to get 21st!!! Think i'm gonna control all Pro-Tour races myself from now on because the computer obviouslt doesn't know what its doing!!!
so you can look forward to full race reprts from the Paris-Nice and the Tirreno-Adriatico after the weekend.
A few top 10 finishes in like the Deutschland Tour and Eneco (Which Pettachi/Zabel could do well in) Can result in enough ProTour points to stay up above the classicly rubbish Bouygues and UniBet squads 
And i meant an overall top 10 in a rubbishy stage race gives you some pro tour points which all helps. And with Milrams rather average stage racers, they should be able to get a few top 10s throughout the year.
