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Kelly Benefit Systems "Building An Empire"
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| smartman213 |
Posted on 08-05-2009 10:04
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Under 23
Posts: 50
Joined: 28-04-2007
PCM$: 200.00
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5 December 2008-
Today as I finished packing to go home for Christmas break from college I received the best phone call of my life. It was Jonas Carney of Kelly Benefit Strategies Professional Cycling team. Back in August I had sent an email asking if there were any internship possibilities available for the coming summer, but had given up hope after not hearing back for so long. He told me that I could join the team in the 2009 season as an assistant Director Sportif. I jumped on the opportunity and immediately decided to take the next semester off of school to get my foot into the cycling management door.
31 December 2008-
Met with Jonas and Kenneth Mills, the General Manager/Director Sportif, for the first time today. They both are really great guys who seem very willing to share advise with me. Tomorrow is the first team meeting as I hear we will be heading to the Vuelta al Tachira next week. I am looking forward to meeting the team.
1 January 2009-
HAPPY NEW YEAR! I know it is for me! The team meeting went very well, and the guys all seem to get along really well. Before the meeting Kenneth asked me if I had any problems with traveling out of the country, because he wanted me to go along with Jonas to the Vuelta al Tachira so I could get my feet wet before the season started picking up. Of course I didn't mind, I was living my dream.
2 January 2009-
I just got off of the phone with Jonas, he wanted to go over the teams goals with me for the season. The biggest goal for the season was to win the Tour of Missouri, as it is rumored that either Levi or Lance may be participating this could be a very difficult win. As of now my only planned trip out of the country is for the Vuelta al Tachira, but I am hoping I can convince the boss otherwise. Andy Bajadali and Alex Candelario are going to lead the team this year, but there seems to be high hopes for both David Veilleux and Shane Kline. Being the same age as some of the guys is a little weird but at the same time I think it will make it much easier to relate to them. I just hope I can learn something from the older guys like our team leaders.
3 January 2009-
Good news from the back office. We have signed contracts with Motorola, Pepsi, and Amgen as co-sponsor's for the season. Kenneth also told me that the management would like to incorporate several international riders to the team at the end of the season with hopes of increasing the teams prestige. Flight leaves tomorrow for the race.
5 January 2009-
The plane ride went by really fast. I sat with David Veilleux, first Canadian I've ever known that hates hockey. He says that even though it's early in the season he thinks the long 12 day race ahead should help him get a jump start. He wants to help Andy as best he can this week but is hoping he can make it into a break on one of the mountain stages. He is really hoping to make the team for the Tour of California this year. The rest of the guys that came with us were: Andrew Bajadali who is riding for the overall, Alex Cardelario who is our sprinter, Jacob Erker who is Andy's go to man in the mountains, Shane Kline who is getting the chance to see what he can do in the breaks, Zach Bell who wants to do well in the TT, Dan Bowman, and Reid Mumford. Tomorrow is the big day! I'm eating dinner with the team and then hopefully getting some sleep.
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| G_Larsson |
Posted on 08-05-2009 10:30
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Sprinter
Posts: 1779
Joined: 25-03-2007
PCM$: 200.00
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Looking good  Good luck!
Team Manager of Team IKEA-Bianchi
[url=(color=#0000ff] Team Info[/url]
Media Room
You'll Never Walk Alone |
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| smartman213 |
Posted on 08-05-2009 10:57
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Under 23
Posts: 50
Joined: 28-04-2007
PCM$: 200.00
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6 January 2009-
Vuelta al Tachira Stage 1-
Today I lived my dream, I rode in the team car at a professional cycling race. The team seemed almost as excited as I was being down here for the race. Everyone seemed to be feeling pretty good for it being as early in the season as it is.
The race got started off to a slow start but after about 20km a few of the hometown favorites decided to put on a show and attacked. Joining the attack were a few rivals from Colvita, and Team Type 1. At one point the break had over 4 minutes on the peloton but with 26km to go the group was caught.
So the race would be decided by a bunch sprint. This was the result we wanted as Alex had been telling us all day that he felt great. As planned we set up behind the Colvita duo of Haedo and Borrajo. Shane Kline was the leadout man and did a great job of keeping Alex out of trouble until the final 500 meters.
Alex surged past Shane and Riberio of Barbot-Siper but Haedo was too strong on the day and we had to settle for a second place finish. This was still a great result for the first day of the season.
We had Alex on the podium and Shane finished the day in eighth. To celebrate Jonas told us that Kenneth was successful in signing Julio Alberto Perez Cuapio and Luca Solari both for 3 year contracts. This is great news for the team, but I wonder how Bajadali feels about the competition for the leadership role in the mountains as I'm sure Julio will do very well once he finds his legs. Julio being from Mexico and Luca being from Italy should increase our international popularity quite a bit though especially if we manage to race in either country this season.
Also the team signed a deal with Trek and the Livestrong foundation. We are officially riding Livestrong bikes with new Livestrong helmets. It feels good to know that we are promoting such a good cause.
I took a picture of the team car before I headed in for the night. I wonder if I'll be able to drive it someday. I hope so.
Tomorrow there are two intermediate sprints, so we are discussing with David our plan to get him into the break tomorrow. He said he felt very good today so lets hope it carries into tomorrow. |
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| smartman213 |
Posted on 08-05-2009 11:42
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Under 23
Posts: 50
Joined: 28-04-2007
PCM$: 200.00
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7 January 2009-
Vuelta al Tachira Stage 2-
This morning at breakfast we finalized the plans for the day. With Alex in the points jersey we needed to minimize the points available out on the course so we planned on creating a break from the very beginning. We planned on sending David out almost from km 0, if that break didn't work we had Dan Bowman ready to go. Lucky for us the break stuck, but never managed to get more than 5 minutes on the main group. David was feeling great on the day and grabbed second at the first intermediate sprint.
However the wind was very strong on the day and took its toll on our young talent. By the time we got to the second intermediate sprint 30km from the finish, David was feeling pretty tired. He had been leading the 14 man group for most of the day. Not being that strong of a sprinter he missed out on any points at the sprint.
It was only my second stage as a director sportif and we were hit with a very hectic finish. Just 18km from the finish the race turned into a very strong cross wind which tore the peloton apart. Luckily we had some experienced guys who knew to be at the front. However Dan, Shane, and David missed the split and lost some time on the day. Alex was the only rider who managed to remain in the front group of 11 heading into the last 5km, Andy was one group back. Thankfully Alex has plenty of experience and knew how to manage a sprint on his own. Both of the Colvita sprinters missed the group but both the yellow jersey and Sean Kelly sprinter Eeckhout were riding with Alex.
As Eeckhout went for the sprint, Alex was right on his wheel. But for the second day in a row was only able to capture second place. The good news came shortly after he crossed the finish line that due to the time bonuses of the past two days, Alex would be in yellow for the next day. Eeckhout moved into second tied on time with Haedo.
It was a great day of racing that definitely kept me excited. I think the fans are really starting to root for Alex and the team. We had a mob of fans outside the team bus when the riders made it back from the showers.
We officially earned the points jersey on the day one point ahead of Haedo and Eeckhout, hopefully we can continue to build a lead in the points category.
Two days on the job and already a yellow jersey, I think I am really starting to like this job. Alex will have to enjoy his time in yellow now though, because after tomorrows criterium we head into the hills for some serious climbing. I only hope these first couple days have helped Andy gain some form. |
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| smartman213 |
Posted on 08-05-2009 12:13
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Under 23
Posts: 50
Joined: 28-04-2007
PCM$: 200.00
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8 January 2009-
Vuelta al Tachira Stage 3-
Great day today for the team. The hill on the course turned out to be much harder than originally expected. But we used it to our advantage. On the final lap Andy attacked at the base of the climb and managed to hold off the peloton at 24" back as he crossed the line in first, getting us our first victory of the season. However Alex was not so lucky and only managed to finish 7th. He will have another chance for victory the day after tomorrow though before we head into the mountains. Andrew was able to move up into the yellow jersey with his victory today, I guess I was right about him finding his form.
Hopefully tomorrow we will get similar results in the hills. Word has it that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez will be present at the finish line tomorrow. Nothing like meeting a South American dictator. |
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| smartman213 |
Posted on 08-05-2009 12:26
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Under 23
Posts: 50
Joined: 28-04-2007
PCM$: 200.00
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8 January 2009-
2100 Hrs.
Jonas just came in my room to tell me that our team was pulling out of the race. Our sponsors heard that Hugo Chavez was going to present the awards after the race and did not want to receive any bad press for being associated with the Venezualian Dictator. We are flying back to the States in the morning. This is a real shame, I thought that Andy had a real chance at the overall. It has really hit hard on the teams moral. I can only hope that the guys have better luck at the Tour of San Luis in a week, some of the guys will be heading to the Tour of Wellington as well. I will be attending neither of these as Kenneth wants me to meet with the teams scout back in the US instead. I wish I was traveling with the team but I am sure I will learn a lot from our scouts. |
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 23-12-2024 02:18
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| smartman213 |
Posted on 08-05-2009 12:37
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Under 23
Posts: 50
Joined: 28-04-2007
PCM$: 200.00
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18 January 2009-
Sorry I haven't wrote in the past couple days. It has been crazy traveling around the country with our team's scout. This guy is a genius though. I think he knows as much about the sport as any man. I am looking forward to spending the rest of the month with him before I head back to HQ to get ready for the Tour of California. I will try to find time to report in on how the team does in San Luis and Wellington.
A little Pro Tour news, Cadel Evans won the Australian ITT title, and Allan Davis won the Road title. It should be interesting to see how well they represent their country this season. I just feel back for Cadel, I feel that he would have had a chance to win the Tour this year if it wasn't for Astana, but I would have to put Contador and Armstrong above Evans as favorites. |
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| olabj |
Posted on 08-05-2009 16:25
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Protected Rider
Posts: 1105
Joined: 17-09-2008
PCM$: 200.00
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really nice start on this story, hope that it will last |
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| smartman213 |
Posted on 08-05-2009 17:05
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Under 23
Posts: 50
Joined: 28-04-2007
PCM$: 200.00
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24 January 2009-
Great news from Australia. Andy captured the victory on Stage 3 of the Tour of Wellington, now he just needs to hold onto it through the TT a couple days from now. Julio was only able to come out 28th overall in his first race with the team, but finished second on the Tour of San Luis' only mountain stage. Julio will lead a squad in the Tour of Langkawi as the rest of the team commits to a training camp to help prepare for the Tour of California. We are hoping that Bajadali and Solari can pull off at least one stage win. With some luck we may be able to get Veilleux into a winning break.
25 January 2009-
Jonas phoned in with more exciting news from Australia. Candelario managed to capture his first state win of the year yesterday on Stage 4 of the Tour of Wellington. Our squad seems to be pretty dominant over there, while this is exciting for the team, I regret I was unable to ride in the team car.
27 January 2009-
Well we lost the yellow jersey in the TT yesterday, but after today's race Andy managed to hold onto 9th place overall. A top ten GC position this early in the year shows that we are on pace for our seasons goals. The next race for Andy will be the Tour of California which I will be present for. The team should be back in the States by the weekend. I am taking the rest of the week off to try and rest up a bit before the traveling starts once again.
9 February 2009-
The team left for the Tour of Langkawi yesterday, hopefully Julio can pull off something amazing on the Genting Highlands. The training camp is going very well. Andy especially is looking good on the hills, this is good news with the Tour of California starting next week. But it will be extremely difficult to get any wins as Andy Schleck, Kim Kirchen, and Damiano Cunego have all confirmed their participation in the race.
13 February 2009-
Its the day before the Tour of California kicks off, and we are here in Cali getting ready for the race. I am amazed by the media coverage here. I was impressed with the fans down in Venezuela but here it is crazy. Julio Cuapio finished 5th today on the Genting Highlands, but is still in 20th over 2 minutes back. We are disappointed in his performance in the GC this year. We expected him to hold his own but keeps losing time on the flat and slightly hilly stages. In my opinion we are better suited with him as a superdomestique and maybe let him go for the mountain stage wins.
Tomorrow starts the Tour of California! |
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| chrica04 |
Posted on 08-05-2009 22:57
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Breakaway Specialist
Posts: 853
Joined: 23-10-2007
PCM$: 200.00
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Good story! What difficulty are you playing on? |
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| smartman213 |
Posted on 09-05-2009 04:29
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Under 23
Posts: 50
Joined: 28-04-2007
PCM$: 200.00
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Im playing on hard but I simulate all of the races which "I" am not at to avoid influencing results. |
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| Michal4444 |
Posted on 09-05-2009 06:00
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Neo-Pro
Posts: 250
Joined: 27-10-2007
PCM$: 200.00
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looks nice. good luck |
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| smartman213 |
Posted on 10-05-2009 07:30
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Under 23
Posts: 50
Joined: 28-04-2007
PCM$: 200.00
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14 February 2009-
We had the prologue at Stanford University today for the Amgen Tour of California. I love being a part of a race this large. It is truly an honor to be able to help the team. Today however Kenneth had other duties for me. I sat on the team bus and kept Ken and Jonas up to date as result's came across race radio. Fabian Cancellara came away with the win today, but we had a pleasant surprise in Reid Mumford's performance as he came in 4th on the day 18 seconds back. Andrew Bajadali finished 18th right behind youngster David Veilleux who was feeling exceptionally well in the short TT. Tomorrow we hit the road and I will be back in the team car. Looking forward to the sprint, but the word around camp is that Fabian is looking for the overall this year, so I imagine he will put up quite a fight to stay in yellow. |
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