This Spanish classic is classified flat, but could be decided on the early hills. If it isn’t however, expect the sprinters to dominate the run in. If this happens the main riders should include Farrar (Garmin), Ventoso (Movistar) and maybe Kiwi Greg Henderson (Lotto). Our best bet for a good result is through Barry Markus.
70kms to go
We are nearly halfway to the finish, yet Movistar haven’t let any of the attackers get away and form a break. Strange behavior from the Spanish team, maybe they want the bunch sprint to be assured for their man Ventoso.
45kms to go
We are over the last climbing of the day and the sprinters are still in the peloton. Movistar still have control of the bunch, but a group of seven has got away. The group contains big names like Moser (Cannondale) and Kwiatkowski (OPQS), but the seven still only has 48”.
14kms to go
The race is all back together and set for a bunch sprint. Blanco and Katusha have taken over the responsibility on the front of the race, probably with Renshaw and Haller in mind. Markus is sitting sfely in the wheels for us.
4500m to go
Dumoulin has attacked off the front for AG2R, but it looks like he won’t get far. There are no proper sprint trains, but Visioco and Millar are pulling on the front for their sprinters. Markus is in in the first five positions, waiting for a move.
2200m to go
Tjallingii put in a big effort when Dumoulin got caught, and has pulled out a 10” gap. The Blanco man could pull of a surprise win here! Behind the sprint is still getting sorted but if the main men wait too long it could prove to be too late.
600m to go
Tjallingii still has a big gap and the sprinters have waited too long to start their big efforts. The Dutchman will win this for his team. Behind, Ventoso is leading the race for2nd, while Markus is in about sixth wheel
Finish
Tjallingii wins it for Blanco, and beats the sprinters today. A great effort from him. Ventoso is still leading the bunch behind and must be the favourite for 2nd place. Cantwell is coming fast from behind though. Markus is lacking top speed and is in about 9th.
Finish
Cantwell overtook the Spaniard for 2nd in the end. Ventoso rounds out the podium in 3rd, while Haller and Bille took the final top 5 placings. Markus eventually finishes 12th, which is kind of disappointing. He’ll have better days.
1
Maarten Tjallingii
Blanco Pro Cycling Team
3h59'23
2
Jonathan Cantwell
Team Saxo - Tinkoff
s.t.
3
Francisco José Ventoso
Movistar Team
s.t.
4
Marco Haller
Katusha Team
s.t.
5
Gaetan Bille
Lotto Belisol
s.t.
6
Koldo Fernández
Garmin - Sharp
s.t.
7
Tyler Farrar
Garmin - Sharp
s.t.
8
Francesco Lasca
Caja Rural
s.t.
9
Michael Mørkøv
Team Saxo - Tinkoff
s.t.
10
Guillaume Van Keirsbulck
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling Team
s.t.
Tour of South Africa Stage 7
The final stage of the race is a flat circuit around Paarl. Stauff looks to be the in-form sprinter along with Brambilla who will hope to replicate his stage-winning form. Our objective is to keep race leader Tiernan-Locke safe and assist R.Janse Van Rensburg to a good finish.
Finish
Dutch youngster Groenwengen finishes off a great race for De Rijke by winning a close sprint. Averin takes a surprising 2nd for Atlas, while Ciolek also gets a podium place. R.Janse Van Rensburg finishes 4th which he should be happy with. He also takes away 3rd overall and the points jersey.
Tiernan-Locke crosses the line safely within the peloton, and wins the race. Van Zandbeek also gets a good result with his 2nd overall. A great Tour of South Africa for us, which we are really happy with. It feels good winning our home race.
1
Dylan Groenewegen
Cyclingteam De Rijke - Shanks
2h24'06
2
Maksym Averin
Atlas Personal - Jakroo
s.t.
3
Gerald Ciolek
MTN - Qhubeka
s.t.
4
Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg
Standard Bank - Aegon
s.t.
5
Giorgio Brambilla
Atlas Personal - Jakroo
s.t.
6
Yoeri Havik
Cyclingteam De Rijke - Shanks
s.t.
7
Charles Bradley Huff
Jelly Belly p/b Kenda
s.t.
8
Filippo Baggio
Ceramica Flaminia - Fondriest
s.t.
9
Andreas Stauff
MTN - Qhubeka
s.t.
10
Johnnie Walker
Drapac Cycling
s.t.
1
Jonathan Tiernan-Locke
Standard Bank - Aegon
25h40'24
2
Ronan Van Zandbeek
Cyclingteam De Rijke - Shanks
+ 26
3
Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg
Standard Bank - Aegon
+ 1'21
4
Giorgio Brambilla
Atlas Personal - Jakroo
s.t.
5
Filippo Baggio
Ceramica Flaminia - Fondriest
+ 1'29
6
Gerald Ciolek
MTN - Qhubeka
s.t.
7
Maksym Averin
Atlas Personal - Jakroo
+ 1'37
8
Meron Russom
MTN - Qhubeka
+ 1'47
9
Darren Lapthorne
Drapac Cycling
+ 1'49
10
Yoeri Havik
Cyclingteam De Rijke - Shanks
s.t.
1
Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg
Standard Bank - Aegon
98
2
Jonathan Tiernan-Locke
Standard Bank - Aegon
90
3
Giorgio Brambilla
Atlas Personal - Jakroo
89
4
Andreas Stauff
MTN - Qhubeka
74
5
Filippo Baggio
Ceramica Flaminia - Fondriest
69
1
Rens Te Stroet
Cyclingteam Jo Piels
38
2
Tarik Chaoufi
Standard Bank - Aegon
32
3
Stefan Schäfer
Team NSP - Ghost
28
4
Alex Hagman
Jelly Belly p/b Kenda
26
5
Adrien Chenaux
Atlas Personal - Jakroo
22
1
Ronan Van Zandbeek
Cyclingteam De Rijke - Shanks
25h40'50
2
Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg
Standard Bank - Aegon
+ 55
3
Giorgio Brambilla
Atlas Personal - Jakroo
s.t.
1
Cyclingteam De Rijke - Shanks
77h05'42
2
MTN - Qhubeka
+ 57
3
Ceramica Flaminia - Fondriest
+ 8'04
That concludes February, a review will be up soon.
Edited by FroomeDog99 on 22-03-2013 17:19
Lastras leads the rankings after winning the Vuelta a Mallorca and the Tour Oman this month. Roy is also doing well after his San Luis and Mediteraneean victories. Our best rider is Tiernan-Locke who is in 36th place, on 139pts.
Team:
Movistar head the rankings thanks to Lastras. OPQS in second, and should move up to top soon due to the cobbled classics. We are sitting in 15th, as the best Pro Continental team. Expect that to drop though due to the lack of race days in March.
Continental Rankings:
Individual:
Tiernan-Locke is leading the rankings for us after his dominant win of the Tour of South Africa. Turgot is behind him, after winning stages in the Tour Mediteraneean and also performing well in the Omloop. We also have Janse Van Rensburg and Elissonde in 8th and 12th.
Team:
Much like the individual rankings, we lead Europcar in the rankings. We expect to fall back this month however. De Rijke are the best placed continental team after a strong showing in South Africa.
Rider of the Month
Jonathan Tiernan-Locke
Jonathan winning stage 6 of the ToSA, en route to overall victory
For the second month in a row Jonathan wins the award for the rider of the month. He had to be the winner after winning our first ever stage race, the Tour of South Africa which was also our home race. His 3 stage wins also were very impressive. He will now have a break until his second goal of the season, Liege-Bastogne-Liege.
We bring a rather weak lineup here, giving some of our bigger name a rest. There are many strong climbers attending, but we are gambling on a larger group reaching the line together, so Chaoufi can sprint to a good finish.
The rest of our riders are here in support, especially Hoffman if there is a larger sprint, or Edmonson if more people get dropped. We don't expect much but we'll see what we can do.
Expect the report tomorrow Edited by FroomeDog99 on 23-03-2013 19:11
This race could go one of either ways. Either the big-name climbers attacking away and deciding the race between each other, or a big group sprinting for the win. Due to the profile, climbers like Contador (Saxo Bank), Froome (Sky) and Moreno (Katusha) must be the favourites. Tarik Chaoufi, who is leading us here, is a decent sprinter so will be hoping for the second scenario.
100kms to go
The day’s break is formed after a while of Movistar pulling back attackers. It contains five men, including our own Marc Goos. He is the strongest rider going uphill in the group, so if the quintet stays away he should be the rider to watch. The gap is at 4’30” as we go past the 100kms to go mark.
50kms to go
Katusha, Euskatel and Movistar all are chasing down the break, whose gap is dropping. Goos is having to do the majority of the work because the rest of the group is very weak in terms of power. The gap is currently still a respectable 3’35” though.
20kms to go
The front group has slowly been brought back to a minute away from the bunch, meaning Goos and Co will probably be caught. Behind, we are over the day’s major climb, but on the descent minor favourite Quintana has attempted to get away. Still, the currently only have 25”.
10kms to go
In pursuit of the break, Movistar split the peloton on the last climb of the day. The break and Quintana has been caught into the group of 23, but Verdugo has attacked and has pulled out a small lead. Sadly for us, Chaoufi has not made the split, nor any of our riders. The group is mostly made up of the elite climbers.
Finish
Verdugo eventually gets caught and the leading group sprints out the win. Trofimov proves to be the strongest for Katusha. Navardauskas gets a surprise 2nd place for Garmin while Ventoso rounds out the podium for Movistar. The group of 33 behind has started its sprint.
Finish
Chaoufi does well in the coming in 3rd within the second group on the road to finish, and 27th on the day. A shame, but the climbs were just too hard for him. On another day he could have done a lot better.
1
Yury Trofimov
Katusha Team
4h54'30
2
Ramunas Navardauskas
Garmin - Sharp
+ 10
3
Francisco José Ventoso
Movistar Team
s.t.
4
Mikel Landa
Euskaltel - Euskadi
s.t.
5
Nairo Quintana
Movistar Team
s.t.
6
Alexandr Kolobnev
Katusha Team
s.t.
7
David Millar
Garmin - Sharp
s.t.
8
Eros Capecchi
Movistar Team
s.t.
9
Michel Kreder
Garmin - Sharp
s.t.
10
Ángel Vicioso
Katusha Team
s.t.
Comments
Tarik wanted a sprint which didn't happen in the end. He was really our only chance of a high finish after we brought a weak squad in depth, so it was all or nothing. Next time hopefully we will do better, when luck is on our side.
Edited by FroomeDog99 on 23-03-2013 21:16
Also, I got a problem with my save. I know I can edit my money, but there could be a solution. Every month, I am only getting about 10% of my sponsor money. Has any one had this before/found a solution?
FroomeDog99 wrote:
Also, I got a problem with my save. I know I can edit my money, but there could be a solution. Every month, I am only getting about 10% of my sponsor money. Has any one had this before/found a solution?
Thanks, any help appreciated
This still applies, if anyone has a solution that would be great
Markus (Standard Bank), Steegmans (OPQS), Keukleire (GreenEdge)
*
Matthews (Blanco), Chavanel (Europcar), Van Dijk (Accent)
Lineup:
Barry Markus Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg Nolan Hoffman Tarik Chaoufi Dennis Van Niekerk Marc Goos Adrien Niyonshuti
DS's comments:
This could be a very interesting race for us. Pan-flat, it is one for the sprinters, hence why we have brought a full sprinting lineup. Barry leads us in his home country, and his target is a top 3. He is one of the biggest sprinters here and the home crowd should spur him on.
We also bring Reinardt, who will assist Barry in the final sprint for the line, or even have a go himself. Tarik and Nolan can both sprint as well though, so a sprint train could be on. Dennis and Marc are here to pull a train/catch the break while Adrien is only here to carry water.
It's a bug with the game. Since PCM 10 that I can't, even with awesome result's, to avoid to have to edit the save because I alway's get negative money. Fyi, good luck in Ronde van Drenthe.
That solution. Isn't it that the budget you think you would get is yearly, and monthly, you only get 1/12 of that?
Or is it that your staff is too expensive? Well, both is probably too easy.
Miguel98 wrote:
It's a bug with the game. Since PCM 10 that I can't, even with awesome result's, to avoid to have to edit the save because I alway's get negative money. Fyi, good luck in Ronde van Drenthe.
Thanks. I don't have it in any other saves, just this one. In the 'finances' section it says my sponsor paid me €6,666, when it should be €80,000. I'll just have to edit it every month I guess.
Edit: Jesleyh that'll be it. I edited how much my sponsor gave me a year, to what I wanted it to be a month. Stupid me Edited by FroomeDog99 on 24-03-2013 08:50
This Dutch classic in rainy Holland looks all set up for the sprinters to take a win, so expect the sprinter’s teams to be working hard on the front to make sure of that. The favourites include Renshaw (Blanco), Napolitano (Accent) and Henderson (Lotto). We are hoping to do something with home favourite Barry Markus.
160kms to go
The break is let go straight away, and given 4’25” relatively quickly. The foursome contains no big riders; the names are Bewley (GreenEdge), Dakteris (Differdange), Boeve (De Rijke) and Novikov (Vacansoleil). Behind we are on the front of the peloton with Blanco, but neither of us is pushing a high pace.
10kms to go
The four man group got up to seven minutes but it was never going to last. Europcar have pulled them back so it will be a bunch sprint. Behind, it is chaos with many sprinters trying to find the right wheel, like Markus.
4500m to go
Europcar and Accent have both set up trains, putting Napolitano and Coquard in pole position. Markus gambled on the Italian’s wheel and it paid off, he is on the back of the sprint train and should benefit well.
900m to go
The sprinters are starting to come out of their leadout’s slipstream, with Napolitano and Coquard still looking the favourites. Markus is waiting for his time to strike.
Finish
But none of those three end up being the winner. Blanco man Renshaw speeds past and celebrates, but the judges say that he doesn’t win. Haedo takes it, and is the winner of the 2013 Ronde Van Drenthe. Renshaw is actually 2nd. Napolitano faded in the end to take 3rd, while Disappointingly for us Markus is 8th after the other sprinters surprised him.
1
Lucas Sebastián Haedo
Cannondale Pro Cycling
4h29'27
2
Mark Renshaw
Blanco Pro Cycling Team
s.t.
3
Danilo Napolitano
Accent Jobs - Wanty
s.t.
4
Bryan Coquard
Team Europcar
s.t.
5
Gaetan Bille
Lotto Belisol
s.t.
6
Gert Steegmans
Omega Pharma - Quick·Step Cycling
s.t.
7
Jens Keukeleire
Orica - GreenEdge
s.t.
8
Barry Markus
Standard Bank - Aegon
s.t.
9
Greg Henderson
Lotto Belisol
s.t.
10
Baden Cooke
Orica - GreenEdge
s.t.
Comments
We came here with high hopes and left very soggy. It was looking good for Barry until about 500m to go, where the pack flew past him and he couldn't respond. Still, 8th isn't the end of the world. We'll have better days.
Wildcards
Some better news is that we have recieved wildcards for Liege-Bastogne-Liege and our first ever Grand Tour, the Giro d'Italia!
In Belgium Tiernan-Locke will lead us, and we are hoping for a surprise top 20. In the Giro our only goal is to show our young talents the highest level of racing. We are sure looking forward to both.
Miguel98 wrote:
Don't know why, but everytime Markus in my carrer, the Novo Nordisk one, if I put in the wheel of another train, he will empty to the sprint.
That does seem to be the case for me, maybe because of his secondary stats?
Ian & Sutty: Thanks, and the Giro should be very exciting .
Lots of updates today, got alot of free time. The report for CLA should be up later, but should be the final report for a few days.
Classic Loire Atlantique Preview
Favourites:
***
Bagdonas (AG2R), Poulhies (Cofidis), Markus (Standard Bank)
**
Stauff (MTN), Amorison (Crelan), Keough (UHC)
*
Serebryakov (Euskatel), Downing (Nettap), Janse Van Rensburg (Standard Bank)
Lineup:
Barry Markus Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg Nolan Hoffman Tarik Chaoufi Dennis Van Niekerk Marc Goos Adrien Niyonshuti
DS's comments:
Our second flat classic in a row, and we bring the same lineup as the Ronde Van Drenthe. The only thing that has changed is the opposition. Alot less threats here than in the Netherlands, so Barry should be able to do better than his 8th.
Reinardt also has a chance here because of the slightly hilly terrain. The rest of our squad will soley be focusing on assisting both Reinardt and Barry, in the hope we can achieve something here.
Clasica Almeria
Maarten Tjallingii
Jonathan Cantwell
Marco Haller
Gaetan Bille
Tyler Farrar
Francesco Lasca
Michael Mørkøv
Tour of South Africa Stage 7
Maksym Averin
Gerald Ciolek
Meron Russom
Tarik Chaoufi
Adrien Chenaux
Etoile de Besseges
Tour of Qatar
Tour of Oman
Volta ao Algarve
Quintana
RadioShack - Leopard
Martin (Garmin), 
Kolobnev (Katusha)
Szmyd (Movistar), 
Tsagbu Grmay
Adrien Niyonshuti
Ramunas Navardauskas
Nairo Quintana
Henderson (Lotto), 
Lucas Sebastián Haedo
