Although Antonio is starting to look like an arrogant bastard towards his team and the press right about now.. Curious to see if intellect comes with age.
Well maybe that's a bit harsh, but he is definitely very egoistic on the bike. But then again, with a rider of those capabilities, can you blame him for trying to get the maximum out of it?
rogvi97 wrote:
Double rainbow He doesn't seem to be good at both cycling and caring about other at the same time
Haha well at least he does one thing really well
sutty68 wrote:
Antonio is simply the Best (as said by Tina Turner)
Although Antonio is starting to look like an arrogant bastard towards his team and the press right about now.. Curious to see if intellect comes with age.
Well maybe that's a bit harsh, but he is definitely very egoistic on the bike. But then again, with a rider of those capabilities, can you blame him for trying to get the maximum out of it?
Hahaha bit harsh maybe yeah, can't blame him for being absolutely superior haha
Interesting developments, Ando is a monster already but a bit of a dick apparently Edited by jandal7 on 20-07-2017 08:08
24/02/21 - kandesbunzler said “I don't drink famous people."
15/08/22 - SotD said "Your [jandal's] humour is overrated"
11/06/24 - knockout said "Winning is fine I guess. Truth be told this felt completely unimportant." [PT] Xero Racing
Thanks for all the wonderful comments. Indeed, while Ando's strength is skyrocketing, his ego is also inflating.
That's the angle played right now
However, with many other things going on right now (including UCL) and a bit of a motivation struggle at the moment, I'm taking a bit of a break here. Ando doesn't strike me as the most patient man but he'll have to wait for a while
3.1 The World Champion & Media
Andolini's break with the press didn't happen overnight. It was the little things, which over time accumulated, that soured his relationship with most journalists. One such instance was Paris - Tours of 2018, Andolini's final race of that season. Earlier in Lombardia he had managed to finish 6th, so with a decent enough result in Paris - Tours, Antonio would finish the year on top of the CQ and the UCI Ranking.
In a rather dull race, the winner would be decided in a 20-man group sprint. Antonio showed his strength for the last time that season and won his second consecutive Paris - Tours. His season had been an immense success and it seemed like the cycling world had officially entered the 'Age of Andolini'. He would dominate cycling for years to come, that much was certain.
All the more reason the press was astonished when Andolini refused to talk and disappeared rather quickly. Two days later, some vague apologies came, along with a believable excuse, but the damage was done.
All through the off-season of 2018, little things like that popped up. By the time Andolini finally raced again, in his opening race in 2019, he had a lot of the media against him.
Winning Paris - Tours 2018
Whether this was the reason for his slow start of the 2019 season, we're not entirely sure. Andolini has always denied this, but you can't help wondering that it messed with his head a little bit. The fact is that Andolini was not up to his usual level at the start of 2019.
The opening races in Italy proved to be a disappointment, with a 5th place in Trofeo Laiguaglia, which he had won the previous two years. Strade Bianchi saw him in the leading group, but without any strenght in the final kilometer, also finishing 5th. These results are not bad per se, but the world had seen a different Antonio Andolini. His form was not what it should be, and that gave hope to many riders for the upcoming Tirreno - Adriatico and Milan - San Remo!
As the media sought all different reasons for Andolini's lack of form, he stayed away from journalists and even isolated himself in the team a bit. Team leaders said he was very focused and had a different schedule, attempting to explain what was going on.
Il Ghiottone had to wait until the final stage of Tirreno - Adriatico to bag his first win of the season, a time trial. Landing just outside the top 15 in the General Classification was a correct measure of his current form. He was okay, but nobody was impressed with this Andolini.
Milan - San Remo was the first big goal of the season, and it finally started to look like Andolini had built up well. On the Poggio, he was setting a very high pace, one only Peter Sagan and Alexis Gougeard could follow. A three-man sprint followed. Andolini was in a decent position to win his 3rd Milan - San Remo at the age of 26. He started the sprint from far out and held out his hand for the win, but Peter Sagan was experienced in these types of sprints and beat the World Champion on the line. No third for Antonio.
Asked about his performance, Antonio was short.
The fastest man won. I tried my best. I'm trying to peak a bit later this season and be in form for Liège.
The avid reader might remark that Andolini had said something about his schedule a year earlier after Liège. It appeared that he had put together a schedule, peaking for the Ardennes. After this slow season start, he had finally put his cards on the table for everyone to see. Andolini was eyeing his next Monument. Punchers beware!
Seems like Ando, whilst still in "regular" world class form, is peaking hard or bluffing a bit. Can't wait for spring!
24/02/21 - kandesbunzler said “I don't drink famous people."
15/08/22 - SotD said "Your [jandal's] humour is overrated"
11/06/24 - knockout said "Winning is fine I guess. Truth be told this felt completely unimportant." [PT] Xero Racing
So for almost a year now I've not really played any computer games, so also no Pro cycling Manager.
Lately I've been writing a lot again and I remembered the stories I wrote here and I went back to re-read some stuff when I came across this one. I felt it would be great if it could still be finished.
So don't expect regular updates, but whenever I have some time to spare, I'll try to keep this going forward.
For example: I'm leaving on vacation tonight for a few weeks, so the next update will already be at least 2 weeks. (or tonight if I can still manage one) But I hope I can do an update every once in a while and slowly but steadily bring Andolini's story to a close. And since it's only getting started, it could take quite a while
Awesome Great to have you and your talents back in any form
24/02/21 - kandesbunzler said “I don't drink famous people."
15/08/22 - SotD said "Your [jandal's] humour is overrated"
11/06/24 - knockout said "Winning is fine I guess. Truth be told this felt completely unimportant." [PT] Xero Racing
3.2 A Blue Spring
It was becoming obvious that Andolini's change of schedule wasn't going according to plan at all. Only one victory so far was far below expectations of this amazing talent. 26 years old, Andolini was expected to come into his top years of cycling. He would, eventually, but he'd have to endure some tough moments along the way.
Winning Wevelgem and finishing 3rd in his first Ronde the previous season had given the cobbled specialists plenty of worry going into the cobbled races this year. Andolini skipped E3 and went into Gent - Wevelgem with the full support of his team.
A crash early in the race ruined his chances. Team mate and friend Fontana managed to finish 3rd, but Andolini himself wasn't even in the top 100.
Next came De Ronde, where the World Champion was keen to at least equal his last result. He wasn't the favorite for the win, but people wouldn't be surprised if he pulled it out of his hat anyway.
During the race, Antonio was practically invisible. Finishing in 20th position was neither dramatic nor very good. It was a mediocre performance, the umpteeth one of the season 2019.
Ready for his first Paris - Roubaix, Andolini was in doubt. When he finished 2 minutes down on Peter Sagan (who completed a Ronde - Roubaix double), he was clearly disappointed. A 10th position in his first Paris - Roubaix was not what he had expected.
And so his planning was slowly turning into a major disastor. Antonio Andolini, the World Champion, the biggest talent of his generation and arguably one of cycling's greatest, was having a very mediocre year, just as he was expected to take the throne for years to come.
The upcoming Ardennes campaign would be very decisive of how people would rate the World Champion's season. If he didn't at least won one big classic, his spring (and by extension, his entire season) would be ruined.
There was a lot of pressure on Antonio's shoulders...
He doesn't seem to be good at both cycling and caring about other at the same time
