With three new admins, PCM.Daily was bound to undergo certain changes. Some things, however, don't need changing. I will be continuing the Weekly News just like it was when Pellizotti2 was still in charge of it. We wanted to take this final chance to thank him for bringing this back and keeping it alive this long. I'm proud to take up this task and bring you all the silly and less silly news items each weekend!
Test Pro Cycling Manager 2014 yourself
On Tuesday, May 27th, Cyanide gives you the chance of going to their gaming studio in Paris and test the upcoming Pro Cycling Manager game yourself. Read more about it here, and don't miss out on a big chance!
More PCM 14 news releasing on a regular basis
With the release date of Pro Cycling Manager 2014 only about a month away, we have been treated to new screenshots left and right. An official site has opened up, allowing you to discover the new features of PCM 14. We have also been uploading many, new official screenshots of the upcoming game here!
FDB14 V1.5 database released
Just because there's a new game around the corner, doens't mean the PCM 13 section is dead and buried. The Focus Community released an update of their 2014 database, all for your gaming pleasure.
Thread of the Week
In a new initiative, I'll be awarding the most interesting, active or important thread of the week with the ultimate fame: a mention in the Weekly News. This week, that honor is unmistakingly for Giro d'Italia 2014 First Week, where no less than 61 pages were filled with news, results and all whatnot about the Giro d'Italia. An honorary mention goes to the 2014 Tour of California thread. With a new American owner and increased American population on PCM.Daily, the takeover seems almost complete, and American races are followed intensively.
ManGame exotics!
After an extremely close Tour of San Luis, Pedro Nicácio of Bonsucro came out on top of the overall standings, keeping only a 9 second lead on Eduard Alexander Beltran.
Meanwhile, the Tour of Langkawi is coming to an end, too. With only one flat stage to race, Vitor Rodrigues seems the clear winner of this year's edition.
But the biggest race of the week was most definitely Milan - Sanremo. The weather conditions changed midrace, causing some crashes, but inviting others to attack out of the bunch. One man stayed clear: Riccardo Ricco of Festina-Canal+.
The official website has now been launched for Pro Cycling Manager 2014 and Tour de France 2014. It may be the same url, but it now contains plenty of information about next month's releases.
In the PCM section we have details about the new features of the game, although it is perhaps disappointing that the headlines here are 'graphics realism' and 'tutorial mode in career'. Some more detail has been revealed on the previously revealed new additions to the management game mode, such as a more 'aggressive' transfers period, and to gameplay - with the possibility of giving your riders automated actions. From "Tell your leader and his lieutenant to respond to any challenge from close rivals", it seems like Cyanide have implemented features which could allow you to turn the in game mode into a sort of 'Be a Pro' mode!
The most interesting part of the Tour de France 2014 pages is that about the new Pro Team mode. Available in both single player and multiplayer, the Tour de France will be available on repeat where doing well will allow you to sign better riders, and thus let you do even better!
Finally, a large batch of new screenshots have been released for both games. It is the usual scenic selection from different terrain. Paris is featured, with the optimistic French sight of a Europcar rider in the Maillot Jaune, as is London - with Buckingham Palace providing the backdrop to Stage 3 of this year's Tour. You can see the screenshots on the forum for PCM 14 and for TDF 14.
After receiving some great applications, we have made our decision, and can reveal that we have selected three members to become part of the Admin crew here on PCM.daily: Ian Butler, Jesleyh and TheManxMissile. All three have been active members across the whole site, who have been involved in a number of initiatives here already.
Ian Butler has made a name for himself in the Stories part of the forum in particular, including involvement with the 'Writer's Block' magazine, and he will be taking on Pellizotti2's role in charge of our WeeklyNews segment.
Jesleyh - the 'bookies favourite' for the job - is somebody who has already been involved with PCM.daily work as part of our database team for a number of months. His allround PCM knowledge will certainly be beneficial now that he is an admin!
And last but not least, TheManxMissile impressed with an application full of different ideas and suggestions for improving the website, some of which he will now be taking responsibility for. For example, one thing that this site has always lacked in the past is some form of PCM Online Championship!
It was good to see the amount of interest there was in an administrator's role, with the position of writing the WeeklyNews seeming to be highly coveted. It also seems that mresuperstar might need to look in to a bodyguard, as a number of applicants wanted to do the sort of things that he is currently doing! At the end of the day it isn't only the administrators who make this site what it is, and there are plenty of ways to contribute outside of being an admin.
But for now, congratulations and good luck to the three who have been chosen!
The Giro d'Italia is now underway, with 54% of bidders correctly betting on Orica-Greenedge for Stage 1, and 60% successful with Marcel Kittel on Stage 2. As the bets continue for Stage 3, what else is going on in the world of PCM.daily? Well, Cyanide are continuing to announce team licenses for the upcoming game, alongside the Screenshot and console game news from Wednesday, while the Strava group is in awe at Strydz' epic 350km 'Everesting' ride!
Admin Applications remain open
As announced last week, applications are open to become an administrator on the website - but it won't be too long before a decision is made!
April Story of the Month winners
The most recent two winners of the New Story award went head to head this month for the main award. With 36 points to 33, aCross the road has come out victorious over Trek Factory Racing. Shonak's one rider story, which combines both cyclocross and road, is now into the 2015 season, and it his 4th story award of the year! Completing the Top 5 in the main competition were Team Novo Nordisk (24), FDJ.fr (21) and A. Louvelle (18).
This month's New Story winner already has one of the longest active Story threads on the forum, and such is the pace of Modern Times, Old Roads that 3 seasons have already been completed. Ian Butler's story scored 57 points, beating Delfi Cervero on 46 and The Shortcut on 34.
Big's 2005 DB Beta
More known for his stage making skills, biggassi has this week released a Beta version for his 2005 database, featuring many teams, riders and stages from 9 years ago. It is still in beta so it is not finished yet, but it is always good to have more historical databases available!
ManGame Triple Header
The strength in depth of the ProTour teams in the Management Game has been put to the test this week, with three races taking place at the same time: Paris-Nice, Tirreno-Adriatico and Volta Ciclista a Catalunya. PCM13 has delivered some strong racing, and at times some surprising results - including proof that Dan Martin is not entirely out of luck at the moment! The reports for these races can be seen on the forum.
The Giro d'Italia starts tomorrow and thanks to roturn, a number of bets are now available to bid on, from who will win the GC to who will best placed ignoring the standout favourites Quintana and Rodriguez. Bets are available for the Points and KoM jerseys too, as well as 6 head to head GC choices and of course, one for the opening Team Time Trial. Orica-Greenedge are the clear favourites, but take a gamble elsewhere and there could be plenty to gain!
Stay tuned for more bets to follow throughout the race.
