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Post by viciouslothario on Jul 15, 2023 18:00:30 GMT 1
.: 1996 - MAIA-JUMBO CIN - CONTINENTAL :. Opening Post  Oh yes. For those of you who don't know I kinda have a passion for cycling. I tend to simulate a lot within the game and to play a lot myself. My challenge is always the same. Start with a continental team and make my way up to Pro Continental and then to World Tour, the highest stage of cycling. My objective is to win all 3 big tours at least once. Tour De France, Giro d'Italia and La Vuelta. I'm playing on the 1996 DB and will advance to other databases once I manage to complete this challenge. I will also create another thread only for simulation of the big stages using the 1996 startlists, which means, using the riders that competed in those stages in real life and compare the results. For this carrer I've chosen the portuguese team although I don't really like the squad to start with. Maia-Jumbo Cin is my main sponsor but that can change as we advance in the career, we can hire riders, renew contracts, etc. To get to World Tour you need to have a top 20 team index classification by the end of the current year or continental Pro follows the same but i think it's the top 30 or so. Hiring better riders is a must but I would like to keep the portuguese base although it's not really configured in this particular database, that should make the sponsor happy. Sponsors define objectives and we will have a hard time fulfilling those, specially in the first year, where I don't have the riders to pull a great perfomance. I also play on Normal difficulty, because other difficulties don't change the AI but the rider stats and my riders are already so bad that makes no sense to raise the bar, I will raise it once it gets too easy if needed. Keeping sponsors happy is key to success as that defines the budget, and budget defines who you can hire or not hire along with the transfer points and dossiers. There is a lot of depth to it. OVERVIEW From here we can keep track of sponsor budget for next year, only the objectives until August actually matter for that regard which isn't optimal programming but it's how it works but I play for the objectives even after August for realism sake and fun, but I already see some that are quite difficult to achieve, like the most important one that is a stage win at Volta ao Algarve. OBJECTIVES IN DETAIL  I will prepare the riders and the season accordingly and next post will present the squad with more detail if you interested. I will also present quick results and notes about the stages as we go. |
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Post by viciouslothario on Jul 15, 2023 18:00:48 GMT 1
1996 MAIA JUMBO CIN SQUAD Although he is listed as a sprinter, this man right here as 68 in Cobbles and 74 Stamina so it's our best bet for classics with pave. He cam also play a leadout role in some stages. Although he is best known for his work for Lance Armstrong at US Postal he was not a climber as he was young.  One of our best bets for most of the objectives but keeping his fitness high will be difficult. If he can even compete in some stages against the opposition. His salary and contract ending is something I dislike so I might not renew with him at the end of the year, only time will tell.  He has potential, can be a leadout sprinter in most stages and is contracted until 1997 so I will most likely track his development.  Despite his age is our best sprinter but most likely won't renew with him. He will be a strong bet for the following season  Here's one guy I will renew, young has loads of potential and can be a immediate bet for our objectives and stage wins on mass sprint. The rest of the squad From here I see domestiques and potential leadout riders, at the end of year Dias Salgado and Bela dos Santos might go as their contract ends, it all comes down to the points available.
Final observations
Team is heavy sprint base and have a lot of hilly objectives so it's going to be hard to raise the budget this year so I need to adjust and try my best at stages I can win as that can boost sponsor confidence. Not having the sponsor set for Portuguese riders in the squad kinda hurts and I might edit that just that is more realistic and helpful for me. Now it's time to prepare the season, set up individual training schedules and jump into action.
Already removed some races that made no sense in our calendar and changed for some we can actually do something and get some sponsor confidence in return. Saudi Tour and Popularissima are ones to have under our eye. I usually plan 3 months at a time so I don't spend 2\3 hours preparing a full season, but since I'm going to post this diary here, I might as well do it. |
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Post by viciouslothario on Jul 15, 2023 22:47:37 GMT 1
GRAND PRIX CYCLISTE LA MARSELAISSEOur first race of the calendar and first objective of the year. We don't have the riders but we need to score a top 5. Don't ask me how... Will try with Manuel Rodriguez or hold on with Abreu for the final sprint. We're not even among the favorites.  Decided to use Abreu and protect him until the end but the pace got too high in the last 15 km and he couldn't keep up. Arrived in the second group, almost did the top 5. Sponsors won't be happy about it. But competition was way too strong for a sprinter with so many hills. Our equipment is also lacking it seems. | Rank | Name | Team | Time |
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| 1 | Anthony Morin | Force Sud | 3h51'33 | | 2 | Zbigniew Spruch | Panaria | + 9 | | 3 | Philippe Bordenave | Casino | + 30 | | 4 | Arnaud Pretot | Gan | + 42 | | 5 | Martial Locatelli | Casino | s.t. | | 6 | Pascal Lance | Force Sud | + 1'39 | | 7 | Yvon Ledanois | Gan | + 2'26 | | 8 | Manuel Abreu Campos | Maia - Jumbo - Cin | s.t. | | 9 | Rik Van Slycke | RDM New Systems | s.t. | | 10 | Charles Guilbert | Mutuelle de Seine-et-Marne | s.t. | | 11 | Jean Luc Masdupuy | Agrigel - La Creuse | s.t. | | 12 | Pascal Herve | Festina - Lotus | s.t. | | 13 | Wladimir Belli | Panaria | s.t. | | 14 | Valerio Tebaldi | Festina - Lotus | s.t. | | 15 | Fabian Jeker | Festina - Lotus | s.t. | | 16 | Gianni Faresin | Panaria | s.t. | | 17 | Manuel Rodriguez Gil | Maia - Jumbo - Cin | + 2'39 | | 18 | Frederic Gabriel | Mutuelle de Seine-et-Marne | s.t. | | 19 | Jon Odrizola | Gewiss - Playbus | + 3'02 | | 20 | Massimo Strazzer | Brescialet | s.t. |
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Post by viciouslothario on Jul 16, 2023 9:55:51 GMT 1
SAUDI TOUR 1996 Next on the line-up is the Saudi Tour, I expect better results on this race as it is more suited to our strengths. Despite being competing with the likes of Mario Cipollini, Gabriele Colombo and Tristan Hoffman. If I manage to pull off a good train, we have a chance of podium finishes at least. Its still early season so they probably are only stretching their legs. In not so good news my favoured sprinter, Sampaio Campos is not feeling so well so probably will have to bet on Manuel Abreu, need to check their legs on race condition. I will save the most possible energy for the final sprint train. We can see from the profile that we will have a small inclin at the end so we might need to go at 800\700m to go. | Rank | Name | Team | Time |
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| 1 | Mario Cipollini | Saeco | 3h58'24 | | 2 | Manuel Abreu Campos | Maia - Jumbo - Cin | s.t. | | 3 | Joaquim Adrego Andrade | Maia - Jumbo - Cin | s.t. | | 4 | Tristan Hoffman | TVM | s.t. | | 5 | Biagio Conte | Scrigno - Blue Storm | s.t. | | 6 | Joaquim-Alberto Sampaio Campos | Maia - Jumbo - Cin | s.t. | | 7 | Gabriele Colombo | Gewiss - Playbus | s.t. | | 8 | Max Van Heeswijk | Motorola | s.t. | | 9 | Tomas Sedlacek | Husqvarna - ZVVZ | s.t. | | 10 | Jesper Skibby | TVM | s.t. |
The train did well but not well enough in the end. Didn't study the descent well and had too many riders in the train, need to bet either on Manuel Abreu or Sampaio Campos since both blocked each other and Manuel Abreu managed to get further down. Our leadout sprinter did very well too.  Another sprint finish and Sampaio Campos still with headaches. So Abreu Campos might be the bet, hard to decide. Will try with Abreu Campos. | 1 | Mario Cipollini | Saeco | 4h07'12 |
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| 2 | André Schulze | Kelme - Artiach | s.t. | | 3 | Tristan Hoffman | TVM | s.t. | | 4 | Tom Steels | Mapei - GB | s.t. | | 5 | Markus Zberg | Carrera Jeans - Longoni | s.t. | | 6 | Manuel Abreu Campos | Maia - Jumbo - Cin | s.t. | | 7 | Andrei Tchmil | Lotto - Isoglass | s.t. | | 8 | Gabriele Colombo | Gewiss - Playbus | s.t. | | 9 | Biagio Conte | Scrigno - Blue Storm | s.t. | | 10 | Max Van Heeswijk | Motorola | s.t. |
Which wasn't a great choice, the man seemed stuck on the ground as the others flew past him. Don't have many chances against such a strong competition.  Sampaio Campos headaches are over so are mine, I'm going to bet on him, riders are gaining form towards great objectives yet to come but a stage win here at Saudi Tour would be great for their morale. Let's try! One more time. A 5th place for him is not so shabby. The final turn made me lose a lot of momentum, but is getting better every time I do it. Should win this one honestly. I forgot to export the results on this one.  Those two hills worry me, greatly, but will see how it goes still have 2 tries and despite not being a sponsor objective it's a personal objective to win a stage. | 1 | Joaquim-Alberto Sampaio Campos | Maia - Jumbo - Cin | 3h05'47 |
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| 2 | Manuel Abreu Campos | Maia - Jumbo - Cin | s.t. | | 3 | Gabriele Colombo | Gewiss - Playbus | s.t. | | 4 | Joaquim Adrego Andrade | Maia - Jumbo - Cin | s.t. | | 5 | Mario Cipollini | Saeco | s.t. | | 6 | Jesper Skibby | TVM | s.t. | | 7 | Markus Zberg | Carrera Jeans - Longoni | s.t. | | 8 | Mirko Rossato | Scrigno - Blue Storm | s.t. | | 9 | Peter Van Petegem | TVM | s.t. | | 10 | Marco Serpellini | Panaria | s.t. |
The stage had quite some action MOtorola leader fall and some punctures, all adding to my morale during the stage. The perfect train during the climb made me save some energy and set up the train for the final kilometers, a great manager choice led me to the stage win almost in a break. Other sprinters were so behind they didn't had a chance to contest the final dash. Great stuff.  With my final objective of Saudi Tour completed, it's time to try one last train before Tour of Oman and try to get up in the general classification. Sponsor should be happy despite not being an objective set by them. | Rank | Name | Team | Time |
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| 1 | Joaquim-Alberto Sampaio Campos | Maia - Jumbo - Cin | 3h11'24 | | 2 | André Schulze | Kelme - Artiach | s.t. | | 3 | Jesper Skibby | TVM | s.t. | | 4 | Biagio Conte | Scrigno - Blue Storm | s.t. | | 5 | Daniele Contrini | Brescialet | s.t. | | 6 | Tomas Sedlacek | Husqvarna - ZVVZ | s.t. | | 7 | Matteo Tosatto | Gewiss - Playbus | s.t. | | 8 | Tom Steels | Mapei - GB | s.t. | | 9 | Manuel Abreu Campos | Maia - Jumbo - Cin | s.t. | | 10 | Tristan Hoffman | TVM | s.t. |
One of my domestiques suffered from a hard fall which left Sampaio Campos unprotected for the last 50 km's. But that hasn't stopped him from getting the stage as he is soon to reach his fitness peak he snatched another great win in the Saudi Tour and... GENERAL CLASSIFICATION| Rank | Name | Team | Time |
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| 1 | Joaquim-Alberto Sampaio Campos | Maia - Jumbo - Cin | 17h17'30 | | 2 | Mario Cipollini | Saeco | s.t. | | 3 | Tristan Hoffman | TVM | + 2 | | 4 | André Schulze | Kelme - Artiach | + 5 | | 5 | Manuel Abreu Campos | Maia - Jumbo - Cin | + 8 | | 6 | Erwin Thijs | Vlaanderen 2002 - Eddy Merckx | + 9 | | 7 | Biagio Conte | Scrigno - Blue Storm | + 10 | | 8 | Tom Steels | Mapei - GB | + 11 | | 9 | Yoshiuki Abe | Panaria | s.t. | | 10 | Koen Deschuytter | Collstrop - Lystex | + 12 | | 11 | Max Van Heeswijk | Motorola | + 13 | | 12 | Joaquim Adrego Andrade | Maia - Jumbo - Cin | + 15 | | 13 | Tom Stremersch | Vlaanderen 2002 - Eddy Merckx | s.t. | | 14 | Marco Engels | Ipso - Asfra | s.t. | | 15 | Gabriele Colombo | Gewiss - Playbus | + 16 | | 16 | Jesper Skibby | TVM | s.t. | | 17 | Dimitri Konychev | Aki - Gipiemme - Safi | s.t. | | 18 | Geert Van Bondt | Vlaanderen 2002 - Eddy Merckx | + 17 | | 19 | Eddy Mazzoleni | Saeco | s.t. | | 20 | Tom Desmet | Collstrop - Lystex | s.t. |
| Rank | Name | Team | Points | General |
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| 1 | Joaquim-Alberto Sampaio Campos | Maia - Jumbo - Cin | 25 | 73 | | 2 | Tristan Hoffman | TVM | 6 | 72 | | 3 | Mario Cipollini | Saeco | 0 | 68 | | 4 | Biagio Conte | Scrigno - Blue Storm | 14 | 63 | | 5 | Manuel Abreu Campos | Maia - Jumbo - Cin | 7 | 57 | | 6 | André Schulze | Kelme - Artiach | 20 | 54 | | 7 | Tom Steels | Mapei - GB | 8 | 44 | | 8 | Max Van Heeswijk | Motorola | 3 | 41 | | 9 | Gabriele Colombo | Gewiss - Playbus | 5 | 41 | | 10 | Joaquim Adrego Andrade | Maia - Jumbo - Cin | 4 | 36 | | 11 | Jesper Skibby | TVM | 16 | 32 | | 12 | Markus Zberg | Carrera Jeans - Longoni | 0 | 29 | | 13 | Tomas Sedlacek | Husqvarna - ZVVZ | 10 | 27 | | 14 | Daniele Contrini | Brescialet | 12 | 26 | | 15 | Erwin Thijs | Vlaanderen 2002 - Eddy Merckx | 0 | 22 | | 16 | Dimitri Konychev | Aki - Gipiemme - Safi | 0 | 19 | | 17 | Yoshiuki Abe | Panaria | 0 | 18 | | 18 | Koen Deschuytter | Collstrop - Lystex | 0 | 16 | | 19 | Paulo Barroso | Maia - Jumbo - Cin | 0 | 14 |
| Name | Team | Time | General Time |
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| André Schulze | Kelme - Artiach | + 3h11'24 | 17h17'35 (1) | | Max Van Heeswijk | Motorola | s.t. | + 8 (4) | | Koen Deschuytter | Collstrop - Lystex | s.t. | + 7 (3) | | Tom Steels | Mapei - GB | s.t. | + 6 (2) | | Geert Verheyen | Vlaanderen 2002 - Eddy Merckx | s.t. | + 15 (39) | | Alessandro Petacchi | Brescialet | s.t. | + 15 (28) | | Steven De Jongh | TVM | s.t. | + 15 (20) | | Daniele Contrini | Brescialet | s.t. | + 15 (19) | | Matteo Tosatto | Gewiss - Playbus | s.t. | + 15 (16) |
... in turn won the General Classification. WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS! Wasn't expecting that after the bad start but might need to ramp the difficulty up, the fitness helps a lot but the trains aren't being that difficult to pull off. SPONSOR CONFIDENCE SKY ROCKETED AFTER THIS BIG WIN! |
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Post by dinokea on Jul 16, 2023 13:24:39 GMT 1
Always fun to see a new diary on these boards, while I don't know too much about cycling competitions, I'll definitely be following along.
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Post by viciouslothario on Jul 16, 2023 14:18:25 GMT 1
Always fun to see a new diary on these boards, while I don't know too much about cycling competitions, I'll definitely be following along. Cycling is one of my favourite sports and simulation games are my cup of tea. The only problem with cycling was the doping scandals that left a black cloud over the history of it, but I still love it. |
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Post by viciouslothario on Jul 16, 2023 14:20:41 GMT 1
 TOUR OF OMAN 1996
SPONSOR OBJECTIVE We need a stage win which isn't cheap in this difficult race, I picked my team with Abreu Campos for the sprint finishes and Martin Rodriguez Gil to work on those hilly stages and mountain stages. I don't expect a good gc finish, but if I manage this objective I'm setup for a great budget next season. Without further ado let's jump into action.  Tour of Oman is part of the pro series so we have some serious competition going into this race. But Abreu Campos is among the favourites for this stage so I plan to do well with him. Despite of the competition of Leon Van Bon, Ronny Assez and Biaggio Conte. Oddly enough this race seems easier than Saudi Tour. | Rank | Name | Team | Time |
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| 1 | Ronny Assez | Ipso - Asfra | 3h32'00 | | 2 | Joaquim Adrego Andrade | Maia - Jumbo - Cin | s.t. | | 3 | Manuel Abreu Campos | Maia - Jumbo - Cin | s.t. | | 4 | Kelvin Martin | Giant - AIS | s.t. | | 5 | Angel Camargo Ochoa | Selle Italia - Gaseosas | s.t. | | 6 | Biagio Conte | Scrigno - Blue Storm | s.t. | | 7 | Leon Van Bon | Rabobank | s.t. | | 8 | Fedor Pouchkin | Lada Cska - Samara | s.t. | | 9 | Joan Llaneras | O.N.C.E - Look | s.t. | | 10 | Chris Peers | Collstrop - Lystex | s.t. |
Almost almost... Lost by a finger distance, show me the photo finish.. Wait this is 96..  An hilly stage finish, will try to setup Abreu Campos using Rodriguez Gil for the final sprint. Let's see if we manage that, as I expect a very fast pace on the hill and dropping from the front of the peloton, let's see. | Rank | Name | Team | Time |
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| 1 | Maximillian Sciandri | Motorola | 3h28'33 | | 2 | Biagio Conte | Scrigno - Blue Storm | s.t. | | 3 | Joaquim Adrego Andrade | Maia - Jumbo - Cin | s.t. | | 4 | Manuel Rodriguez Gil | Maia - Jumbo - Cin | s.t. | | 5 | Manuel Abreu Campos | Maia - Jumbo - Cin | s.t. | | 6 | Massimo Apollonio | Scrigno - Blue Storm | s.t. | | 7 | Alberto Leanizbarrutia | O.N.C.E - Look | s.t. | | 8 | Tomas Sedlacek | Husqvarna - ZVVZ | s.t. | | 9 | Ronny Assez | Ipso - Asfra | s.t. | | 10 | Chris Peers | Collstrop - Lystex | s.t. |
I regret my decision on this one, as soon as they attacked I upped my sprint train led by Martin Gil Rodriguez to keep up with them but honestly should've attacked, Sciandri got a lead into the descent and despite winning the podium and some precious seconds to everyone with my train, it wasn't the stage win the sponsor wants. Only 4 tries left. Let's see if we can do something with it.  A slight ascent in the end, might be enough to set me back to podium stage. Abreu Campos fitness is up to 97% so race day conditions will be key to define if I go with him or Andrego Andrade that has been outperfoming himself in this Tour. | Rank | Name | Team | Time |
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| 1 | Manuel Abreu Campos | Maia-Jumbo - Cin | 4h 24' 03" | | 2 | Max Van Heeswijk | Motorola | s.t. | | 3 | Biagio Conte | Scrigno - Blue Storm | s.t. | | 4 | Pouchkin Fedor | Lada Scka - Samara | s.t. | | 5 | Ronny Assez | Ipso - Asfra | s.t. | | 6 | Leon Van Bon | Rabobank | s.t. | | 7 | Peers Chris | Collstrop - Lystex | s.t. | | 8 | Joaquim Adrego Andrade | Maia - Jumbo - Cin | s.t. | | 9 | Naessens Peter | Ipso - Asfra | s.t. | | 10 | van Haesebrouck Franky | Ipso - Asfra | s.t. |
It worked out perfectly well. The +4 On Rodriguez Gil and +4 on Abreu Campos worked like a charm as Abreu Campos gets isolated in the stage finish. Rodriguez did a tremendous work. Sponsor objective done!!! Thank god. But i think I need to up the difficulty otherwise I'm going to win to many like this. Competition isn't so fierce as well but still managed to win this one with ease.  Another Stage and this one is for the climbers, Rodriguez Gil is our best and only bet for this terrain. I will employ my dot tactic and see how it goes, maybe I can snatch a stage victory or a good GC result at least. Let's try against Cubino, Shefer and Pico Gonzalez isn't going to be an easy task, but we are among the favourites and have no pressure as our objective is completed already. | Rank | Name | Team | Time |
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| 1 | Santiago Botero | Kelme - Artiach | 3h23'00 | | 2 | Manuel Rodriguez Gil | Maia - Jumbo - Cin | + 9 | | 3 | Aleksandr Shefer | Scrigno - Blue Storm | s.t. | | 4 | Ignacio Garcia Camacho | Kelme - Artiach | + 32 | | 5 | Jose-Jaime Gonzalez Pico | Kelme - Artiach | s.t. | | 6 | Jesus Montoya | Motorola | + 53 | | 7 | Marcel Luppes | Rabobank | s.t. | | 8 | Luis Perez | O.N.C.E - Look | s.t. | | 9 | Marcelino Garcia Alonso | O.N.C.E - Look | s.t. | | 10 | Kevin Livingston | Motorola | + 1'22 |
A top 3 finish, Botero attacked and he was followed by Sheffer, I upped the pace with Rodriguez Gil but maybe it was a bit too late, if the race had another 500 meters I could probably catch up, but this serves as reference for the future. Also a second place on GC is great for the sponsors.  5th stage and honestly the quick simulation button is looking at me. But I will try my best since I hate this terrain, never know if I should try to hold on with a sprinter for the finish of if I should attack with our main climber. But if I do attack is still a long way to the finish line so let's try to hold onto the attacks and try a sprint in the end. I don't have any rider designed for this type of stage so it's going to be hard to pull something off of it. Will try to hold the GC with Rodriguez Gil. | Rank | Name | Team | Time |
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| 1 | Giles Bouvard | Collstrop - Lystex | 3h 36' 14" | | 2 | Peter Naessens | Ipso Asfra | s.t. | | 3 | Rafael Diaz Justo | O.N.C.E - Look | s.t. | | 4 | Bruno Thibout | Motorola | s.t. | | 5 | Santiago Botero | Kelme - Artiach | s.t. | | 6 | Laudelino Cubino | Kelme - Artiach | s.t. | | 7 | Alonso Marcelino Garcia | O.N.C.E - Look | s.t. | | 8 | Gil Manuel Rodriguez | Maia - Jumbo - Cin | s.t. | | 9 | Luis Perez | O.N.C.E - Look | s.t. | | 10 | Aleksandr Sheffer | Scrigno - Blue Storm | s.t. |
In the first climb the peloton is split and I only manage to get Manuel Rodriguez Gil in the front group all by himself he will have a difficult day, I really can't compete in a sprint with him so my best bet is to follow attacks and try to get on a smaller group at the front cause in the sprint I will be way behind. Arrived at the front group, Bouvard launched an attack on the descent and I didn't follow, my bad. Attacking on descents is really bad and I never thought he would hold until the finish, another lesson learned today, follow that attack. On the group sprint finish, I was one of the weakest so only managed a top 10 but held on to the 2nd place in the GC as I didn't lose time to anyone.  Last and final stage with the objective concluded, is all about not losing time and trying another stage win, at least to win the points classification if possible. | Rank | Name | Team | Time |
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| 1 | Santiago Botero | Kelme - Artiach | 3h23'00 | | 2 | Manuel Rodriguez Gil | Maia - Jumbo - Cin | + 9 | | 3 | Aleksandr Shefer | Scrigno - Blue Storm | s.t. | | 4 | Ignacio Garcia Camacho | Kelme - Artiach | + 32 | | 5 | Jose-Jaime Gonzalez Pico | Kelme - Artiach | s.t. | | 6 | Jesus Montoya | Motorola | + 53 | | 7 | Marcel Luppes | Rabobank | s.t. | | 8 | Luis Perez | O.N.C.E - Look | s.t. | | 9 | Marcelino Garcia Alonso | O.N.C.E - Look | s.t. | | 10 | Kevin Livingston | Motorola | + 1'22 |
Guess I went to late and burned too much energy in the final hill where I couldn't get a lead when I was hoping to do so.
GENERAL CLASSIFICATION| Rank | Name | Team | Time |
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| 1 | Santiago Botero | Kelme - Artiach | 21h32'01 | | 2 | Manuel Rodriguez Gil | Maia - Jumbo - Cin | + 12 | | 3 | Aleksandr Shefer | Scrigno - Blue Storm | + 16 | | 4 | Luis Perez | O.N.C.E - Look | + 1'04 | | 5 | Marcelino Garcia Alonso | O.N.C.E - Look | s.t. | | 6 | Laudelino Cubino | Kelme - Artiach | + 1'33 | | 7 | Bruno Thibout | Motorola | + 2'13 | | 8 | Biagio Conte | Scrigno - Blue Storm | + 2'42 | | 9 | Gilles Bouvard | Collstrop - Lystex | + 2'51 | | 10 | Jesus Montoya | Motorola | s.t. | | 11 | Peter Naessens | Ipso - Asfra | + 2'58 | | 12 | Rafael Diaz Justo | O.N.C.E - Look | + 3'00 | | 13 | Chris Peers | Collstrop - Lystex | + 3'20 | | 14 | Patrick Jonker | O.N.C.E - Look | s.t. | | 15 | Carlos Contreras | Kelme - Artiach | + 3'50 |
| Rank | Name | Team | General |
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| 1 | Manuel Rodriguez Gil | Maia - Jumbo - Cin | 22 | | 2 | Santiago Botero | Kelme - Artiach | 16 | | 3 | Gennadi Mikhailov | Lada Cska - Samara | 11 | | 4 | Aleksandr Shefer | Scrigno - Blue Storm | 10 | | 5 | Maximillian Sciandri | Motorola | 8 |
| Rank | Name | Team | General |
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| 1 | Biagio Conte | Scrigno - Blue Storm | 83 | | 2 | Ronny Assez | Ipso - Asfra | 69 | | 3 | Manuel Abreu Campos | Maia - Jumbo - Cin | 65 | | 4 | Joaquim Adrego Andrade | Maia - Jumbo - Cin | 54 | | 5 | Fedor Pouchkin | Lada Cska - Samara | 48 |
| Rank | Name | Team | General Time |
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| 1 | Santiago Botero | Kelme - Artiach | 21h32'01 (1) | | 2 | Fedor Pouchkin | Lada Cska - Samara | + 9'56 (23) | | 3 | Jose Azevedo | Maia - Jumbo - Cin | + 9'27 (22) | | 4 | Pavel Khamidouline | Lada Cska - Samara | + 9'26 (21) | | 5 | Amilcare Tronca | Scrigno - Blue Storm | + 9'26 (20) |
  OBJECTIVES |
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Post by viciouslothario on Jul 16, 2023 16:20:38 GMT 1
Volta ao Algarve em Bicicleta 1996  SPONSOR OBJECTIVE Another not so easy race for us and will have to sweat for this one. Is one of the most important races in our calendar for this year, so failing this objective is huge. Let's give our best but can't promise anything.  I have my best riders and all of them should already be in the fitness peak but they aren't, I'm putting everything on this hoping for a stage win.  One of the best chances for a stage win, going against the likes of Gian Matteo Fagnini, Mario Traversorni and Fabrizio Guido, isn't easy, but we've proven in the past we have what it takes sometimes. A loss by a finger nail, almost nailed it. 2nd and 3rd place. I sadly forgotten to export the results of the stage.  Another chance but this one is difficult. I personally did this course several times here in Portugal, the climb to the Fóia in Monchique which is 18km away from my home. But never done it against Marco Pantani, I will try my best with Manuel Rodriguez Gil, but I don't have much hope on this one. Will also try a breakaway with Paulo Barroso. | Rank | Name | Team | Time |
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| 1 | Francesco Casagrande | Saeco | 4h43'41 | | 2 | Marco Pantani | Carrera Jeans - Longoni | + 11 | | 3 | Beat Zberg | Carrera Jeans - Longoni | s.t. | | 4 | Aleksandr Shefer | Scrigno - Blue Storm | + 19 | | 5 | Manuel Rodriguez Gil | Maia - Jumbo - Cin | s.t. | | 6 | Marco Artunghi | Carrera Jeans - Longoni | + 49 | | 7 | Mario Traversoni | Carrera Jeans - Longoni | s.t. | | 8 | Oscar Pellicioli | Carrera Jeans - Longoni | + 1'06 | | 9 | Markus Zberg | Carrera Jeans - Longoni | s.t. | | 10 | Hendrik Redant | TVM | + 1'13 |
Never had much hope, a top 5 finish isn't bad, but given the competition there wasn't much I could do about it, If I followed the attack from Casagrande I would burn out of energy so decided to conserve myself, the stage itself wasn't too taxing for some riders and the AI dominated me. Another 3 chances to get a stage win.  Time for a Time Trial I don't have much experience in these and the opposition is way too strong, but will do my best in order to achieve the sponsor goal. | Rank | Name | Team | Time |
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| 1 | Aleksandr Shefer | Scrigno - Blue Storm | 22'55 | | 2 | Manuel Rodriguez Gil | Maia - Jumbo - Cin | + 31 | | 3 | Beat Zberg | Carrera Jeans - Longoni | + 35 | | 4 | Martin Van Steen | TVM | + 44 | | 5 | Marco Artunghi | Carrera Jeans - Longoni | + 45 | | 6 | Giovanni Fidanza | Carrera Jeans - Longoni | + 53 | | 7 | Hendrik Redant | TVM | + 54 | | 8 | Gian Matteo Fagnini | Saeco | + 1'00 | | 9 | Marco Pantani | Carrera Jeans - Longoni | + 1'03 | | 10 | Oscar Pellicioli | Carrera Jeans - Longoni | + 1'04 |
Another podium finish with a +3 Manuel Gil Rodriguez, could have pushed another notch higher, but at least I climbed in the GC to the 3rd place but the goal is to win a stage and only have 2 tries left.  Another opportunity to the sprinters but will also take the breakaway with Paulo Barroso as he his on his fitness peak and already behind in the GC despite being the best climber in the race, so maybe the peloton ignores him and lets him go for the stage win. A +5 for Manuel Abreu makes him the top sprinter for today in our team. | Rank | Name | Team | Time |
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| 1 | Paulo Barroso | Maia - Jumbo - Cin | 4h38'21 | | 2 | Manuel Abreu Campos | Maia - Jumbo - Cin | + 43'46 | | 3 | Fabrizio Guidi | Scrigno - Blue Storm | s.t. | | 4 | Francesco Casagrande | Saeco | s.t. | | 5 | Gian Matteo Fagnini | Saeco | s.t. | | 6 | Biagio Conte | Scrigno - Blue Storm | s.t. | | 7 | Joaquim-Alberto Sampaio Campos | Maia - Jumbo - Cin | s.t. | | 8 | Mario Traversoni | Carrera Jeans - Longoni | s.t. | | 9 | Lars-Kristian Johnsen | TVM | s.t. | | 10 | Joaquim Adrego Andrade | Maia - Jumbo - Cin | s.t. |
This feels like cheating, since my rider was already behind the AI let him go, and he went and went, when they started to try to reel him in he was already too far ahead... So the AI gave up. Note to the future, don't do this. Breaks the game AI lol. Basically won with almost an hour of advantage which is atroceous. But hey, got the sponsor goal done... And will win the GC with Paulo Barroso... And could win the stage with Manuel Abreu in the peloton finish, like I did with the sprint train. Game is broken in some parts, this is one of them. Won't do this ever again.  Will quick simulate this one as the sponsor goal is reached and broke the game, several of my riders quit the race as well, because they ran out of time... It's just so weird behaviour from the game. This is a bug/exploit I just discovered. Here are the results anyway. | Rank | Name | Team | Time |
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| 1 | Fabrizio Guidi | Scrigno - Blue Storm | 4h23'07 | | 2 | Amilcare Tronca | Scrigno - Blue Storm | s.t. | | 3 | Paolo Fornaciari | Saeco | s.t. | | 4 | Lars-Kristian Johnsen | TVM | s.t. | | 5 | Marco Pantani | Carrera Jeans - Longoni | + 3'46 | | 6 | Beat Zberg | Carrera Jeans - Longoni | + 3'55 | | 7 | Paulo Barroso | Maia - Jumbo - Cin | s.t. | | 8 | Aleksandr Shefer | Scrigno - Blue Storm | + 3'58 | | 9 | Eddy Mazzoleni | Saeco | s.t. | | 10 | Francesco Casagrande | Saeco | + 4'04 |
GENERAL CLASSIFICATION| Rank | Name | Team | Time |
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| 1 | Paulo Barroso | Maia - Jumbo - Cin | 18h46'19 | | 2 | Amilcare Tronca | Scrigno - Blue Storm | + 37'23 | | 3 | Fabrizio Guidi | Scrigno - Blue Storm | + 37'31 | | 4 | Paolo Fornaciari | Saeco | + 37'41 | | 5 | Aleksandr Shefer | Scrigno - Blue Storm | + 37'57 | | 6 | Beat Zberg | Carrera Jeans - Longoni | + 38'17 | | 7 | Marco Pantani | Carrera Jeans - Longoni | + 38'34 | | 8 | Francesco Casagrande | Saeco | + 39'01 | | 9 | Marco Artunghi | Carrera Jeans - Longoni | + 39'44 | | 10 | Mario Traversoni | Carrera Jeans - Longoni | + 39'47 |
| Rank | Name | Team | General |
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| 1 | Fabrizio Guidi | Scrigno - Blue Storm | 38 | | 2 | Paulo Barroso | Maia - Jumbo - Cin | 36 | | 3 | Amilcare Tronca | Scrigno - Blue Storm | 22 | | 4 | Lars-Kristian Johnsen | TVM | 19 | | 5 | Francesco Casagrande | Saeco | 18 |
| Rank | Name | Team | General |
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| 1 | Fabrizio Guidi | Scrigno - Blue Storm | 75 | | 2 | Paulo Barroso | Maia - Jumbo - Cin | 58 | | 3 | Francesco Casagrande | Saeco | 57 | | 4 | Aleksandr Shefer | Scrigno - Blue Storm | 47 | | 5 | Mario Traversoni | Carrera Jeans - Longoni | 47 |
| Rank | Name | Team | Time | General Time |
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| 1 | Paulo Barroso | Maia - Jumbo - Cin | s.t. | 18h46'19 (1) | | 2 | Amilcare Tronca | Scrigno - Blue Storm | s.t. | + 37'23 (2) | | 3 | Fabrizio Guidi | Scrigno - Blue Storm | + 4h23'07 | + 37'31 (3) | | 4 | Paolo Fornaciari | Saeco | s.t. | + 37'41 (4) | | 5 | Aleksandr Shefer | Scrigno - Blue Storm | + 4h27'05 | + 37'57 (5) |
  OBJECTIVES NOTESWill probably quickly recap the results between objectives without much detail cause it costs a lot of time and will only cover sponsor objectives. Breaking the game was a major off for me, but now I know what happens when you game the AI like that. So next up will be a recap until Le Samyn in 8 days time. |
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Post by viciouslothario on Jul 16, 2023 16:52:56 GMT 1
RECAP BETWEEN VOLTA AO ALGARVE AND LE SAMYN
GP IZOLA - 24/02/1996| Rank | Name | Team | Time |
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| 1 | Andrea Paluan | Cantina Tollo - Co. Bo | 3h29'13 | | 2 | Manuel Abreu Campos | Maia - Jumbo - Cin | s.t. | | 3 | Joaquim-Alberto Sampaio Campos | Maia - Jumbo - Cin | s.t. | | 4 | Massimiliano Gentili | Cantina Tollo - Co. Bo | s.t. | | 5 | Paulo Barroso | Maia - Jumbo - Cin | s.t. | | 6 | Philippe Bordenave | Casino | s.t. | | 7 | Manuel Rodriguez Gil | Maia - Jumbo - Cin | s.t. | | 8 | Paolo Passarin | Ideal | s.t. | | 9 | Sergej Tkatchenko | RDM New Systems | s.t. | | 10 | Anthony Morin | Force Sud | s.t. | | 11 | Fedor Pouchkin | Lada Cska - Samara | s.t. | | 12 | Jean-Jacques Henry | Force Sud | + 24 | | 13 | Serge Baguet | Vlaanderen 2002 - Eddy Merckx | s.t. | | 14 | Pascal Lance | Force Sud | s.t. | | 15 | Scott Fortner | Saturn | s.t. | | 16 | Guido Trenti | Ideal | s.t. | | 17 | Paolo Voltolini | Ideal | s.t. | | 18 | Christophe Mengin | Casino | s.t. | | 19 | Michele Poser | Ideal | s.t. | | 20 | Kelvin Martin | Giant - AIS | s.t. |
I think I need to up the difficulty, 4 riders in the top 10, despite doing a great train and not getting the win, is a bit unrealistic. Next up is Le Samyn, where we need a top 3. |
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Post by viciouslothario on Jul 16, 2023 19:18:09 GMT 1
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