14 DAY TRIAL // Mark Cavendish, the sprinter of Omega Pharma-Quick Step, has managed to take another win in the virtual Tour de France in this pancake flat stage that took the riders from Fougeres to Tours.
It has been the kind of stage where television viewers are given time to see the great landscapes that France has to offer, while the commentary team talks about yesterday’s action and the coming high mountain stages for the weekend.
Unfortunately, the commentary for the Tour de France simulation in Pro Cycling Manager 2013 is somewhat lackluster, with a few words about the stage when it starts and then a limited range of phrases delivered when various race incidents take place.
It’s probably impossible to reproduce the conversations and the analysis delivered by the great commentators on French and English TV stations, but I would have liked to see a little more variety.
Voice and information are especially important for newcomers, who might be unfamiliar with the core mechanics of cycling or with the unique nature and challenges of Le Tour.
During the stage, a breakaway quickly established itself but the very nature of the terrain, with limited height differences and a number of big roads for the peloton to spread on, meant that their effort was doomed from the start.
Why do they still try then? Mainly because all cycling teams rely on sponsors for most of their funds and going in a break is a simple way of showing the jersey for a couple of hours of live television airtime.
Omega and Argos worked hard in the end to bring the escapees back and they set up a nice sprint finish during which Cavendish managed to come from behind in order to beat his most capable rivals into second and third.
Tomorrow is also flat, but then the mountains are coming back and it’s time for my team to take a leading role.
