So yesterday I had my first big UCI tour. Started off with a 147km stage on Saturday and 140km on Sunday. Taylor and I did course recon of the first stage a couple days ago so I new what to expect; carnage and a bit of pain. There were a couple long cobble road sections and one very steep cobble climb. My legs were feeling pretty good and I new what I had to do. I was up near the front keeping out of trouble but then my back wheel kept rimming the ground more and more (Definition of 'Rimming': When your tyre is nearly flat, the rim of your wheel smacks the ground when you go over a large bump) so I thought I must have a slow leaking tyre. I had done the course before so I new what was up ahead so I thought it would be a good time to change my wheel because there was big climb in about 5km and then not long after that is a long 2.5km cobble section. The team car pulled up next to me and I jumped off my bike so the mechanic could change my back wheel. It took a bit longer than I wanted to get the wheel on but it was eventually put on. I was drafting the team car, doing 80kmph, to try and catch back up to the main group before I get to the climb. We then turn off the main highway and on to a narrow road and start to head up one of the climbs. I had to come around the rest of the convoy going up the hill and I was so close to catching the back of the bunch near the top of the climb but after you reach the top you go screaming back down another hill and into a headwind. I'm trying to battle this headwind by myself to catch up to the bunch. The bunch just keeps getting further and further away and then the car convoy starts to come around me again. This is pretty much the first time I've been in a race where I have had to draft off cars in a convoy to catch up to the bunch and I didn't know if there were any rules to this because there are quite a few cars driving past me that have 'Jury' taped to their back window so I didn't want to get disqualified for doing the wrong thing. I then got up to the long 2.5km cobble section, and it starts off by climbing up a small long hill and I can still see the bunch just a little bit ahead of me. After the cobbles, we jumped back on to the highway and then I have to try and battle into the headwind again. The team car comes past and tows me up a bit more but then I have to come around the car because he is held up by convoy traffic so I have to try and use other team cars to draft off as well but everyone is honking their car horns and I don't know if they're honking at me cause I'm doing something wrong or what. I continue to try and draft the other cars but I don't quite trust the drivers completely. I just kept trying to think how the pros do it on TV. After spending a hard 20km trying to chase on, I finally get on to the back of a small group that were split off the back of the main bunch by a couple seconds. I didn't have anytime to rest because it was a crosswind and everyone was sitting in the gutter so didn't really have any draft so I kept trying to move up to find a better draft. We then hook a left and start to ride towards the steep cobble climb. I new I was in the shit when I saw it coming because I was knackered and I had been riding in the red zone for about 25km. I then got dropped, from the split group, going up the climb. I then had to try and battle again in the convoy to get back up but I was dead. Not long after the cobble climb was another long fully paved climb and that was basically it for me. I was dead when I finally made it to the top of that climb. I wouldn't of made the time cut and I was starting to get pretty cold so I got picked up by the Broom Wagon (Definition of 'Broom Wagon': The bus behind the race that pick up the stragglers). I couldn't start todays stage because you have to finish the first stage to be able to start the second stage. All in all, pretty dammed pissed. Really gutted that I got a flatty. Turns out that when the team mechanic put my new wheel on he didn't even put it on straight and that the brake was rubbing a bit so that doesn't help at all. So gutted that I didn't get to finish my first big UCI tour. And gutted that I couldn't race today so overall it's been a pretty shit weekend to be honest. However, I did learn something new about riding in the convoy and that is that you're not even supposed to draft off any of the cars in the convoy. That is kind of the rule but everyone does it and I think the race jury just turn bit of a blind eye to it. Taylor gave me a few tips on how to ride in the convoy too so I'll keep that in mind for next time, hopefully it won't happen anytime soon.
I know I said I was going to do a race last Saturday but we then got told not to race Saturday but instead to an U23 Kermesse on Monday (Definition of 'Kermesse': A circuit race of laps that are about 5km to 10km long). In that race there was a big split pretty early on in the race that Taylor and I made. There were about 15 other riders in the split including my friend from back home, Matt Wheatcroft, who rides for another team over here. I was feeling pretty good and I was just rolling through with the bunch. With 4 laps to go I attacked just before the finish line and picked up a sprint prime because every lap the first rider to cross the line picked up a sprint prime. I then kept going by myself and lasted a lap before I was caught again. I then had another go at attacking the group but it all just came to nothing so I just sat in for the last lap and tried my luck with the group sprint. Ended up in 8th place out of the 15 or so guys in the bunch. Picked up 30euro to for getting 8th place and got another 30euro for winning a sprint prime so I was pretty chuffed with that.
That's about it. Cleaned the whole house today for the first time I've been here so everything is looking pretty damn clean and hygienic. Got another race this week so hopefully my luck will change a bit.
Sooo yea... Go the Breakers!
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