The next race for me is 'le tour de bretagne' starting this Saturday. It's a 7 day stage race in the brittany region of France I believe. Not an easy tour at all either.
A little bit of a preview.. it's the 43rd edition of the race and probably has been won by some big names before.
Stage 1 or as they say in french 'etape' is 159km from Nantes - Vallet
Must be hard because they have given us 5hours to complete the course!
Stage 2 is from Treffieux - Fougères and covers 153km. It is a hill top finish, so i'm guessing most of the stage is rolling to hilly.
Stage 3 is between Fougères - Saint-Cast Le Guildo. It is 161km and looks to be pretty rolling again.
Stage 4 goes from Matignon - Perros Guirec and is 156km. Some of these stages are starting to look pretty damn hard! It's a false flat up hill finish!!
Stage 5 is between Saint-Brieuc - Ploeren. 170km in length and looks to be on the coast. If it's windy this could be where the race is won. Look for fireworks on this stage.
Stage 6 will go between Douarnenez - Douarnenez and is 24km. Yes you read right, it's the day of the time trial. Rolling terrain, 50m being the biggest difference.
Stage 7, The final day between Douarnenez - Quimperlé will be interesting with a difficult last 3km. Maybe the break will stay away. Depends how close it is at the top of the classification I guess.
So i'm going to be riding the hardest race of my career next week. I have no ambition except to gain experience, get through it and help our leader Romain. He's a great guy. Lots can be learnt from him.
Anyway that's what I will be up to for the next week. Tripping it around France, probably with wind and rain if last year is anything to go by, but already we have had a better April than previous years.. tomorrow is suppose to be mid twenties. As is rest of week.
After this tour, who knows, but one thing will be for sure.. If I get through it, it's going to be a good base to run the rest of the year off.
http://www.tourdebretagne.fr/
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Liege -Bastogne - Liege
Woke up to darkish skies in the ardennes for the start of the U23 Liege - Bastogne - Liege. A race I really like.
Lining up in Bastogne for the departure of the 2009 edition wasn't much fun as it wasn't much more than 8 degrees with a heap of fog and mist surrounding the area, but as always it was the same for everyone so I wasn't really too bothered. The plan for me was to get over the climbs and coming into the final go with some moves to try and get away with a handful of riders.
The Start
The race started well, a smallish 20km loop around Bastogne back through the start and out onto the course proper. It was a pretty fast first hour covering 48km, I was good just sitting in the wheels until we hit the first climb of the day where I was able to move up to the front and control the pace a little bit.
Leading peloton over the Côte de HOUFFALIZE
Over the top of the next climb, Côte de WANNE, there was an attack which was well represented which included myself and a team mate. There were maybe 15 in the group by the time 2 groups joined on the decent with all the big teams represented so i'm not sure why the move didn't stick but anyway it was all back together a little while later.
For the next while it was resonably hard, and I had really bad legs so it felt like I was pedalling 1 legged most of the time. I found a rhythem on the 3rd catogorized climb of the day, about the 8th climb in total!, the Côte du ROSIER.
I know this climb really well as it was my close to home last year so I have ridden it numerous times at training and race pace. I went over with a front group but it all came back together down through the valley to the next climb, the Côte de LA VECQUEE. I had a bit of trouble on this climb, I hit the bottom in good position but dropped my chain and by the time I got going again I was at the back and trying to get back to the front. I caught the front again on the decent but a group had already gone off the front. We started picking up riders that were dropping off the front.
Next up was the climb Côte de LA REDOUTE, famous in Belgium as this is where the fire works always happen! It's a steep one. 23% for 2.2km.
I was going well and had made the split of 5 over the top of the climb, for the next 12km or so I had to go really deep to make the junction to the 2nd group on the road, with just 7 up ahead of us.
I was starting to find some legs after 3.5 hours of racing and started to cover some moves trying to get across to the front group. I got away with one other rider as we headed toward the last hard climb, the Côte SAINT-NICOLAS not far behind the front.
Looking down on the climb, yes it's steep!
Over the top of the climb with 10km to go all was good. There were still 7 in front with me and 1 other in the gap with the peloton behind. And thats where it all went pear-shaped. Forgetting to eat over the last 50km, and with 8km to ride I found myself on the worst hunger flat and simply ran out of legs.
The pro's going over the Côte SAINT-NICOLAS
I got caught and dropped by 3 groups on the run into the finish. I had completely run dry. I lost 7 and a half minutes in the final 8km of the race. Finishing in 90th place. Something I was a little dissapointed with as it had looked like a good result could be on, not saying I would have won but a top 20 was within reach.
But as you do, things happen and it's something I will learn from and move on from. I should have probly known better but with wet roads, a lot happening, eating just slipped my mind and I paid for it at the end of the day.
Something thats since been pointed out to me is that it's a huge race for the U23 so just to finish is an achievement and something I can build on next year, also this time last year I hadn't even finished a race.. Now i've finished my first 3!
I still have another year to go back and give it another crack, and I still believe it's a race I can win. I took a lot away from the race and I have a better idea of how it will unfold next year.
Thanks for reading and hopefully the next post has a better result with it.
Lining up in Bastogne for the departure of the 2009 edition wasn't much fun as it wasn't much more than 8 degrees with a heap of fog and mist surrounding the area, but as always it was the same for everyone so I wasn't really too bothered. The plan for me was to get over the climbs and coming into the final go with some moves to try and get away with a handful of riders.
The Start
The race started well, a smallish 20km loop around Bastogne back through the start and out onto the course proper. It was a pretty fast first hour covering 48km, I was good just sitting in the wheels until we hit the first climb of the day where I was able to move up to the front and control the pace a little bit.
Leading peloton over the Côte de HOUFFALIZE
Over the top of the next climb, Côte de WANNE, there was an attack which was well represented which included myself and a team mate. There were maybe 15 in the group by the time 2 groups joined on the decent with all the big teams represented so i'm not sure why the move didn't stick but anyway it was all back together a little while later.
For the next while it was resonably hard, and I had really bad legs so it felt like I was pedalling 1 legged most of the time. I found a rhythem on the 3rd catogorized climb of the day, about the 8th climb in total!, the Côte du ROSIER.
I know this climb really well as it was my close to home last year so I have ridden it numerous times at training and race pace. I went over with a front group but it all came back together down through the valley to the next climb, the Côte de LA VECQUEE. I had a bit of trouble on this climb, I hit the bottom in good position but dropped my chain and by the time I got going again I was at the back and trying to get back to the front. I caught the front again on the decent but a group had already gone off the front. We started picking up riders that were dropping off the front.
Next up was the climb Côte de LA REDOUTE, famous in Belgium as this is where the fire works always happen! It's a steep one. 23% for 2.2km.
I was going well and had made the split of 5 over the top of the climb, for the next 12km or so I had to go really deep to make the junction to the 2nd group on the road, with just 7 up ahead of us.
I was starting to find some legs after 3.5 hours of racing and started to cover some moves trying to get across to the front group. I got away with one other rider as we headed toward the last hard climb, the Côte SAINT-NICOLAS not far behind the front.
Looking down on the climb, yes it's steep!
Over the top of the climb with 10km to go all was good. There were still 7 in front with me and 1 other in the gap with the peloton behind. And thats where it all went pear-shaped. Forgetting to eat over the last 50km, and with 8km to ride I found myself on the worst hunger flat and simply ran out of legs.
The pro's going over the Côte SAINT-NICOLAS
I got caught and dropped by 3 groups on the run into the finish. I had completely run dry. I lost 7 and a half minutes in the final 8km of the race. Finishing in 90th place. Something I was a little dissapointed with as it had looked like a good result could be on, not saying I would have won but a top 20 was within reach.
But as you do, things happen and it's something I will learn from and move on from. I should have probly known better but with wet roads, a lot happening, eating just slipped my mind and I paid for it at the end of the day.
Something thats since been pointed out to me is that it's a huge race for the U23 so just to finish is an achievement and something I can build on next year, also this time last year I hadn't even finished a race.. Now i've finished my first 3!
I still have another year to go back and give it another crack, and I still believe it's a race I can win. I took a lot away from the race and I have a better idea of how it will unfold next year.
Thanks for reading and hopefully the next post has a better result with it.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Tweedaagse van de Gaverstreek
I have finally found a quiet moment to get a race report up from the weekend.
I raced the Tweedaagse van de Gaverstreek. Being my first race of the real season and having so much time off my bike in recent months due to injuries etc.. I was unsure as to how my condition was.
The course was 3 stages in 2 days (see previous post) so was going to be interesting to see if I could back up days. The course was full of cobbles and wind with a couple of little hills and roads thrown in for good measure. No easy task but with objectives fast approaching I had to get some condition in my legs and to do that just get through the tour as best I could.
The first day started out not too bad. 158km stage, I felt good, but being my first race back in europe I was a little nervous back in the big pelotons so just had to get a feel for it again. In this race with the wind and cobbles you always have to be in the front as usually it will split to pieces in the cross winds.
The race hit the Kwaremont, a cobbled climb with quite a gradient and it split. I was on the wrong side of the split and tried to ride across with a team mate, we didn't quite make it and spent the next 60km riding the front on the chase bunch with about 80 other guys. No problem for me. I was just there for training to begin with. So this is where we ended, I think I was something in the 130's on the results but I made it through.
Sunday morning was an 8km tt. I was up early, 9.20 start. I went as well as I could to give our leaders Fabio and Romain something to aim for. I started fast, built for a bit and then held it till the end, finishing with a time of 10minutes 12 seconds. Which was the fastest time so far. I stayed in the lead for an hour or so before 33 guys decided they wanted to go faster. Ended 34th. Fabio with a 10.02 moved into 5th place on classification.
The last stage was 130km, more wind and cobbles but this time with a 2-3km climb and thankfully no cobbles. We hit the bottom of the climb after 20km and I took Fabio with me to the front and settled into a rhythem. Stringing out the peloton. On the decent it was all back together but a few of the guys feeling the racing taking it's toll. I'm not going to lie, I was pretty lactic at this point too. I was in the front as we turned left into the cross wind, riding well but got hooked and overshot the turn. Ended up at the back, rode round a lot of guys, got dropped, rode back all in the space of 10km. I got back into position as the peloton starting getting smaller. And again the race started spliting, me and 2 team mates were in the 2nd group but after 5km were able to ride back across the gap. It was a shit fight to the finishing circuits, 3 laps of 6km. The break still had 2minutes as we hit the circuits and were threatening our place on classification. I got the word to hit the front again with another team mate, unfortunatly he decided after 3 pulls it was too hard or he wasn't ready to sacrifice himself, I duno. So I was left alone of the front with the 2 remaining riders of the leader's team. 2 laps to go it was down to 1 min 18 seconds. I was pretty smashed by this point and was really having to hurt myself. 1 lap to go and it was 40 seconds to the front. With 3km to go we had the break back in. It was then time to set up for the sprint. So again I dragged my sorry ass to the head, pulled again before drifting back in the last 500m. Finishing the stage in the 50's but more importantly finishing in the front, with good condition coming and doing what was asked of me.
As Fabio said, we might not have won the race but we were the strongest team in the race and had a few things gone our way we could have just as easily won it. But thats bike racing. Everyone was happy and the team worked really well and got on really well together. It's a bit cool when i'm starting to understand more french too. Not feeling so out of the loop.
So now I am in a training camp for this weekend. The first objective for the season, Liege - Bastogne - Liege under 23. A race which would normally suit my riding. I will be after a big result. I know I have good enough form, just have to pull it all together come Saturday.
Will get some pics from the weekend when they become available.
Thats all for now, and I will be back with a report from Liege.
I raced the Tweedaagse van de Gaverstreek. Being my first race of the real season and having so much time off my bike in recent months due to injuries etc.. I was unsure as to how my condition was.
The course was 3 stages in 2 days (see previous post) so was going to be interesting to see if I could back up days. The course was full of cobbles and wind with a couple of little hills and roads thrown in for good measure. No easy task but with objectives fast approaching I had to get some condition in my legs and to do that just get through the tour as best I could.
The first day started out not too bad. 158km stage, I felt good, but being my first race back in europe I was a little nervous back in the big pelotons so just had to get a feel for it again. In this race with the wind and cobbles you always have to be in the front as usually it will split to pieces in the cross winds.
The race hit the Kwaremont, a cobbled climb with quite a gradient and it split. I was on the wrong side of the split and tried to ride across with a team mate, we didn't quite make it and spent the next 60km riding the front on the chase bunch with about 80 other guys. No problem for me. I was just there for training to begin with. So this is where we ended, I think I was something in the 130's on the results but I made it through.
Sunday morning was an 8km tt. I was up early, 9.20 start. I went as well as I could to give our leaders Fabio and Romain something to aim for. I started fast, built for a bit and then held it till the end, finishing with a time of 10minutes 12 seconds. Which was the fastest time so far. I stayed in the lead for an hour or so before 33 guys decided they wanted to go faster. Ended 34th. Fabio with a 10.02 moved into 5th place on classification.
The last stage was 130km, more wind and cobbles but this time with a 2-3km climb and thankfully no cobbles. We hit the bottom of the climb after 20km and I took Fabio with me to the front and settled into a rhythem. Stringing out the peloton. On the decent it was all back together but a few of the guys feeling the racing taking it's toll. I'm not going to lie, I was pretty lactic at this point too. I was in the front as we turned left into the cross wind, riding well but got hooked and overshot the turn. Ended up at the back, rode round a lot of guys, got dropped, rode back all in the space of 10km. I got back into position as the peloton starting getting smaller. And again the race started spliting, me and 2 team mates were in the 2nd group but after 5km were able to ride back across the gap. It was a shit fight to the finishing circuits, 3 laps of 6km. The break still had 2minutes as we hit the circuits and were threatening our place on classification. I got the word to hit the front again with another team mate, unfortunatly he decided after 3 pulls it was too hard or he wasn't ready to sacrifice himself, I duno. So I was left alone of the front with the 2 remaining riders of the leader's team. 2 laps to go it was down to 1 min 18 seconds. I was pretty smashed by this point and was really having to hurt myself. 1 lap to go and it was 40 seconds to the front. With 3km to go we had the break back in. It was then time to set up for the sprint. So again I dragged my sorry ass to the head, pulled again before drifting back in the last 500m. Finishing the stage in the 50's but more importantly finishing in the front, with good condition coming and doing what was asked of me.
As Fabio said, we might not have won the race but we were the strongest team in the race and had a few things gone our way we could have just as easily won it. But thats bike racing. Everyone was happy and the team worked really well and got on really well together. It's a bit cool when i'm starting to understand more french too. Not feeling so out of the loop.
So now I am in a training camp for this weekend. The first objective for the season, Liege - Bastogne - Liege under 23. A race which would normally suit my riding. I will be after a big result. I know I have good enough form, just have to pull it all together come Saturday.
Will get some pics from the weekend when they become available.
Thats all for now, and I will be back with a report from Liege.
Friday, April 10, 2009
Quick Friday morning update
Just a quick update to let everyone know i'm still alive and doing well.
Training has been good this weekend, especially yesterday. That was super hard!
It's 10am and already 18.3 degrees out, so we have a nice weekend on the horizon.
This weekend I am pinning on a number for the first proper race of the season.
It's a 2 day tour called the tweedaagse van de gaverstreek, or roughly translated two days of the gaverstreek.
The race is only about 15km from my home here so I have ridden the roads before.
A bit of info for the race..
Saturday:
Stage 1 - 158km, 140km big loop with 3x6km finishing circuits I think.
Sunday:
Stage 2 - 8km time trial
Stage 3 - 128km, mostly the same roads as the first stage.
After the weekend I am going on a training camp for the week until Liege - Bastogne - Liege. I will be back home for a week then I think I will be in France for a 7 day tour the following week. The Tour de Bretagne.
So I am going to be a busy boy over the next few weeks but definately right back into the swing of everything.
Will try and get a post up over the weekend or you can follow me on www.twitter.com (username: RyanPCW) which will have updates all the time.
Training has been good this weekend, especially yesterday. That was super hard!
It's 10am and already 18.3 degrees out, so we have a nice weekend on the horizon.
This weekend I am pinning on a number for the first proper race of the season.
It's a 2 day tour called the tweedaagse van de gaverstreek, or roughly translated two days of the gaverstreek.
The race is only about 15km from my home here so I have ridden the roads before.
A bit of info for the race..
Saturday:
Stage 1 - 158km, 140km big loop with 3x6km finishing circuits I think.
Sunday:
Stage 2 - 8km time trial
Stage 3 - 128km, mostly the same roads as the first stage.
After the weekend I am going on a training camp for the week until Liege - Bastogne - Liege. I will be back home for a week then I think I will be in France for a 7 day tour the following week. The Tour de Bretagne.
So I am going to be a busy boy over the next few weeks but definately right back into the swing of everything.
Will try and get a post up over the weekend or you can follow me on www.twitter.com (username: RyanPCW) which will have updates all the time.
Monday, April 6, 2009
Well the last week has been pretty busy. I'm right back into the swing of life here and so far so good.
In the past 7 days I have covered a fair few miles on the bike, been caught by some website riding the course of the Tour de Flanders, picked a spot to watch 2 pro races and missed them both times and broken a bike..
It's almost been a month since I arrived in Belgium and I finally got my first full week of training in. I woke up on Tuesday with no pain in my back and it has since stayed away which is encouraging.
I was on my bike almost 25 hours trying to get what form I can before the 18th and the first goal of the season, the under 23 Liege - Bastogne - Liege. The one-day classic that tackles the same steep climbs that was my hunting ground for a lot of last year while I was living in the ardennes. I know the course, the key points, the rest is just hoping I have the legs and the luck.
On Thursday Clinton and I went and had a look over the course for the Tour of Flanders which he will be racing this weekend. Would like to be on the start line to help him as I know the roads and the level of racing well but due to commitments later in the week I will be skipping this years edition.
I ended up with 6.5 hours on the bike that day and because the pros were to be racing over those roads the following Sunday there were a number of media people taking pictures of the key climbs and getting all the pre race condition.
One website caught me out on the course..
On Saturday I pinned on numbers for the first time. There were 204 starters, a lot of chaos and my legs didn't like it too much. Just lacking the high intensity stuff but it will come with a few more races. I ended up dropped after around 80km. Not too worried though, I just needed to get that one out of the way.
Not much else has been happening, except for breaking another bike and now trying to get that sorted. Getting a bit frustrating.
Today has been a nice rest, well except for 30min on the rollers this morning.
So have just been watching Prison Break episodes all day.
Thats all for now
In the past 7 days I have covered a fair few miles on the bike, been caught by some website riding the course of the Tour de Flanders, picked a spot to watch 2 pro races and missed them both times and broken a bike..
It's almost been a month since I arrived in Belgium and I finally got my first full week of training in. I woke up on Tuesday with no pain in my back and it has since stayed away which is encouraging.
I was on my bike almost 25 hours trying to get what form I can before the 18th and the first goal of the season, the under 23 Liege - Bastogne - Liege. The one-day classic that tackles the same steep climbs that was my hunting ground for a lot of last year while I was living in the ardennes. I know the course, the key points, the rest is just hoping I have the legs and the luck.
On Thursday Clinton and I went and had a look over the course for the Tour of Flanders which he will be racing this weekend. Would like to be on the start line to help him as I know the roads and the level of racing well but due to commitments later in the week I will be skipping this years edition.
I ended up with 6.5 hours on the bike that day and because the pros were to be racing over those roads the following Sunday there were a number of media people taking pictures of the key climbs and getting all the pre race condition.
One website caught me out on the course..
On Saturday I pinned on numbers for the first time. There were 204 starters, a lot of chaos and my legs didn't like it too much. Just lacking the high intensity stuff but it will come with a few more races. I ended up dropped after around 80km. Not too worried though, I just needed to get that one out of the way.
Not much else has been happening, except for breaking another bike and now trying to get that sorted. Getting a bit frustrating.
Today has been a nice rest, well except for 30min on the rollers this morning.
So have just been watching Prison Break episodes all day.
Thats all for now
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)