Its rest day time today for me so time for a new post. I didn't have such a busy race schedule this week just two races, one on Thursday and one on Sunday.
There was a race on Thursday as it was Bastille day here in France which is a big national holiday which I'm not even sure why the celebrate it. Someone from the team told me it was celebrating democracy or something to do with war I'm not really sure. But anyway there is always a massive celebration in Paris with the military and stuff which was really impressive to watch on tv. In Lyon there were lots of fireworks every where. Martins and I went to a big firworks display with some of the guys from the team which was cool and we had planned to go to center Lyon after to check out the street parties that were supposed to be really good, but we didn't end up going unfortunately. So anyway during the day we had an elite national race only 10km down the road from the apartment, so was cool to just ride to the race for once. Was on a flat course with a stacked field. from the start i got into a promising break but only stayed away for a lap and when we were caught the next break to go was the one that stayed away and nobody from the team made it so we had to work on the front. From there I just thought I would ride the rest of the race for some good training and drill myself on the front with some of the team to catch the break. We ended up catching them with 3 laps to go and the guys we had sitting back didnt even attempt to make the next break which was so frustrating and none of the team got in the next winning break.
On Sunday I had another flat race just a regional cat 1. not to much to report except it poured with rain and it ended in a bunch finish and I rolled 21st in the sprint.
Monday, July 18, 2011
Monday, July 11, 2011
Tour du Pays Roannais and Tour de la Dordogne
So I have had a heap of racing after my break, I think 8 stages all together in 2 weeks, so I am going to keep this post short and summarize a lot as no one wants to read a novel and I don't want to write one.
Ok the Tour du pays Roannais (elite national) was my first race back after my holiday so I didn't have very high expectations as its always hard to get racing legs back after some time off the bike. first stage was a night criterium which was good fun and super fast think we averaged 47km/h, everyone finished together.
2nd stage was 160km and was incredibly hot around 35degrees and it wasn't ideal when I ran out of drink with 60km to go and wasn't able to drop back to the car for water as there were a few hills at the end that were important to stay at the front. Anyway last climb I was really suffering without any drink and I ended up in 2nd group ended up 32nd.
3rd stage was short and hilly and I just had no legs finished 40something.
4th and last stage was hilly again and I suffered a lot, same story no legs.
Ended the tour in 36th GC.
Next up I had an elite national tour in Bordeaux which I actually got the last minute call up for as a few riders decided to pull out for some reason, which was a bit annoying as Brad was still staying with me and I had to leave on Wednesday and he had a train back Holland on Friday. But Iv just heard from Brad that he loves staying at my luxurious apartment so much he is coming back for a week next Monday, hopefully this time I wont have to ditch him for half the week to go race...........
So had 5hour drive across France to Bordeaux where we were staying with all the other teams in a boarding school as all the students are on holidays at the moment.
The tour started on Thursday with a 160km stage with an undulating parcours. I was originally only supposed to help the "roulers" of our team but in the middle of the stage I was quite active in attacking on a hilly section and I found myself in the front group of 40 and the only one from my team. Unfortunately a group of 9 got off the front in the final 40km and I didnt get into it, so I rolled 32nd in the stage and all the rest of my team mates had lost 4 minutes or plus.
2nd stage was a 10km time trial and normally I would be really excited for a time trial but not so much when I have to ride an average tt bike and without shifters on the end of the aero bars. But I tried to forget about that and focus on a good ride. didnt feel to bad and ended up 40something about 30seconds down on the winner and moved up into the top 30 on GC.
Stage 3 was 160km and undulating again with a hard finishing circuit with 2km climb that we did 3 times. Most the stage I just sat in waiting for the finishing circuits and the peloton was controlled by the yellow jersey team. In the circuits I had a few good attacks off the front but never managed to stay away but the bunch splintered a bit and the group was down to 30 odd riders left to sprint for the win. I finished mid group but moved up to 23rd GC.
Last stage was 160km again much the same as the 2 previous road stages but an even harder finishing circuit with a small hill maybe 800m but really steep about 15percent, a real leg breaker. The stage was controlled by the yellow jersey team again with a break of 12 getting away at the start. I waited till the finishing circuits again. Was feeling ok but on the 3rd of 6 circuits I didn't have the legs to make it into the front 10 that got away on the hill which caught the remnants of the breakaway and stayed away till the end. I finished in the 2nd group but still managed to move up to 21st on GC, but still gutted I couldn't make the front group as I would have moved into the top 10 on GC.
In other news I'm pretty excited about my parents coming to France to visit me for a week on the 24th of July.
And also my Latvian team mate is the new Latvian National champion!
Ok the Tour du pays Roannais (elite national) was my first race back after my holiday so I didn't have very high expectations as its always hard to get racing legs back after some time off the bike. first stage was a night criterium which was good fun and super fast think we averaged 47km/h, everyone finished together.
2nd stage was 160km and was incredibly hot around 35degrees and it wasn't ideal when I ran out of drink with 60km to go and wasn't able to drop back to the car for water as there were a few hills at the end that were important to stay at the front. Anyway last climb I was really suffering without any drink and I ended up in 2nd group ended up 32nd.
3rd stage was short and hilly and I just had no legs finished 40something.
4th and last stage was hilly again and I suffered a lot, same story no legs.
Ended the tour in 36th GC.
Next up I had an elite national tour in Bordeaux which I actually got the last minute call up for as a few riders decided to pull out for some reason, which was a bit annoying as Brad was still staying with me and I had to leave on Wednesday and he had a train back Holland on Friday. But Iv just heard from Brad that he loves staying at my luxurious apartment so much he is coming back for a week next Monday, hopefully this time I wont have to ditch him for half the week to go race...........
So had 5hour drive across France to Bordeaux where we were staying with all the other teams in a boarding school as all the students are on holidays at the moment.
The tour started on Thursday with a 160km stage with an undulating parcours. I was originally only supposed to help the "roulers" of our team but in the middle of the stage I was quite active in attacking on a hilly section and I found myself in the front group of 40 and the only one from my team. Unfortunately a group of 9 got off the front in the final 40km and I didnt get into it, so I rolled 32nd in the stage and all the rest of my team mates had lost 4 minutes or plus.
2nd stage was a 10km time trial and normally I would be really excited for a time trial but not so much when I have to ride an average tt bike and without shifters on the end of the aero bars. But I tried to forget about that and focus on a good ride. didnt feel to bad and ended up 40something about 30seconds down on the winner and moved up into the top 30 on GC.
Stage 3 was 160km and undulating again with a hard finishing circuit with 2km climb that we did 3 times. Most the stage I just sat in waiting for the finishing circuits and the peloton was controlled by the yellow jersey team. In the circuits I had a few good attacks off the front but never managed to stay away but the bunch splintered a bit and the group was down to 30 odd riders left to sprint for the win. I finished mid group but moved up to 23rd GC.
Last stage was 160km again much the same as the 2 previous road stages but an even harder finishing circuit with a small hill maybe 800m but really steep about 15percent, a real leg breaker. The stage was controlled by the yellow jersey team again with a break of 12 getting away at the start. I waited till the finishing circuits again. Was feeling ok but on the 3rd of 6 circuits I didn't have the legs to make it into the front 10 that got away on the hill which caught the remnants of the breakaway and stayed away till the end. I finished in the 2nd group but still managed to move up to 21st on GC, but still gutted I couldn't make the front group as I would have moved into the top 10 on GC.
In other news I'm pretty excited about my parents coming to France to visit me for a week on the 24th of July.
And also my Latvian team mate is the new Latvian National champion!
Friday, July 1, 2011
Brad Tilby: Part 2 - Marseilles, Montpellier and Sete
Brad Tilby: Part 2 - Marseilles, Montpellier and Sete: "This is part 2, if you haven't had a read of part 1 do that first For Part 2 of our trip we headed down to Marseilles. This is about a 2hr..."
Brad has written the 2nd part of our trip on his blog so you can have a read there
Brad has written the 2nd part of our trip on his blog so you can have a read there
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