Tuesday 30 August 2011

St Philibert Tregnuc: Horses for courses

After racing The GP Plouay amateurs on Saturday, which I was hoping for a good ride but unfortunately didn't pan out that way, I tried to put it behind me and look forward to the next few days of racing....

 Sunday was spent at Plouay watching the mens pro race. A long day (left home at 8:30am) spent looking round the team buses, meeting loads of familiar faces, team mates, the Mills' etc and shaking hands and kissing a ridiculous amount of people, many of whom I didn't know. Also ended up doing about 8km of walking! So not the day of rest I was after really especially after racing the day before and having a race the following day!

 Still watching one of the biggest one day races in the World live, and on a course I had raced on, was a awesome experience. The crowds, masses of camping cars, electric atmosphere and the world's best riders showing how 248km can be made to look so easy was a brilliant experience.

Great day and all a mere 20 minutes from my door. Cant say that about to many Pro races!

So back to it...


The last week or so my body has been all over the place. Sleeping badly, sore and generally feeling the effects of more racing than ive ever experienced before. Yes I know its impossible to hold form for the whole season but a bit now wouldnt go a miss! Also the lack of a proper deep massage all year has also not helped!
So it's safe to say not going to be going into next few races in the best of states. Still need to make the best out of the situation and rely on mental strength and dogged determination if nothing else!

Race day. 

St Philibert Tregnuc was the town, 3pm was the start and Trophee Aven Moros was the series. 

Normal morning procedure. I still had the team car from Plouay so drove over to first pick Sam up then to the team garage to meet my team mates, Gurvan, Pascal and Laurent.

12:45pm and car packed to the rafters we headed off. Usually with 5 riders in the car the conversation flows pretty easily, yet you can tell its coming to the final part of the season as everyone was a lot quieter, even my normally ridiculously chatty team mate Pascal!

The race was in theory an hour away. In theory because we ended up missing the turn off and having to do a loop of Concarneau! No problem though as we arrived at the race in perfect time, an hour before the start.

Was told by Sam that the race was to be a pan flat, seaside affair and he wasn't wrong. A 7.86km lap made up of a very slight 50 metre drag to the finish, a long windy coast road, a few more flat windy sections back to finish. Warming up I could tell it was going to be fast as was cruising effortlessly at 40km/h.

So lined up ready for the 3pm start. A series race so a yellow jersey leader (Zelinski, VCP Lorient and general hard Polish man) Polka dot climbers jersey, worn by a rider from UC Nantes (think the climbers prize would be safe for today!) and a white and a green jersey both worn by AC Lanester riders, think for young rider and sprints competition. Along with these few riders there was 112 other riders for this one. 

Cotes D'armor, UC Nantes, VCP Lorient, AC Lanester, Hennebont Cyclisme, BIC2000 (including Vignes, Bretonne champion) a Parisien team and winner from GP Plouay amateurs Guyot of The Armee de Terre team all present. For UCL Hennebont there was loads of us, 9 I think! 

Off we went 15 laps, 117.9km and a prime every lap. Was a very Belgiumesque setup today. First lap and the pace was on. Attacks flying yet everyone was attentive and keen to get in moves so nothing was sticking. I was 20 or so riders back, sitting in and following the wheels and the occasional attacks.

Then disaster struck, well for Pascal that is. Down the back of the circuit and at over 50km/h he didn't see a bollard in the middle of the road and ploughed straight into it. I was just behind and saw him somersault over the bike. Was so fast we had passed him before he'd even hit the ground. I was in a bit of shock and thinking the worst. Yet he managed to come away very luckily. Just a few scratches and a bit of a cut to the back of his head. His bike on the over hand was in two! Frame snapped clean in half as did his helmet.

So first lap done and was hoping the next 14 were to be a bit safer. The attacks continued and I tried to follow them. Yet I was feeling heavy legged and on a circuit like this, being fresh is key. After an hour of racing, and a 47km/h average, a break had gone with 11 riders in it. This included Mike Cumings who was on for a storming ride. Soon they had pulled out a sizeable gap. Yet a lot of the big hitters were still in the bunch, including the yellow jersey.

An hour and a half done and I was keen, even if my legs weren't, to try and get in a move and bridge. A big move went with a dozen or so riders including, Zelinski and Sam in it. I knew this was a serious move so with team mates Rene and Cedric we buried ourselves to get across.

We managed it, yet the group was too big and everyone sat up allowing the bunch back up to us. Another lap and the chase group finally did go with Zelinski and Sam along with a number of other riders soon flying off the front. I was feeling terrible and couldn't make the group.

Still Guyot of Armee de Terre, a number of Cotes d'Armor and VCP Lorient were still in the bunch. I could see they were biding their time to jump across to the chase group,which was still in sight. Flat windy section and the big hitters went, I buried myself but couldn't quite get on the wheel. I was dangling a few bike lengths off it, slowly clawing my way up to Guyots wheel. 

Then we turned left! Not good as it meant everyone sprinted out of the corner, I was already sprinting into it! Thus couldn't go any harder and the gap to the wheel in front opened, I was in no mans land. The break going up the road the bunch of 70-80 riders a couple of hundred metres behind. I sat up.

I decided that was it for the day. I'd tried my best on a pan flat, sprint fest course, with bad legs. It was clearly a sign I should take the last few laps easy in the bunch and save my legs for the next days racing.

That's what I did. The bunch weren't to interested now as around 25 riders were now up the road. Last lap and across the line on the wheel of Vignes. Clearly he is either knackered or saving his legs for today's race as well, will soon find out!

Mike did an awesome ride for 5th, Sam was really strong all race but was worked over in chasing group coming just outside top 20 and myself in the bunch. So not a course for me but been told today's is. Same series this time in a place called Scaer. Meant to be ridiculously hard and hilly. 

Horses for courses as they say, lets hope today then I have some horse power!




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