Blog
Hi Team
Things have been going pretty well since my last update. We have done 3 races over the last couple weeks: a one day U23 UCI 1.2U in Germany, a Kermesse in a not too distant town called Beveren, and most recently a 3 day Belgian 2.1 tour in the Ardennes.
The race in Germany was an interesting one. The big Under 23 races are always chaotic off the line, with the 200+ riders behaving on their bikes in the bunch like there is a brief case containing 1,000,000Euro waiting for you if you can make it to the front - and this race was no exception. And to make it even more interesting, the race started by meandering its way through the main streets of central Frankfurt, with corners, islands, road works and other traffic furniture to keep us crazy youngsters on our toes (well, more applicably, our fingers not too distant from our brake levers). After this first 30km of craziness, the climbs (which we had underestimated from the race profile) started to kick in, settling the tension down a bit. The first one was a long, smooth drag which carried on for about 10km. After which, some shorter, sharper and tougher rises in the road started to take their toll on the bunch and separate the men from the boys. At the bottom of the descents after all the climbing, the front group had now shrunk down to 80 or so riders, before we once again starting going up hill again, shelling off another 20-odd. This left just Novie and I in the front group for the last 50km leading into the fast finish, which took place back in downtown Frankfurt around 2 laps of a speedy finishing circuit. It was a real fight to stay up near the front of this group, with the plan being for me to try and help Novie get to the line first. I wasn't quite as daring to follow him through the middle of the bunch bouncing back and forward off others at over 50km/h, and took a different line up the inside which unfortunately left us on opposite sides of the road going around the last corner, a hairpin, with 800m to the line. I took the front out of the corner though, hoping that Novie wasn't too far back, in an attempt to try and reel back in the break of 5 riders that were just in front of the bunch, trying to hang onto the lead they had established on the bunch about 10km earlier. I wasn't quite able to get them back though, with the time gap ending at 4 seconds across the line, and a few other riders getting past me before line leaving me to claim 10th in the race. It wasn't quite the first we were looking for, but with the tough terrain of the course and how it panned out I was still pretty happy with my performance.
On the sign on stage before the start of the race in Germany - we aren't looking too happy though...
The next race, the smaller scale mid-week Kermesse, didn't quite go as well though, with a frustrating mechanical forcing my withdrawal. About 50km in one of my not-so-old chain's links somehow seized up leaving me unable to peddle any harder than about 20km/h worth's without my gears skipping. For those of you that haven't experienced the joy of a seized link before, it's like having to shift your gears up and back down in quick succession every time your chain goes round - and not being able to peddle in the process. It was a good race for the other guys though, with Sancho making the early breakaway that was unfortunately brought back with 2 laps to go, but with Novie making the most of the situation to claim a great 3rd in the bunch sprint.
That weekend, we all jumped in the van and headed East to the Belgian hills, the Ardennes, for a 3 day training block. This is because it is pretty much dead flat, minus a few rollers, in the part of Belgium that we are based, and we needed to get some climbingtisation (new word I just came up with) ready for 3 day tour on many of the same roads that kicked off the following weekend. The training camp went well with 3 hours the first day, 5 the next, and 4 the following day - which included a timed individual trial amongst the 5 of us up a 5km climb, which I claimed the victory of at the top.
Training in the Ardennes region of Belgium (near the German border)
After some recovery time and further training back at our base for the rest of the week, we then made our way back to the hills for the start of Triptique Ardennais, the 3 day Belgian "Top-Comp" 2.12 tour - which also happened to be the first big race I ever did in Europe when I was here the first time 2 years ago,when it didn't go so well after being struck by Campylobacter caught from the spray of maneur off the wet roads in the 1st stage leaving me having to withdraw early into the 3rd. But illness, and bad weather (at least for the first two stages), free this time I had a great tour, making the front group of 30 riders that was established early into the 1st stage up the 1st long climb. Myself and Jason made this group, which ended up staying away for the entire stage, finishing about 1:30 up on the bunch at the finish line. I also managed to claim the first intermediate sprint in the race, and get 2nd in the next one, which got me the Sprint (or "rush") Jersey going into the next stage on a total of 8 points.
The breakaway group in the first stage, I'm semi-hiding on the left
On the podium after the first stage wearing the "Rush" Jersey - it just so happened to be black to match the rest of the NZ gear! (And if you're wondering what the orange stuff is on my face - we've all agreed not to shave until we get a race win (unfortunately the Jersey technically didn't count...))
The second stage was a fair bit shorter than the first (down from 166 to 127), but they made up for this by making sure the was enough up hill action - which my slightly fatigued legs from the previous day definitely felt. My first job for the day though, was to get some more points on behind me to try and hold on to the Jersey for the rest of the tour. My team mates did an awesome job of helping me out to get this, with a special mention to Wade Mangham (who was brought back into race with us to be our 6th man) who did about a 4km lead-out on the front of the bunch to make sure the race stayed together so I could claim the points. Novie ended up taking me the last bit to the line (but with a bit of confusion with there being two lines on the road, he went 1st with me 2nd) pushing me further ahead on points of the others competing for the title. I was caught out near the end of the stage though, while sitting too far back in the large pack before ascending the hardest climb of the tour. It started off at about 15% gradient and carried on in that manor for about 2km, when it was at least kind enough to edge back a few % but still carry on going upwards after this point. I was rapidly trying to jump passed the dropping riders, and just as the tail end of the leaving lead group of 30 or so was in sight, the riders on the back of the bunch also started going backwards which left me only just unable to not make it across. It was only about 10km from here to the finish though so I carried on chasing hard in a smaller group of about 10 guys, losing just over a minute to the winner. The main thing was though that I kept my Jersey for going into the final stage, but was still 24th on GC (General Classification) and the 10th Under 23.
In order for us to know where abouts the two sprints of each stage were, when there was a climb coming up, or where the feed station/finish is we all start with the km's to each item written on paper and taped over on our stems - as our memories are unfortunately not quite up to the task...
The weather gave up being nice for the third stage though - with on off rain and the temperature (after being above 20 on the first stage) dropping to below 10. My lead in the Jersey would be locked in if I won the first sprint on this final stage though, so that's what we set out to do. And as a great team effort, we succeeded in style. The guys did a great job of riding at, and controlling the front of the race right up to the sprint marker at 31.5km which secured it so that we wouldn't have to worry about the second sprint later in the stage. The rest of the race just became a battle of attrition from then on, with numerous guys getting shelled on each climb and crosswind section. I stayed up in the front few on the remainder of the climbs though to make sure I stayed in the cut. On the final climb, Novie and I were the only two left in the group and he wanted to have a go at getting away over the last climb to take the stage win. He and a group of about 8 created a gap to the top, and I also had a go at getting across to him with one other rider, but in the end we, and his group, were swallowed up by the dwindled bunch going into the final decent to the finish. This took place down a fast and windy road before taking a sharp left hand corner up a steep 300m rise to the line - all in the now pouring rain. Novie rode in perfectly to take out the bunch sprint, but there were unfortunately 2 riders still up the road so he had to settle for 3rd. The smaller group again of the day meant I also moved back past some of the other riders up to 15th place on GC and 7th Under 23, to go with my Jersey, to round the tour off nicely.
The Podium after the final stage with the awarded Jerseys and final stage winner.
After another few days back at the base in Blauberg, we have just flown to Ireland, gearing up for the AnPost Ras - the 8 day UCI 2.2 tour round Ireland which kicks off on Sunday. I'm really looking forward to getting underway, and with the way my, and the rest of the team's, form has been coming up, coupled with some potato fuel, we should be able to be pretty strong contenders for some results (especially if we can track down one of those 4 leafed clovers...). Info on the 1247km race can be found here, for those of you that are interested: AnPost Ras - Race Route (click here)
I'll let you know how we get on!
Contact me by email at: aaron.gate@gmail.com