discovering Life on the continent
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5/28/2021 0 Comments Back to "Normality" Finally after what felt like a lifetime I was back on the start list of a race! At the start of May, having not raced since September 2020, I was told I was finally going to be starting another race. Although this race wasn't on the terrain in which I excel in I was just excited to be able to get back into a racing mindset and test myself on the course of the Classique des Alpes UCI 1.1 However before going head first into a race of this calibre, the team organised a 5 day training camp in Pressins, a small town just on the edge of the French Alps. The aim of the training camp was to prepare for the race, and so we kicked off the camp with a recce of the races key features. This was a necessary part of preparation for me as since my crash id be lying if i said my confidence hadn't been knocked in the descents and with the lack of descents in Charente Maritime it was great to get back to grips with them and really fight that mental block that i was suffering from! It was also a great indicator of my form coming into the race, as I was still not quick back to the form I had back in February on the training camp in Spain. I was happy with progress I have made but I'm still not quite where i would like to be but that extra bit should come once i get some proper racing in the legs! After 19h, just under 600km 9000m climbing in 5 days I headed back to Jonzac to do my final preparations for the race. After the camp its fair to say I was pretty tired but with just one more hard week before, a bit of an easier week I cracked on and got it done. Amongst all the training, I took the trip up to La Rochelle with fellow Brit and former teammate Charlie Paige. We finally managed to get our residency permits sorted meaning we are now able to be residents of France for at least the next 5 years! As the race crept closer it is fair to say my nerves started to kick in! I'm normally not one to get nervous but with so long away from racing and it being not just my first junior race but also my first UCI race it was hard not to feel some kind of nerves. As you can see from the elevation map below it was set to be a tough day out! 130km with 2600m of climbing it was never going to be easy. However, we had a strong team and the teams riders have a great history with the race as in 2019, it was won by Valentin Paret-Peintre , who was also 2nd in 2018. In 2016, Nicolas Malle won a few months before becoming European champion. Then we had Simon Gugliemi 2nd in 2015, David Gaudu 2nd in 2014, Nans Peters 2nd in 2012 and last but not least Pierre-Henri Le Cuisinier , 3rd in 2011. Finally, on the day of the race, we had briefing in the morning just before heading to the start. I was assigned the role of road captain meaning I would control my team mates and put them in the right places at the right times or go back to the car to get food if needed etc... that being said I was also given the opportunity to go in the early breakaway if I was able to. After the neutral zone ended I went on the offensive and ended up splitting the peloton into 4 groups coming off a little descent although with no one willing to work with me it eventually came back together at which point I was counter attacked. I managed to just get onto the back of this move but as the rider in front of me slowly lost the wheel on a little rise I was unable to make the effort to get round and close the gap due to my previous efforts. That was the days break gone, consisting of roughly 8 guys who quickly got a big advantage. I had a few more attempts to bridge across but was instantly shut down by the Auto-Eder team which went onto get 1st and 2nd in the race. Just 10km before the first climb is where things started to go wrong for me, I suffered a mechanical on the big main road leading to the mountains. After a hard chase back on I regained contact with the peloton at which point I brought my team to the first quarter of peloton so that we were well positioned ahead of the first climb where as happens each year the peloton explodes and there are riders all over the road, this year was no different! Although, My race ended just before here. As we came into the final bend through the town, we took a right hand corner only to be greeted by a parked car on the exit that was not being signalled by marshals and this resulted in the rider in front hitting it and me following along with many others behind. I managed to get back on and out of the chaos at which point I noticed my Di2 no longer was working and I was stuck in my hardest gear. Once the cars finally got past the crash I changed bikes but was too far behind at this point to get back to the peloton and ended my race at the bottom of the Mont du Chat 2 hours 30 into the race. Its unfortunate but I did my job for the team and we were able to get 11th in the end. Not what we came for but a good result nonetheless. Thank you to all the staff for providing us with such great opportunities and to @gussevphoto for capturing us in motion!
I'd also like to thank Pedal Potential for their continued support!
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