discovering Life on the continent
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8/30/2021 0 Comments Monthly Round Up - AugustAnd just like that I am back in France! After spending some well needed time with my family in July I returned to France at the start of August to start the second half of my season over here and what a program I have for my final few months in the Junior category! Desperate to get back racing as soon as possible I headed to the Auvergne region for a small "racing holiday." We spent 4 days there and took part in two races. The first of which being a shock to the system for me after being in the UK I think the heat really got to me and I ended up 7th and 2nd Junior behind my house/team mate who ended up 6th. The second race however went a lot better, with a little less heat, a technical circuit and a bit of racing already in the legs from the days before I was ready for this one. I took my time at the start of the 45 lap race letting a breakaway go, but soon realised it was more dangerous than I anticipated. I made the bridge across to them solo and from there on in we gained time each lap on the peloton and eventually ended up taking a lap on them! In the end I managed to take the win and along with it all the primes which I was happy with! From the Auvergne I headed to Bretagne for La Ronde des Vallees UCI 2.1. After a big midweek training block, including various tests, The race was always going to be a tough two days for me! However, I didn't let this bother me and raced my bike the way I enjoy most, riding on the offensive. After the first KOM sprint a small group of 3 managed to chip of the front and once the peloton gave up their chase I instantly hit it and got across to them. For the next 80km the gap between us and the peloton fluctuated from 2.5 minutes to just 20 seconds until we were eventually caught by a counter attack and moments later a diminished peloton. I was unable to go with the counter attack and neither were my breakaway companions but after picking up 3 of the 4 green jersey sprints of the day I was happy with that and waited for the bunch sprint as I had no cards left to play! In the end the counter attack was never brought back and so it ended in a bunch sprint for 5th in the peloton. Joe Kiely did a great job of getting me placed and I ended 5th from the peloton and 9th overall. All in all not a bad day out but day 2 was still to come and I was really feeling the fatigue from the efforts I had already done earlier in the week. Day 2 consisted of a 12km TT in the morning and another 100km stage in the afternoon. After a terrible start to my day in the TT ending up 52nd I knew my legs were suffering. With this being the case I re thought m goals for the stage and in the early parts focused on retaining my lead in the Sprints classification which I managed to do with a little help, once again, from Joe! However, around 15km from the final circuit on a steep climb the peloton split massively and a group of roughly 30 riders got away and from then on we were racing for the minor places. My legs were not in a good way, but I pushed through and with 2 laps of the final circuit to go I attacked off the peloton and caught a small group of riders that had got dropped from the front group. I was followed by another five riders and we rode until the finish together. I managed to win the sprint from this group and ended up 27th on the stage, 31st on GC and won the Sprints Classification. The results may not look good on paper but it gave me great confidence seeing how little I was lacking to be at the top in UCI races even after such a tough lead up to the race! As you may have noticed from the previous images I wasn't riding in either of my usual colours of VC Saintais or AG2R Citroen U19 team. I was in fact riding for U.V.C Charleville Mezieres (the club of Joe). They saw that I had nothing lined up for the weekend and kindly offered me and Yanis the opportunity to race in their colours for the weekend! As well as this race I was also offered a place on the team for the next weekend at La Boucles de L'oise. La Boucles de l'oise is not a UCI race but is still one of the most well known junior races in France and has in the past been won by some of the best current u23 riders out there. Situated in Hauts-de-France there was sure to be some tough racing with strong crosswinds and short steep climbs on the cards. Similar to the previous weekend it was a three stage race with a 112km race Saturday and both a 16km TT and a 90km road race the Sunday. After last weekends performance my confidence was really high heading into the first stage. I knew I had to ride with my head. After looking at the results from the past years they all followed a similar pattern and so I planned my race to this pattern. At the start of the race I got in the first breakaway which unfortunately ended up coming back. I then sat tight in the peloton, positioned well and ready to go when I thought best. heading into the final lap of three I started to line it out in the crosswinds and put some fatigue into the legs of the others. On the exit of the finish town Joe made his move and took a dutch rider from the team Willebrord wil vooruit with him. I sat attentive and then followed the next move that went including another Willebrord rider and an Acrog Tormans rider. It was the perfect situation as we were just heading into the fast tailwind section of the race and the three main teams were represented in the breakaway! I made the decision not to ride with the two others who were trying to bridge across as Joe was already in the front I was able to save a little energy. Once the junction was made it was full gas to the finish. Although the legs not feeling the best at the start of the race once we got to the final stretch of crosswinds 5km from the finish I quickly saw along with Joe that the others had burnt too many matches and we were the strongest. The Willebrord guys tried to attack and I went with him leaving Joe with the two others behind. We rode and as we reached the Flamme Rouge Joe had managed to get rid of the two others and went long. I ended up taking the win and Joe came in 2nd Outfoxing the Willebrord riders and dropping the Acrog rider in the final Kilometres! With the Stage win I of course took the Overall lead in the race heading into the TT the next day. Unfortunately I never got to race in the leaders jersey as I lost the race lead in the TT and slipped down the table to 5th place. It was disappointing but not a surprise with the TT not being my strong point. Heading into the third and final stage we had Joe in 2nd place on GC just 3 seconds off the lead! The aim was of course to bring this back and take the overall win but we were overpowered by the strength in depth of Willebrord team who were not letting anything go up the road, until at one moment in the race we managed to catch them off guard and kicked out of a corner into the crosswinds and split the peloton in two. Race leader and 3 of his team mates were isolated in the group behind but it all ended up coming back together as we headed into the final circuit. Despite our best efforts the race overall looked to be decided until Joe attacked with 1km to go with a suicide move. it Looked to be sticking as I continued to disrupt the chase but as the sprint opened up the false flat descent meant the peloton had too much speed and he was swept up with 50m to go at which point I came of the the wheel and opened up my sprint and managed to somehow take my second win from 3 stages!! Honestly, I thought it was too late, so to be able to get around to take the win in the last 50m was insane and such a good feeling to pull it off again! Despite the win, I cant say I wasn't gutted for Joe, missing out by such a small margin is tough and I could tell he had left everything on the road but it just wasn't to be! It was a pleasure to ride with such a good team mate for these two weekends, its just a shame he couldn't pull of what he deserved! Nonetheless it was a great 2 weeks with the team and I am great full for them giving me the opportunity to race for them! Since the race I have managed to have a little holiday on the ile d'oleron amongst my final preparations for the last racing block of my season! It brought back memories from my first ever training camp with AG2R Citroen U19 Team when we prepared for the 2019/20 CX season on the beaches of the ile ! End of Season Calendar
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