Bever Kermesse

Yesterday me and Novie drove just over an hour with Stuey to a Kermesse on the other side of Gent. Super hot day, up over 25 degrees easy! 240 starters, quite possibly the best field of riders I have seen at a Kermesse in Belgium. 13 laps of a course just over 8km.

The organisers of the race were hopeless, race was delayed 15mins and no one knew which way we were even going... Haha. Novie and I rolled up to the line as it looked like everyone was there, we had 2mins to go and were on the front of the grid, perfect timing, by fluke... I followed a few riders, jumped in the first move of the race, got about 10 seconds but it got pulled back pretty quickly. Legs felt terrrrrrrrrible, so bad I was almost getting dropped on the uphill section of the course!

Slowly rode myself into the race, felt OK after about 80km and that was as good as the legs got... Was a pretty hard circuit, ended up doing over 600m of climbing in 116km, which in Belgium for a Kermesse is quite a lot! There was a group of around 14 riders that was away, but got pulled back with just over a lap to go. Then it seemed 4 riders attacked as soon as the other group went back into the peloton. With 1 lap to go Novie was about 30 wheels in front of me, so I put myself into the position to help him, and rode hard up the side of the bunch and went straight past him and to the front. I sat 3rd wheel for about 4km of the last lap, slowly getting closer to the front group of 4.

We raced up a hill, there was a right hander with about 3km to go and up the hill Novie was on my wheel, but still around 20-30 seconds down on the front group! A few riders came around me, I jumped and hit the corner about 4th wheel and rolled out of it and passed the riders in front of me. I knew it was roughly 2km until the finish, and I didn't want to go to early, but no one else committed to pulling the group back, nor did they commit to take the lead of the race for their sprinter. Novie was sitting on me, telling me what to do. Ease, pick it up a bit, move right, full gas up the next rise, etc etc. I rode the front for the last 2km, trying not to go too hard then I went about 90% up a rise, 1km from the finish. After this I ramped it up a bit more then opened the throttle and went full gas with about 600m to go.

I took Novie until about 150m to go, where there was an S-bend before rolling over the finish line. Unfortunately we were about 5 seconds off the front 4, but Novie finished it off, winning the bunch sprint coming in 5th place. I was happy to help Novie and do what seemed to be a good strong lead out, delivering him nicely to the line, not bad for 2 riders amongst 240 others!

Had a good day on the bike today, 202km, officially my longest training ride I've ever done! Jumped in a bunch for roughly 90km, 60 odd km before the bunch and 50 after, pretty happy with it! Tomorrow we're off to Leuven to meet Cycling Photographer legend Graham Watson to take some snaps of the team. Looking forward to that!

Loving summer, hope NZ isn't getting too cold....

Sancho

ZLM

An hour drive up to the start of the race in Holland, arrived at 11am with the race start at 12.30pm. We had 5 starters, Aaron Gate, Tom David, Shane Archbold, Cam Karwowski and myself. We had 6 starts but the other rider decided not to race the morning of the race. Novie (Shane) had done this race 2 years ago, and after 60km there was 4-5 groups on the road and it was bloody windy. On Saturday, we were flippin lucky and there was virtually no wind.... Websites predicted 2mph, and on the start line there was sweet f all!

It seemed to be the smallest of the 3 nations cups so far, with Italy not even starting a team. The route was 180km, went through a number of small bike paths, over a 2km cobble/pave section, over a 3km bridge onto arandom island, and back over a 5km bridge, heaps of open and exposed sections, a pretty interesting course. Again I say it, these have been the dodgiest race's I've ever done, seems as everyone is nervous and on edge! Make's for a lot of heavy breaking in the peloton, pile ups, crashes, and plenty of abuse... So much so, there was a crash in the neutral section!

For the other nations cups I knew there was hills, cobbles, crosswinds that I had to be at the front for. With no wind and a super fast course, it seemed like nothing was going to stay away and I was relatively safe sitting at the back of the group, out of the chaos in the peloton. Over the first bridge across a big section of water, it was a cross wind, left to right, and surely enough it ended up in the gutter! 150 riders, single file... If one rider can't hold the wheel, could mean a huge split in the group, and race over for a number of riders! This did happen, but the bridge and crosswind section wasn't long enough for the split to be anymore than 5seconds. I sat pretty comfortably behind a rider who wasn't so good at riding in the gutter, giving me plenty of draft which meant I could save the legs a bit compared to those riders riding out in the wind making it hard for themselves!

Throughout the race not too much happened, there were some short sections where some teams tried to put it in the gutter but nothing much happened because there wasn't enough wind. The race was to finish with two virtually square 10km circuits, and when we hit the circuits it was still a bunch of 110 riders. We had all 5 guys there, and leader on the road was Novie with me 2nd in charge. With around 50km to go, Novie went back to the car to get some bottles and have a chat to Stu. He came back to me and said the roles had reversed as he wasn't feeling super (it was his first big race after coming off his Silver medal at the Track World Champs in the Omnium in Holland 3 weeks ago, pretty quick turn around!).

Leading into the finishing circuits I sat on Novie to get near the front, as we knew with 160km in the legs and a bit of crosswind, the front group could get much smaller. We rolled through the finish line with 20km to go, just 2 of the finishing circuits. The race turned right and into a cross wind. Slovenia and France were on the front of the bunch driving it, trying to split the bunch, and thats just what happened! With 15km to go, Novie put himself in the wind for around 1.5km and rode as hard as he could to move up the bunch, as we saw it splitting in front of us. He rode past 30-40 riders, bloody impressive! In front of him was a gap of 20-30meters, and he had just done a huge turn, with some quick thinking, he put his hand out behind him, grabbed me and slung me across the gap, I motored across, hardly having to pedal! Novie had a go to try and get onto the 40 odd riders in front of him but I was virtually the last rider to make the front group, with 15km to go.

I sat in the front group for the next 10km, legs feeling good and with a bit of research before the race, I knew who to follow if it came down to a bunch sprint, which it was going too..... Everyone was a bit twitchy in the last 5km, fighting for wheels, following their team mates, knowing the finish is only a few turns away... I was the sole Kiwi in the front group of around 40 riders, thanks to Novie I got there relatively fresh. With 2km to go, some dickhead in front of me must have overlapped the wheel or something, and decided to eat shit and taste the tarmac... Unfortunately for me, I had no where to go and went into the back of 6-8 riders, straight over the top. Not going to lie, I was pretty fu**ed off... Another crash. I landed on a rider so had no damage to me, but my chance at my first big result of the season was over...

Bottom 10cm of bar, gone.....

Got up off the ground, put my chain on, but by this time the bunch was well gone! I cruised into the finish in 48th, just over a minute down, with a broken handle bar - note to self, don't run carbon handle bars. Luke Rowe from Great Britain won the race, he won it 2 years ago and was one of the guys I would have been following in the last km.... Ah well, thats bike racing. Hopefully I'll get some luck my way soon, as I know the legs are coming along alright after 3 solid races in the space of 7 days.

This week I'm back into the training after a few easy days following ZLM. Kermesse tomorrow which I'll try get amongst, and off to Gent next week for a 3 day block on the track.

Lastly gotta say how mint the weather in Belg has been, clear blue skies, easily up to 25degrees today. Seems Spring is better than Summer! Loving training in it, even better racing in the warmth.

Ciao,

Sancho

U23 Tour of Flanders & Cote Picardie

Leading up to the race I was pretty happy, training was good. Did close to 6hours on Wednesday, 2 easier days then the race was on Saturday! Weather was mint, sunny and a bit of wind... 22-23degrees, couldn't ask for more at this time of the year! We woke up early on Saturday, drove 1.5hours to Oudenaarde which is where the race started and finished.

Race start was 12.30pm, we met other team mates Tom David and Wade Manhgam at the race, along with myself, Jason Christie, Cameron Karwowski and Tom Findlay. Chris (our mechanic) had built us up some awesome wheels, 32spoke Mavic Reflex with Ultegra hubs.... Bullet proof. We had 17 climbs, 7 cobble sections and 3 cobbled climbs. Most normal wheels wouldn't be able to withstand the big cobbles in Belgium we were about to race over! In saying that, we missed the worst of the cobbles and the cobbled climbs that the Pro's raced over the weekend before!

The Molenberg, one of many hills in the race.

Race started, right from the go it was dodgy. Everyone was very twitchy, eager and wanting to be at the front. Before the first cobble at 11km, there was a huge stack! We knew where the 1st section was, I was 2nd rider into the cobbles behind an Italian.

First cobble section, 3km long, 1 Italian in front and 4 behind me!

Throughout the race I was happy with my positioning. Was first in the bunch up a number of the climbs. A group of 6 riders were off the front, but theynever got more than 2 and a half minutes. At 105km there was a feed station, flat, fast, 40-45kmh.

The Eikenberg

A stupid Mexican rider grabbed his feed bag and put it through his own front wheel, taking me and him down! I was pretty pissed off... I hit the deck hard, landed on my hip and had graze's on my hip, elbow and hand.

I said a few words to the Mexican, put my bike on top of the car and went to the finishing circuits to get cleaned up. Race over, but shit happens... Tom David and Tom Findlay rode well, with Tom David coming in 12th, andFindlay around 30th. It was a hard day out for all but it seemed we all enjoyed the experience and learnt a lot.

Had a few nightswhere sleep wasa bit difficult, a few days for the body to recover and prepare for the next Nations Cup race in France - La Cote Picardie. Drove 4hours to the region, North West of France on Tuesday. Arrived mid afternoon, got on our bikes and rode 2 laps of the finishing circuits. Was a pretty hard wee circuit, 2x 1.5km climbs with a couple of open/exposed flat sections. We stayed in a nice little French motel about 8km from the finishing circuits. Typical French dinner, baguette's, soup, then rice, pasta, a bit of tomato sauce and a small piece of steak.

The race went very close to the coast in some sections

Up the next morning for brekky, baguette with ham and cheese, muesli with fruit and yoghurt - tops. Drove anhour to the start of the race, pretty fresh day which never really warmed up! We had about 140k with a few short climbs, plenty of flat, open exposed roads and through heaps of little French Towns.

Course Route

The race rolled out at 12.45, and was scheduled for around 4hours 15mins to do the 176km race. We knew the wind direction and where some important crosswind sections in the race that could blow the race apart, and it happened sooner than we thought!

After 30mins of racing it was a dirty cross wind and everyone was in the right handgutter... Just as it was happening I jumped behind a big Latvian who took meclose to the front 40 riders, good timing! In front of me was around 30 riders in an echelon, then we started another echelon with 20 or so riders and dropped more than halfof the bunch behind us, and rode across to the front group... I almost thought it was race over to be honest! Only Tom Findlay and me were in the front group, we had roughly 20-30seconds on the 2nd half of the bunch behind us and it wasn't coming down... For a while I thought our group would stay away for whole race but after about 10km and 3-4 echelons on the road the bunch was back together again.

The bunch together

The wind for the rest of the race unfortunately wasn't strong enough to break up the bunch again. Around the 70km mark there was due to be some crosswinds, Cam, Tom Findlay, Wade and myself were all on the front and started rolling and putting it in the gutter, (wish we had some more pictures but can't find any!) but the wind wasn't strong enough and turned into a bit of a head cross wind. We rolled for about 10km but decided not much was happening and it was a bit of a waste of energy...

Just before we rolled the front.

Throughout the race there were plenty of crashes, I don't know what it is about these nations cups but they are some of the dodgiest races I've ever done!

Trying to stay at the front, fighting for position.

Quite possibly the dodgiest moment was when Tom Findlay, my own team mate, locked up, his back wheel came about 15cm off the ground and I veered off into the grass for about 200m trying to hold it up! Haha lucky he didn't take me down, my superior bike handling skills saved the day (not like at Flanders... eeek).

A group was away for most of the race but like in Flanders they never got anymore than 2-3minutes. As we got closer to the finishing circuits I tried to help a few of the other boys where I could. Realistically at the moment, coming off my broken collarbone a few months ago, I don't think I would make the front group at the end of 176km with 4 climbs in the last 35km, so when Wade and Tom Findlay asked me to take them to the front, I was more than happy to ride out in the wind for 1-2km to get them to the front, as cycling is as much a team sport as an individual sport. We know Findlay has good form at the moment, and always feel good to be part of a team that gets a good result.

We hit the finishing circuits, 2x18km laps in a bunch of around 130 riders. Down the finishing straight, a right hander and into a 1.5km hill. By this point my legs were pretty fatigued, and slowly got dropped up the hill and formed a group of around 10 riders to ride the last 30km with. I wanted to just finish the race so I could get some warm clothes on, felt like it dropped 3-5degrees in the last hour! Was around 11 degrees at the finish line... Brrr.

Sounds like the group got smaller on the last 2 laps, down to 50 riders, and the French rode the front for the last 5km and delivered one of their boys to the line to take the win on home soil, always nice. Findlay finished in the front group at 28th, with Tom David also in the front group rolling over the line in 45th. I finished in a small group around 12minutes down. To be honest I was happy to not crash, and actually finish a hard race and get the km's in the legs!

Next up is the next U23 Nations Cup, ZLM in Holland this Saturday. And after that will be a few easier days to let the body recover and get going again leading into some tours in May.

Sancho

First race down

Well first race in Belgium for us yesterday, a 111km Kermesse in Otergem. Was about an hours drive away, but the only race on that day and we need some racing in our legs before the U23 Nations Cups start next week - first one is U23 Tour of Flanders on Saturday 9th April (6 days).

Always a bit nervous for your first race of the season, a bit unsure how race form is and how you'll get through the race! There was 267 starters, the sun was out and there was a bit of wind. Pace was on from the start, 19 laps, around 6km a lap, 3 short hills - 1 cobbled, and a bit of crosswind. Long story short, the break went, Cam ended up in the 2nd group and I was in the main bunch which was behind Cam. Happy to get through the first race, the last 2 years in Belgium I haven't finished my first 2-3 races so I'm in a better place than 09' and 10'. I'm lighter, stronger, eating better and training better.

I'm looking forward to the season here, starting with our first big race, U23 Tour of Flanders. 170km over a number of cobbled climbs and a lot of the same course as the ProTour, Tour of Flanders which was on today, we watched it on TV, was an awesome race! Looking forward to it, learning and hopefully coming off the Nations Cups with some good race legs.

Course profile for U23 Flanders, 17 climbs eeek

Ciao