Hey all,
Sorry not to have updated sooner, but I haven't had time to sit and write this for a while!!
Stage 3 of the Ras de Cymru was a tough 20 mile circuit that we covered 3 times, including one brutal climb that kicked to 20% at the top. The weather was awful with rain for the first 50 miles of the race, which made the long fast descent a bit tricky. The race started fast and I tried to stay up near the front and managed to stay with the main group after the first ascent of the hill. A 4 man breakaway soon went up the road and quickly established a solid lead over the main field, despite the hard work being done by the strong teams at the front. Second time up the climb I got distanced by about 200 metres at the top and had to use everything I had to get back on and work my way through the cars to the back of the peleton, luckily when descending on your own you can afford to take more risks and they paid off as I reached the rear of the bunch just as it flattened out, we then went full gas for the next 3-4 miles and I was really blowing, and knew I needed to recover before the final time up the climb... I couldn't, I got shot out the back and soon found myself in a 7-man chaingang of riders, we pushed so hard and in the last half hour of the race, I dug deeper than ever before and we managed to limit our losses to the fast moving bunch to under 1m30, a bloody good effort considering how 'on the limit' we all were! The stage was won by the breakaway, and Alex Peters of Eastern Region took the win, Mike and Henry managed to finish at the back of the main bunch so moved up to 42 and 47 respectively on the GC, I however had dropped to 54th, and the team were in 15th after stage 3. We hoped to make up some time with a good Team Time Trial in the afternoon.
The TTT was awful... We finished 2 minutes down on the winners, and all dropped places in the GC.
Stage 5 was the place to make up time on a tough hilly place to place course, it started with a long drag that never seemed to end, and at one point I found myself in a front group of about 20 riders and we had opened up a gap, however the chasing group caught us on the flat and the race came back together. The high pace though meant that riders were being shot out the back the whole way up the long climb. I felt good and fairly comfortable in the front group. A large break soon went up the road and pulled out around 2 minutes, the bunch contained defending champion Mike Smith of Team Corley. Adeo Cadence worked hard pulling the bunch along at a fast rate to look after the interests of Tavis Walker, however the break maintained their gap over the rest of the course, even though along a 10 mile stretch of flat dual carriageway, the bunch didn't slow much below 30mph for the whole stretch of road. We soon jumped off the DC and before long we were on the final run in and at the foot of the sharp climb to the finish, I was near the front and when Liam Stones of Corley Cycles attacked, I followed his wheel, but he was too strong and halfway up the climb I slipped backwards, and managed to finish just at the back of the front group. A succesful day in the saddle with Mike and Henry working hard to stay in the front group too, we jumped several teams in the Team GC and moved to 11th, we were all ecstatic. We all moved up in the GC too, I moved to 43rd and Henry/Mike were joint 38th on the exact same time after 5 stages!
Finally we had reached the last day of the race, stage 6 was a flattish course for most of the day with a long 4 mile climb to the finish. Nothing much happened in the run up to the foot of the mountain, although Nick Hinze had a breakthrough and found himself attacking off the front at one point, great to see him up there having suffered in the previous days. We hit the climb at pace and the sharp kick at the bottom split the group right up, I tried to stay in the wheel of Mike Betts, but he proved too strong and halfway up I cracked... ended up rolling in 55th on the day, with Nick Hinze doing a storming ride to finish ahead of me. We ended up consolidating 11th place on team GC, a great success. I finished 41st, Henry P 36th and Mike 32nd. Nick managed to move up to 79th, a respectable placing having worked his ass off for 5 days! Chapeau everyone. The stage was won by Mike Smith, who in turn took the General Classification for the 2nd year running!! Well done Mike. Brennan Townshend ended up 2nd, a great race from a young rider, definately a name to look for in the future. Third place went to Gruff Lewis. Adeo Cadence took the team standings, deservedly so, having ridden at the front for most of the 5 days.
All 4 Zappi riders left the race feeling happy with how we'd done, and raring to get back next year stronger and faster, ready to contend the GC and stage wins!
When I got back from the Ras I rested for a couple of days then did a 10 mile TT on the Wednesday, not a good idea. The position was all wrong on my new Cervelo P3, horridly uncomfortable... This coupled with my legs still feeling heavy meant I was over a minute down on my course best on the F11/10, only managing 21.38. Not a bad time, but I was bitterly dissapointed as I was hoping to get close to 19 minutes. Nevermind.
Yesterday I raced at Portsmouth, broke away multiple times, never stayed away, felt super strong and ended up taking 6th in the sprint. Today was a very wet 11.4 mile hilly time trial and I did no warm up, just sat in the car until my number was called! Managed to take the win by 1 second... not too bad!!
Next up is the H10/17R 10 mile TT on Saturday, followed by the Bath RC Junior Road Race as part of the national series on Sunday.
Until next time.
Ciao.
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