This week has finally brough about the much anticipated Ras de Cymru 2011, promoted by Cadence Cycle Racing. I was coming into the race on the back of some good form, having smashed my 10 mile TT pb with 20:36, winning the sprint at the MK Bowl, and riding hard and fast in the Stratford CC Road Race. I felt strong and was aiming to finish in the top half of overall GC, with it being my first stage race.
The Zappi's team consisted of Mike Betts, Henry Peacock, Nick Hinze, and me Henry Latimer. We arrived into a wet, overcast Wales early on Wednesday morning for the race briefing before the prologue TT in the afternoon feeling motivated, strong and raring to go!! The prologue was a hilly 6.9k course with a 1km climb to the finish. The early pace was set by Tavis Walker of Adeo Cadence RT with a rapid time of 11:31, which we later found out would stand as the winning time for the day, conditions began to worsen as the Zappi's start times were looming and the rain began to come down, nevertheless we all recorded respectable times, Nick Hinze coming in 83rd of 102, in a time of 13:29, Mike Betts taking 80th in 13:25, Henry Peacock snuck inside the top 50 with a time of 13:00, and I came 42nd in 12:54. Personally very happy with my start to the Ras, and hoping to come good as the race went on. Tavis Walker managed to gain 19 seconds on defending champion Mike Smith of Corley Cycles to take the yellow jersey going in to stage two.
Stage 2 was to be a 51 mile hilly road stage, starting in warm but overcast conditions, the race saw an early break of 5 gain 2 minutes on the main field, and despite the hardworking Adeo Cadence Road Team pulling the bunch along at over 30mph, the main field gained little time on the break and those 5 riders managed to stay away with Steve Calland of South Downs Bikes taking the win on the final climb to the finish by 5 seconds of Jamie Howard (Team South West), who in turn took the yellow jersey from Tavis Walker who rolled in with the main field, leaving him 1:39 off the pace in the General Classification. As for my ride, I felt strong in the race but stayed well hidden in the bunch, the race started quickly with the first 3 laps avergaing over 26mph, once it was clear the break had gone for good, the race became less frantic but the pace remained high, I rolled in with the main bunch over 2 minutes down on the stage winner, with Mike Betts riding a strong race finishing at the front of the main field, and Henry Peacock alongside me in the bunch. Nick Hinze had unfortunately lost contact with the race due to the frantic early pace setting by Adeo Cadence, and rolled in having ridden a 50 mile TT on his own, he managed to limit his losses by riding strongly and only losing 25 minutes on the main bunch. The results of todays stage mean that I am now sitting in 39th on GC, with Henry P in 45th, Mike in 62nd and Nick in 95th. The team have also moved up to 17th out of 27 on the team classification, which is currently being led by Team South West, closely followed by Corley Cycles.
Tomorrow sees us race another hilly road stage in the morning with a brutal climb in the middle, followed by a TTT in the afternoon, so it's time for bed now to rest up ready for a tough day tomorrow!!
Follow the results on the Cadence Cycle Racing website.
Ciao.
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