Belgium the road so far…
I have been in Belgium for nearly 4 weeks now and it’s fair to say I have had a great time so far. My first race was Gooik which was a 120km Kermess with 170 starters. I figured with this race I had nothing to lose with very little expectation coming from my team being my first race and being a first year senior. I decided to attack early on in the race trying to see if I could get in the winning break away, it turned out I did, but unfortunately got dropped from that group pretty swiftly paying for the earlier efforts. From then I decided to try and recover and see if I could go again. However, this took longer than I was expecting as these Belgians seem to do a full on sprint out of every corner! If you did not know already, my sprint isn’t exactly my strong point. I tried to move up the bunch to try and clip off the front in the closing laps but with the strong winds and the bunch being lined out it was near impossible. This was my first lesson of racing over here. Always ride in the top 40!! I finished the race comfortably in the bunch 93rd not the most spectacular result mind but it was a bench mark and I rode a reasonably aggressive race.
The following Saturday I raced in Lierde. My team manager organised this race so it was fair to say the riders in the team were under some pressure. It was the most technical course I think I have rode so far; with almost 90 degree turns at the end of a fast decent on twisty windy roads. There were also 2 climbs each lap. I road a relatively decent race, i attacked early on trying to clip off the front but nothing prevailed then as I was recuperating in the bunch a break went of 20 riders. When I realised this I attacked the bunch and got away with four other riders, one being my team mate. I was on the rivet, unfortunately we brought 2 Cibel riders with us who already had men up the road so were reluctant to work. The move didn’t pay off and after being reeled back in I was called to the front by my team mates to organise the chase. We had left this too late and were unsuccessful in our attempt to bring the break back which wasn’t the greatest. We had the peloton lined out behind us coming into the final laps which meant I was really well placed with 3 km to go. Unfortunately I made a rookie error on one of the technical bends where I lost around 20 wheels. Trying to get to the front in the final few ks is near impossible and I crossed the line in 61st out of 162 starters. For me this race was a Should’ve, would’ve could’ve but in the end I didn’t. I performed well in the race but unfortunately didn’t get the result to go with it which is disappointing. However, I really enjoyed the race! It was also another learning curve.
Then onto the following weekend.
Saturday at Meulebeke. The course was really quite technical and not feeling well the days coming up to it meant I entered the race with a negative head. It was a really disappointing performance really. I lost a wheel going into a bend which meant I struggled to slot back into the peloton and was playing yoyo for a bit with the main group. Anyway moving onto the next day In Haringe. Being frustrated from the day previous efforts I was determined to race this race and race it well. I got an early bed the night before and I gave myself a real slap over the head. So I lined up for the start line on a coldish and really windy day, like Meulebeke, feeling slightly recovered but not 100% and we were off. I was riding consistently in the top 20 which is really good on the small open roads, I was in a prime position. However, I took a bend super-fast and I felt my rear wheel stutter, then I realised the skewer had come loose. You won’t believe this but it actually came loose!!!! So I stopped tightened up the skewer and attempted to chase back on. I knew getting back on was near impossible as the place where I stopped the bunch were doing 56km an hour. But I got painfully close, I could see the following car 20m in front and I ripped myself inside out. What I didn’t realise is, in the time I was chasing on, the peloton had become shredded to pieces. I rode straight past this bunch of people and they all jumped on my wheel. At this point I wasn’t bothered about coming 65th or 92nd I wanted a good race and a work out now. So I rode the front, picking up people who had been dropped all the time. Eventually we had a bunch of around 20 lined out on my wheel. I didn’t realise this but if you get over 2 mins behind the lead bunch you get pulled out. So we got pulled out, this still counts as a finish in Belgium. Although I don’t count it. I finished the race 56th in the end, I didn’t realise we were sprinting for places! There is a lot to be learned from that weekend and it was a weekend I will never forget. To me it was a weekend when the races were polar opposites. I still feel I did not make up for Meulebeke. But I gave it a good go. The skewer has now been removed and binned, when I was cleaning my bike after the race the wheel fell out again!!
On Sunday I raced Merelbeke, this was by far the best race I have ever rode, regardless of the result. In general I have been racing tired as all I’m thinking is of the bigger picture. However, I rested for Merelbeke. I was flying!! I spent the early laps flying off the front, I felt so good! In this race I spent most of my time flying off the front alongside my team mates. I was also off the front solo at one point but it was far too windy to sustain and was reeled back in. My team mates were also flying off the front. We were trying to have at least one of us in the break so we could sit back and block the bunch chasing. Unfortunately our efforts worked against us. A group of 19 went off the front which turned out not to have any of our team in (which we didn’t realise until last minute) went they had got maybe around a 2 minute gap or something like that? Then I was called to the front to do my part for the team. I absolutely leathered myself. Hit my highest ever heart rate and managed to get the gap down to 20 secs with the help of 5 team mates. So 5 of us nearly brought back 19 people. But it was too little too late! as we got to the last few kms they were away and Astana kept on blocking our chasing train. So it was all down to the sprint for 20th. I was cream crackered by this point! But I managed to find something. I was in the top 20 riders following the Astana train then all of a sudden they slammed on their breaks and I did an endo and nearly crashed in the last km. I ended up carrying on sprinting and clawing my way back to 61st out of 145 so 42nd in the bunch sprint considering I started from a dead stop. I hit 37 mph in my sprint. The whole race was 120km and had an average speed of 44.29km/h. Pretty mental. All in all not the result I want however was a cracking race.
Again as I said not the result I wanted but there has clearly been an improvement since I got here.
Tomorrow I’m racing Erpe Mere, a hilly race which I will be racing tired. Despite that I have a good feeling about tomorrow.
That’s about all the news! Sorry to bore you haha!!
Thank you, My Protein, Cycling Time Trials, The Jeremy Willson Chariatable Trust and everybody else who has made racing in Belgium possible!
Bye for now,
Ben
I have been in Belgium for nearly 4 weeks now and it’s fair to say I have had a great time so far. My first race was Gooik which was a 120km Kermess with 170 starters. I figured with this race I had nothing to lose with very little expectation coming from my team being my first race and being a first year senior. I decided to attack early on in the race trying to see if I could get in the winning break away, it turned out I did, but unfortunately got dropped from that group pretty swiftly paying for the earlier efforts. From then I decided to try and recover and see if I could go again. However, this took longer than I was expecting as these Belgians seem to do a full on sprint out of every corner! If you did not know already, my sprint isn’t exactly my strong point. I tried to move up the bunch to try and clip off the front in the closing laps but with the strong winds and the bunch being lined out it was near impossible. This was my first lesson of racing over here. Always ride in the top 40!! I finished the race comfortably in the bunch 93rd not the most spectacular result mind but it was a bench mark and I rode a reasonably aggressive race.
The following Saturday I raced in Lierde. My team manager organised this race so it was fair to say the riders in the team were under some pressure. It was the most technical course I think I have rode so far; with almost 90 degree turns at the end of a fast decent on twisty windy roads. There were also 2 climbs each lap. I road a relatively decent race, i attacked early on trying to clip off the front but nothing prevailed then as I was recuperating in the bunch a break went of 20 riders. When I realised this I attacked the bunch and got away with four other riders, one being my team mate. I was on the rivet, unfortunately we brought 2 Cibel riders with us who already had men up the road so were reluctant to work. The move didn’t pay off and after being reeled back in I was called to the front by my team mates to organise the chase. We had left this too late and were unsuccessful in our attempt to bring the break back which wasn’t the greatest. We had the peloton lined out behind us coming into the final laps which meant I was really well placed with 3 km to go. Unfortunately I made a rookie error on one of the technical bends where I lost around 20 wheels. Trying to get to the front in the final few ks is near impossible and I crossed the line in 61st out of 162 starters. For me this race was a Should’ve, would’ve could’ve but in the end I didn’t. I performed well in the race but unfortunately didn’t get the result to go with it which is disappointing. However, I really enjoyed the race! It was also another learning curve.
Then onto the following weekend.
Saturday at Meulebeke. The course was really quite technical and not feeling well the days coming up to it meant I entered the race with a negative head. It was a really disappointing performance really. I lost a wheel going into a bend which meant I struggled to slot back into the peloton and was playing yoyo for a bit with the main group. Anyway moving onto the next day In Haringe. Being frustrated from the day previous efforts I was determined to race this race and race it well. I got an early bed the night before and I gave myself a real slap over the head. So I lined up for the start line on a coldish and really windy day, like Meulebeke, feeling slightly recovered but not 100% and we were off. I was riding consistently in the top 20 which is really good on the small open roads, I was in a prime position. However, I took a bend super-fast and I felt my rear wheel stutter, then I realised the skewer had come loose. You won’t believe this but it actually came loose!!!! So I stopped tightened up the skewer and attempted to chase back on. I knew getting back on was near impossible as the place where I stopped the bunch were doing 56km an hour. But I got painfully close, I could see the following car 20m in front and I ripped myself inside out. What I didn’t realise is, in the time I was chasing on, the peloton had become shredded to pieces. I rode straight past this bunch of people and they all jumped on my wheel. At this point I wasn’t bothered about coming 65th or 92nd I wanted a good race and a work out now. So I rode the front, picking up people who had been dropped all the time. Eventually we had a bunch of around 20 lined out on my wheel. I didn’t realise this but if you get over 2 mins behind the lead bunch you get pulled out. So we got pulled out, this still counts as a finish in Belgium. Although I don’t count it. I finished the race 56th in the end, I didn’t realise we were sprinting for places! There is a lot to be learned from that weekend and it was a weekend I will never forget. To me it was a weekend when the races were polar opposites. I still feel I did not make up for Meulebeke. But I gave it a good go. The skewer has now been removed and binned, when I was cleaning my bike after the race the wheel fell out again!!
On Sunday I raced Merelbeke, this was by far the best race I have ever rode, regardless of the result. In general I have been racing tired as all I’m thinking is of the bigger picture. However, I rested for Merelbeke. I was flying!! I spent the early laps flying off the front, I felt so good! In this race I spent most of my time flying off the front alongside my team mates. I was also off the front solo at one point but it was far too windy to sustain and was reeled back in. My team mates were also flying off the front. We were trying to have at least one of us in the break so we could sit back and block the bunch chasing. Unfortunately our efforts worked against us. A group of 19 went off the front which turned out not to have any of our team in (which we didn’t realise until last minute) went they had got maybe around a 2 minute gap or something like that? Then I was called to the front to do my part for the team. I absolutely leathered myself. Hit my highest ever heart rate and managed to get the gap down to 20 secs with the help of 5 team mates. So 5 of us nearly brought back 19 people. But it was too little too late! as we got to the last few kms they were away and Astana kept on blocking our chasing train. So it was all down to the sprint for 20th. I was cream crackered by this point! But I managed to find something. I was in the top 20 riders following the Astana train then all of a sudden they slammed on their breaks and I did an endo and nearly crashed in the last km. I ended up carrying on sprinting and clawing my way back to 61st out of 145 so 42nd in the bunch sprint considering I started from a dead stop. I hit 37 mph in my sprint. The whole race was 120km and had an average speed of 44.29km/h. Pretty mental. All in all not the result I want however was a cracking race.
Again as I said not the result I wanted but there has clearly been an improvement since I got here.
Tomorrow I’m racing Erpe Mere, a hilly race which I will be racing tired. Despite that I have a good feeling about tomorrow.
That’s about all the news! Sorry to bore you haha!!
Thank you, My Protein, Cycling Time Trials, The Jeremy Willson Chariatable Trust and everybody else who has made racing in Belgium possible!
Bye for now,
Ben