My first race of the season with the new team, was located in the Basque Country in Zumaia. Our team is based in Huesca, and with that being where I am living, this meant that over 3 hours of travelling in the car was needed, and with the race starting at 10am, we had to wake up at about 4am, to leave from Huesca at 5. So a very early departure. I managed to nap on the way and took some oats, an egg sandwich and some coffee which I had already prepared. So I managed to make the best of the situation, keeping my body as well-fuelled and rested as possible.
Once we got to the race, it was a case of some coffee, then being handed our numbers by our Director Sportif. We pinned them on ourselves, with many using standard jerseys, I opted for our really smart short-sleeved jerseys. Meanwhile, our transponders had already been put on our bikes. Then we got changed, all sat together, and discussed our race tactics, this I where I needed some of the Spanish which I had learned, although, they did their best to translate the instructions.
My job for the race was to look after Alexis, our team sprinter, and stay near our back-up sprinter, Raúl. I was to drill it up the final ‘repecho’ (short hill), then hand the duties over to fellow English teammate, Josh, where he would take it up on the descent, being one of our heaviest riders.
The race started with us doing several small laps of roughly a 2km circuit, then leading off to roughly a 15km circuit. With there being some big teams, including the likes of ‘Caja Rural’, ‘Goierriko’, ‘Baque’ and many more, and about 200 riders, it was very hard to get back in to the racing, and I found myself a little far back, and to be honest, quite scared with there being so many twitchy riders and such a large bunch.
There were several early crashes, which I managed to avoid, however, after about 30km, there was a big pile-up in the front of the bunch, of at least 20 riders. It was really quite shocking. Riders shouting and screaming, on the floor, or on their bikes trying to get passed. Broken bones and lots of expensive kit written off. I managed to come to a stop with a controlled skid, then joined a chasing group to get back to the remaining depleted bunch.
However, the crash was so bad, that the race organisers had to stop and neutralise the race for over an hour, to take some of the riders to hospital. Unfortunately, 2 of our 11-man team came down, with one escaping luckily with just some cuts, however the other, Pablo, breaking his hand and obtaining a very swollen eye and bruised face. I’d like to wish them, and everyone else who crashed, a quick and speedy recovery.
Once the race restarted, we had refuelled, chatted and the weather had also warmed up. The remaining 170 riders headed out for just 2 more laps and about 30km of racing.
I again started at the back of the bunch, but determined not to let my team mates down, in 10 minutes I made some dodgy moves, took some calculated risks, pedalled dead hard, and found my self taking the wind at the front of the peloton, as I got our team sprinter into position.
The race was really on, with the restart averaging 46kph (29mph), and maxing at 80kph (50mph). I again saw Alexis in trouble, so I killed myself to get up to him and break the wind to bring him round to the front of the group. After that I thought I was definitely done.
But then, we were coming towards the final climb, and I tried to execute my original job, but Alexis couldn’t hold my wheel, not realising this until it was too late, I swung off and that was my job done. I was completely spent. Luckily I did this, and finished my job as there was yet another big pile up about 2 km from the finish. Unfortunately Alexis was caught in this, so after all the work I put in, our team didn’t get a result, but sometimes it won’t go the way we want and we have to accept that, learn from our mistakes and not make them again, so that next time, we get it right and get the result that we want and deserve.
Nonetheless, it was great to be back racing, although it being dangerous. However, we were told that this race was the flattest all year, so now I can look forward to more hills, which was one of the real reasons that I care to Spain!
In the end, I set a personal best power by 15W, of 360W! Which is definitely a step in the right direction and I am very pleased with. This also shows how I was able to go deeper and try harder than I would have by myself, with being relied on by my team and teammates.
My next race is a home one, on 9th March in Huesca, right where we are living. So there should be more roads which I already know and which are more challenging, which I really look forward to!
Now on to training hard for these next races before tapering for a possible 4 Copa España rounds in latter March, which are the U23 Spanish Nationals, and very high level and respected highly by many teams, so a great place to be spotted.
Elliot Reed Cycling 