In the space of 8 days, I had 3 races, including 2 Spanish Cups, which are the highest level races in Spain for U23 and elites, excluding UCI vueltas.
The first challenge came on the 17th March, in Aitzondo, Basque Country, which was a 3 hour drive from where I am living. Me and Josh did our pre race ride together, then left with the team, early in the afternoon of the previous day, the 16th March. We stayed at a hostel there, then only had 30 minutes or so to the race the following morning.
The weather was very bad, I was a little ill and sick, perhaps because of how cold it was, and then after about 40 minutes of the races, it started to rain, hard! The weather was so bad that it was worse than a famous local circuit in the NW England, which is called Pimbo, but nicknamed ‘Grimbo’, because of how horrible the weather always is there. My carbon brakes stopped working and that was when I decided to call it a day, and not risk any more as I was already distanced from the main peloton. It was just a really bad day.
However, things were better later in the week, on the Thursday 21st March. Again, another Copa Espana and again, we travelled to the location of the race the day before to stay overnight at a hostel. This race was in Ontur, further south past Valencia, and it was a 156km race, excluding the neutralised section. So this was to be my longest ever race, in terms of distance, by almost 30kms.
The first 80km were very steady, I even managed to pull over for a minute for a natural break, then catch back on to the group with ease. However, unfortunately, before the main strong crosswind section, where the race would inevitably break up, I and a few team mates, were caught in a crash. This put us out of position and made us have to chase hard, before we had even hit this important section. Once we hit this section, I was far back and caught on the wrong side of many splits. I found myself in the 3rd group, then rode away from them with a few other riders to stay away until the finish, finishing between the 2nd and 3rd group, and completing the 156km race in fewer than 4 hours.
My final race of this race-packed time, was in Estella, again towards the Basque Country, but only about 2.5 hours of driving, so we just woke early and travelled the same day, on Sunday 24th March. There were about 170 riders, which is very normal for road races in Spain, and the race was 132km, with 6 KOM points, each ranging between about 2-5km in length. Additionally, my parents came to visit for the week, so they were also there to support me, and they brought along Ash, as he isn’t allowed to race yet due to a break in his ankle a few months ago.
I started the race in an attacking mode, everything was going quite well until about 90kms in, where there was a massive crash, taking up the whole road, and making me come to a complete stop and gingerly walk around riders on the floor. This was just before the main climb of the day and so I, and many others, never saw the front of the race again, and just slogged away, pressing on until the finish. The weather was hot and I began to get a stitch, but after getting some water from the car, I was ok. I came across the line, just in front of my bunch, from purely getting aero on the descent.
All in all, I’m not so happy with my results or where my legs are at the moment and I definitely want to do a lot better, and I feel that with some work in certain areas of race-craft and training, I will be fighting for the single-figure places by the end of the year.
However, I would also like to a say a massive well done to all my team mates who raced these races, but especially to Josh Sandman, who raced another Copa Espana, on the same day that I raced in Estella, and made the breakaway for his 163km race! Something which I aim to achieve in my next race, this Sunday, 31st March, in Torredonjimeno. With Sundays race featuring 1st cat and 2nd cat climbs late on, it is sure to be a tough one!
Elliot Reed Cycling 