I’d picked out this race as one to target this season. I’d just come off a really good block of training and was feeling prime. The race consists of 25 teams of three riders battling it out over 4 stages over two days. Stage 1 was a 1.5mile prologue. Earlier in the week I’d done some aero testing and I backed myself for the short effort. I gave it a good go, averaged 440+ watts and really tucked in to come within the top 20. I can’t compete against the specialists on such a short effort. Still all to play for in stage 2.
Stage 2 was the longest stage at 75 km in length. The course is very bergy and attritional. It has 2 main climbs but goes along Penny Pot Lane, which is a false flat with a terrible surface which kills all speed. The first section of the race is a quite quick descent and with everyone keen to race it was all over the road and I wasn’t quite happy. I was backing my form and as soon as we hit the climb leading onto Penny Pot Lane, I lit it up. I just got a small gap and drilled it. A couple of guys came with me and I got them into action. They were a bit weak and the bunch closed the gap quickly. Just as they bridged Freddie yelled “Go, go, go!” so I did. I attacked for a second time and I attacked hard. Two riders came with me and we drove the pace getting a gap quickly. Within a few minutes of working we approached the first intermediate sprint which I took.
Getting a break established requires a period of maybe 20-30 minute unpaced hard effort to establish a gap and then a sustained effort after that to maintain the lead. I’m normally pretty good at this but on the slopes of the first climb I had dropped one break compatriot leaving just two of us up the road. I got us organised in the wind and pushed on the pace on the flat. While he was working with me I was getting a bit frustrated by the length of his turns. I felt as though I was doing the lions share of the work. Still, he gifted me the KOM points unopposed as long as I didn’t surge to get them as it’d kill our legs.
Half way around the second lap we were told the gap to the peloton was 30 seconds. We definitely needed more time if we were going to hold on. Still feeling like I was doing most of the work I was seriously considering attacking him and going solo. However, when tearing up Penny Pot Lane on the second lap we were joined by two other riders. In a strange set of circumstances the bridging duo was my teammate Freddie and the other riders teamate. Making the break composed of 2 riders on two teams. With the new firepower the gap stretched out to over a minute. I took the remaining sprint points whilst Freddie took the KOMs. In the process we lost one of our group. He was dropped on the main climb and we didn’t know whether to wait on the descent or not, but his teammate confirmed not to with a shout of “nah fuck him”.
Now in the trio is became apparent why the wheelbase rider had been pulling such short turns. He was a junior so had restricted gears meaning he couldn’t match my pace downhill. We let him recover on the descents as he’d just slow us down, but he pulled big turns on the climbs which was fair enough.
After about 55km in the break I was beginning to tire. I could really feel the fatigue now and as we got onto Penny Pot Lane for the final time they pulled out the cars showing the gap under 30 seconds. From what I can tell, a flurry of attacks reduced our gap and with me really flagging we got caught. As soon as we were caught a duo attacked, it was a perfect move really. I was hoping Eugene would have followed it, but he had been chasing attacks from the bunch so didn’t have the legs to go.
With less than 5km to go I sat in the middle to rest up for the finale. Eugene made a move which got brought back as the lead duo gained time on us. Feeling pretty fatigued I did not back myself for the group hill sprint so positioned myself at the front to reduce time losses. As the sprint kicked off I gave it what I could but blew towards the top. I came 28th on the stage losing a 50 seconds to the winners and a few to the head of the peloton.
Afterwards I was quite pessimistic, it felt as though we’d put all our eggs in the wrong basket. Whilst we had taken all the KOM’s and sprints, I didn’t have enough to take the lead for the sprints (3rd overall) and with such a draining effort surely we’d be knackered for the second day.
I had recovered very well that night however. I did all the usual stuff and got a good night sleep and when I woke my legs still felt good.
Stage 3 - TTT
Having had a good recovery overnight, we had a group meeting and decided to give everything in the TTT and reassess our situation afterwards. My previous history (BUCS bronze) would suggest that I’m not bad in a TTT, I’m good at pulling short hard turns and recovering quickly. We took a long time warming up as a unit, over 40 minutes, and planned our ride as best we could. I would start us off and get us up to pace, then we would pull 15-20 second turns, pulling off into the wind to maximise drafting. The course is a gradual descent and I ride with a 50 tooth front chainring so the plan was for me to pull short turns on the downhill and longer when I could.
We set off hard and quickly got into a good rhythm. We stayed disciplined, pulling good turns and were making very good progress. The course was only 8.9 km long so we didn’t put much thought into pacing and by 7 minutes in my legs were beginning to scream. What little rest I could get on the back was much appreciated. As we turned onto the home straight we gave it a final push to the line.
Once we got our breath back we quickly reflected how we’d done. I honestly felt that we couldn’t have gone much faster, I was blowing by the end but basically paced it perfectly. When the results came in, we had actually smashed it. We got the fastest time by 4 seconds, averaging over 51kph. This result put us into 4th, 5th and 6th overall with all to play for in the final road race. By winning the TTT I gained another 5 points to take me into the points leaders jersey.
Stage 2 was the longest stage at 75 km in length. The course is very bergy and attritional. It has 2 main climbs but goes along Penny Pot Lane, which is a false flat with a terrible surface which kills all speed. The first section of the race is a quite quick descent and with everyone keen to race it was all over the road and I wasn’t quite happy. I was backing my form and as soon as we hit the climb leading onto Penny Pot Lane, I lit it up. I just got a small gap and drilled it. A couple of guys came with me and I got them into action. They were a bit weak and the bunch closed the gap quickly. Just as they bridged Freddie yelled “Go, go, go!” so I did. I attacked for a second time and I attacked hard. Two riders came with me and we drove the pace getting a gap quickly. Within a few minutes of working we approached the first intermediate sprint which I took.
Getting a break established requires a period of maybe 20-30 minute unpaced hard effort to establish a gap and then a sustained effort after that to maintain the lead. I’m normally pretty good at this but on the slopes of the first climb I had dropped one break compatriot leaving just two of us up the road. I got us organised in the wind and pushed on the pace on the flat. While he was working with me I was getting a bit frustrated by the length of his turns. I felt as though I was doing the lions share of the work. Still, he gifted me the KOM points unopposed as long as I didn’t surge to get them as it’d kill our legs.
Half way around the second lap we were told the gap to the peloton was 30 seconds. We definitely needed more time if we were going to hold on. Still feeling like I was doing most of the work I was seriously considering attacking him and going solo. However, when tearing up Penny Pot Lane on the second lap we were joined by two other riders. In a strange set of circumstances the bridging duo was my teammate Freddie and the other riders teamate. Making the break composed of 2 riders on two teams. With the new firepower the gap stretched out to over a minute. I took the remaining sprint points whilst Freddie took the KOMs. In the process we lost one of our group. He was dropped on the main climb and we didn’t know whether to wait on the descent or not, but his teammate confirmed not to with a shout of “nah fuck him”.
Now in the trio is became apparent why the wheelbase rider had been pulling such short turns. He was a junior so had restricted gears meaning he couldn’t match my pace downhill. We let him recover on the descents as he’d just slow us down, but he pulled big turns on the climbs which was fair enough.
After about 55km in the break I was beginning to tire. I could really feel the fatigue now and as we got onto Penny Pot Lane for the final time they pulled out the cars showing the gap under 30 seconds. From what I can tell, a flurry of attacks reduced our gap and with me really flagging we got caught. As soon as we were caught a duo attacked, it was a perfect move really. I was hoping Eugene would have followed it, but he had been chasing attacks from the bunch so didn’t have the legs to go.
With less than 5km to go I sat in the middle to rest up for the finale. Eugene made a move which got brought back as the lead duo gained time on us. Feeling pretty fatigued I did not back myself for the group hill sprint so positioned myself at the front to reduce time losses. As the sprint kicked off I gave it what I could but blew towards the top. I came 28th on the stage losing a 50 seconds to the winners and a few to the head of the peloton.
Afterwards I was quite pessimistic, it felt as though we’d put all our eggs in the wrong basket. Whilst we had taken all the KOM’s and sprints, I didn’t have enough to take the lead for the sprints (3rd overall) and with such a draining effort surely we’d be knackered for the second day.
I had recovered very well that night however. I did all the usual stuff and got a good night sleep and when I woke my legs still felt good.
Stage 3 - TTT
Having had a good recovery overnight, we had a group meeting and decided to give everything in the TTT and reassess our situation afterwards. My previous history (BUCS bronze) would suggest that I’m not bad in a TTT, I’m good at pulling short hard turns and recovering quickly. We took a long time warming up as a unit, over 40 minutes, and planned our ride as best we could. I would start us off and get us up to pace, then we would pull 15-20 second turns, pulling off into the wind to maximise drafting. The course is a gradual descent and I ride with a 50 tooth front chainring so the plan was for me to pull short turns on the downhill and longer when I could.
We set off hard and quickly got into a good rhythm. We stayed disciplined, pulling good turns and were making very good progress. The course was only 8.9 km long so we didn’t put much thought into pacing and by 7 minutes in my legs were beginning to scream. What little rest I could get on the back was much appreciated. As we turned onto the home straight we gave it a final push to the line.
Once we got our breath back we quickly reflected how we’d done. I honestly felt that we couldn’t have gone much faster, I was blowing by the end but basically paced it perfectly. When the results came in, we had actually smashed it. We got the fastest time by 4 seconds, averaging over 51kph. This result put us into 4th, 5th and 6th overall with all to play for in the final road race. By winning the TTT I gained another 5 points to take me into the points leaders jersey.
Stage 4
Having put in such a solid performance in the TTT we were in the driving seat for the RR. Our pre-race plan was to make it a tough race. We knew everyone would have tired legs, so the harder the race, the more benefit to us. In order to make it hard and put the leaders under pressure, Eugene and Freddie would attack aiming to break away, forcing the other teams to chase. All the while I would be sat in the bunch resting. The plan was that I would be fresh enough to attack at some point within the final 2 laps. As we were also leading the points and KOM competition, if the group was all together for the primes first lap, then we would lead each other out to take the points. The pressure was on me to be fresh by the end.
The course was a very hilly and grippy 60km route. There was very little time to rest on each lap, as you were either climbing, or trying to be at the front for the technical descents. Very soon after the race was deneutralised two riders attacked and got away on the first climb. I sat in about 40th wheel just doing as little work as I could, keeping an eye on the race. As we crested the first climb Eugene made his move and got into a chase group with 2 others. Part 1 of the plan executed.
In the subsequent lap not much happened in the bunch. A few riders were dropped but I stayed sheltered, doing no work at all. I was so well hidden that Freddie said afterwards “I didn’t see you for so long, I thought you were dropped”. I just took my role seriously! Eventually I decided that I should be more towards the front, the GC leaders began to attack and chase each other and I wanted to mark them if any splits happened.
By lap 3 Eugene's chase group still hadn’t managed to catch the lead duo and I could see that their gap was going down. I made my way to Freddie and began to prepare for stage 2 of our plan. I said “as soon as we catch Eugene you need to attack”. With just over 1.5 laps remaining, the Peloton was on the cusp of catching Eugene. We began to climb into Dacre and Freddie attacked. He read the race perfectly, no one came with him and he began to knuckle down aiming to bridge to the lead duo.
Seeing this move I got myself to the front of the, now quite reduced, bunch to both monitor and slow the pace. I was chuckling away at the group when they realised what had just happened and began to try chase him down. To aid Freddie’s move I sat in second wheel. Several of the junior teams sent a rider to the front to try bring the break back. I was basically just a nuisance, I sat in second wheel which didn’t allow them to work together to chase. Whenever they tried to get me to work, I would go to the front and drop the pace. Not noticeably, but just enough so we wouldn’t reduce the gap. I was having a great time, I still felt good and was just being cocky really. At the hardest points, I would just swerve around and look at the group. Eyeing everyone, almost daring them to attack.
By the time we hit the final climb on the last lap, we’d been told by a marshal “they’re breaking up”. Now, I had no idea what this meant. They were too far ahead to see, but I didn’t know if Freddie had made it to the leading duo or not. As we came to the final climb, I was still feeling good and felt like attacking. Tactically, what I did not want to do was attack though. If I attack, it raises the pace of our group which takes 5 seconds off the lead each time. I did not want to do anything that could bring Freddie back at all. So when a rider attacked on the steepest section, I jumped straight onto his wheel. I didn’t pass him, but looked around to see who came with us. We got a gap, and I could tell everyone was on the limit, but I didn’t back myself for a solo mission to the line.
With the attacking rider blowing and me not pulling we got brought back. I slotted myself in second wheel again and let a Giant-Halifax rider lead us onto the home straight. At this point I could see a solo rider, he looked like he was in a white top. Incidentally Freddie was wearing the white and red KOM leaders jersey and I just could not tell whether it was him or not.
As we turned onto the last 2km, there is a short uphill segment and I decided to attack. I went hard, but didn’t get on top of my gears and built up lactic too quickly. I got a gap initially but got brought back. I thought I’d fucked it really, but quickly recovered and slotted myself towards the front, with room to accelerate into for the bunch sprint. I never got chance to open up properly and remained seated to come 5th in the bunch. In the closing 300m we caught the lone rider in white who, thankfully was not Freddie.
As we crossed the line I saw Freddie cheering next to Eugene who abandoned. I raised my arms in elation. Our tactics had worked.
Freddie had indeed bridged to the front pair and dropped one of them. He came 2nd on the stage but gained enough time to take the overall lead. With my defensive strategy, I had come 5th overall.
The second day had gone exactly our way. We won the TTT and then the overall, it couldn’t have gone much better. In all we came 1st and 5th overall, 1st and 3rd on the points competition, 2nd and 4th in the KOM competition as well as winning the TTT, and placing 2nd and 7th on the final stage.
Eugene seemed a little miffed that he blew so hard he couldn’t finish. But without him up the road there was no way we would have won the overall. Our tactics worked perfectly, even if I had had the chance to attack on the final stage I highly doubt I’d have been able to bridge like Freddie did. He thoroughly deserved to win. Solid performance
Having put in such a solid performance in the TTT we were in the driving seat for the RR. Our pre-race plan was to make it a tough race. We knew everyone would have tired legs, so the harder the race, the more benefit to us. In order to make it hard and put the leaders under pressure, Eugene and Freddie would attack aiming to break away, forcing the other teams to chase. All the while I would be sat in the bunch resting. The plan was that I would be fresh enough to attack at some point within the final 2 laps. As we were also leading the points and KOM competition, if the group was all together for the primes first lap, then we would lead each other out to take the points. The pressure was on me to be fresh by the end.
The course was a very hilly and grippy 60km route. There was very little time to rest on each lap, as you were either climbing, or trying to be at the front for the technical descents. Very soon after the race was deneutralised two riders attacked and got away on the first climb. I sat in about 40th wheel just doing as little work as I could, keeping an eye on the race. As we crested the first climb Eugene made his move and got into a chase group with 2 others. Part 1 of the plan executed.
In the subsequent lap not much happened in the bunch. A few riders were dropped but I stayed sheltered, doing no work at all. I was so well hidden that Freddie said afterwards “I didn’t see you for so long, I thought you were dropped”. I just took my role seriously! Eventually I decided that I should be more towards the front, the GC leaders began to attack and chase each other and I wanted to mark them if any splits happened.
By lap 3 Eugene's chase group still hadn’t managed to catch the lead duo and I could see that their gap was going down. I made my way to Freddie and began to prepare for stage 2 of our plan. I said “as soon as we catch Eugene you need to attack”. With just over 1.5 laps remaining, the Peloton was on the cusp of catching Eugene. We began to climb into Dacre and Freddie attacked. He read the race perfectly, no one came with him and he began to knuckle down aiming to bridge to the lead duo.
Seeing this move I got myself to the front of the, now quite reduced, bunch to both monitor and slow the pace. I was chuckling away at the group when they realised what had just happened and began to try chase him down. To aid Freddie’s move I sat in second wheel. Several of the junior teams sent a rider to the front to try bring the break back. I was basically just a nuisance, I sat in second wheel which didn’t allow them to work together to chase. Whenever they tried to get me to work, I would go to the front and drop the pace. Not noticeably, but just enough so we wouldn’t reduce the gap. I was having a great time, I still felt good and was just being cocky really. At the hardest points, I would just swerve around and look at the group. Eyeing everyone, almost daring them to attack.
By the time we hit the final climb on the last lap, we’d been told by a marshal “they’re breaking up”. Now, I had no idea what this meant. They were too far ahead to see, but I didn’t know if Freddie had made it to the leading duo or not. As we came to the final climb, I was still feeling good and felt like attacking. Tactically, what I did not want to do was attack though. If I attack, it raises the pace of our group which takes 5 seconds off the lead each time. I did not want to do anything that could bring Freddie back at all. So when a rider attacked on the steepest section, I jumped straight onto his wheel. I didn’t pass him, but looked around to see who came with us. We got a gap, and I could tell everyone was on the limit, but I didn’t back myself for a solo mission to the line.
With the attacking rider blowing and me not pulling we got brought back. I slotted myself in second wheel again and let a Giant-Halifax rider lead us onto the home straight. At this point I could see a solo rider, he looked like he was in a white top. Incidentally Freddie was wearing the white and red KOM leaders jersey and I just could not tell whether it was him or not.
As we turned onto the last 2km, there is a short uphill segment and I decided to attack. I went hard, but didn’t get on top of my gears and built up lactic too quickly. I got a gap initially but got brought back. I thought I’d fucked it really, but quickly recovered and slotted myself towards the front, with room to accelerate into for the bunch sprint. I never got chance to open up properly and remained seated to come 5th in the bunch. In the closing 300m we caught the lone rider in white who, thankfully was not Freddie.
As we crossed the line I saw Freddie cheering next to Eugene who abandoned. I raised my arms in elation. Our tactics had worked.
Freddie had indeed bridged to the front pair and dropped one of them. He came 2nd on the stage but gained enough time to take the overall lead. With my defensive strategy, I had come 5th overall.
The second day had gone exactly our way. We won the TTT and then the overall, it couldn’t have gone much better. In all we came 1st and 5th overall, 1st and 3rd on the points competition, 2nd and 4th in the KOM competition as well as winning the TTT, and placing 2nd and 7th on the final stage.
Eugene seemed a little miffed that he blew so hard he couldn’t finish. But without him up the road there was no way we would have won the overall. Our tactics worked perfectly, even if I had had the chance to attack on the final stage I highly doubt I’d have been able to bridge like Freddie did. He thoroughly deserved to win. Solid performance
