Day Eleven

I got to the start late but yesterday I found out the hard way that moving up is a must, so I was prepared to do anything to move up. I was actually very surprised that how easily I could move up. After 3k of racing I was sitting 3rd wheel directly behind the race leader. This was to be the farthest I ever made it forward. As the race progressed I gradually slipped back. Halfway, with 30k remaining, I was 100 riders back. But at this stage I have become more comfortable moving up through the pack and have even managed to make sense of the random jumble of scream which the Belgians make. With 15k to go I found myself in another really bad spot about 80 riders back, in the gutter, trying not to get gapped in the crosswind. In order to stay out of the wind I had to ride inches from the side of the rode where all the long grass stung my legs. On the final hill 10k from the finish I rode up into a better spot and thought that I might have a chance of a relatively good finish. Unfortunately, with 5k remaining I was caught right behind a crash. I was on the outside where the crash happened and about 25 riders passed me on the inside. I started to move up again only to be caught behind another crash. Joel was caught behind the crash too, and because he is still in the running in GC I did everything I could to pull him to the line as quickly as possible. It turns out that that only meant a lousy 100 meter pull before I totally blew up and some Belgian passed me. It turns out that I didn’t need to do this as the officials are going to give everyone who was caught behind the crash the same time.
Alex and I have been sick the last couple of days so my resting heart rate is about 10 beats higher than usual. Whatever drop in physical performance this has brought on has had no effect on my performance, because here it’s not about how strong you are but how well you know how to race.
I feel good about my performance today. I have been upfront and am getting more used to really close proximity racing. Everyone on the team said that they thought today was a harder race. For me it felt a lot easier which must mean that I still have a long way to go I have definitely improved at finding a good spot in the pack. I think that I also chose which gears to ride in more wisely today. On some of the climbs I must have been the only one in the field to ride in the small chain ring. I’m used to small gears on the climbs and this made the transition to the super high cadence on the descents much easier.
The team didn’t have a great day. Lawson who is still sore from his crashed got dropped somewhere on the coarse. James was dropped on the final climb and finished three minutes down on the field. Alex was caught up in the final crash and broke a second bike. Joel finished one place in-front of me and but is still in contention for the GC win, and Anders was our only rider who finished with the field today.
Because both days have finished in field sprints, Alex, Joel and Anders still could win the GC if they win tomorrow.