Pyrenees Time Trial Championships

Pyrenees Time Trial Championships

(Click on pics for larger images)

Well... win I did not. :-(

I awoke this morning and looked at the clock at the end of my bed. In my dazed morning stupor I thought I must have misread the dial. The glowing red display claimed it was 10am. Considering I had to leave at 11am, and considering I've been getting up at 6 or 7 every morning for the past who knows how many months... I figured something was wrong. I stumbled out of bed, turned the light on and looked at my watch. My watch said 10am also. Obviously not very alert in the mornings I thought it would be best to check the time on my cell phone and I fully expected it to say 8am. As I glanced at the screen, it said 10am. You'd think I would be convinced of the time after having seen it on 3 different things... but I still crashed down the stairs and looked at the clock in the kitchen... yep... 10am.

What can I say. I overslept. I guess I needed it. I had a quick breakfast and coffee, put together a sandwich for later in the day, and started throwing clothes and junk in the car. Luckily my TT bike was all ready. I had put everything together yesterday, down to the tire pressure and TT valve tape covers etc.

I got to the start to find out my start time had been changed from 14:24 to 15:12. Oh well, whatever. Although this kind of stuff is what drives most American and English speaking riders crazy when they come and race over here, I have now just gotten used to taking it all in my stride and moving on.

So I got my bike out, threw the powertap wheel on and went for a loop of the course with a team mate.

The course was beautiful. Pretty fast, but with a loop around a lake and 3 climbs. Nothing major of course, but pretty tough for a TT.

After a little sit in the car and some lunch, it was soon time to get on the trainer and start warming up. I had warmed up nicely on the ride around the course, so I didn't need much more than 30 or 40 mins on the trainer. It was a hot day, so I put the bike in a bus-stop shelter under some trees to get away from the heat.

Warming up in the shade of a bus shelter in the foothills of the Pyrenees

Once properly warmed up and feeling pretty good about the day, I had 10 mins to finalize my preparation. Go pee, put the disc wheel on, put the trainer in the car, try my best to squeeze myself into my long sleeved skinsuit (yes it was hot, but the team only gave me a LONG sleeved skinsuit... you forget about it once on the road killing yourself anyway), put on that funky looking TT helmet and go to the start ramp.


And then I was on course. I quickly got up to speed and fairly quickly got in a rhythm. I felt like I was going pretty good, the climbs didn't seem too hard and I think I got over them quite well. However I spent most of the day feeling like I wasn't actually pushing THAT hard. I started to think about pushing harder, but my heart-rate was right where I wanted it. In fact it was slightly higher. So I decided against trying to push harder as I was worried I'd overdo it and suffer on the way to the finish. The finish was ever so slightly uphill for the last 5k or so, and with a slight headwind.



Within the last 5k I saw my 2 minute man. Sebastien Casero, current leader of the Caisse D'Epargne Ariege Series. I was a little worried when I saw he was going ahead of me on the day, as I know him to be a good solid rider (obviously, you don't get to be Caisse d'Epargne Ariege leader by sitting on the couch). I came up to him quite quickly, his car pulled aside and let me through, and I blew past him with about 2 k to go. The actual finish was up a slight incline in town and around a corner. I came into the corner WAY too fast, had to slam on the breaks, the bike wobbled and skipped as I skimmed the pavement (or "sidewalk as the Yanks call it). I only just made it around and sprinted in a bit gear for the 10 or 20 meters to the finish. I felt like I had done a pretty good ride...

Sim caught and passed his 2 minute man, Sebastien Cassero, current leader of the Caise d'Epargne Ariege Series.

It turns out I was 4th. Quite a frustrating place really. Julian Almansa who rode as a Stagiaire for US Postal a number of years ago won. He's a great TTist and wins pretty much every TT he does. Just before the presentation he had on a National Champ jersey. I'm ashamed to admit I don't know what he is National champ in... maybe in CycloCross (he's a very good CXer), or maybe it was from a previous year. I really should find out. Julien Rides for AS Villemur... their kit is basically the old Mapei Kit (as they are sponsored by Mapei of course)... That ugly kit lives on. :-)





There he is: Julien Almansa: Ex US Postal Stagiaire and Time Trial Legend, and also today's winner. Yep, That ugly Mapei kit is still around, not in the Pro ranks, but it lives on...

Another guy worth Mentioning is... erm.. shit I can't remember his name, Stephane Dechantaurac (or something like that). Anyway he was offered a spot on Festina a few years ago due to his impressive TT ability. He doesn't do much racing anymore but concentrates on TTs and Triathlons where he blasts the bike section course record almost everytime. He did something and crashed out of the event. I hope he's OK and gets back on the TT bike soon.

Well there you go. I would never have guessed I would do better at the road championships than the TT championships, but c'est la vie. At the end of the 4th is still a really good place. Besides, I won the road champs, you can't have it all. :-)