Tour du Plantaurel
Tour du what now? The Plantaurel is an area of the Pyrenees near the town of Foix. The team was pretty serious about this race.
Stage 1.
Stage 1 was a 10km Time Trial. The course was horrific. For one thing it was raining and
miserable. For another it was on terrible roads. The roads where only just 1 car wide, were really twisty, full off pot hole and covered in grime and farm mess. Oh, and it was nothing but up and down with sharp dangerous corners. I really wasn't feeling up for this TT. I was too worried about the state of the course. After my recent good TT showings I was last man off from the team, and was 6th from last. It started with a steady uphill section where I put out more than 400 watts for the climb, and as I crested the top of that hill and flew down a very dangerous section I realized I was feeling OK. All was going quite well until my chain slipped off right at the
Tour du what now? The Plantaurel is an area of the Pyrenees near the town of Foix. The team was pretty serious about this race.
Stage 1.
Stage 1 was a 10km Time Trial. The course was horrific. For one thing it was raining and
miserable. For another it was on terrible roads. The roads where only just 1 car wide, were really twisty, full off pot hole and covered in grime and farm mess. Oh, and it was nothing but up and down with sharp dangerous corners. I really wasn't feeling up for this TT. I was too worried about the state of the course. After my recent good TT showings I was last man off from the team, and was 6th from last. It started with a steady uphill section where I put out more than 400 watts for the climb, and as I crested the top of that hill and flew down a very dangerous section I realized I was feeling OK. All was going quite well until my chain slipped off right at the foot of a really steep climb. I managed to get it back on by shifting and pedaling... then it came off again. I stopped, got off, put the chain back on and finally went flying up the hill. I lost a good bit of time there. As I crossed the finish line I still had a good time (much to my surprise). Before the start I had started to think that maybe a TT bike wasn't the way to go on that course. But I think it was afterall. If only I hadn't lost SO much time... oh well. At least my power download from that TT was good.
At the end of the day I was 11th some 40 odd seconds down. My team mate Jerome had only just beaten me, so we were both leaders going into the next stage.
Stage 2:
Before stage 2, we had to get down to some serious business. Lunch in France is very serious… well actually any meal time. Lunch was put on by the organizers for all the teams. So it was only after a good 2 hours lunch, complete with red wine even for the riders, that we were able to move onto stage 2. Stage 2 was going to be run in wet conditions, over a course that included 3 climbs and an uphill finish. The plan for us was to keep myself and Jerome protected for the overall, and to also protect our young rider protected as he was 3rd in the Espoire rankings. We were a little unsure as to how the day would go, because keeping 3 riders protected isn’t easy. We had a feeling we might be putting too many eggs in too many baskets. At the back of my mind, I had a little plan of my own that I hadn’t shared with my team mates yet. 3 climbs meant 3 GPMs (GPM = Grand Prix de la Montagne; King of the Mountains). I have been climbing fairly well of late, but going for the GPM jersey isn’t always easy. You have to keep tabs of breakaways, and be able to sprint at the top of the mountains throughout the day. So I didn’t share my ambitions for the KOM jersey yet as I wanted to see how the first couple GPMs went first.
We raced aggressively and sent riders off the front with all the moves, and were always present at the front. I say “WE”, but that means our teammates. Jerome, Hugo (young rider) and myself all sat in the main field. With the clouds sitting in the Pyrenean valleys and intermittent rain, the roads were very dangerous. I had chosen to ride my aluminum breaking surface wheels today and not my lighter carbon wheels. Even though the carbon ones are much lighter, I wanted to be sure of my handling and breaking in the wet. Thing got pretty hectic as we flew through small towns, narrow roads, around tight village centers… the roads were slick as an ice rink and the painted white lines were torturous. We had a man off the front alone by the foot of the first proper climb. This first climb wasn’t very steep, it was a steady climb on a fairly wide road. I worked my way up to the front on the way up the climb. Come the GPM sprint most of the main field was still well together. The GPM looked more like a sprint as a whole group of us went for the points. Jerome got Maximum points going over the top, I was 2nd on the far side of the road, narrowly edging out 4 other guys who were all pretty much in a line. As Jerome and I talked about the GPM on the descent, another rider overheard us and said that I was 3rd, not 2nd. I was still fairly sure I had been 2nd over the line, but you can never know, so I thought we’d wait until the end of the day and see what the Commisairs thought.
On the flat valley roads a group of 4 got away, and we of course had a rider in the break… meaning we could sit in the field and get pulled along by the yellow jersey’s team. The km markers on the profile weren’t not very accurate… the second climb was supposed to come at 50k into the race… it was actually at about 40k! We had been warned about the 2nd climb. A long climb that would shake up the race for sure. As leaders we absolutely had to start the climb near the front of the peleton. But seeing as I still thought there were a few km to go before the climb, as we hammered dangerously through town and started the lower slopes of the climb, I was hanging around at the back of the main field. As I saw the breakaway and the lead cars zigzag their way up through the trees ahead of me I realized this was THE climb. With our young rider in my wheel I hit the climb full gas and gradually worked my up through the field. This was very risky as the field was already blowing apart and gaps were forming all over the place. We got a pretty good telling off from the DS and our team captain that evening. Our captain had been in the break making sure we didn’t have to chase, he was hoping to make to about half way up the climb before we caught him so that he could give us a hand. Sadly the peleton caught the breakaway near the bottom of the climb. When we passed him we were still a long way down the field. He was NOT happy as he saw 2 of his leaders expending a huge amount of energy blowing past everyone and weaving through the field. Hugo and I blew passed Jerome who was struggling. We made it up to the front of the race… somehow. A group of about 10 guys was at the front with a small gap over the remnants of the main field.. and we had 2 guys in there… myself and Hugo. As we approached the GPM line at the top of the climb, and few of us were obviously champing at the bit to get max points. I launched it and 2 of us were neck and neck as we approached the small crowd at the top of the hill… as we went over the top someone cheered “yeahhh… 300 meters to the GPM…”. SHIT… the GPM line was actually just over the top of climb… so we struggled to keep sprinting as best we could. I just edged it out and took all the points. From then on things got crazy. We had formed a bit of a break by sprinting over the top of the climb, and so 3 of us worked the descent at full gas. On the flat valley roads we slowly got reeled in by individual riders, and then by the main field.
The final GPM was just 4 or 5 km from the finish. I was well placed up the last climb, but as we approached the top and GPM line, riders started attacking to try and get away for the stage win. I tried to respond to all the attacks, but I wasn’t able to get max points over the top. I was 3rd over the climb. But the riders ahead of me didn’t have any other GPM points, and my main rival for the mountains jersey didn’t get any points over the last climb. We then went down a very short descent and starting attacking the climb to the finish. I knew it was a climb all the way to the finish line but I expected it to be steeper. So as we approached the finish on a slightly upwards pointing road I reacted to as many attacks as possible while still thinking there would be a steeper section coming up. If I had known I would have attacked with 1k to go and tried to go it alone. But as things stood we came to the last k in a group of about 7 or 8. The sprint started from quite a way out… I’m not very good at actual sprints and so I finished 6th on the stage. I only nibbled 3 second off the Yellow jersey group.
Our DS went to check the results to see where I was in the King of the Mountains classification. He came back saying I was joint 1st, but because the other guy had finished just ahead of me on the stage, he got the actual jersey. It wasn’t until that evening at dinner when they brought around the full results to every team that we realized they had somehow totally messed up the points on the first climb. According to the results I didn’t score ANY points on the first climb… but my teammate Patrick had scored 1 point for 4th place. Interesting because Patrick was way back in the main field on the first GPM… hmmm… they had obviously confused our numbers (I was number 6, Patrick was number 8)… so we went to see them. We only argued that they had confused me for Patrick, we didn’t bother adding insult to injury by also trying to argue that was 2nd over the top and not 4th. After much deliberation with the jury over dinner, they awarded me the point (putting me just 1point ahead in the king of the mountains classification) but seeing as they had already done the awards ceremony, the other rider would keep the jersey.
I was relieved in a way.., but in order to get any recognition, I would therefore have to try and take the jersey and the title Climbing General Classification on stage 3. The team was obviously very keen on me taking the jersey… the pressure was on! Stage 3 was not going to be easy. I had had a pretty good, but long and hard stage 2, and I wasn’t sure how I would recover. But deep down I wanted that jersey… and I wanted it with a vengeance!
So it was off to the hotel for a good night’s sleep… well... I awoke at 4am and didn’t get back to sleep. :-(
Stage 3:
At the end of the day I was 11th some 40 odd seconds down. My team mate Jerome had only just beaten me, so we were both leaders going into the next stage.
Stage 2:
Before stage 2, we had to get down to some serious business. Lunch in France is very serious… well actually any meal time. Lunch was put on by the organizers for all the teams. So it was only after a good 2 hours lunch, complete with red wine even for the riders, that we were able to move onto stage 2. Stage 2 was going to be run in wet conditions, over a course that included 3 climbs and an uphill finish. The plan for us was to keep myself and Jerome protected for the overall, and to also protect our young rider protected as he was 3rd in the Espoire rankings. We were a little unsure as to how the day would go, because keeping 3 riders protected isn’t easy. We had a feeling we might be putting too many eggs in too many baskets. At the back of my mind, I had a little plan of my own that I hadn’t shared with my team mates yet. 3 climbs meant 3 GPMs (GPM = Grand Prix de la Montagne; King of the Mountains). I have been climbing fairly well of late, but going for the GPM jersey isn’t always easy. You have to keep tabs of breakaways, and be able to sprint at the top of the mountains throughout the day. So I didn’t share my ambitions for the KOM jersey yet as I wanted to see how the first couple GPMs went first.
We raced aggressively and sent riders off the front with all the moves, and were always present at the front. I say “WE”, but that means our teammates. Jerome, Hugo (young rider) and myself all sat in the main field. With the clouds sitting in the Pyrenean valleys and intermittent rain, the roads were very dangerous. I had chosen to ride my aluminum breaking surface wheels today and not my lighter carbon wheels. Even though the carbon ones are much lighter, I wanted to be sure of my handling and breaking in the wet. Thing got pretty hectic as we flew through small towns, narrow roads, around tight village centers… the roads were slick as an ice rink and the painted white lines were torturous. We had a man off the front alone by the foot of the first proper climb. This first climb wasn’t very steep, it was a steady climb on a fairly wide road. I worked my way up to the front on the way up the climb. Come the GPM sprint most of the main field was still well together. The GPM looked more like a sprint as a whole group of us went for the points. Jerome got Maximum points going over the top, I was 2nd on the far side of the road, narrowly edging out 4 other guys who were all pretty much in a line. As Jerome and I talked about the GPM on the descent, another rider overheard us and said that I was 3rd, not 2nd. I was still fairly sure I had been 2nd over the line, but you can never know, so I thought we’d wait until the end of the day and see what the Commisairs thought.
On the flat valley roads a group of 4 got away, and we of course had a rider in the break… meaning we could sit in the field and get pulled along by the yellow jersey’s team. The km markers on the profile weren’t not very accurate… the second climb was supposed to come at 50k into the race… it was actually at about 40k! We had been warned about the 2nd climb. A long climb that would shake up the race for sure. As leaders we absolutely had to start the climb near the front of the peleton. But seeing as I still thought there were a few km to go before the climb, as we hammered dangerously through town and started the lower slopes of the climb, I was hanging around at the back of the main field. As I saw the breakaway and the lead cars zigzag their way up through the trees ahead of me I realized this was THE climb. With our young rider in my wheel I hit the climb full gas and gradually worked my up through the field. This was very risky as the field was already blowing apart and gaps were forming all over the place. We got a pretty good telling off from the DS and our team captain that evening. Our captain had been in the break making sure we didn’t have to chase, he was hoping to make to about half way up the climb before we caught him so that he could give us a hand. Sadly the peleton caught the breakaway near the bottom of the climb. When we passed him we were still a long way down the field. He was NOT happy as he saw 2 of his leaders expending a huge amount of energy blowing past everyone and weaving through the field. Hugo and I blew passed Jerome who was struggling. We made it up to the front of the race… somehow. A group of about 10 guys was at the front with a small gap over the remnants of the main field.. and we had 2 guys in there… myself and Hugo. As we approached the GPM line at the top of the climb, and few of us were obviously champing at the bit to get max points. I launched it and 2 of us were neck and neck as we approached the small crowd at the top of the hill… as we went over the top someone cheered “yeahhh… 300 meters to the GPM…”. SHIT… the GPM line was actually just over the top of climb… so we struggled to keep sprinting as best we could. I just edged it out and took all the points. From then on things got crazy. We had formed a bit of a break by sprinting over the top of the climb, and so 3 of us worked the descent at full gas. On the flat valley roads we slowly got reeled in by individual riders, and then by the main field.
The final GPM was just 4 or 5 km from the finish. I was well placed up the last climb, but as we approached the top and GPM line, riders started attacking to try and get away for the stage win. I tried to respond to all the attacks, but I wasn’t able to get max points over the top. I was 3rd over the climb. But the riders ahead of me didn’t have any other GPM points, and my main rival for the mountains jersey didn’t get any points over the last climb. We then went down a very short descent and starting attacking the climb to the finish. I knew it was a climb all the way to the finish line but I expected it to be steeper. So as we approached the finish on a slightly upwards pointing road I reacted to as many attacks as possible while still thinking there would be a steeper section coming up. If I had known I would have attacked with 1k to go and tried to go it alone. But as things stood we came to the last k in a group of about 7 or 8. The sprint started from quite a way out… I’m not very good at actual sprints and so I finished 6th on the stage. I only nibbled 3 second off the Yellow jersey group.
Our DS went to check the results to see where I was in the King of the Mountains classification. He came back saying I was joint 1st, but because the other guy had finished just ahead of me on the stage, he got the actual jersey. It wasn’t until that evening at dinner when they brought around the full results to every team that we realized they had somehow totally messed up the points on the first climb. According to the results I didn’t score ANY points on the first climb… but my teammate Patrick had scored 1 point for 4th place. Interesting because Patrick was way back in the main field on the first GPM… hmmm… they had obviously confused our numbers (I was number 6, Patrick was number 8)… so we went to see them. We only argued that they had confused me for Patrick, we didn’t bother adding insult to injury by also trying to argue that was 2nd over the top and not 4th. After much deliberation with the jury over dinner, they awarded me the point (putting me just 1point ahead in the king of the mountains classification) but seeing as they had already done the awards ceremony, the other rider would keep the jersey.
I was relieved in a way.., but in order to get any recognition, I would therefore have to try and take the jersey and the title Climbing General Classification on stage 3. The team was obviously very keen on me taking the jersey… the pressure was on! Stage 3 was not going to be easy. I had had a pretty good, but long and hard stage 2, and I wasn’t sure how I would recover. But deep down I wanted that jersey… and I wanted it with a vengeance!
So it was off to the hotel for a good night’s sleep… well... I awoke at 4am and didn’t get back to sleep. :-(Stage 3:
To come soon
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