We had a great result in Gent-Wevelgem. Could we do the same in the Ronde? Will James do it again? Can Liam ride as good as the previous race? Hopefully Paul will be awarded for the great ride last week? Is Ben in better shape? And doesn't look Ethan a bit pale? Who is Burnie, what can he do?
All these questions came up to me during the days before the race.
The logistic side was fixed pretty smoothly, hotel in Melle (Lepelbed), where I got a good deal from Ann (bed, dinner, breakfast) for the boys. Lieve doing her jobs, food and drinks. The volunteers would be present and our mecanic Darryn was keen to help us out again.
Three of our riders booked a B&B in Kalken, few days before the race and that would have been the place to think about a new hairstyle. Special, a bike riders thing.
Two we picked up at the railway station and one rider got dropped off at the hotel. Everything worked out well.
This time only Darryn came around to the hotel to meet the boys and tru a wheel.
Next morning after breaky Lieve and Darryn picked up the guys in Melle.
If you bring 150 riders together, cobble stones, 15 hills, narrow roads, speed, crashes and punctures you create a hectic race. The Ronde was not different, it all happened in this 168km circuit.
A small briefing for the staff where to go with drinks, food and material. Everybody has his job.
Lieve, Paul, Joris, Tony drove to different spots on the circuit.
Darryn and I in the car.
My last words before the start to James: "Good luck mate, I don't want to see you for the rest of the day, only on the podium tonight!". Let me tell you that he did what I said. It sound really mean, but if I don't see him all day it means that he rides in the front of the peloton, good position, he doesn't crash and has no punctures. On top of that he was gonna be on the podium..... if not a French rider decided to crash in front of James with 450m to go! Gone dream of a second successive great result. He finished 37th. Lucky nothing broken.
Liam did the race we hoped he was gonna do, he is improving all the time, I think he rode in third position over the Muur!
Paul had problems with his bike. First with his pedals, that Darryn could replace just before the start, later on in the race derailleur probs (gone in to crash mode, after a cobblestone section) and on top of that he did not see the convoi stopping when I brought him back behind the car. His head down he hit the back of our team car, helmet broken, but Paul was ok (solid bloke!). All he screamed was: "Get me back on , James needs me". And he got back on and finished in the group behind James after doing his work. (57th)
Ben had an off day in Gent - Wevelgem and at breakfast he told me he was gone make it up for last week. And you could see in his eyes he looked keen. Fresh, the Ben we know, ready to do great things. And after 9km we could hear over the Tour radio: 3 riders with 200m advange, bit later the breakaway has 40 seconds. They went out for 80km and a maximum of 4'20. Awesome ride of a reborn Ben.
Ethan was quietly before the race, he didn't say
much. You could see that he was getting ill. Which he confirmed me yesterday too. He still did his part of the work but had to let the pelo go.
And the most unfortunate man in the team was Burnie. His first Nation Cup race. Got envolved twice in a nasty crash, the second one destroyed his bike (lever and derailleur broke off), we gave him a spare bike, but we did not have the right size for him, on top the gears gone into crash mode on the cobblestones, changed bike again, (of course not the right size eather) and when we just left him we heard a tyre exploding, Darryn looked behind and yes ..... Burnie back tyre was down. Race over after 40km, no more bikes!
We only have 2 spare bikes (10 speed) and we have spare wheels (11 speed)
Lots of frustration after the finish, but again, a solid performance of James, Paul, Ben and Liam. Bad, bad, bad luck for Burnie and a not feeling well Ethan.
Could have been our second top 10 in two Nation Cup races. We are getting there boys.
Keep up the good work!
On the other hand we had our Matias Fitzwater riding in the Tour of Morocco. A superb result for him in this ten days race: his first UCI podium, 3th on the U23 GC!
To be continued
All these questions came up to me during the days before the race.
The logistic side was fixed pretty smoothly, hotel in Melle (Lepelbed), where I got a good deal from Ann (bed, dinner, breakfast) for the boys. Lieve doing her jobs, food and drinks. The volunteers would be present and our mecanic Darryn was keen to help us out again.Three of our riders booked a B&B in Kalken, few days before the race and that would have been the place to think about a new hairstyle. Special, a bike riders thing.
Two we picked up at the railway station and one rider got dropped off at the hotel. Everything worked out well.
This time only Darryn came around to the hotel to meet the boys and tru a wheel.
Next morning after breaky Lieve and Darryn picked up the guys in Melle.
If you bring 150 riders together, cobble stones, 15 hills, narrow roads, speed, crashes and punctures you create a hectic race. The Ronde was not different, it all happened in this 168km circuit.A small briefing for the staff where to go with drinks, food and material. Everybody has his job.
Lieve, Paul, Joris, Tony drove to different spots on the circuit.
Darryn and I in the car.
My last words before the start to James: "Good luck mate, I don't want to see you for the rest of the day, only on the podium tonight!". Let me tell you that he did what I said. It sound really mean, but if I don't see him all day it means that he rides in the front of the peloton, good position, he doesn't crash and has no punctures. On top of that he was gonna be on the podium..... if not a French rider decided to crash in front of James with 450m to go! Gone dream of a second successive great result. He finished 37th. Lucky nothing broken.Liam did the race we hoped he was gonna do, he is improving all the time, I think he rode in third position over the Muur!
Paul had problems with his bike. First with his pedals, that Darryn could replace just before the start, later on in the race derailleur probs (gone in to crash mode, after a cobblestone section) and on top of that he did not see the convoi stopping when I brought him back behind the car. His head down he hit the back of our team car, helmet broken, but Paul was ok (solid bloke!). All he screamed was: "Get me back on , James needs me". And he got back on and finished in the group behind James after doing his work. (57th)
Ben had an off day in Gent - Wevelgem and at breakfast he told me he was gone make it up for last week. And you could see in his eyes he looked keen. Fresh, the Ben we know, ready to do great things. And after 9km we could hear over the Tour radio: 3 riders with 200m advange, bit later the breakaway has 40 seconds. They went out for 80km and a maximum of 4'20. Awesome ride of a reborn Ben.
Ethan was quietly before the race, he didn't say
much. You could see that he was getting ill. Which he confirmed me yesterday too. He still did his part of the work but had to let the pelo go.
And the most unfortunate man in the team was Burnie. His first Nation Cup race. Got envolved twice in a nasty crash, the second one destroyed his bike (lever and derailleur broke off), we gave him a spare bike, but we did not have the right size for him, on top the gears gone into crash mode on the cobblestones, changed bike again, (of course not the right size eather) and when we just left him we heard a tyre exploding, Darryn looked behind and yes ..... Burnie back tyre was down. Race over after 40km, no more bikes!
We only have 2 spare bikes (10 speed) and we have spare wheels (11 speed)
Lots of frustration after the finish, but again, a solid performance of James, Paul, Ben and Liam. Bad, bad, bad luck for Burnie and a not feeling well Ethan.
Could have been our second top 10 in two Nation Cup races. We are getting there boys.
Keep up the good work!
On the other hand we had our Matias Fitzwater riding in the Tour of Morocco. A superb result for him in this ten days race: his first UCI podium, 3th on the U23 GC!To be continued
No comments:
Post a Comment