Niamh MGHWCT Race Diary

While supposedly the days are getting longer and warmer (on this side of the world, it just feels like they are getting a whole damn lot shorter as I have just seen the last four weeks rocket past.

But with a few rest days here and there and plenty of time with the legs up, I have (slowly, but surely) chipped away at reflecting on some of what we, girls in pink, have been getting up to as this european season kicks into full swing.

Six Days of rice, sauerkraut and stogy German bread: 

Lotto Thüringen ladies tour; between the racing, the venues and the whole event itself, it just seemed to get better and better every day. The tour sparked every bit of love I have for the sport as each of the 6 days on the bike fuelled me with a field of emotions between frustration and pure elation. 

It took me a couple of days to get into the groove of things, throwing myself into the arduous dark and saturating conditions on stage one, after seeing a break of eleven riders roll up the road which subsequently narrowed the competitive GC field down to that group for the remaining 5 days; as they attained a lead of 7 minutes on the peloton. Frustration also coming into play when I saw mistakes like silly positioning force me down on GC in stage two. 

But isn’t that the beauty of tours, the racing just keeps coming. So while I was set back and perhaps out of GC contention after my first few days of the German tour and my teammates where perhaps still finding their feet in the competitive UCI pelo, we still had four days to make up for it!

So from here I took it to myself to, while acknowledging my own strengths also acknowledge those of the other riders, learn to read the peloton and the varsity of action that goes on over these 4hr long races, and frankly just forget the fact that these were world tour riders I was riding against – because where’s that getting me (although couldn’t resist my fan girl moments when riding alongside Sanne Cant – my cyclocross idol). 

What do you know? The days did get better. Stage three, a shorter circuit, with a stinging 1km climb up to the finish every lap, and plenty more pinches to tire the legs. determined to resurrect the disappointment I had had the previous day I planted myself at the front of the race, here I could see the moves, I could make the moves and heck, it was just a lot nicer place to be. At the end of the day rolling in 16th in the gruelling bunch sprint to the top of the finish climb.

Then the hills came, stage four chucking an ever tougher parcour into the mix, with 3 categorised >5km bergs on the menu. Though with 60km separating the crest of the last qom and the finish, today was destined for a reduced bunch finish at the very least. To be expected the peloton rolled into the bottom of the first climb, very much together, but by the top having downsized dramatically with a few attacks  and the usual QOM charge lifting the pace.  And the descents, well they had the ability to almost reduce the bunch as much as the climbs themselves did, as amongst the squealing of disc breaks and burning of carbon rims there was also the all to familiar crunch/clatter of metal meeting tarmac as a few riders hit the ground. But not to worry, myself and team mate; Jenna Merrick, crested the final QOM climb comfortably in the front group, that was then down to a mere 30 or so riders.  

The remaining 60km of this race saw plenty of aggressive attacks through the rolling terrain. Bearing in mind that this could be were a split would go, I kept myself well mixed up in the aggressive front end of the race. 

A winning break did go, this one I wasn’t in, 3 riders snuck up the road. And the bunch, while keeping the trio well in sight, chased them all the way into the final finish circuit. Team Sunweb attempted a hard chase, in order to make the catch in the final 20km. Though, while the bunch was strung out and the pace clearly high, the three out front held onto a mere 15 seconds into the final 200m. Myself, so engrained in the wheel in front of me almost forgot about the final corner and may have overcooked the technical finish a bit. Though I stomped back on the pedals to roll into the cobbles and over the Line in 13th place, and 1st Amateur rider – which sealed me a bit of podium time to pick up a purple jersey (and a teddy). 

Four days in, and the legs where starting to feel it, the stomach was beginning to get sick of the sauerkraut and funny tasting yoghurt too (and too suffering from considerable LACK of peanut butter 🙁 ) but the turn of day 5 meant TT day! So while all the other team mechanics were out prepping some shiny TT bikes, the kiwis were out fitting clip on bars and removing bottle cages (marginal gains), ready to get aero on our S-works ‘whips’. With an after 3pm start, this stage allowed the sun to warm up the day to a sweltering temp, before we had even begun to think about warm up. 

Kicking up a steep 2.5km climb to start the 18km TT, today was a day for the ‘good pacers’, in order to not blow yourself on the first climb. Though once over the top of the hill, it was fast, fast and fast, giving those on a TT bike a clear advantage. Though, ecstatically happy in my ‘posi’ on the clip on bars (realising I preferred this way more than my actual TT bike) I settled into a good groove after the pinching initial hill and kept my head down for the remaining 15km back into the town. With TT’s not being my strong point I rolled in 51st, but in comparing myself to the girls around me and my personal performance I enjoyed a cheeky smile of accomplishment from stage five :). 

Day 6, the final day and no doubt the hottest day ! More chance to practice the cobbles today with another technical run in to the line each lap. Though today seemed to follow the ‘common theme’ of this Lotto ladies tour as we saw yet another early break (another large one) roll up the road… and stay up the road. Frustrated to be missing the break, again. I did everything I could this race to make the bridge, seeing the threat early and going with several unsuccessful moves to jump the gap. But bigger teams such as of WNT rotor saw the break to their advantage and took utter control of the peloton. So in the sweltering heat we rolled around the German town of Altenburg and into a final technical/cobbled finish for the week – myself getting stuck into the bunch finish and crossing the line in 24th. 

Welcome to Holland – Salverda Omloop van de Ijssledelta !

Savelerda Omloop van de Ijssledelta provided a rather rough introduction to dutch racing, staging a race not only against the 130 other riders but against the unrelenting wind. With barely a chance to warm into things and no chance to settle into a position, with a constant fight for the front in a (very) fast initial 10km, the peloton already seemed to splinter to pieces as a skinny road and howling cross winds provided little opportunity for shelter. With the cross wind section pouncing on us so quickly, our position in the bunch at that point ultimately decided our fate for the remaining 120km of the race, as splits formed, elastics were broken and quickly the race turned into several smaller groups out on the road. Today we, Mike Greer Homes girls, definitely learnt it the hard way as our absence from the front of the bunch at the most crucial point meant none of us made it into the front split. I fought hard in the chase in the second group on the road, but somewhere along the way finding myself scrambling up a grass bank as I learnt that the combination of strong winds and my slight mass does not particularly work in my favour, which thus put my advantageous chase position to an end. 

130 girls started in Issledelta that morning, yet 28 finished and while we girls in pink were utterly disappointed to not cross the finish line of this UCI 1.2 race, it was a good ol’ kick in the guts to remind us the utter importance of positioning and keeping our heads in the game – a harsh but sincere welcome to Holland. 

Take 2: Welcome to Belgium ! – Dwars door de Westhoek:

Belgium! Cobbles, speed humps, narrow roads and those annoying little(big) cracks that run through the middle of those already sketchy lanes. As if the day before (Issledelta) wasn’t enough of a learning curve, Westhoek confirmed it! Clearly the tight roads and circuit as well as the abundance of “its a UCI 1.1 status” tension within the 160 strong peloton doesn’t always bode well. As my fingers didn’t seem to come off the break leavers, while navigating my way to the front of a bunch that seemed like it was more interested in slamming on the breaks every 10 seconds than actually making something of the race. Eventually, though not unscathed, wearing a few burns and cuts from moments of far too close proximities to the wheels and bikes both infront and behind me as the peloton compressed and rarefied in a wave like manner through the snaking roads. Once I finally found the front however, I breathed a sigh of relief as the clashing and battering of crashes remained (mostly) behind me. 

Unaware of the misfortune that my team mates were facing behind me, I found myself a bit of a lone runner for the remainder of this race, and instead I mixed myself in with familiar green and gold of the girls from ‘across the ditch’ whom had clearly cemented their dominance at the front of the race. As we joined a short lap circuit with a pinching Qom climb and a perilous descent the peloton reduced slightly before we headed back to the adjacent finish circuit. 

While, in aggressive style, I did attempt a few moves through the cobbles throughout the finish circuit, the bunch predominantly stayed together. Subsequently the pace was, as usual, very high throughout the last few laps – as was the tension – as the more competent teams such as Valcaar and Park Hotel Valkenburg formed their lead outs. The narrow roads meant holding a position at the front with these teams was all the more important if I expected to come in at a respectable place. I fought my best but this time round I let the wheels slip in front of me a little too much and before the final corner and into the cobbled finish, I think I was just too far back. Refusing to give up my fight, and frustrated at the sudden largeness of the peloton and all the faces that had suddenly moved up from the back of the race; I stomped on the pedals through the cobbles to make up some ground and roll across the line in 20th. 

My thoughts on the race were quickly moved aside as I hurried back to the van to check on my Mike Greer Homes Team mates. With Jenna off to hospital and a few of the others also getting mixed up in the same crash, Mike Greer Homes womens first experience of Belgium racing as a team was perhaps not touted as one for the books. But at the same time, it was only the beginning of many more (much more successful) races to come!