Summer 16'

Since my last update I have been having a bit of an up and down in terms of results. The GP Saguenay in Quebec was an absolute high for myself, finally managing that all important UCI podium on the last day in the terrible cold and rain. That result was followed by a very disappointing nationals for myself, DNF’ing the road race after one of the most frustrating days on the bike in a long time. Since Nationals I have been at home doing some final preparations for my return to Europe, and have really been looking forward to this summer trip with team RaceClean.

Our summer program was going to be very ambitious even with a full team, unfortunately we were under manned from the start. Showing up with nine guys, including one rider who we are testing out for next year Adam Roberge. First up on our schedule was the Tour de Liege, as I always say about that Liege region of Belgium, ‘there is no flat road.’ The race put us up in a small school atop a hill overlooking the town of La Reid, very close to where Phillippe Gilbert was born, so there were posters and cafés dedicated to him all over town. I later found out that the school we were staying in was the one he attended, no wonder he is a cyclist, there were 100 stairs to get to the top floor.

Liege was a race where we were lacking the racing to be really competitive. Most of us had been coming off an extended stay at home and didn’t have the race legs to be going for the wins. We had some GC hopes for Adam and Will but both of them gave away too much time on the first two stages to ever be a feature. I really gave it a shot on stage one of the race, but fell short on the uphill finish. The other stages were some of the hardest I have done in a long time, after crossing the line having to lay out on the grass and breathe for a while. The two flatter days of the race were dominated by cross winds. There were so many groups on the road on stages three and four that I had no idea what position I was sprinting for. My echelon broke away from the peleton and we spent the day wheeling in small groups. I just put my head down and made sure to never ever leave the echelon. The last day of the race, Adam J got into a good breakaway and went on to contest the win. Adam got 16th that day, but it really was a very good ride from him. I ended the race with some sore legs and just a 21st overall to show for it. I was not really happy with anything I did that week, but I sure did gain some fitness after suffering through those days.

After Liege, it was time to keep the racing going with some Kermesses (local races). Originally we had another five day stage race lined up, Vlaams-Brabant. However we decided that with our limited roster and considering how hard Liege was on us, it would be better to get some more rest before the next big goal.

In my first local Kermesse outing of the summer, Adam and I managed to get off the front on a short hilly circuit and build up a lead of 2:00 on the peleton. We rode 110 of the 117 km off the front with one other rider. Adam and I dropped him on the final lap and came in for the double celebration! I gave him the win, as he has never won a race in Europe before and he was super grateful. That was a really good day for us.

We did another Kermesse that week, a pan flat course in the heart of Deinze. I had some of the best legs I have had in months for this race. When a break of 18 went clear and we only had one rider involved, I managed to help bridge our new guy Adam R across to it. I later went on to ride away from the peleton and came in for 19th in the end. Our two guys up the road got 14th and 15th.

Next on the list was the Overijse Kermesse. The course featured two climbs per lap, and a fast downhill finish. I found myself in a lead group of 20 guys again with Adam J again. In a group that big you have to be very careful with how much work you do and how you are positioned. In a small break everyone works equally, however in a big group there are people skipping pulls and staying at the back. It is a big game of poker, if you decided not to work then the person in front of you may sit up and let a gap form in front of him leaving you to close it and use more energy. There were a few close calls all day with the group splitting and coming back together. Coming up to the last lap, one of the stronger guys in the group put in an attack just before the hill.

We crossed the line and heard the bell signaling one lap to go, Adam did a monster pull up the climb to bring me and a few others over the top to catch the two leaders. Once we made contact I went for it and Adams job was done. I took 4 riders with me over the second climb and all that remained was the downhill to the finish. I was caught off guard when a rider went on the downhill gapping us by about 50 meters. I waited till I was at the back and attacked over the other three. I pulled away from them and then it was a drag race to the line. I caught the lone leader with about 25 meters to go and won by a bike length, or so I thought. As I crossed the line with my arm in the air (only one arm cause I was too tired) I heard the bell ring again. I looked back and saw the other riders I was with looking very confused. We had all cruised to a near standstill after the line, but the commissar was saying that we still had one lap to go. I was livid. The lap was the hardest thing I have done in a while after lighting every match I had to ‘win’. Coming into the finish again, the others all knew what I was going to do, my move didn’t work and I went on to get 7th, really disappointing.

My last Kermesse of the year is going to be the home race in Tielt Winge Belgium. This race will start off the final block of racing for us in Europe, nine days with seven race starts. The course for the Tielt Kermesse passes by the house and features a good climb, we were all very excited to try to win the home race! To this day no Canadian has won this race, sadly that drought continued this year. After the race settled about 50 km in, Adam J was off the front with one BMC development rider. They did not have a big gap on the pursuing group of 25 which I was in with two other teammates. The race rolled on for some time like this with us covering all the bridge attempts. Eventually with about 30 km to go, Adam R bridged up to the other two solo. It was a good move considering Adam J was cramping and got dropped minutes after Adam 2.0 got there. In my group there was a big attack on the climb and I found myself with just 4 other riders about 10 seconds behind the lead two. I did not work with the group, giving Adam R his chance up front. This is where Adam R made a race loosing mistake. On the final lap Adam saw that our group was very close behind, he pulled the last three km on the front letting a guy from arguably the strongest U23 development program in the world sit on his wheel. Adam lost the sprint by about 100 meters. I was really upset, Adam had the card to play that I was in the group behind. Obviously we will never know but if we had caught them I was confident in my ability to finish it all off with arms in the air. Adam still had a great ride that day, really strong teammate.

Up next is the Rhonde Van Oust Vlaanderen, five days of cobbles and pain. I am really looking forward to it, like every race! There is no KOM jersey here, the Belgians do things a little differently in Flanders, and there is a cobbled jersey instead.