A Belgian win in Hooglede
Yesteday's race in Hooglede was a Belgian interclub with roughly 110 riders. Strong winds and two significant drags defined the 8.4km long lap which we would be riding 12 times.
After being ill last weekend for nationals I'd had an easy week in an attempt to recover as best I could, but still I was coughing up rubbish from my lungs and was feeling the remains in Thursday's warm up ride.
With being slightly ill in mind I went in to the race with the intention of using it as training, making sure I didn't just sit in and wait for the significant move to go.
The race started, it started fast, almost instantly it was strung into one long line with riders sprinting up the first drag 3 km into the loop (subsequently the location for the intermediate sprints). The bunch was stringing out and coming together for the majority of the first lap. Second time up the sprint point, the head of the peloton flew up through the line. I was sitting high up in the bunch and made sure that I followed the wheels over the top.
The riders who took the sprint points kept going through the line. Down the descent a move went, I made sure to get onto it and keep driving. On the back end of the circuit a group came across and I made sure I was in the front half so when the split happened from the large group, which it did, I was in it. This then pressed on only to be brought back on the line with 10 to go showing on the board.
I was making sure I was as well placed as I could be though I could feeling the grasp of the remnants of my cold gripping tighter on my lungs, and with the incessant crosswinds it made it hard to hold position. Thankfully I was positioned well enough so when the inevitable crash happened on the tight and twisty back roads of the Belgian countryside, it was behind me. Although a rider landing on my rear wheel which knocked it out of alignment meaning after loosening my rear brake, I had limited stopping power.
As the race continued, splits in the bunch came and went and riders continued to get shelled as the pace was relentless. Solo escapees tried moves but there were always teams chasing them back.
6 laps in my right shifter came loose, which at first seemed no problem but as it loosened further the hoods became an unrideable position as I wasn't able to put weight through it.
The race spiked and lulled and as teams began to tire, Louis managed to get in a break which seemingly stuck and so with three men up the road the race came to some sort of stalemate with four to go. Only on the subsequent lap did things start to kick off.
As before the pace was ramped up only this time there was no cohesion from any team and splits were appearing and expanding. All four of the remaining South East riders made the front split of 20/25 riders.
We had the numbers and our split distanced itself from the rest of the race. As we came round to the 2km drag and pummelling headwind that lead to the finish line, splinters in our group started to form. Riders stopped pulling turns so feeling strong at this point, I figured if I pressed on coming into the drag to the sprint point, I would get a gap. Thankfully this worked and I pushed on on my own.
Just before the sprint point, Louis dropped his two fellow attackers and as I came to join him on the summit, Jacob and Ollie bridged the gap. It was just the four of us pressing on and we had a gap.
We made the most of our understanding of each other and pressed on through the lap. We'd lost sight of the peloton as we rolled through the finish line, taking the bell.
One to go.
Just 8.4km and we were there. At this point my already loosened shifter completely gave way. I had no use of my gears as I had nothing to push against, thankfully I was in a usable gear as this happened and pressed on with the others.
As we turned the final bend on to the long straight and into the headwind, a marshal on the inside of the final bend was signalling something. Jacob, who was leading in to the bend, took a wrong turn in the confusion. We had to wait as we'd driven this break so well we couldn't just abandon the team spirit we'd had.
Jacob rejoined as we entered the last 2km, we realised two riders had crossed the gap and were coming to join us, with 1500m to go and the foot of the drag they did.
At this point I knew everything would sit up and sure enough it did. I took a chance and pressed on distancing myself from the break. As I hit the final 500m I looked round the break was too far behind to see, but as the headwind blew a burning pain in my legs from early in the race hit me, I was far from safe. Only once I'd reached the barriers with 150m to go I dared to look again. Finally the relief hit, the chance had paid off, I was able to put my hands in the air in victory for the first time since March in Harelbeke. Ollie was the next rider getting 3rd, Jacob 5th and Louis 6th.
We dominated the team prize getting only 9 points to second place's 37.
I'm extremely happy to have taken the win and a huge thanks to the support from TrainSharp, Cycle Team OnForm and Amersham Sports Massage for helping me throughout the season so far.