Illness and GP Pino Cerami

After returning from Malta with some good results under my belt from just the base training that i've done, and the next day driving to Belgium, I felt something on my lungs, so I visited the doctor to find out that I had caught a lung infection (probably from being in the airport for 2 days!), so the next few races, which where all kermesses in Belgium, where difficult to ride with constant coughing and anti-biotics in my system.

Monday, in Schepdaal, was the first kermesse that I rode well, it was a circuit with 3 climbs in, and in past years has been a tough race. I managed to hang in, and even get a few attacks in but you could see I was still not fully fit, but still ending in 43rd place from a field of 100+. Before and after the race I managed to get a extra 60km in totalling the day with 180km – good training for Zellik-Galmaarden (my “home” race which is 176km long) on the 18th April.

Pino Cerami “Afwachtingwedstrijd”

Today was my next race and it was in the Walloon. The race is called the “waiting race” as it is before the main race; The GP Pino Cerami (UCI 1.1) for the professionals, who used a similar, but longer circuit. The route was an undulating 71km loop from St-Ghislain to Femeries, with 3 local laps of a 16.8km circuit, including the Tienne Du Dragon (Cobbled, averaging 14% going up to 20%), and another climb averaging 15%, all 4 times each.

Eager to start near the front, on this dull and dingy day, I lined up with 15minutes to go, to find that 30 riders who arrived 5minutes before the start stood infront of me. But on the wide-roaded neutralized section I managed to claw my right to the front, and when the car drove off, the speed was constantly held at above 45km/h, making it difficult for breakaways to stay away, but still managing to hold my position in the top half of the bunch.

After 15km a break of 6 managed to sneak away, but being held at only 10 seconds, until a unmanned point on the circuit meant the bunch took the wrong turning, losing 2 minutes in the process. After 59km we hit the Dragon, and just at the bottom a cyclist snapped his fork causing a few others to fly into him to make a pile of people on the ground, which luckily I managed to avoid. At the top, a split happened and another 15 people got away. The third time up the climb, me and team mate Dave Nichols put the pressure on at the front and got away in a group of 5. But by this time there was a total of 30 people away from other cyclists peeling off the front of the peleton in ones and twos. We managed to catch a group of stragglers, but the groups ahead where out of sight. The final lap Nichols attacked and failed miserably, but the 2km up hill finish meant a tough sprint so the right wheel was important, and I chose the wheel of someone who I had raced frequently against last year, but it was the wrong one as Nichols ended up winning the sprint, ending 26th place and I ended up 2 places behind in 28th place.

All in all i'm happy with the result and how the day went, with some good speed training, climbing and bunch riding and hopefully within a few weeks i'll be getting some form, and getting rid of all the illnesses surrounding me.