Tour de Gironde

So it has been a few days since the last race ended, but it has been really hit or miss with the internet where I have been (mostly miss). The race was called the Tour of Gironde, and it was mostly around Bordeaux, France. Like you would expect from the location, we pretty much ended up riding around many of the surrounding wineries, and the occasional castle. But it was actually a cool race (even though the place where we stayed was terrible), and I liked it a lot more then the previous weeks race. 

We started out with a 170 km road race on saturday, with a lot of wind, and some pretty hard, but short, climbs. I felt really good at the beginning, so I was being really aggressive. I ended up in a break that looked awesome: 9 guys, with most of the bigger teams represented, and I really thought that it would be the break of the day.  Since the team also thought that this move would be the break of the day, everyone else on our team had assumed positions towards the back of the 120 person field. Unfortunately, about 10 km later, we got caught, and, as luck would have it, the next break was the break of the day. Since I needed a second to recover after just being off the front, and everyone else was at the back, we missed the move, which was a big mistake. It turns out that there were 17 guys in the move, which is a lot, especially if you want to bring it back. And since pretty much every other team in the race was in this break, the responsibility fell on us to do just that. So, for the next 70 km, 3 of us from the US rode the front trying to bring it back. However, when it you have 3 guys versus 17 guys, it is pretty clear what the outcome will be, and we just watched while the time gap slowly increased. So while we got some great exercise (and pictures) while we were on the front, it ultimately did nothing for us in the end. Seven guys finished a minute ahead of the main group, which essentially ended all chances that we had for any of us to have a good ride in the general classification. I ended up finishing 97th, after blowing up on the last finishing circuit. 

The next day, though, turned out to be a lot easier. It was a 180 km road race, and, although in the first 60 km of the race it was really hard while a break tried to get away, the team with the leaders jersey, called the Rabbobank continental team, controlled it very well, never letting the gap get over one minute, and almost guaranteeing a sprint finish. I though that it would be a good chance to go for my best result yet, seeing as we didn't have anyone to work for in the overall. So when we hit the three finishing circuits, I worked on positioning myself for the sprint. I actually was doing a pretty good job, and going into the final corner, I was maybe 10th or 15th wheel, which was pretty ideal, given that the final straight away was maybe 700 or 800 meters. However, everybody in the race was just so strong, that everyone could contest the sprint. There were so many guys that were sprinting for the line, that I couldn't even full out sprint! I ended up crossing the line in 21st place, my best finish yet in Europe, but I realized that I just needed to be more aggressive, and I decided that if I were in the same position the next day, I would not make that mistake again. 

The last day was essentially identical to the second day. Rabbobank controlled it, leading to a sprint finish. However, this time, I was a lot better prepared, and although I was not in as good a position going into the final corner, I had a clear line up the left hand side of the road in the sprint, and I was able to pass probably 10 or so guys, which is a ton. I ended up finishing 13th, which was bittersweet; on one hand, I was happy to be up there and get my best finish yet, but I knew that I could have done better if I had not messed up the final corner. But it was good to get a boost of confidence going into my last race in Europe, which starts on the 9th of june. It is a 7 day race in Germany called Thurigen Rundfarth, and I am actually really excited about it.

Here are some pictures from the race this weekend:

This was where I stayed. Most of the teams stayed at this place as well.
 It was pretty dirty and fairly small, but we made do!

One of the pictures from the first day, when we were on the front. 

Another one of us riding the front

This is what 21st place looks like, from the second day. It is a bit hard to see me, but I am to the left of the guy in the green jersey, who is to the left of the guy who is winning. Just to give that a bit of perspective.

This is my favorite picture of the race. This was from the first day as well. On the second day, at the start of the race, they had three pictures up from the previous days race, and this was one of them. It was pretty sweet, but then on the last day, they actually presented me with a copy when our team signed in, which was pretty cool as well.