In full: Giro Ciclistico della Valle d’Aosta - Mont Blonc. As its name suggests this was a mountainous stage race in and around the region of Aosta including some serious climbs!
This was my first time experiencing racing in the mountains and my return to racing post crashing at the Nationals (https://heartjimmyheart.wixsite.com/website/post/switching-roles-for-a-day). Despite slightly limited preparation, on paper it should suit me well so I was excited but also intrigued to see what would come of it.
Stage 1
After completing the 5hr drive to the race prior to the stage we had a short but punchy stage to look forward to in the afternoon. Instantly after stepping out of the van the band of heat hit us. This was the theme of the week with high temperatures meaning that not over heating could be the difference between success and failure.
After the travel I feared my legs would need a lot of warming up to awaken but I was pleasantly surprised to find that they felt good after completing a short warm up.
In the initial phase of the race I decided to conserve energy and wait for the final “stepped” climb until the finish. This went well and as we hit the final climb I was positioned well and feeling strong. This continued with myself riding on the front but then suddenly out of nowhere exploding! This resulted in myself dropping and having some time loss in the final Km’s. I can’t pin point exactly what happened here but I suspect it was down to over heating. Lots of favourites for the race had also had “off days”, all reacting to a shorter afternoon stage differently.
Stage 2
This was the “sprinters stage”. As close to one you can get in a mountainous stage race anyway; 130km with 2000m elevation. On the first climb there was a fast tempo that dropped the majority of the peloton but after this it settled into a more controlled stage with most groups returning in the following kilometres. I had been feeling really good so was beginning to look towards opportunities from the final climb to attack until the end. This plan soon had to change as I experienced a puncture at the bottom of the climb. Rather annoyingly this is where the break escaped that stayed away until the finish. Following this my puncture had re-sealed with about 15psi left in the wheel, so I had the decision to try and make it the 40km to the finish line like this or have a wheel change. With the pace hotting up I didn’t want to risk dropping back for the wheel change so I pushed until the end. This made for a very sketchy/ slidy descent with my wheel regularly sliding out but in the end I was happy to survive and stay with the peloton! It left me thinking about what could’ve been but also with some confidence with how I felt during the stage.
Stage 3
The first major mountain day. Again with super high temperature and very hot. By this point in the race I was fully locked in with my cooling down strategies; starting with 3 bottles, drenching myself/helmet and clothes in water before the start and shoving ice around my body. I again conserved energy in the first flat part of the race with the knowledge there was lots of climbing to come. On the first climb my confidence got the better of me. Attacking in the first 1/3, only to be reeled back in and dropped over the top! Luckily I could re-join the front group on the descent in time for the final long climb. With this one being so steep (10km @ 10%), there was no need to follow but simply set your own pace to the top. I handled this relatively well, floating between the point of sustainable effort and blowing up from the effort/heat. On the long descent to the line I lost a bit of time with it including pedalling sections favouring heavier riders. This was a hard day but the first of three! Luckily on this day it was relatively close to our hotel so I could enjoy a mostly downhill 20km cool down back to my room.
Stage 4
Arguably the Queen stage with it containing 164km with 3800m elevation. The pace was on all day due to a large fight for the break away. This caught me out on the first hill at 10km; not expecting the pace to be so high and dropping. Luckily another British rider - Joshua Goliker had been caught out and we then embarked upon a 60km chase back to the front. This was not easy, especially with the commissaries rightly giving no sympathy and ensuring we didn’t get any draft from the convoy cars. When we rejoined, the race situation was 17 riders up the road in a break away with about 40 of us in the peloton meaning the pace remainined on. I was worried having spent lots of bullets in the chase and still realizing we had 100km to go with all the major mountains of the stage left. However much to my joy, everyone had been riding hard so nearly everyone was in the same situation.
There is not much to talk about for the remainder of the stage; no tactics but simply a slog and battle of attrition up the climbs until the end. I handled this well and improved positions throughout. At the end I was hot, tired and empty. With one more day to go it was important to start the recovery process as soon as possible by cooling down and replenishing our energy stores.
Stage 5
Contradictory to the other stages we were met by a thunder storm and cold rain. To add insult to injury the race begun with a 30minute downhill neutralised section to further increase the coldness. With the same starting route to stage 4 the race was on straight away with riders flying up the first hill. This time I was prepared for it and maintained position. Everyone had reacted differently to the start and more importantly the cold weather with the leader of the race dropping at KM 0 and gradually making his way back. I too then begun to suffer from the cold, I often struggle really badly from this so carrying this feeling coming into the base of 2x 16km climbs was far from ideal. From here I had to handle it as best as I could, feeling empty with numb legs and my eyes shutting on me. I went into a dark place on the final climb hanging on with whatever reserves I had left.
In the end I made it to the finish line, with the satisfaction of believing I handled it the best I could finishing with a top 20 GC position.
Although not winning I was happy with this given the limited preparation after crashing at Nationals and with knowledge of how much I had suffered on the final stage from the rain.
Whilst writing this a few days later I have been shattered ever since. I hope my body will turn a corner in the next days and I begin to feel normal again!
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