| Tuesday, May 1, 2007
Harchies, Hainaut – People have been coming up to me congratulating me from my ride in Anzegem (Ster van Zuid-West Vlaanderen) last week. It seems everyone wanted to know who the American in the breakaway was all day.
Fueled with extra confidence, I attacked with nine others before the first turn today, and never looked back. I wanted to win today, so I didn’t go for any primes, except one which I lost by a few inches and I felt like an idiot afterwards. With two laps (15 kilometers) to go, the breakaway split and for the first time, I made the front group racing against four others for the win. Pedro Rossel (ex-professional with Palmans-Collstrop) was in the group, along with a teammate, but my legs felt as good as new. We must have screwed around too much, and with a lap to go, a group of 13 caught us, making it a little more difficult. It’s all or nothing this year, so I attacked four kilometers from the end in pursuit of the two leaders. It was too soon to go into the wind, and we were caught two kilometers from the end, and half a dozen riders counterattacked. I surprised the rest by jumping half a kilometer out, but ran out of steam too early and was swallowed up. I cruised across in 15th, shaking my head because I let the podium slide through my fingers, but content that I proved that I should be considered a contender.
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
Hooglede, West Flanders –My legs were a little flat today after a week of running through train stations and getting lost everywhere from the Amstel to the Eifel burgs. Hooglede is a hilly race, and when it’s wet and the wind is gusting at 50 mph, only the Flandrians come out. After missing the breakaway, I did my best not to waste energy and rolled across the line in 19th.
Saturday, May 12, 2007
Moerbeke-Geraardsbergen, East Flanders
I had incredible legs today, but despite all my attempts to get off the front, the group wouldn’t let me go, and I was disappointed with 25th.
Tuesday May 15, 2007
Aalbeke, West Flanders
Rolling hills and windy. I felt terrible today, but I fought to get off the front and nearly bridged across to the leaders with a couple laps to go. 12th place in an elite race despite bad legs, maybe I’m onto something here? The results read like a who’s who of Belgian racing: Kristof Dereeper, Nico Couckuyt, Fabrice Debrabant, Geoffrey Demeyere, and Sebastian Six. My next race is the interclub, Grote Prijs St. Etinne, this Sunday.
Todd |