Japan! - May update

What a month. When I found out from the team I was going to be able to race the Tour of Japan I knew it would be an incredible experience. Not just to get to do 8 days of UCI racing but to go to a country that has always been on my bucket list and to get to visit so many different areas it felt too good to be true.

The month began with me getting in the final training miles and intervals to prep me for Japan and I was also able to get to a local elite regional race called GP Belley where I came 10th after getting in a break late into the race but unfortunately never catching the 2 out front and then sprinting to 10th after not wanting to take any risks so close to my big goal of the month. However the result didn't matter the main thing was the numbers were strong despite being within a big training block which gave me a lot of confidence going into Japan.

Firstly we had to travel to Japan which was a big task in itself as we drove to Milan, stayed the night, then flew 11 hours to Shanghai in the morning before then flying a further 3 to Osaka. It was fair to say I was super tired after that and had to adjust to the time zone as quick as possible with racing starting in only 2 days. The weather was really bad the day before the race making the pre race ride difficult and due to the team not bringing many turbos each of us were only able to do an hour which after 3 days of no bike was probably not ideal prep to start the 8 days of racing.

Sunday, the first day, included a sort of ceremonial 30 minute criterium what was followed later that day by a 2.6km prologue. The crit served as a good opener however I was pretty disappointed with my TT putting out far less power than I know I can do and only placing 49th. This was only 12 seconds behind the winner so overall not a disaster.

The next day was the first proper day with a 103km and 1980m elevation. The teams goal was to be in the break so that is what I did and 30min in found myself in a 3 up. We were being controlled well by the teams behind and with 30km to go and our gap down to just 40 seconds I sat up on the climb as I thought maybe I would be able to hang into the peloton and not loose too much time. This didn't happen and although I stayed in for a lap the next lap I was distanced and lost 11 minutes which definitely put an end to any GC hopes I may of had going into it. Also not getting the KOM or points jersey made it a pretty tough day to take mentally and made me question if I was just simply out of my league. Although the sudden change in heat as well as jet lag and most likely led to the increased fatigue.

The next day was tough with a super steep 3 min climb each lap and my legs just feeling terrible after my efforts the day before I found myself in the grupetto on a day I thought I would enjoy going into the tour. The next day again was just about recovering with it being flat and I think everyone else feeling it a bit and still with hard days to go.

The 5th day was better for me. My legs felt much stronger after the easy day and with a course fairly well suited to me I thought I could put in a good result. With 10 laps of a 5 min climb it was going to be tough but it was very controlled for the first 6 laps so was chill but on the 7th lap one of the Fantini riders attacked which kicked things off. With 3 to go it really kicked off and unfortunately despite having great legs I was just slightly too far back and despite my best efforts to try to close the gap it wasn't enough and I came in for 31st. I know I should be doing better at positioning but with all the teams set out in formation and our team not getting much respect being lower level than others it meant I was either having to eat a lot of wind or had to be in around 30th-40th position. So I need to work out what I can do different in future other than just being strong enough to close the gap that forms immediately after the split or eat all the wind in order to be up there.

Up next was Fuji which was first of all just beautiful to look at on the coach transfers too and from the stages. I am a bit disappointed with the way I rode that day. I missed the break but luckily my teammate got into it. Then my plan was to pace the climb from the start and try to pick off guys that went too hard. But after getting halfway with no one in sight and still feeling good I realised I had paced way too conservatively so just cruised up to the top as I felt there was no longer point to go all in as I was too far back. I guess at least it saved my legs on a day where all the top guys had gone all in, but in hindsight I wish I had just tried to stay with the best as long as I could as that would of been far more insightful and now I will never know if I could of pulled out something crazy. Just felt like I left a lot on the table and had a lot of regrets going back to the hotel that evening.

Just like that it was the final real stage and I went into it wanting to leave it all out on the road. My plan was just to attack constantly and force myself into the break. Luckily I had the best legs of all year and it felt like the more I attacked the stronger I got. Eventually after an hour of trying a break went with around 12 guys in it. I still felt very good however started doubting myself and overthinking what I was doing. It worked well and in the last 5km we had over a minutes gap. At 3km to go the guy in front of me attacked hard. I hesitated then decided to go which was the worst thing as now I was off the wheel but also going the same pace. I had to make a decision to either keep pushing or sit up. I thought with the steep section still to come it would be better to wait in the group and sprint at the line. This was the worst decision I could of made as 2 more attacked making 3 off the front and our group completely stalled. I tried my best to sprint but suddenly just felt like I had nothing and got swamped by the peloton, most likely paying for my early efforts, with the 3 off the front staying away. I held on for 21st which was my best result of the tour but I had a sour taste in my mouth about what could of been if I had just had the courage to commit. I think the lack of experience of competing for the win at such a high level race got to me so hopefully next time I am in that situation I will not hesitate.

The final day was flat so tried my best to attack as much as possible but at sub 60kg and 50km/h average I wasn't going anywhere so rolled in around 40th in the sprint. Overall though despite being a bit negative throughout this blog I learnt a lot and to get to experience Osaka, Kyoto, Fuji, Tokyo and so much more was just incredible and is defiantly something I will not forget any time soon. On top of this it will of been a huge training block so as long as I can recover well I should be going even better for the rest of the races this season. I have 1 final race this month with the second round of the Coupe de France DN3. It is 120km with over 3000m elevation so will be super tough and I hope I can put in a good performance for the team.