March racing update

March. A month where everyone is still finding their race legs and getting into the swing of things, with the weather conditions being far from ideal half the time. For me it was a tough month with no results to show for all while coming away from each race thinking it could of been so much better which in turn has led to huge amounts of learning which I will take into all the races I do for the rest of the year.

I started off at Circuit de la Vallee du Bedat. A race which suited me fairly well with 6 laps including a 7 min climb each time so was excited to see how the form was uphill. The race was hard from the gun but had positioned well the first time up the climb and made it over comfortably in the head of the race however shortly after there was a crash where I believe someone clipped my rear brake calliper causing it to rub. However, I did not know this, and although it felt hard due to the fact I hadn't done an elite nationale with this calibre of field I just thought this must be how hard it is so continued to position well making it over the climb in the front 2 more times however on the 4th ascent I could feel the legs going and due to the fact I was having to pedal so much more on the descents I was struggling to recover so on the 5th time I was distanced and feeling very frustrated as I thought I was good enough to top 10 going into the race. So after the race to find out how much the brake was rubbing was almost a relief and looking at average powers of riders who got top results compared to mine it gave me confidence going into future races that I can be there.

Next up on the 8th it was circuit des 4 cantons. On paper quite a flat race with 1500m elevation over 172km so anticipated a bunch sprint however it was really exposed and with the wind blowing more than I thought I was caught out in a split being in the second group but luckily Dijon also missed it so knew it would come back together. More crosswinds later and the group being down to around 80 guys I had missed my feed so went back to the car for a bottle however after coming back and working my way back up to the front there was a crash in front of me and I had nowhere to go so came down. After trying to stand up I could tell some thing bad had happened to my calf to decided to stop as the season was long and didn't want to do more damage. At first I thought it could of been a torn calf due to the pain being extremely bad but after a day of rest with compression and plenty of ice it had improved a lot and I was so relived it meant I wouldn't have to spend more than a week off the bike as my form was good and didn't want to loose it. Was back on the bike after 3 days off for some easy spins and was able to do my first interval session again just over a week later so overall a good outcome.

After a weekends gap with no racing allowing me to get some solid miles in the bank and regain anything I may of lost in my small break it was onto a double header of Poinconnet-Limoges on the 22nd and 4B Sud Charente on the 23rd. Both very grippy races so knew I had to be on form. On the 22nd the weather was good before the start but after the heavens opened and it barley stopped raining for 2.5 hours. I made the mistake of not going back to the car for my cape however the racing was on and the forecast had said it would be lighter or would stop fairly soon so decided to press on. I got cold very quick and spent 2 hours just hoping for the road to go uphill so I could warm up a bit but with my teeth still chattering at the top of climbs it was awful. There was a big 8 min climb with 60km left which we knew would be decisive so got me head down and just tried my best to position into it and thought if I make it over in the front I would feel better. I was top 20 going into it but then half way up and feeling decent randomly my whole stomach started cramping so bad I could hardly breathe and I just dropped back like a rock. After the descent my stomach felt better but it was far too late and the race had gone and still being so cold I just wanted to get to the end so I could get my coat on. A completely avoidable situation and annoyingly one I usually make in those conditions so again I went back to the hotel feeling frustrated with myself but knowing I still had more to give which I suppose if better than feeling like I have no chance of competing at the top. It just starts to play on your mind constantly doubting if you are good enough or why you keep making these mistakes as surely I know better by now.

I tired to recover as best I could but after waking up on Sunday I knew the cold had really taken it out of me so I was in for a long day. To try to make up for my mistake with changeable conditions forecast I started with my gabba on. I attacked early but no one came with more so just pushed threshold in the hope a group would come across to me. This worked however the group that came across contained all of the top guys on paper. They caught me half way up a climb so a big effort to jump on but with crosswinds blowing I was straight into the gutter. I was extremely hot and on my limit now so after rolling through for a but I had just done my turn on the front before we hit another short sharp climb. As I dropped back the group had moved to the right and with the rear 5 riders in a line in the gutter I did everything I could to stay with so I could roll through again for some more draft but I was too hot and too dead so that was be and a couple others gone. I felt if I had been with that more from the start instead of doing 10 mins of threshold before or even if I wasn't in my cape I could of stayed with but again its a load of ifs and maybes. I knew the race was over and spent the rest of the race just trying to recover or coming back after splits. Eventually the peloton was very reduced and with 30km to go once we entered the final circuit loops I rolled off with 2 others where we stayed away but it was only for 25th. However, with crosswinds and a lot of short punchy climbs being probably my worst profile for a race I could ask for I was fairly happy especially after the day I had had before and was a step in the right direction but not the top result I am searching for.

Lastly was Bordeaux-Saintes. A point to point race often defined by crosswind with a grippy final circuit but overall not much elevation so really not a course for me. My goal was to make the front split in the big crosswind section 80km in and from there see how the legs felt and go from there. My legs felt horrific at the start having felt bad for a couple days previous and after our team unfortunately missing the early break we got together to help control on the front which was a new experience for me. I then positioned perfectly into the crosswind section and made it into the front group of around 30 along with 3 other teammates so was a great situation for the team. After riding hard for a bit to open the gap behind we caught the early break which caused attacks to start flying off. I got into a good move with 50km to go which stayed away for maybe 10km or so but sadly it came back and straight after the winning move went but it had my teammate in so was all good for us. Just had to mark moves and potentially hope for a free ride up to it. However the rest of the peloton caught us again which meant teams that weren't in the move started riding to bring it back and on the final lap of the circuit we could see the break so was looking like it may get caught. Gave all I had to move up for the sprint but I had spent so much energy making that front split there wasn't much left and being small I just don't have the raw wattage that the bigger guys do. Came in for 28th after the break was caught on the line meaning my teammate dropped to 13th however I am happy with this race where I think I made minimal mistakes and on a course that definitely doesn't suit my characteristics I can be happy with how the team and I raced.

So overall a tough month with some bad luck and big mistakes most most of all loads of lessons learned which I will take into my next races and a month that has given me the confidence I am strong enough to compete with the best which will help me massively. If I can take my learnings and put them together on a hilly course a top result is definitely on the way.