GP Saint Etienne

After a week of good training (with sunshine etc) and Team presentation, I was ready for a big 1 on this hilly profile of a Lap...



Photo: Climbing with the little guys! 
Photos: Merci Philip Foto 

Pretty much from the start a good break with all the major teams got away, it was a good looking move but the only trouble for them was it was to early in the race to be successful. So this meant the first 2 laps on the climb were relatively steady with no big surges or attacks.

Onto the 3rd lap, the pace really started to heat up on the climb and on the small roads on the course, I was sure that some of the big name climbers were going to make a move at the bottom of the climb. So I positioned  myself up front and waited to follow the attacks. Once the attacks started I was able to follow but each time I was suffering pretty badly. But nearing the top i looked around to see the group splitting up every where so I hung with the front and after all this it finally re group going across the tops...

Last lap problems 

Onto the last lap and final time up the col de Gachet....

I was told to get on the front as there was an escape of 5 guys @40sec. I drove it hard for a couple of minutes and pulled off and no 1 kept the pace on. Then attacks and now I was going into the red. I was able to hang tough but with around 2km from the summit. Some touching of wheels in front of me and then the unstoppable I hit the deck landed on someone else and was fine. Got back to my feet grabbed my bike and took off, the only problem was that the pace just ramped up in the peloton guys were pinging off the back all over the show. So that was me done.. 

Defiantly a bit gutted not to "cash in" with a result in my home race were my legs were pretty good. But that's racing

Thanks 

KH   

just before the start.

 

New Team Kit, and Helmet 

Plus its really cold as you can tell!

la Transversale des As de l’Ain

 

Probably a short post because it was a pretty easy Race!

Really gutted, its only the second ever race I've known to be cancelled.The other was the TT at Southland on the final day..

So after getting all kitted and oiled up for some rainy, fresh, cold conditions I was ready to GO, just looking at all the guys standing around whimpering looking at the rain was enough to get me in the zone(Southland like conditions!) , and just as we were about to roll out officials came over (after just finishing their lunch) saying "Non non its too dangerous and there is snow at the base of the first climb.

Link is here: http://www.directvelo.com/actualite/17739-la-transversale-des-as-de-lain-annulee.html

*Any ways, I will keep the training ticking over and prep up for next weekends race. GP Saint Etienne (EN): Its 1 of the teams biggest Objectives for the season and on a pretty relentless course. So everyone on the team is going to have to work hard to get results on the board.

In other news, Coupe de France Rnd 1 was on today and our team got off to a pretty good start with 4th!!
Bravo, Xavier Brun.





Just put an image in here for you Jono.

Also Welcoming into the apartment my new Chilean flatemates Cristobal (u23 pan am RR champ) & Victor (Mech, and all round handy man)

Cheers amigos

Châteauroux - Limoges and Mathias Piston.....

This weekend I had 2 EN (elite national races)

On Friday we took around a 3 hour trip to the the Centre region of France. Did a little training ride ready for Saturday and ate and slept plus got team helmets finally. 

The Race was 150KMs on the cards with around, the first 50km flat then the rest was supposed to be "rolling hills"
I was feeling really good after good training and motor-pacing through the week. I was told before the race, Kieran don't ride in the first 50K and just follow moves. But I got to excited and was jumping around a bit and wasting precious energy that I could have used later on.....

So any way around the 40K mark some pressure started coming in the cross wind, I was a little way back but didnt panic I just waited for a little wave of riders to try and bridge the gap then bunched it down the gutter and got across.

After this it was pretty steady, but slowly the hills started coming and they wernt rolling really. With attacks coming on the climbs and across the tops of climbs etc the group soon got shredded to bits! I was starting to feel all the changes in pace, and I couldn't keep following moves on the climbs. I tried to get up the road a little to get a gap before some of the climbs.....But they kept coming. Eventual @110km  once the front group was only 10 or less. I couldn't go with any more changes in speed on the climbs...and dropped the hand break big time ( I couldn't stay with and of the chase groups)
So ended up finally getting caught by the main group on the finish circuit after 30km solo...

Sundays Race....
I was told to Race hard for the first few laps to keep our best climber and freshest rider in good group position as long as possible. I did the best I could with the wind and tough climbs. After 65km when the pace ramped up to single file on the climb that was me. (80km in the bank)
Kudos to Sam Lindsay rolling a top 20 on a really tough day and tough course!  

KH

Tour de l'Ardèche

This weekend was the Tour of Ardeche, it was really cool going back to familiar roads and nice weather.

After being sick for a couple of weeks after the training camp and races up in Vendee, I was keen to lay down a good result at some point during the weekend.

Stage 1: 100km of punchy hills and heaps of false flat kind of hills (really draining stage)
Any way I knew the course and knew when the pressure was going to go down, I made the selection on the hardest climb. But the only problem was that 20 guys and only me and one other team mate.
So as usual attacks keep coming from the big teams (Vulco, Chambery(Ag2r U23)) until the right combo gets away.
I was stressing out that we were going to miss a split only having 2 of us in there. So I rode on the front for a bit just chasing down moves from the big teams. After I had been smashing myself on the front, the bunch eases up   and my team mate rolls into the winning move with 30km to go! After this I was on my own trying my best to cover as many of the Vulco_Chamberry attacks as possible. But when they have so many guys in there its always hard. I ended up getting popped on the last Kom just 5km from the finish (my team mate Jullien ran 2nd for the stage so everyone was happy enough)

ITT: 6km
This is a gruelling TT with a 3km flat and then a 3k climb. It was never going to suit me but I went pretty hard. Only lost a minute to the winner so was happy enough.

Stage 3: 100km (steep 2km climbs, and some fast tech descents)
We were now sitting 3rd on GC, and only 10sec down, so our team plans were just to watch the race unfold and not do to much until we have to. In the end it was controlled well by Vulco and we only had to jump on the front in the last 15km when a dangers little group went clear.

In the final 2 or 3km its a nasty finish and I lost a bit of time after pulling on the front, but we held onto 3rd GC, and I ended up 23rd GC.

All good for the coming races,
Thought of the Day: Fromage, Pasta, Olive Oil, and Pasta