SnowStorms, malfunctioning bike parts& Yellow: Triptyque de la Vallée de l’Ance

Stage 1
Started out fast, and little breaks started looking promising from the start. I just sat back and waited in the group. After 40km I stared hearing some good grinding sounds coming from the front mech.......

*So changed to 1 of the spare bikes but wasn't really liking the lowered seat height. And so after 10km I jumped back on my bike that had just had a quick fix. In the end I didn't get back to the main group. I was really keen to pull the pin but kept rolling for 70km with just 2 others (fun times!)

Just after I got in, and we were driving down the road and snow was hitting the windows....

Stage 2
After an Average sleep it was up and out of the hotel by 8am or so for a 9.30 depart.
By this stage the Blizzard had really got going, and it was looking like being called off.

but we rolled out, and the stage was reduced down to 48kms

and Xavier managed to sneak away out of sight in the blizzard and grab enough of a time gap to get the leaders jersey. 

And after the mornings weather, the organisers decided to cancel the final stage for the riders safety.

Merci

KH

Found this pic from the start of the year.

Bunny hoops, skids, elbows & Uci riders crashing into farmers paddocks.

Dijon Auxonne Dijon..
160km
Was a pretty flat profile, and if there was more x wind I am sure it would have been a better race.
But after doing the first big circuit I knew that the bunch was going to be hard to split.
I went on a few skirmishes but it was pointless because every move was being shut down. I just conserved the legs and thought about trying to jump away with 5km to go or something like that.
In the run into the finish it was a little bit crazy with a few guys taking mega risks, and a few roundabouts where you needed to chose the right direction.
I had a burst with 3km to go with a couple of other guys but the roads were to exposed. With just over 1km to go I was basically at the very front, I eased off a bit and tried to find a bit of shelter. Coming into the last 800m I got a little swamped but im happy enough with 19th


GP Vougy
150km (home race of CR4C Roanne)
This is a pretty big race for the Roanne team and they didn't disappoint.
Before the race had started I had a gut feeling with only 65 starters that this was going to be a hard profile and hard race.
From the start the pace was on. I tried to get in the early escape so I could take "the wall" (climb) a little bit easier. But no luck.
As the race ticked on I was suffering more and more on the wall, and I found myself not wanting to fight for position before the corner onto the climb.
With 4 laps to go, the Peloton split in half on the climb, and this time around the back half didn't have any fight left to get back to the front half. So that was the race decided.
 
GP Vougy, on the only flat section of the course.....

KH

Bourg-de-Péage

This was 1,2,3 Category race in the Rhone Alpes (La Drome)

I new the area a little bit from 2010s Tour de La Drome, but most of the roads in the race were new to me.
I didn't really know what to except out of this race with a lot of the strong Dn2 teams looking for a strong race and some other big name teams also there. I was told it was hilly and very testing course.

It turned out to be really windy and add some nasty climbs into the mix.<
  The climbs weren't to long but there was 1 section after a tough KOM climb that was really relentless. I was just off the back of backing the front 12. Once the front group turned a corner after the climb it was game over.
I had 1 guy in the front and couldn't chase, a couple of teams gave a reasonable chase but then ran out of steam.
Skipping forward to the finish, I was in the group and did a bit of Sprint training for 3rd from the group.

I am pretty pleased with were im at, just need to be a little more punchy on the climbs, but all good.

Next Weekend: Pan flat race in Dijon


Stay tuned