Stage 3: Near Life Experiences

Today’s stage was listed as the longest of the Vuelta, and with the yellow jersey changing hands it was going to be interesting to see how the Kazak National team would ride to protect it. Our night in the love grotto was ok, a bit of a quick morning to have breakfast, get ready and make start time before sign in closed. We struggled to get things together as a team, which was a bit nerve racking.

Once we got on the road, it was pretty much from the gun. It seemed like the Kazak team was going to ride a good tempo in what promised to be a windy day. After the 2^nd sprint, the pace rose and the team put everyone in the gutter. The results were absolutely chaotic. Groups were everywhere, and so were people. After making the split, while in the gutter, I managed to hit a hole the size of a dog. Then had a horrible flat, my rear tire was completely shredded. I almost continued to ride the flat as I noted there were no vehicles behind our group.

Once this wasn’t an option, I had my arm up and signaled for a wheel but it took about 5 minutes to get to our team vehicle. After a change and trying to explain to our driver how to pace, he told me in his “Mos Def” esque Spanish to grab the car and he would tow me up. This was a great idea, completely illegal, but at this point worth a warning. At 70km per hour, I managed to hit a hole and my bike swerved away from the car, leaving me clutching for dear life. My bike was bouncing back and forth against the car, while I was trying to not get sucked under. Once we came to a stop, I explained I needed to be behind the car. Once we got this sorted I was able to be paced back into the third group after about a 20min pace session.

Finally, I made it into a group. There were some familiar faces, and our u-23 rider Pavel was also in the group. It was not glorious to be in the Autobus for the last 70km, and it made it even more frustrating. No one seemed to work together, and then it seemed we were riding in the gutter and no one could rotate. At 40km, I blew a fuse. I was tired of the lolly gagging and crappy riding, and attacked in the gutter. I was later joined by a group of 2 riders and we spent the next 10km rolling turns. Eventually we were caught by a leaner chase group. At the 20km to go mark things were very nervous about making the time cut and the wind was horrible. I was able to get some legs and provide all the help required of me, but it seemed like riders were not willing to work. So with 10km to go, I went aggressive again and made a group a selective 4. Finally, we made it in only losing 24 minutes.

I was absolutely trashed after riding 174km, and the last 40km pretty much flat out. It seemed like we had three guys in the main group, so our team gc improved. After receiving the official results from yesterday, we filed a protest for stage 2a. Josh and I were in the top 15 riders and were listed at quiet a distance back.

I hope tomorrow goes better, as we have had 10 abandons and 3 expulsions from the race. The hills will start tomorrow, so it will be a good test of legs and fitness.

Until then….