Starting the Tour of Alberta, I was not expecting to finish the race at first. Not because I do not fit in the event, but because of my injury, and therefore lack of proper trainning and racing leading into it.
It's amazing how a goal can change quickly. Finishing right behind the sprinters on stage 1, taking absolutely no risks and feeling good at the end of 160km was already a victory for me, but that left me hungry for more. Stage 2 tempered my expectations as the fatigue was quickly building in.
Stage 3
The third stage of the Tour of Alberta looked dangerous. The GC was really tight still and the meteo announced crosswinds. The first 10km of the race went fast as the last stages and I participated in a few attacks trying to get into a breakaway. After 10km of racing, we took a 90degree turn on the left. I knew this was a dangerous section for crosswind, I made my way to the front, but the gutter being full of rocks, I slowly got to the very back of the peloton tryng to avoid the rocks as I did'nt want to flat. With the pace being quite confortable, I lowered my guard for a moment, and in as much time as it take to say "Tabarnak" I see the peloton quickly lining up in front of me. I was dead last of the peloton and 2 riders poped out of the line right away. One of them told me: "Let"s ride together!" I tought, no way, and I sprinted hard to the back of the peloton. Soon enough, it starts breaking up a little more upfront and I was starting to be in difficulty riding in the gutter with no protection from wind. I saw my teammate Rob Britton who was top 30 in GC and so I went to the front to try and moving him up to the next group, but my legs were already filling up with lactic acid and the gap between our group and the peloton increasing. I was in the last group of the race and we could already see the other groups in front splitting up also. We rotate hard for about an hour until the peloton stopped going hard. A group of 18 riders had went away containing most of the teams. We had no one in the move so as Jelly Belly and Mountain Khakis. For that reason, we went to the front and try to ride tempo as a team in hope the other teams would came and help us. At that time, the gap was already of 5min. Mountain Khakis ultimately came, but with no hope of closing the gap, we finally stopped our chase. Gord Fraser told us before the race: This is the stage where the shit is gonna hit the fan and he was right ! We took a whooping but we all learned a lot.
The rest of the stage was slow, but I was hurting nonetheless. Everybody around me was spinning smoothly and I had the sensation of pushing on the pedal like a lumberjack when going uphill or when the pace was higher. Like the previous stages, I eat a lot to keep the energy level up. By the end of the stage, the gap at extended to an impressive 17min gap. With only 10km to go some teams decided to up the pace for no other reason than reaching the finish line. Unfortunately, with the crosswind, some riders ended up touching wheels and crashed. Among them, Mike Woods and Ben Chaddock wich I almost rode over nearly crashing myself. Ben Chaddock ended up with a sore elbow and was able to start the next day. However, Mike had a broken collarbone. Despite finishing the last 10km in agony, he was not gonna start and was also going to miss the Pro Tour races in Quebec and Montreal. Best wishes of recovery for him !
At the hotel, I got an excellent massage from our soigneur Craig de Veer, fill up the stomach at the hotel buffer, did some stretching and jump in the Normatech "Nasa space booth" recovery system legs (thanks to teammate Stuart Wight). I thought; "Doing all this and racing with trainning wheels does'nt make any senses." Indeed, my racing wheels were broken in the crash I had in July and so I was, here in Alberta, the biggest race I ever done, on trainning wheels. They were very good wheels lend from Cycling Canada, Shimano C35. However, at that level of racing, any little help makes a difference and so I started looking on Kijiji to buy me a cheap racing set for the next 2 stages! I spoted 2-3 ads. Among them, was a guy selling a old set of 404. I ended up calling him. He already had sold the pair, but when I told him I was riding the Tour of Alberta, he offered to lend me his own pair of 404 for the remainning of the race. A very unexpected and generous gesture. Thanks Mike !
Stage 4
Stage 4 announced to be even harder than the previous one with almost 2000m of climbing and with many GC riders last day to try and win the overall. The race started right on the gun rather than with the usual neutral start. The meteo was rainy and a bit chilly. Right away, riders attacked and the pace was fast. I kept myself near the front and join a few moves. Antoine was very aggressive and ended up in a breakaway of 8. Once the break had some distance, the Garmin team called a pee-stop and that was it. We knew this was going to be the move and with the riders in the best place riders in the break, Cadel Evans, at 17min, the chances for the break to reach the finish clear of the peloton was pretty damn high! Gord told us this was a good stage to grab an opportunity and he was right once again ! The peloton rode as slow as possible with the breakaway at 10min and no danger for the yellow jersey. Approaching the final kilometers, I was feeling good and my teammates helped me stay near the front around the top 20 for the sprint. With no team taking charge of the lead out, the pace was not fast enough to stay in front because of the reshuffling of riders. The last kilometer was technical and with the wet roads, I played it safely. I turned the last corner around the top 30 and pass many riders to finish 10th of the field sprint wich put me 19th on the stage. I was happy with how the legs felt even tough it was not a real full on sprint since the breakaway crossed the finish line 10min earlier and we were fighting for 9th position. Hats off to Antoine Duchesne who finished 5th on the stage and winning the most aggressive rider jersey !
Stage 5
The last stage of the Tour of Alberta was also the shorter one with only 130km from Okotoks to Calgary. With 1400m of climbing for a shorter distance, the race was about the same difficulty level as the day before but with a 60km downhill to Calgary, all odds were indicating a field sprint for Peter Sagan. My confidence for the sprint was high as the finish was in downtown Calgary in a criterium like circuit with 11 turns. I tried anyway to join the breakaway as this was a guaranteed exposure and possibility to impact the race. This time, the break took longer to establish and with barely 10sec over the peloton, the yellow jersey stop for a "pee break" to settle it, around 35km into the stage. I was not happy as I wanted to jumped in... Breakaway should happen "à la pédale" and not because the leader has a full bladder. Anyhow, I change my mindset and decided to concentrate on the finish where I was hoping a top 5 result. Halfway into the stage, now mostly going downhill, I was feeling very good and keep myself near the front. The pace got higher as we were approaching Calgary downtown and I managed to get myself to the front. Right as we turn right into the finishing circuit, I flated my front wheel. The race going full gas in a technical circuit, it was a hard task to come back. With the excellent driving of Gord Fraser and my criterium skills, I come back in the field with 2 laps to go as riders were getting pop out of the back. The efforts used to come back in the field left me without anymore gas to come back near the front and contest the sprint. I was disappointed, but still happy to had complete the Tour of Alberta, healthy and without crashing.
End of the season
With Alberta just finished, and having had a "winter break" in August, I feel fresh and want to keep racing. Logistics still need to be organize but you should see me racing more by the end of the year. Keep posted for more updates.
In the meanwhile I am cheering for Canadians at the GP Quebec !
Photos: Creits @ Veloimages (first one), Lincoln Flanagan
