By Dave AlbertMaster A - Opus/PowerWatts
So, it was my first Coupe Marco Pantani of the year. I rode up to the race with several of the A's, and one C (who shall remain nameless...let's just say that he lapped the field two weeks ago with our own Stéphane LeBeau and Éric Provost). We had a nice tailwind, so we made good time, which was fortunate since PSSSSSSSSSSS.....I got a flat just before arriving at the race. I waved the other on, and said that I would catch up. Cursing my training wheels, when I did eventually get to the race, I went straight to the building where we registered last year...OOPS...not a sponsor this year I guess...
Anyway, I eventually found my way to the registration, and paid up with plenty of time to do one lap. Cool. Hey, I said to myself as I lined up alongside teammates Éric Provost and Gordon Stovel, not many guys here. This could be fun. Well, a couple of minutes later, the full peloton was there, and there must have been around 80 guys. Hmmm, I hope there are not too many newbies that might cause crashes. Oh well. Just stay near the front....
Now, I'm kind of known as a TT guy, and it had been about 8 or 9 months since I'd last done a crit, so I'd forgotten about the rhythm and the pain that is the criterium. Pretty soon, the action started, with Éric off the front with several short-lived breakaways. I managed to go off the front with a couple of guys (white, blue, black, red jerseys, I don't know...I was just looking up the road, then down at my powertap and thinking, "damn, this is gonna hurt"). Now, I don't recover so well from those types of efforts, so I drifted back to mid pack while the action continued. I don't know, but it looked like Éric was in just about every breakaway attempt...doesn't that guy ever get tired? Gordon mixed it up as well. These guys make it look easy. I always kind of look like I'm about to pass out...
Finally with about 3 laps to go, Éric says "Suis-moi, Dave", and when a rider like Éric says that, you listen. So, he dragged my hyperventilating self up near the front. With 2 laps to go, I got the bright idea, "hey, maybe I can get away"....so I took off. You could almost hear Éric say to himself "hmmmm, pas la meilleure tactique, mon Dave". With my head down, and the wind whistling in my ears, and the powertap reading 400 watts, I commit to what might politely be called a "suicidal" move. Yeah! Damn right! They're not gonna catch me...wait a second.....this hurts....slowing down....1 km to go...less than a minute-thirty to go....they're getting closer...come on! You got yourself into this....
Long story-short, I got caught just after the last turn, with about 300 m to go. It could have worked...gotta bring the race wheels next time, that's gotta be worth 300 m....
They say "who dares wins".However, I'd have to add "sometimes" to that saying...
Well, at least Éric won the sprint for the B's. He was considerably smarter than me....and just plain faster.
That was fun... I can't wait for next week.
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