Ant White shares his thoughts on the days racing. Ant is racing with Mike Blewitt from MarathonMTB.com in the Mens Team Category.
Well a day can make a world of difference – not to say that yesterday’s Prologue was bad. I think Ant and I had just expected to do a little bit better. Stage One of the Sudety MTB Challenge is the longest for the week, with 97km and about 2700m of climbing. Coming off yesterdays 7.1km Prologue, Ant White (Cannondale/Mt Zoom) and I were in 10th on GC for the Mens teams. Our plan was to ride steady and see how it was looking.
The start was fast enough, with the constant danger of trying to move up the side, except there is a car that has pulled over there. Stay safe, stay a bit more central. Still, there was a small crash a few kilometres in, as we hit some smaller mud patches. The ground was pretty wet and soft, and my 2009 experience had me anxious about the mud bogs that could lie ahead.
The course climbed, along the border with the Czech Republic. Actually right on the border – painted rock bollards and everything. Things had splintered pretty well back where Ant and I were, but we pushed on as best as possible.
The ground was soft, and plenty of times we were riding through long grass, only made easier because a lead out moto, some profi’s and top amateurs had passed before us. Plus there was deep black mud, heather like bushes, rock – something of every flavour. And Ant White was motoring on all of it. Steep climbs, flat trails, descents: he bombed them all. Ant has proven to be a level headed last minute team mate for this event. Overall I think we are well matched, but today Ant really showed his strengths. Now all I need to do is impart some paired stage race wisdom on making other teams in small groups put their nose in the wind.
The route today lacked many long descents. So anytime you pointed downhill, it was only briefly, before another slog uphill. The places we went through were quite spectacular though. We went past two old border forts, dug into the hillsides. Some quaint ski areas were used, and of course lots of cross country ski trails, small towns and quiet backroads. Our run into Kraliky was into a block headwind, made a little easier as we had passed one of the higher ranked teams on the previous climb, and could see another infront. In the end we came in about 20 seconds behind the Russian Merida Team, and ended up 5th for the stage, and 5th on GC. Quite a nice result.
The town of Kraliky is a nice Czech town to finish in, and the food at the end was very much appreciated: ruby grapefruit, watermelon, sports drinks, low alcohol beer, sandwiches… tasty. We had a pretty long wait for our transfer to our hotel, but got there eventually. It’s an old castle that is being renovated, with a great hall as the dining room. Pretty swish, if you ignore the fact our room smells like a cross between bum and mould. The renovation isn’t complete yet.
So today was the longest stage, and won by Jelmer Pietersma (Milka Trek MTB Racing Team). However the race organiser says tomorrow is the hardest stage, with 70km and 2700m of climbing.
Full results an be found here.
And today’s motivation was delivered by the following sensational track. Turns out the video is equally good!