For the first time in a few weeks this is actual myself blogging instead of my dad. I arrived back into Houston on Monday and have been extremely busy with finishing my school. Here is an update on how Trofeo Karlsberg finished:
Stage 3A
Stage 3a was an 11 km tt. The course was somewhat rolling for about 6 km before a 500 meter monster cobbled climb. The course then descended for about 1 kilometer before a long 4 km haul all the way to the finish line. Nathan did an amazing time trial to take 2nd on the day while I grabbed 9th and Adam finished out the top 10. This moved me into 3rd overall and Nathan into 5th. I was also 2nd place in the young rider competition, but because the leader in that competition was also the GC leader I wore the young rider jersey.
Stage 3b
Stage 3b was probably the easiest stage. We rode about 50 km out to a circuit and did 5 laps of about 6 km each. I just chilled in the peleton the entire day to conserve energy for the queen stage the next day. With about 500 meters to go I was taken out by a Slovenian, but thankfully the UCI 3 km rule saved me and gave me the same time as the peleton. Gavin was able to take 6th place in the field sprint.
Stage 4
Stage 4 was definitely the hardest of them all. It was a whopping 140 km over 5 laps, and each lap had 2 monster climbs. I stayed in the pack for the majority of the race up until the last lap and a half. A group of about 10 had gotten away in the early part of the stage and got about 2 minutes on the field, and the Dutch weren't chasing (they had the leaders jersey). Starting with about one to go, Team USA got to the front and brought the gap down to about a minute with 15 km to go. The yellow jersey then put in an attack, and I immediately jumped onto his wheel. The two of us worked pretty hard and eventually bridged up to an Italian that had been dropped out of the lead group. Nathan then bridged up to us and was later followed by a Danish rider. This made five of us and I thought for sure that we were going to stay away, but the German that was in second place sent his team to the front and eventually brought us back. By the time we got to the base of the last climb the gap was hovering around 45 seconds. Nathan then went to the front and hammered up the climb and single-handely brought the gap down to about 20 seconds by the top. With about 5 km to go the gap had only gone down to about 15 seconds. The entire USA team along with the Germans led a frantic chase and we caught the break with about 500 meters to go. Unfortunately, a Danish rider had gotten away and took the win by about 15 seconds. He also took home the overall which bumped me off of the podium into 4th place.
I'd really like to thank my parents along with Source Endurance, USA Cycling, and everyone else that has supported me this year along with the rest of my cycling career. There is no way possible that I could be out there doing what I love with out the support that I am given. Thanks!!
Stage 3A
Stage 3a was an 11 km tt. The course was somewhat rolling for about 6 km before a 500 meter monster cobbled climb. The course then descended for about 1 kilometer before a long 4 km haul all the way to the finish line. Nathan did an amazing time trial to take 2nd on the day while I grabbed 9th and Adam finished out the top 10. This moved me into 3rd overall and Nathan into 5th. I was also 2nd place in the young rider competition, but because the leader in that competition was also the GC leader I wore the young rider jersey.
Stage 3b
Stage 3b was probably the easiest stage. We rode about 50 km out to a circuit and did 5 laps of about 6 km each. I just chilled in the peleton the entire day to conserve energy for the queen stage the next day. With about 500 meters to go I was taken out by a Slovenian, but thankfully the UCI 3 km rule saved me and gave me the same time as the peleton. Gavin was able to take 6th place in the field sprint.
Stage 4
Stage 4 was definitely the hardest of them all. It was a whopping 140 km over 5 laps, and each lap had 2 monster climbs. I stayed in the pack for the majority of the race up until the last lap and a half. A group of about 10 had gotten away in the early part of the stage and got about 2 minutes on the field, and the Dutch weren't chasing (they had the leaders jersey). Starting with about one to go, Team USA got to the front and brought the gap down to about a minute with 15 km to go. The yellow jersey then put in an attack, and I immediately jumped onto his wheel. The two of us worked pretty hard and eventually bridged up to an Italian that had been dropped out of the lead group. Nathan then bridged up to us and was later followed by a Danish rider. This made five of us and I thought for sure that we were going to stay away, but the German that was in second place sent his team to the front and eventually brought us back. By the time we got to the base of the last climb the gap was hovering around 45 seconds. Nathan then went to the front and hammered up the climb and single-handely brought the gap down to about 20 seconds by the top. With about 5 km to go the gap had only gone down to about 15 seconds. The entire USA team along with the Germans led a frantic chase and we caught the break with about 500 meters to go. Unfortunately, a Danish rider had gotten away and took the win by about 15 seconds. He also took home the overall which bumped me off of the podium into 4th place.
I'd really like to thank my parents along with Source Endurance, USA Cycling, and everyone else that has supported me this year along with the rest of my cycling career. There is no way possible that I could be out there doing what I love with out the support that I am given. Thanks!!
2 comments:
Dude, are these guys around the same age as you? That dude on Robobank is big and looks old... Good job man. Are you comming back here soon?
I'm pretty sure I am dude. I think I'm coming over to Belgium on July 22nd or the 23rd for about a week. Are you still going to be over there?
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