A Snake that Got Run Over

Takin’ Chopz

Briannnnnnnnnnnnnnn

WAKE UP LEGZ

I was yesterday years old when I learned that Janeane Garofalo voiced Colette in Ratatouille

Canals > Validigna　

Today was another mixed-bag. After the little fiasco the peloton had yesterday with regards to breakaway control duty, our anticipation was that teams would be quick to let a break go and immediately establish the leash on which they would be kept. Our plan, as with every day, was to get into the move and have a rider spend the day getting the team’s name out in front of the group. 

We lined up, ready to make this happen, having been disappointed at our inability to do so yesterday. Through most of the neutral, we had 3 riders sitting on the bumper of the lead comm car, counting down the meters until the flag dropped and it was time to go. Like horses in the start gate, we were antsy and raring to go. However, once again, a combination of bad luck and bad judgment got the better of us. With only a couple hundred meters until the kilometer zero marker, the peloton went through a roundabout, and with most of our team who were on breakaway duty sitting on the bumper of the lead comm car, we followed said car to the right, while the rest of the pack went left. Those that went left ended up taking a slightly shorter distance and ended up in front of the comm car, which then had to quickly boost it around them before the start line, opening up a huge gap in front of us that would quickly be filled by riders that had taken the shorter line. In the span of 5 seconds, we had gone from first row to 60 wheels back as we crossed the start line. And of course, the first group to have a go at the break off the front row were the ones who let go before the peloton fanned out and blocked the road. And that was that. 

The lessons that I took away from this are two-fold: 
don’t follow the comm car through the neutral. If you want to be at the front throughout the neutral, be next to the comm car, but don’t be behind it, as that will give you the freedom to pick which line you choose, and not have to worry about the speed of the comm car slowing you down through any one particular section. It’s better to “accidentally be in front of it and then drift back next to it, which still puts you in front of other riders, then to be at the mercy of the whim of whoever’s driving the comm car, and forced to follow them because you’re blocked in from all sides;
Know the friggin’ course. I can bemoan “the luck of the draw” all I want, but really it’s my own damn fault for not knowing the course, and just how narrow and twisty the roads gone right after the start line. The narrow road meant it was easier for the peloton to block the road, meaning trying to get up the front and keep the racing alive was impossible. Had I understood the consequences of being even in the second row, I would have made a much more concerted effort to fight to stay near the front rather than get complacent thinking there would be plenty of time for the break to duke it out before it got established. 

So, with the break established, a day of tailgunning (which would turn into a week of tailgunning) began. Teams vying for the GC got right to front and kept the pace high all day, making sure the gap of the day’s escapees never got about 3 minutes. Unfortunately, more bad luck would strike as Ethan would go down hard while trying to get a bottle as the peloton went over a speed bump. He would be an absolute champion though, and would pick himself up and chase back on to finish the day. 
I should say here, speedbumps in Spain are nothing like those back in the US, at least as I’ve come across. Unlike in the US, where a speedbump has the cross-section shape of a mellow crescent moon, here, the cross-section is more akin to a sharp-angled trapezoid, meaning hitting one head-on doesn’t yield a gentle rise and fall, but rather a smash a crash. In most cases, you are guaranteed a smoother ride if you bunny hop onto the table-top and then sail off, slightly airborne for a second, rather than just trying to ride over it with the tires on the ground the entire time. It’s a weird, but scary subtlety in the road furniture that I’ve had to get used to. 

The day’s key feature was a twisty and technical descent we would take twice, the second lap of which would deposit riders about 3 kilometers from the finish. To get to that descent the first time, we would have to negotiate the Puerto La Drova, a 8.7-kilometer climb at an average or 3.9%, but with a hidden steep section towards the top. We tried to position Tyler as best we could going into the climb and the subsequent plunge, and he would masterfully navigate his way into the first 30 wheels going over the top. I would find myself (and this will become a common refrain on my part) tailing off the back just trying to survive in the group as we crested and hit the descent. 

From then on, it would once again be a matter of keeping in the group as much as possible as we caught back onto the main pack, which would promptly explode against on the last climb of the day, the Pla de Corrals/Puigmola stairstepper, that would take us to the twisty descent one more time. 

Given the finish of the stage, I think everyone knew what was going to happen, and, sure enough, Matej Mahorič annihilated everyone on the descent to win the stage with a time gap gained exclusively from day’s final downhill. It’s pretty insane to see just how much better that guy can take a corner, and it’s hard to tell whether it’s a true confidence in the equipment he is using or a “win or die” mentality that he has embedded into every fiber in his being, but, regardless, I encourage anyone to go and watch the replay because, as Matt Stephens perfectly sums up, it’s poetry on a bicycle. 

Tyler, not to be outdone though, would finish in the chase group just behind Mohorič and nab 8th on the day, the team’s first top-ten at a level of this caliber. Unfortunately, Caleb and Ricky would go down as well on the super-technical twisty bits just after the day’s last climb, but they would finish the day, along with Ethan, well within the time cut and be able to start again. 


🎷🐛 159.99 new kilometers

-- From Wandrer.earth

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A Snake that Got Run Over

Takin’ Chopz

Briannnnnnnnnnnnnnn

WAKE UP LEGZ

I was yesterday years old when I learned that Janeane Garofalo voiced Colette in Ratatouille

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