It was an eventful weekend for the Cervelo OrangeLiving team with Jules and Kaya in Louisville for USA Nationals and I in Italy for the Val Di Sole World Cup!
Conditions in Louisville were extreme with tons of storming and rain fall leading up to Sunday’s races. This caused the course to be closed for pre ride on Saturday and racers only having a quick opportunity to check out the course the morning of their race. Kaya kicked off the racing for the team at Nationals in the U23 women’s category. She was off to a great start, sitting in the top three through the first lap! Kaya lost some of her rhythm as the fatigue hit and unfortunately a fall on the pavement that didn’t help. Kaya fought hard to the finish and did her best to hold onto wheels but is coming away from the weekend eager for more!
The following race was Jules who is still coming off a nasty stint with the flu but lined up to give it his best in the U23 men’s race! He had a really strong start and was in great position early on but with breathing struggles and fatigue persisting he started to move backwards through the pack. Jules worked hard and showed his perseverance to push to the finish! He’ll be back between the tape soon and is hungry for more!
The weekend in Louisville was a great experience for the crew who had the opportunity to meet sponsors and supporters, chat with friends, and cheer on everybody! It was an amazing and lively atmosphere which made the end of the domestic season a lot of fun!
Conditions in Italy were a different type of extreme with plenty of snow and ice plus extra snowfall the night before the race! With the multiple changes in snow conditions in the days leading up to and on the day of the race, it kept it interesting with everyone uncertain of how the race would go. After the snowfall on Saturday night and no new traffic on course, the Sunday morning pre ride was very challenging. Many of the sections that were rideable the day before we were now running, even flat straight sections became very difficult to get through without loosing control or coming to a stop. It was comical riding along thinking about how much effort it is taking to move so pathetically slow. Luckily, as the course was ridden more and more it improved and many sections became rideable again by the start of the races.
With it being a smaller field here, I ended up with a front row call up and was able to get a good start. There was some slipping and sliding in the first section, some running, and we had to use a lot of the first lap to see how the course had developed since earlier that morning. I was feeling pretty good on course and after getting a feel for things I was chasing to work through the field. On lap two I was with Puck Pieterse for quite a while, we went back and forth a few times before she eventually bridged up to Zemanová. I had third in sight until the end of the final lap, but couldn’t close the gap down. As the race went on the sun came out partially and some ice spots developed, adding new challenges mid race. The entire race felt like finding a balance of putting down power and staying in control. If you went too crazy you could end up off the line and barely moving in the deep snow. Even when paying attention the snow with ice ruts underneath will randomly shoot you off into another direction and you had to be prepared. This was my third time at Val Di Sole and I was very happy to come away with a fifth place finish! This was my best ever World Cup result but also a big improvement in my gap to the first rider, and to have had third place in sight for nearly the entire race was an awesome feeling.
My first euro racing block of the season will end next week after the Namur, Belgium World Cup. After Namur I’ll head home for the holidays, get in a little recovery, then return for Benidorm and the final leg of the cyclocross season. The Cervelo Orange Living team will be back in action earlier, hitting some of the Belgian races in late Kersteperiode then we will all reunite in southern Spain for some training in the sun!
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