NICK MULDER RACING
A story of a young cyclist following his dream...
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Euro Race #1
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The season started last saturday for me in St. Severin, Belgium. The race was a short 120km hilly road race through the ardennes near the luik area. I could choose to do this race or the one on sunday in flanders. I opted for this one to test out my form.
The weather was great high 50s with sun, just enough to wear shorts and arm warmers. The race started and I quickly rode to the front as my team mates warned the first hill would approach within the first 15km. I weaved through slower riders and jumped wherever I could find a gap, desperate to start the climb towards the front. Immediatley on the climb two of my team mates attacked with one other. I followed a counter and put in an effort to bridge up. It was too early and my legs werent ready so I slowed up. I rested at the front and then followed another 4-5 counters within the first 20minutes as riders realized who was up the road (Rob Ruijgh and Tjarco Cuppens our two best riders). I started getting tired from all the countering so quickly dropped back and rested for another 20 minutes. Unfortunatly the main climb caught me off gaurd but I was strong and rode up with the first group as my team mates were reeled back in. I then followed another counter, with a team mate (Jeroen Dohmen) and another up the road I just sat on until we were clear. Then I started working and we bridged up only to be caught on the next climb, where I slowly dropped back towards mid pack.
After about an hour of racing on the descent I attacked hard and got away with another rider. For about 10minutes we were swapping pulls at 450w and were clear of the pack, with about a 20second gap. 5 minutes later Tjarco, three other team mates, and another 6 riders bridged up to us. The 12 us swapped pulls with other sitting on longer than others but the 4 of us were driving the break for Tjarco. An hour later a chase group of 8 caught us containing Rob. This was on the final climb, several kilometers long. I had to dig deep to stay with the group and was getting quite thirsty as only one of my water bottles would open. Further up the climb Rob attacked and took several riders with him putting me in the hurt box. I tried to follow but my body couldnt, my legs were crampy and feeling the effects of some hard riding. Eventually I got picked up by a chase group and had a flat tire on the finishing circuits and called it a day. I was pleased to have been in the group but had wished that I had been better prepared because I could have avoided the cramp. The work was there but the result wasnt.
This weekend Im racing in Belgium on saturday. Im looking forward to a good result.
In two weeks is the first u23 classic where I want to ride well.
The weather was great high 50s with sun, just enough to wear shorts and arm warmers. The race started and I quickly rode to the front as my team mates warned the first hill would approach within the first 15km. I weaved through slower riders and jumped wherever I could find a gap, desperate to start the climb towards the front. Immediatley on the climb two of my team mates attacked with one other. I followed a counter and put in an effort to bridge up. It was too early and my legs werent ready so I slowed up. I rested at the front and then followed another 4-5 counters within the first 20minutes as riders realized who was up the road (Rob Ruijgh and Tjarco Cuppens our two best riders). I started getting tired from all the countering so quickly dropped back and rested for another 20 minutes. Unfortunatly the main climb caught me off gaurd but I was strong and rode up with the first group as my team mates were reeled back in. I then followed another counter, with a team mate (Jeroen Dohmen) and another up the road I just sat on until we were clear. Then I started working and we bridged up only to be caught on the next climb, where I slowly dropped back towards mid pack.
After about an hour of racing on the descent I attacked hard and got away with another rider. For about 10minutes we were swapping pulls at 450w and were clear of the pack, with about a 20second gap. 5 minutes later Tjarco, three other team mates, and another 6 riders bridged up to us. The 12 us swapped pulls with other sitting on longer than others but the 4 of us were driving the break for Tjarco. An hour later a chase group of 8 caught us containing Rob. This was on the final climb, several kilometers long. I had to dig deep to stay with the group and was getting quite thirsty as only one of my water bottles would open. Further up the climb Rob attacked and took several riders with him putting me in the hurt box. I tried to follow but my body couldnt, my legs were crampy and feeling the effects of some hard riding. Eventually I got picked up by a chase group and had a flat tire on the finishing circuits and called it a day. I was pleased to have been in the group but had wished that I had been better prepared because I could have avoided the cramp. The work was there but the result wasnt.
This weekend Im racing in Belgium on saturday. Im looking forward to a good result.
In two weeks is the first u23 classic where I want to ride well.
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