Day One
I think it’s fair to say we were collectively pretty disappointed when we saw the results from the TT – given Rob’s time compared to last years times we were expecting him to be at the top or close, and I was only 50 seconds down on Rob which I considered a good performance from a TT. However, it seems that there’re some very strong riders here this year – a stonger field even than at the SERRL 3 – day which consisted primarily of elite riders it seems from the TT.
I was feeling really strong from the start of the stage today, with both Chris and I starting the neutralised section right behind the lead car; and I was sitting about 10th wheel coming over the first climb (just behind Chris) when the hail started – there were already splits behind us and things were looking promising for a war of attritition slimming down the bunch behind the Phoenix 4 over the coming laps. Unfortunately, it was not to be, as the heavens opened in a way I don’t think I’ve seen before whilst on a bike – I could hardly keep my eyes open, and even when I did I could only see 30-50 metres up the road – a bit scary when you’re descending at 45kph+! The hailstones got really quite large at one point and we all emerged with welts from being hit by them. Chris has some pretty good bruises from them! A few riders continued to attack, despite the fact that it was clear the weather was causing an unfair advantage so I got to the front and covered the attacks to hold it together.
After the weather had calmed down and we could see again, the race was neutralised and stopped for another briefing. We rolled around neutralised for a bit but it was apparent that standing water made the roads dangerous to race on, so the stage was cancelled (first Ras stage ever cancelled, apparently!).
It is to be expected that the gaps from the TT will be swamped by big gaps over the next few days as there are some seriously tough stages coming up – tomorrow we climb three times up infamous ‘Defynnog’ climb before racing a Team TT in the afternoon; on Saturday we have another tough stage with two big climbs right from the gun, and then we finish with a relatively flat stage – with an absolutely savage final climb (I’m told that one of the GC contenders last year lost 7 minutes on this final climb!). The question is, given the TT results – are we strong enough to be the right side of those gaps?
Day Two
This mornings road race stage was 90k including three climbs up Defynnog Mountain. The race got off to a nervous start with a crash before the race had even started.
From the flag the pace was high as people again tried to move up, and a few guys chipped off the front before the climb. Although the pace was high, a strong cross-headwind made it relatively easy to sit in. Phoenix were aware that positioning was to be critical, so we were all pushing forward too – at one point I even took a bit of a pull on the front to ensure I was in prime position come the steep stuff. We passed a sign announcing ‘18%’ and the road went from nearly horizontal to the advertised 18%. I felt comfortable and started moving forward, crossing the brow of the hill in about 8th position. Given the nightmare stories of repeated chasing on from last year, I was intensely relieved to be near the front. Rob, James and Chris all popped up on the descent and we rode comfortably in the bunch.
The next two laps were relatively similar in pattern, with a high pace sustained and occasional attacks, but nothing too dangerous until the final climb, where a VC10 rider managed to get away and managed to just stay away until the finish (about 10s ahead of the bunch).
During the run in to the finish, James did a great job of moving myself and Chris up to the front, and we rode relatively comfortably in the front of the bunch. Chris and Rob positioned themselves well for the sprint and came in 7th and 14th respectively. Of the 100+ riders who started the stage, one rider finished in front of the bunch, and only 46 riders finished in the bunch – meaning that some 55 riders had been dropped at various points.
We then rode straight back to the cars to eat and prepare for the TTT in the afternoon by watching the ducks whilst drinking tea in the middle of Brecon (the town). At 2:45 we idly wondered when sign on was, and discovered it finished at 2:30 which led to an abrupt decamp back to race HQ to beg to be allowed to race (we were, luckily!).
I think it’s fair to say that we were all fairly nervous heading into the TTT, well aware that this stage could be critical for Robs overall chances, as well as our own GC positions. This showed as we pretty much all fumbled clipping in, and it took us a good 30s to get into our rhythm. The course was an ‘out and back’ course consisting of a descent, a flat section, then followed by the return leg. The descent was very fast, with us hitting 70kph at one point. Although we had previously agreed that Rob was to lead us down the descent, I got a bit excited and jumped around from 3rd wheel to lead for a bit; once we hit the flat we started rotating effectively with Rob taking the longest turns as the strongest TTer.
The way back had some sketchy moments as we were right at the ragged edge – there were several occasions where I saw the elbow flick in front of me but was unable to pull through, and several times on the climb where it nearly exploded but we hung together, and everyone accelerated towards the finish line in true TTT style (the time is taken from the 3rd rider across the line).
The results put us in 3rd for the TTT which we’re over the moon about as we expected this to be one of our weakest stages, particularly after a pretty disappointing first TT – Chris had already told us that he was retiring to become team chef after the disappointment, but has now changed his mind after a more successful day. On the GC Rob now lies joint 5th, myself 17th (once they correct an incorrect time on the results), Chris 28th and James 33rd. On team GC we are 4th. Tomorrow is another big day with splits and big time gaps expected as the stage starts with two monster climbs right at the beginning – we’re all feeling pretty positive about the opportunities tomorrow holds. We’ll be working hard to do the same thing that has done us well so far – ride near the front and help each other out.
Day Three
Myself and Chris were right behind the lead car for the neutralised zone, as planned, as the race went straight into the days hardest climb. Rapid Performance Coaching (yellow jersey team) set a hard pace on the front, resulting in several riders being shelled out. I felt comfortable and moved forward, putting myself right at the front with Rob; Chris and James were not far back. The race was very near to being utterly shredded by the top of the climb, and it looked likely that a select group of only 10-15 riders were going to get over as several riders were going backwards quite quickly, but it just hung together. Over the top the pace slowed, and I let Robs wheel go in order to allow him to break away, and he was allowed a bit of freedom before being reeled in, at which point I chipped off, only to be chased down by the yellow jersey himself.
Various attacks went but nothing was allowed too much of a leash until Rob got clear with one other rider. I promptly jumped behind anyone who looked in any danger of doing any riding to close down the break and therefore preventing anyone else pulling through, whilst letting a few individuals get clear to add some reinforcement to the break. Unfortunately none were strong enough to get across the gap, and my attempts to get across were immediately closed down by the yellow jersey team.
On the descent I tried hard to get away, slowing down quite a lot on the racing line into corners and then jumping out of them, which got me gaps, and at one point seemed to be breaking up the peleton but unfortunately it came back together again. One of ‘Dream’ cycling team (a fully supported outfit) then came to the front and worked very hard to, and succeeded in, pulling back Robs break. I immediately responded by attacking and got daylight for a few short minutes before being brought back again. One of the High Wycombe CC riders attacked as soon as I was pulled back, so I jumped on his wheel – unfortunately he then pulled off downwind rather than upwind, putting his rear derailleur through the spokes of my front wheel and breaking it. Luckily, the neutral service guy was excellent, and I had a new wheel in pretty quickly and was drafting behind the service vehicle at 70kph in no time. Once back in the peleton, breaks were constantly going and brought back, so I had a few digs to join in the fun. I got a few bits of daylight but I think I was going for the ‘quantity over quality’ approach to attacking which meant I wasn’t strong enough when I did get a gap.
Jumping on a dangerous looking attack I got brought down as the attacking rider abruptly slowed and swung across, leaving me lying stunned in the road with various road rash and having taken a pretty sharp blow to the head. In a very pro-like moment I had to straighten up the shifters, spin the wheels and get up and running, unfortunately the neutral service car had got caught in traffic and couldn’t come to assist for a good few minutes – so I buried myself to try and limit the damage – in the distance I could see another red jersey (Chris who had punctured). The neutral service car again wound me up to 70kph and dragged me back up to the peleton just before we turned off the dual carriageway for the final climb to the finish. This final rush to the finish closed down one of the breakaways that had got away, but one guy solo’d in to the finish to gain a few seconds. Again, less than half of the starters finished with the bunch – some 57 riders were distanced.
Team phoenix were buoyed again come results time, with a move up to 3rd on team GC, and Ben, Chris and James all moving up places – all of Phoenix are now in the top 30, with myself in 15th and Rob hanging tough in 5th, a mere 33 seconds down on yellow. We hope to get involved with the racing tomorrow and see if we can’t boost ourselves up a bit further, it having become apparent that our first day TT results are completely unrepresentative of our strength, particularly in climbing.
Day Four
Today was a grand day out for Team Phoenix with Chris selflessly sacrificing himself to cover attacks and stitch things together allowing the rest of us to relax in the bunch for the first 75k, James riding strongly to secure the team GC position but sadly just missing out on first vet, and Rob looking very strong despite being forced to ride out in the wind for almost a third of the climb as no-one was prepared to open up a gap to let him in.
Great riding with you chaps, and it felt good to be going to see Phoenix repeatedly going to the front to collect prizes in the final meeting!
All reporting by Ben Knowles