FOOTSCRAY CYCLING CLUB’S 53rd ANNUAL THREE-DAY TOUR
C grade
Delphine's Report
Stage 1 started under beautiful blue skies with very little wind: the perfect setting for an 80km race in the open lands of Little River. Given the flat nature of the course and the hills to come the next day I expected that most riders would want to save their legs and not ride to aggressively, which would give me the opportunity to go for the intermediate sprints. I knew that I could pull out a good result, but to my surprise, I won the first intermediate sprint by quite a big margin. I recovered in time for the second sprint, only 8km later, but got very boxedin … I was just about last wheel in the bunch when I could finally get out and launch my sprint. It was too late to win it but I secured a 3rd place. Paradoxically, this is when I understood that I could win every other one, and possibly the stage, if I wanted to. Coming from the back I could see how fast I was gaining ground, and after that there was no way I was going to be beaten again. So I kept my focus and made sure not to make the same mistake again. I did win the next 2 intermediate sprints and the stage. What a great start! I was now in the lead of the Sprint King competition with a 9-point advantage, and I was also leading the general classification by 13s.
Stage 2 was not such a great day for me. I was feeling quite good at the start and aiming at a 2nd or 3rd place finish: I knew that Mark Carr, eventual winner of the general classification, was probably going to be too strong in the hills, but with the time bonuses earned the previous day I could afford to lose 45s to 1min and still be in contention. All was going to plan until I dropped my chain, on a flat section, trying to go back to my top chainring ... That's where Mark attacked, so the bunch split in million bits and I was left near the back. I thought I could make it back to the front, and chased very hard to get there. I managed to catch the rider who eventually finished 2nd on the stage, Kon. I stayed with him for a while but when he put the hammer down in the last 10km, the acceleration in pace proved too hard for me. There was nothing left in my legs to respond. In the end I lost a big chunk of time and I had to let go of my ambitions in terms of GC. This was a bit of a blow as I had not contested the intermediate sprints in order to ensure a high finish on this stage. My lead in the sprint king classification had also significantly reduced to just 3 points over the next contender. Stage 3 was going to be crucial.
Stage 3 was raced around our "You-Yangs Circuit", which is a 13km flat course that we use regularly in club races. The only hill is located at the top of the narrow Flinder's Lane, it is a gradual incline of 2-3% for about 1km, then it kicks up to 4% for about 400m. The steepest part comes right before turning the corner where it reaches around 6% for a couple of meters. The KOM sprint and the finish line come at the end of the 4% section. With reduced numbers and some very tired legs in the bunch, it is fair to say that the previous day had taken a big toll on everybody. A bunch sprint seemed unavoidable given the profile of the course and the last stage was therefore raced at a relatively slow pace, every rider focusing on gaining points in the sprint and KOM classifications, and saving their legs the rest of the time in the hope to get to the finish fresher than the rest. I was no exception and the negative mood was very suited to my intention to secure the Sprint competition and the stage win. I made sure I covered attacks by the main contender for the stage win, Mark Carr, and coming into the intermediate sprints I also marked my only threat, Kon Papakonstantinou. Luckily, my strategy was a success. Mark went for the KOM points as well as the overall victory, and he produced some big efforts sprinting up the hill on the first two laps. In the last straight I made sure I was firmly stuck on his wheel, as I expected him to wind up from a distance in an attempt to drop me before the line. To my surprise, he waited, and waited, and waited... When he launched his sprint, probably at 100 meters to go, I jumped behind him keeping some power in reserve... With 50 meters to go he started dying, and that's when I launched my sprint and came around him to take my second stage victory of the Tour.
The Footscray 53rd Annual 3-Day Tour is undeniably my most successful tour to date. I secured 2 stage wins, the King Sprint prize, 2nd in the KOM prize, 4th on GC, and was also awarded a special prize by the commissaires for fair-play –given the bad luck in stage 2- and for best female rider.
THANK YOU to our sponsors for making this success possible:
TDT Australia
BIKEFORCE DOCKLANDS
RIDLEY
CHAMPION SYSTEM
BOUWMEESTER
BARTERCARD
WYNDHAMVALE PHYSIOTHERAPY
