More and more tired!!!
yesterday there was a race leader change that is now gijs, im in 3rd a couple minutes away from ignacio and with Marco right behind me.
the stage begun, you guessed, with me dropping back on the leaders, today there was a lot of mud sections at the begining and with all the guys around me i get nervous ;)
after the firt climb of the day that was around 4km with some very hard parts i really was feeling dead. the downhill was Fast and i managed to go all out without worring about crashing.
there was then a flatish part where i could really pedal hard in direction to Fatela. I pushed a group all the way and dropped in the Fatela climb that was cobble stone and steep. at km 45 i finally got back to the lead group of 6, that was a relieve and also a surprise to feel a lot better at that time. from there i really didnt want to do much other than trying to hang wout with the boys. it was a constant up and down, river crossing, mud and water and i was already having a load of problems with my arms. especially the right one that make the shifting, to the point where i just stopped using the rear deralium and had only 2 gears, the big ring and middle ring ;) more and more torture!!!
despite some efforts of tearing apart the group it stood compact except for joep, the race leader bro.
i had several problem to follow whats left of the group in the last km as it was a terrain that forced too much my arms but was abble to get to the finish line and sprint in that group, i was last of course ;)
tomorrow we will leave monfortinho and have Castelo de vide as destination, a place where i did a small training camp last year so i know the roads.....ups....its MTB...right !!!
sorry for the lack of care with writing but i really need to get sleep in !!!! but you get the point
vamos lá, aperta contigo Campeão.
ReplyDeletevamos lá, aperta contigo Campeão.
ReplyDeleteObrigado for keeping us up to date on your efforts!! Great that you are third with a stage win in a field of experienced MTB riders. How do my fellow Dutchmen get so fast on hilly sections???
ReplyDeleteGood luck for the rest of the race,
DJ