The second ever Ladies Tour of Qatar kicked off today and I was more than pleased to be taking to the start line decked out in my hTC kit (Australian flag and all this time) and surrounded by five of my amazing team mates; Judith Arndt, Ellen van Dijk, Emilia Fahlin, Adrie Vissier and Noemi Cantele.
I watched last year’s edition eagerly from my couch, a fact that seemed to follow me for the entire 2009 season. If I wasn’t hearing about the amazing six star hotel that the riders got treated to or the leg shattering first stage where Flexpoint decimated the peloton there was definitely something wrong. That or people were eating, because if there’s one thing that can shut cyclists up, it’s food.
Qatar may seem like an odd place to hold a bike race, and quite frankly it is, but as I write this from my luxurious bed in my lavish, mansion sized hotel room I find it hard to complain. That and the race is known as a ‘sprinters’ race.
Essentially the Tour (which consists of three stages) is just Dutch racing transported 5000 kilometres to the south-east.
The windmills may have been replaced by oil mines and the lush green fields that line the roads of the Netherlands may have been substituted with endless sand and countless camels but it is still, essentially, Dutch racing.
If your thoughts went straight to dead flat roads that stretch to the horizon and gale force winds as soon as I mentioned Dutch racing you would be right on the money. For some it may sound boring, but for me for me this couldn’t be further from the truth. It’s my ‘home environment’ and I couldn’t wait to get out into those cross winds that were waiting for me with a snarl.
The first race of the season for the majority of the peloton, tensions were high as we rolled away from the Museum of Islamic Art which was hosting the start of the 103 kilometre first stage.
These tensions boiled to the surface in a number of small crashes in the first few kilometres and eventually erupted at the 40km mark, only four kilometres from the first intermediate sprint, when there was crash that impeded almost half the peloton, either because they crashed or were caught behind it, causing the bunch to splinter into four or five groups.
...This split was helped along by gusting cross-winds and the Cervelo train.
Luckily I was able to avoid the crash and the bunch was ‘gruppo compacto’ with 30kms to go.
Fast forward to the last ten kilometres and this is where the race really started to heat up.
Having discussed tactics in the team meeting the night before we came to the conclusion that the Cervelo team, made of time trial riders and sprinter, Kirsten Wild would attempt to control the last kilometres of the race with a lead out train.
(The basic idea of this train, for those unsure, is that riders from the team keep the pace high in the final kilometres of the race their sprinter tucked into the slipstream. This makes it difficult for other teams to position their sprinter for the win and also dissuades individual riders from attacking in the final kilometres and taking a surprise win.)
We decided we weren’t going to let this fly, electing to send individual riders up the road one at time in the final five kilometres, with me following wheels and protecting myself for the final sprint. Our plan almost worked perfectly.
Not every team has the luxury of being able to send former world champions, current national champions and current world champion medallist up the road, but we did. (I am about to do some serious name dropping).
2004 World Champion, Judith Arndt was the first to launch and she exploded out of the peloton leaving panic behind her. The Cervelo train which had just began to form lost one of its riders as they sent her away in pursuit of Judith, and when the gap wasn’t closing even Kirsten Wild chased, not the ideal thing to do for a sprinter with just under five kilometres to the finish.
Silver medallist in the 2009 time trial world championships and bronze medallist in the road race, Noemi Cantele then jumped out of the bunch causing further confusion behind her. It was chaotic as Cervelo tried to chase down everything that moved their train began to rapidly deteriorate.
Emilia Fahlin’s (the current Swedish national time trial champion), attack with three kilometres to go finally pushed the Cervelo train over the edge when Kirsten Wild’s last lead out rider, Sarah Duster, launched after her getting stuck in no-man’s land and leaving Kirsten without the lead out train she’d come to rely so heavily on. While Emilia’s attack was impressive enough on its own it seemed even more so after learning that she had crashed during the raced...and had five punctures.
With 1.3kms to go Adrie, Ellen and I were at the front of the bike race with no one team controlling the bunch. With 300metres to go I panicked.
Deciding people were leaving the sprint much to late I launched off Adrie’s wheel and was narrowly beaten by Rasa Lelivyte (Pasta Safi) and Giorgia Bronzini (Italian National Team).
I was pretty stoked to take third in my fist race with the team but I know there is still a lot of improvement to come. My goal heading into the next two stages is to get rid of the terrible tan line I got today...and maybe a few more podium places.
For now, my bed is calling. Stay tuned for the next instalment from the country where money isn’t an object and camels can buy you love. (My blog from the HTC-Columbia training camp in Mallorca will be up shortly, don’t lose faith!)
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Monday, February 1, 2010
Q&As...of sorts.
Just for a bit of fun (and maybe a little serious)- me, my new hide out in Spain, and racing with hTC-Columbia.
You said you were with Greipel before the TDU talking tactics - what tips did you give him? Did he put them in action?
He wouldn’t stop picking my brains, it was a little irritating! I just reinforced to him he needs to have faith in his team mates and trust his instincts. You know, the basics...he was all ears. (I'm kidding...)
Do you tend to put a lot of pressure on yourself? Has that abated?
Generally, I’m the only one who has piled it on me. I have really high expectations of myself in everything I do and don’t like to do things half-heartedly. I think it’s something that has definitely helped in my cycling.
What got you into cycling? Once you were, how did you feel?
The father. I was always really sporty, doing every sport under the sun and then one day I just asked Dad, who is a keen cyclist, if he could set me up on a bike. He couldn’t get me on one quick enough and I just never stopped.
Initially I just really liked the freedom of it. I thought it was super cool that at the age of 12 I could wake up in the morning and meet the local junior bunch for the weekly ride and have done 30km before school even started. And then I started winning, so that was a bonus!
Describe how you feel when you're riding
I’ve never really thought about it. I love the rush of adrenalin you get when you’re racing. The challenge and how when it comes to a sprint and you’re moving at 60km/hr you have to make split second decisions that can make or ruin your race after 130km out on the road.
First bike?
Some metallic blue compact frame Giant, a hand me down from my Dad. It had illegal wheels which all the juniors complained about me riding. At the time I didn’t understand why they were illegal; I just thought they looked pretty.
How do you like your current bike?
The Scott is fantastic. Super light and just accelerates beneath you. I’m really looking forward to racing it in Qatar in a few days. Qatar’s well known as a race specially for sprinters so it will be good to test it out in my ‘home environment.’
Favourite Belgian beer
Leffe, for sure.
Where are you basing yourself in the European season?
I hooked up an amazing apartment in Girona, Spain with two other Australian girls Tiffany Cromwell (Australian National Team) and Josie Tomic (Lotto Belisol Ladies). The former tenant rode for Garmin-Transitions and our next door neighbour is someone from Astana!
Fave ride around Canberra? Anywhere else in the world?
Actually, if you had have asked me two week ago I would have said it was just a nice cruisy ride around Cotter in Canberra. But I just finished my first training camp in Mallorca, Spain with the team and found some amazing rides there. I loved the rides through the mountains around the bay there. Beautiful views and the climbs didn’t even hurt...that much!
Favourite cycling moment - of all time, your own and/or as a spectator
Hmm, a tough one. For me personally it probably would have been my win in the third stage of the Tour of Chongming Island last year because I really had to fight for it and then team had put everything on the line to get me to the finish, so it was great to be able to reward them.
As a spectator, the stage in the TdF last year when hTC-Columbia just got on the front into a cross-wind 30kms from the finish and drilled it causing chaos and panic in the peloton behind them was pretty awesome. It just showed how tactically switched on the team was and it’s something you don’t really see in the Grand Tours, especially so early on. (I’m not even being biased because I’ve signed with them, I swear!)
Biggest influence on your career
It may sound a little lame, but definitely my Dad. I’ve never really had those ‘Heroes’ that other people might have. I just always wanted to be the best I could be. So Dad has probably had the biggest influence on my cycling. He has always been so supportive and has taught me so much about racing.
Hopes for Tour of Qatar
I’m not really sure what to expect actually. Not only will it be my first time riding the race but it’s the first time racing with the new team so I want to go in with an open mind.
Favourite cyclist of all time?
Jens Voigt for sure. It’s always the man behind the guy that wins, but you see an interview with him and he’s just the funniest, most good humoured guy out there. Such a good attitude also- I once heard a story about him, it was terrible weather and everyone was like ‘we’ll this sucks’ but Jens was like ‘this is fantastic, half the field has already lost the race’. The glass is always half-full.
What are your thoughts about the Australian nationals being on the same course for six years (or can't you really say?)
It’s a bit disappointing to say the least. Every other country changes the course every year. It just means that Australia will have the same national Champion, or the same sort of rider at least as National Champion for the next six years and how is that exciting?
2010 presented Cycling Australia with the best opportunity to change this, the World Championships are being held in Geelong, why not give our riders the opportunity to race on the course before other nations and use it for the National Championships? It would have given us a huge advantage- and probably drawn a stella field also.
How did you feel signing that contract with HTC?
It’s something that I hadn’t really even ever dreamed of. I always said that I wanted to be a professional cyclist but I’m not sure I ever really fully believed that I was capable of it. It’s still a little surreal, I ride for the best team in the world and I’m 19...what!?
I see you've ticked one of your goals - to sign with a pro team, what are your career goals? And 2010?
I’m definitely looking towards the Olympics in London and then after that I’ll reassess. For 2010 I’m hoping to make both the Commonwealth Games and the World Championship Squads. While they’re definitely ambitious goals I don’t think they’re that far out of my reach.
Greatest rival? Friendly with them or is it like Contador/Lance?
Generally I’m really good friends with everyone I ride/race with. But I think at the moment it there definitely a lot of competition between fellow Australian sprinter Rochelle Gilmore and myself, but friendly of course!
How did the training camp go in Mallorca?
It was pretty fantastic, while it took me a few days to stop whinging about the weather I left behind in Australia the riding was actually amazing. It was really good to get to know all the girls a bit better also.
Hardest bits about being a pro cyclist? Best bits?
Constantly being away from home and loved ones, especially my puppy! People don’t realise but it can get quite lonely, there is definitely some quality Skype time going on. Best bit is you’re getting paid to do what you would do for free; I now have an excuse to be lazy if I’m not on the bike. ‘Mum, I can’t hang out the washing, I’m recovering...it’s my job.’
Ever been to Mooseheads?
Of course! Thursday night is cheap night...see you next week right?
Check out the full interview here: http://tourdecouch.blogspot.com/
You said you were with Greipel before the TDU talking tactics - what tips did you give him? Did he put them in action?
He wouldn’t stop picking my brains, it was a little irritating! I just reinforced to him he needs to have faith in his team mates and trust his instincts. You know, the basics...he was all ears. (I'm kidding...)
Do you tend to put a lot of pressure on yourself? Has that abated?
Generally, I’m the only one who has piled it on me. I have really high expectations of myself in everything I do and don’t like to do things half-heartedly. I think it’s something that has definitely helped in my cycling.
What got you into cycling? Once you were, how did you feel?
The father. I was always really sporty, doing every sport under the sun and then one day I just asked Dad, who is a keen cyclist, if he could set me up on a bike. He couldn’t get me on one quick enough and I just never stopped.
Initially I just really liked the freedom of it. I thought it was super cool that at the age of 12 I could wake up in the morning and meet the local junior bunch for the weekly ride and have done 30km before school even started. And then I started winning, so that was a bonus!
Describe how you feel when you're riding
I’ve never really thought about it. I love the rush of adrenalin you get when you’re racing. The challenge and how when it comes to a sprint and you’re moving at 60km/hr you have to make split second decisions that can make or ruin your race after 130km out on the road.
First bike?
Some metallic blue compact frame Giant, a hand me down from my Dad. It had illegal wheels which all the juniors complained about me riding. At the time I didn’t understand why they were illegal; I just thought they looked pretty.
How do you like your current bike?
The Scott is fantastic. Super light and just accelerates beneath you. I’m really looking forward to racing it in Qatar in a few days. Qatar’s well known as a race specially for sprinters so it will be good to test it out in my ‘home environment.’
Favourite Belgian beer
Leffe, for sure.
Where are you basing yourself in the European season?
I hooked up an amazing apartment in Girona, Spain with two other Australian girls Tiffany Cromwell (Australian National Team) and Josie Tomic (Lotto Belisol Ladies). The former tenant rode for Garmin-Transitions and our next door neighbour is someone from Astana!
Fave ride around Canberra? Anywhere else in the world?
Actually, if you had have asked me two week ago I would have said it was just a nice cruisy ride around Cotter in Canberra. But I just finished my first training camp in Mallorca, Spain with the team and found some amazing rides there. I loved the rides through the mountains around the bay there. Beautiful views and the climbs didn’t even hurt...that much!
Favourite cycling moment - of all time, your own and/or as a spectator
Hmm, a tough one. For me personally it probably would have been my win in the third stage of the Tour of Chongming Island last year because I really had to fight for it and then team had put everything on the line to get me to the finish, so it was great to be able to reward them.
As a spectator, the stage in the TdF last year when hTC-Columbia just got on the front into a cross-wind 30kms from the finish and drilled it causing chaos and panic in the peloton behind them was pretty awesome. It just showed how tactically switched on the team was and it’s something you don’t really see in the Grand Tours, especially so early on. (I’m not even being biased because I’ve signed with them, I swear!)
Biggest influence on your career
It may sound a little lame, but definitely my Dad. I’ve never really had those ‘Heroes’ that other people might have. I just always wanted to be the best I could be. So Dad has probably had the biggest influence on my cycling. He has always been so supportive and has taught me so much about racing.
Hopes for Tour of Qatar
I’m not really sure what to expect actually. Not only will it be my first time riding the race but it’s the first time racing with the new team so I want to go in with an open mind.
Favourite cyclist of all time?
Jens Voigt for sure. It’s always the man behind the guy that wins, but you see an interview with him and he’s just the funniest, most good humoured guy out there. Such a good attitude also- I once heard a story about him, it was terrible weather and everyone was like ‘we’ll this sucks’ but Jens was like ‘this is fantastic, half the field has already lost the race’. The glass is always half-full.
What are your thoughts about the Australian nationals being on the same course for six years (or can't you really say?)
It’s a bit disappointing to say the least. Every other country changes the course every year. It just means that Australia will have the same national Champion, or the same sort of rider at least as National Champion for the next six years and how is that exciting?
2010 presented Cycling Australia with the best opportunity to change this, the World Championships are being held in Geelong, why not give our riders the opportunity to race on the course before other nations and use it for the National Championships? It would have given us a huge advantage- and probably drawn a stella field also.
How did you feel signing that contract with HTC?
It’s something that I hadn’t really even ever dreamed of. I always said that I wanted to be a professional cyclist but I’m not sure I ever really fully believed that I was capable of it. It’s still a little surreal, I ride for the best team in the world and I’m 19...what!?
I see you've ticked one of your goals - to sign with a pro team, what are your career goals? And 2010?
I’m definitely looking towards the Olympics in London and then after that I’ll reassess. For 2010 I’m hoping to make both the Commonwealth Games and the World Championship Squads. While they’re definitely ambitious goals I don’t think they’re that far out of my reach.
Greatest rival? Friendly with them or is it like Contador/Lance?
Generally I’m really good friends with everyone I ride/race with. But I think at the moment it there definitely a lot of competition between fellow Australian sprinter Rochelle Gilmore and myself, but friendly of course!
How did the training camp go in Mallorca?
It was pretty fantastic, while it took me a few days to stop whinging about the weather I left behind in Australia the riding was actually amazing. It was really good to get to know all the girls a bit better also.
Hardest bits about being a pro cyclist? Best bits?
Constantly being away from home and loved ones, especially my puppy! People don’t realise but it can get quite lonely, there is definitely some quality Skype time going on. Best bit is you’re getting paid to do what you would do for free; I now have an excuse to be lazy if I’m not on the bike. ‘Mum, I can’t hang out the washing, I’m recovering...it’s my job.’
Ever been to Mooseheads?
Of course! Thursday night is cheap night...see you next week right?
Check out the full interview here: http://tourdecouch.blogspot.com/
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