Tour de Limousin (UCI 2.1)

Race Report: Tour de Limousin (UCI 2.1)
Dates: July 22nd – July 25th
Team: Equipe Mixte de Limoux
Field: ~180 riders (including UCI teams like Futuroscope, Fassa Bortolo and national teams from Australia, Scotland, Russia, Switzerland and USA)

Stage 1: 118km RR. This started with 4 laps of a 10km circuit each of which had a GPM (QOM) up a 2km climb. After the climb there was a technical downhill into a rolling/false flat section. Then came another steep and technical descent into another shorter climb before hitting the GPM again. After the 4 laps we continued straight instead of turning left back onto the circuit and did one big ~70km circuit which was constantly going up or down with a few (very) false flat sections.

Stage 2: 17.3km TT. This course was VERY fun. It was mostly downhill and rolling for the first half and then the second half had a series of short climbs and technical descents. As TT courses go, this could not have been better for me (except for maybe three of the last four km which had some longer, steeper kickers).

Stage 3: 110km RR. The start of this race was a raging (and pretty technical) downhill into a ~2km high speed climb into another extremely narrow and technical descent. We then continued on to another ~2.5km climb across the finish line and into the first GPM and then continued on another up and down/rolling course for about ~30km. We then came back into the circuits, which we started on, and did that three times (which included a GPM each pass). The circuits were full of all sorts of fast descents, technical roundabouts, narrow town roads and short but heavy climbs.

Stage 4: 118km RR. This race started more or less on a climb. It was only about 1km but it was pretty steep towards the end. It was the least technical course of the stage race and had the widest roads but this made things more difficult. This course was up and down, up and down, up and down. The climbs were steeper than the last few days and the course was riddled with GPMs and sprints. The big circuit was about 60km and then we finished on 4 laps of the smaller circuit.
*each stage had 4 or more GPMs and several sprints

Now for what ACTUALLY happened...

Stage 1: Before I can explain how the first stage went I have to back up and describe the days leading up to it. We left Limoux Wednesday morning at 7:30 am to meet our DS and two other staff in Toulouse before continuing on to Limousin. For the weeks that I have been in Limoux we have had mostly intolerably hot weather. But, in a matter of four hours we managed to leave 40 degree (centigrade) weather and find ourselves in 15 degrees, pouring rain and lightning storms. Needless to say, we did not have a chance to ride after the drive. Even worse, our start the first day was the earliest of the whole weekend so we would not have a chance to ride in the morning either. Our transfer to the start was supposed to be 2 hours but that turned into nearly 2.5 getting us to the race 40 minutes before our start. After spending 20 minutes in line for one of two toilettes in the whole area, we had 20 minutes to change, sign in and line up with 180 other riders.

With 180 riders in the field, everyone’s main goal is to be at the front. Combine that with starting pretty much on a descent and you get absolute chaos mixed in with the smell of burning brake pads. Luckily I feel pretty comfortable descending and was able to make my way into the top forty or so after flat-out sprinting for what seemed like 15 minutes. Once we hit the GPM climb, though, my position started to suffer. I managed to hang on to the tail end of the group and make my way back up over the rest of the next circuit. But, since there was a GPM EVERY lap, I eventually came off and could not recover enough to catch back on the third time up. I rode in no-man’s land for a long while and then started to get caught and passed like a dead weight by girls who had gotten dropped earlier. I learned after that experience that the best thing for me to do is not kill myself to stay in sight of the caravan alone but to ease up, rest and wait for a group behind me to cling to. Lesson learned. I ended up riding alone for about 60km between groups. Eventually I got caught by two riders at 25km to go and we came in together several minutes behind the main peloton.

Stage 2: This short TT was a welcome break after the four hour slog the day before. Given my position on GC was beyond help, I decided to go hard in the TT but not to dig any holes. My main goal was to finish the next two days and if that meant sacrificing 45 seconds or so on my TT time, so be it. As it turns out, my legs felt much better for the TT and I had a great time. I went as planned, doing basically over-unders the whole time (floating the fast descents and killing the hills and staying steady in between). I had an early start time and managed to catch two riders ahead of me and keep a third in sight. This gave me the best time of the day for a glorious 30 minutes before the pros got started. It was a very fun course and a great opener and recovery for the next two days.

Stage 3: I would say this was my best day of the race. I stayed with the main group for about 40km before getting dropped 75% of the way up the first 4km GPM. I learned from the first stage and took a few moments to collect myself without panicking. Soon I was in a group of 6. As with most chase groups, there was chaos for about an hour until everyone settled in and accepted the fact that there was just no way we were going to catch the main group. We ended up picking up riders for most of the day and ended up being a group of about 25 at the finish. I focused on spinning up all the climbs and staying in the front for the technical descents (where me and another couple of Belgian and Dutch riders kept dropping the group). The pace was challenging but manageable and I wanted to save myself for the finish to practice setting up for the sprint (as directed by our DS). Luckily I had a teammate in the group with me for company. She didn’t have anything left at the finish to help me out so I set myself up. I got a little caught up by other riders and was a little far back with 500 meters to go but it was uphill so I flew up the left when I finally got an opening and finished third in the bunch. I probably could have won the sprint but the fatigue of the last few days, a lack of sugar to the brain and knowing that we were sprinting for a position on the third page of results left me slightly unmotivated. Still, I was happy to finish in the third group on the road. An improvement.

Stage 4: After a terrible night’s sleep I was feeling a little underwhelmed for today’s stage but I sucked it up and rolled around before the start to get over that first hump of pain in the legs. I managed to stay with the main group for about 40km. After getting dropped on steep climbs and catching back on twice my legs were pretty toasted. Our DS had told us, looking relieved, that today’s course was not dangerous. I beg to differ. The roads were wider than they had been any other day and while the descents were not technical, they were fast. Without any big climb or technical descent in the beginning to break things up, the group stayed together. This meant a lot of track standing and jumping starts in the middle of hills due to the yo-yo effect. All of those efforts wore on me and we finally hit a hill that broke me. I was pedaling squares and barely putting out any power, just praying for a group to come sweep me up. Alas I saw NO ONE for the next 30km until a group including one of my teammates finally caught me as we entered the final circuits. We made it around one before we actually got caught by the lead motos and were told we were done. While it would have been great to say I finished a UCI race, I was not heartbroken. I was completely trashed. I had given everything I had. I would have been stubborn and finished had it not been for the commissaries ordering us off but it would have taken ages. I took my first ride in a sweeper van with two very kind old French men and called it a day.

This was the hardest racing I have ever done in my life. I had a great team to keep me company. I may not be listed on any results but the most important thing is that I truly enjoyed myself. Thanks for reading!