Stage 1 was a relatively short road race of 64 km, with 2 categorised climbs. I think a lot of people were pretty nervous going into the race given the sketchy moments in the bunch for the first few kilometres until things settled down a bit. The first Queen of the Mountains (QOM) prime was a short kicker climb and despite my pre-race plan of what gearing to use I ended up in completely the wrong gear and with the fear of a mechanical from changing gear half way up I was forced to grind up it. Things stayed together to the next QOM, where I decided to have a go at picking up some points. The speed ramped up from quite far out so it was a long sprint and I crossed the line in 6th, picking up 1 point for the effort. This was followed by a counter attack from Team Ireland and a big thanks to Laura from Team Pearl Izumi for shouting at me to get on her wheel so I didn't get dropped. Coming into the last 10 km, for whatever unknown reason, a girl decided to just ride across my line and her rear mech snapped one of my front spokes. I continued on for a bit in the vain hope it would be ok but when I dared to look down it was clear that my wheel was completely buckled and I would need to get a change of wheel. Sticking my arm in the air to warn the riders behind, I rolled to a stop at the side of the road. Seeing the bunch race on past you so close to the finish is a bit soul destroying, especially on the first stage, but I managed to stay pretty calm and pop out the wheel ready for the spare from Ken our mechanic. One of the things I learnt in France was how to use the cars in the convoy to slingshot you back up to the bunch. This was on the day in the Tour Feminine en Limousin when I had decided to play "how many times can I get dropped and get back on" (answers on the back of a postcard please!) so I had a bit of practice. A wee chase through the cars later and I was back with the bunch, breathing a big sigh of relief that my race wasn't over before it had even got started. I finished somewhere in the bunch with the same time as the winner (Hannah from DID) and was happy enough given I had burnt a few more matches than I'd have liked in the chase.
Stage 2 was the longest stage of the race at 104km, with three category 2 climbs. The weather was pretty grim, rain and mist and at times visibility was very poor. As we had the pink jersey from Hannah's win the night before, we knew that the other teams would be on the attack. There were a few attempts early on but nothing stuck until after the first QOM when a counter attack from two riders went relatively unnoticed. This was to prove the decisive move and the two then three riders stayed away for the rest of the stage. I was in the chase group and we were receiving time checks from the comm, although at times these were a little sporadic. At the top of the corkscrew climb the leaders were 30 seconds ahead, but with only a few riders willing to chase it became evident that we weren't going to pull them back. The finish was at the top of the third cat 2 climb and I think I speak for everyone in the peloton that day that it was such a relief to see the finish line and seek shelter in the cars to escape the dreich conditions. Sitting in the car on the way home, we were all a bit disappointed to have lost the pink jersey but also really happy for Mel (team mate in France) who had taken the stage win!
Will update soon with a wee blurb on stages 3, 4, 5 and 6.
Laters!
Jools.
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