Tim ReinhartDiary of a U23 Rider
in Europe
4/5-7/02 I was so tired after this, but I tried to grit my teeth a little more. On
the last lap we hit a fairly long but gradual hill. A Vellutux rider attack,
and the group just went crazy. I couldn't find anything in my legs after
just chasing back on and was soon droped. I finished with the next group of
about 35, and I still couldn't believe what just happened. That was the
hardest 120 kilometers of my life. Soooo fast. After that hard day, we
found our team with Patrick still in 16th overall, Jon 19th, Myself 21st,
and Mark 23rd.
The next day was a 165k stage and it was again so hard and windy. The race
for Jon, and myself was over before it even began. We got suck in the back
of the start and the group split right when the pace car pulled away. This
along with the fact that my bars some how slipped all the way down that I had
to hold onto the Mavic car so they could tighten them down for me. The
course was also very hard in that we had to do a few cobbled climbs that were
so steep. There was one on the finishing circuit that was about 800 meters,
but was so steep that you could barely get out of your saddle. Well we
finished the race, and my overall was shot, losing about 24 placings just on
the last day. This shows you how lucky, and stong you have to be everyday in
a stage race. The good news about the race was that Patrick was quite the
stud on the stage and placed 4th. He moved up to 6th overall, and made us
all look pretty good as a team. It was quite the learning experience. Now
we have two days off, and then a 5 day stage race. Should be fun.
Timmy
I've been so busy lately with all the racing we've been doing that its so
hard to find time and write my race reports. It didn't make it any easier
that we just got done with a 3 day, 4 stage race. It was one of the hardest
races I've ever done. The first stage was a 175.8 kilometer race. It was
mostly flat with very few climbs, but the wind would prove to be a big
factor. At about 90k in the race the group just split into two at a cross
wind section. Luckily 5 of our 7 teammates were in this group of about 43
riders. We were going extremly fast because Rabobank, and Domo both had
their top riders in the group so they were trying to put in as much time on
the field as possible. We were also pulling through very hard because we
wanted to set up Jon Retseck for the sprint, and to help keep Patrick out of
trouble. Sterling Magnell and myself were mad men pulling extremely hard for
about 80k with the other riders. In the end it paid off as the group stayed
away, and we were all within the top 30 overall, and 2nd in Team GC.
The next day was a double stage, which we all don't look forward to because
of how hard they are. In the morning there was a 8k time trial, and we all
did fairly well. Patrick was the fastest of us Americans coming in the top
20, but Jon, and myself were also in the top 30. I couldn't believe that I
could pull off a time trial like that. Normally I would be happy with a top
50, but I'll take what I can get. So at this point the overall was still
looking very good for us. Four of us were still in the top 30 overall, and
all we had to do was race good in the afternoon, and make sure we were in the
break. Before the stage started Noel told us that the wind was going to be a
huge factor, and that we should expecte the group to break up in the first
few kilometers, and thats exactly what happened. After 3 kilometers of the
race I found myself in a breakaway with about 25 other riders, including my
teammate Mark Fitzgerald. The French National team, and Rabobank were
driving the front so hard all I could do was just suck it up, and pull
through when we hit the cross wind sections so I could get some draft. After
holding a solid 30 second lead for about 60k the group started breaking up.
Mark had a flat, and quickly was sent out of the lead group. Right after
that we hit a series of rolling hills, and I realized that I was only with 11
other riders. The time gap went up to 1:30, and we kept driving away. I was
really shocked because I really don't find myself up in the lead break often
with such talented riders, and yet I felt so strong, and thought for sure
that I would be top 5. But then my luck kicked in, and in the middle of a
flat normal road with about 20k left in the race a Domo rider went down if
front of me, causing me to crash also. I wasn't hurt, but I had to change
wheels, and then the chase was on. Luckily the caravan was behind us, so we
got to draft off of the cars, and I eventuall caught back up with the riders.
copyright © 2002 by Everette Carr. All rights reserved.
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