TOUR ALSACE – July 27-30

(This post is from the whole race, so grab a coffee and get comfy!).

PRE-RACE INFO

Ok – so this post is from on the road (this is after the first stage and I’m writing in my hotel room) – I’m in Mulhouse now, and we’re doing the Tour Alsace. There are 6 of us racers here, with 1 mechanic, 1 soigneur, 1 directeur sportif, and 2 vehicles. This is pretty great actually. Yesterday we drove down here from the Netherlands and got in mid-afternoon. Just in time to check in, get into our kits, and roll into the center of town for the team presentations. It was actually pretty stellar – I’ve never done anything like this before. We rode through the main square in front of the church, got off our bikes, and walked up on the stage to be presented over the loudspeakers and then we all got kisses from the podium girls (wahoo!!!) and presents too. Oh yeah – and Laurent Jalabert was there to present the teams too, so I gave him props and a shout-out.

To give an idea of what’s going on, this is a 5 stage race held over 4 days (yup – this morning we did a road race and tonite we’re doing a team-time trial in the center of town) of the Alsace region of France…..renowned for its hills!! This is going to be a long set of stages. The organization is pretty stellar too – we’re staying at the Mercure in the center of Mulhouse, and we’ve gotten everything taken care of – meals, gas, entrance fee, hotel rooms, etcetera – how cool is that! I feel like a pro! We stay here for the entire time – we don’t have to move hotels, so that’s pretty awesome. The stage today was patrolled by lots of Gendarmes – 14 from France, 2 from Switzerland, and 2 from Germany….cool! And lots of other great stuff too – publicity caravan, TV crews, fans along the course (especially at the start and the finish!) :o)

Here’s the website for the race - http://www.agence-aujourdhui.fr/touralsace/2006/ and you can check “Cliquez ici pour ouvrir le minisite de la course” in the upper right corner for a better layout of the stages and results.

DAY 1 – SAUSHIEM to HUNINGUE, 94km flat stage – July 27

The stages look pretty tough – this morning we did a 95km flat stage that ended in a bunch sprint. The average speed – 47.5kph. Yikes. And it doesn’t help that there’s an epic heat-wave across most of Europe right now, so even though the stage was done in 2 hours we still had to battle cramps – it was a real concern. One of my teammates had made it in the break, so I spent some time at the front trying to control the breaks, but it was to no avail and they were swallowed up 10km from the finish. But anyway, stage 1 out of the way, and a team time trial coming up tonight.

TEAM TIME TRIAL, SAUSHIEM 4.5km

So we finished the team time trail – but barely. What a cluster fuck that was! I can’t believe how poorly we performed! Our warmup was shit – but I expected that, so I went off on my own and made sure I was ready. Then when we started, one rider almost fell over, and another wouldn’t step into his place. Eventually we sorted ourselves out, butthen throughout the race we were so poorly organized we were passing in the corners, not keeping tight formation, or whatever. I think the biggest problem was the disparity between the strongest and weakest riders on our team – and the fact the race was only 5km long! One rider was scared in the corners, but rather than tell us before the race he just went ahead like there was nothing wrong – so when he went really slowly through the corners we almost throttled him!

It was a pretty strange race though at only 5km – we had to be ready to go from the start, and give it FULL THROTTLE the entire time, which trust me, feels like hours. Wow – what a hurt that can put on you!

So after the race it was back to the hotel for showers and then dinner – jeeze, I never thought I could eat this much! It’s pretty crazy, but I’ve just been stuffing food down my gullet to try to keep up with how much we’re burning – I’ve never had anything quite like this.

Then after dinner I got a rub down from our soigneur, and now it’s just relaxing while watching TV before going to bed.

I have no idea how we’re doing – the results were supposed to arrive at dinner but didn’t, so we left and we’ll figure it out in the morning…..but after that TTT, wow, we can’t be doing that well :o)

Tomorrow is going to be a huge day – super hot (about 35 degrees and super sunny), lots of hills (we’re in the Alsace – it’s great!), and some pretty stiff competition!!!! These Frenchies drive like animals – so freaking fast it’s unbelievable!

So we’re pretty much in our own world here – but we have heard about the Landis positive test, which is freaking crazy. After what he said in a press conference just before the Tour about anti-doping, then to get caught during the Tour. Wow – I have pretty much 0 respect for pro racers right now….

DAY 2 – STRASBOURG to LE BISCHENBERG, 158km, 3 major climbs, rolling terrain July 29th

So it’s a bright Saturday morning in Mulhouse and it promises to be a hot one today – rats! After yesterday’s stage I think we’re all looking for a little cooler weather, but what can ya do. So yesterday’s stage – what happened? Well it was a pretty epic stage as far as I was concerned – 160km including 1 Cat 2, 3 Cat 3, and 1 Cat 4 climb. It didn’t help that the pace right from the start was pretty uber fast for a road race – right up there at 48kph (ouch).

Unfortunately it feels like something is wrong with me I didn’t have great legs or lungs at all, so I was hurting for a while. At about 70km there was a break of 30 riders that I completely missed, but again – I was hurting anyway, so I wouldn’t have been able to do much. Eventually I got dropped by the peloton on the Cat 2 climb that came at the 105km mark, but was able to chase back on just a the top in time for the downhill, so that was good. For the next 30km I tried to fuel some attacks and spent most of my time at the front – I finally instigated the attack I wanted, with 7 strong riders, however my efforts had taken their toll and I got sent off the back in the first big climb to join the peloton again.

My efforts really killed me, and when our Directeur Sportif came over the radio to tell us we were out of water bottles I knew I was in trouble – I had none left, I was really thirsty, and I was starting to bonk….and there was still about 20km to go……uh-oh.

But I was able to get 2 small cans of coke and an energy gel from the team car just in time for the last climb, which was a 2km wall. I finished just behind the main peloton, but I think that means I’m pretty far down on the overall standings….not a big deal, considering I’m getting my ass kicked all over the place by these guys – the pace is just so high and the temperatures so hot that I can barely keep it together!

Oh yeah, and we got the general classification at breakfast this morning – it turns out our team is 16th out of 24, and I’m sitting in 118th place, about 17 minutes behind the leaders. Fuck – 17 minutes!!! At least I’m not last (but jeeze – I’m pretty close – only 135 riders still in the race!). Hopefully today will be a bit better and I’ll have some better legs than yesterday.

DAY 3 – CERNAY to RIXHEIM, 160km, 4 major climbs, rolling terrain, July 29th

So stage 3 was another epic stage – but this time for different reasons. We got to the start line just as it started to rain…..great! And did it rain! For the first 2 hours of the race it was pouring down on us – all the way up the days first big climb at the 70km mark (make no mistake though – lots of smaller climbs between the big ones!), then all the way down the other side. That made for some interesting descending as the roads were super slick – only a few small crashed though as the peloton took it pretty easy on the wet roads. The best part of the rain: it cooled things off for once!

I was able to ride at or near the front to the top of the first climb (30km into the course), but after that I was slowly working my way to the back of the peloton. It’s not nearly as bad as in NL though – the roads are wide and the riders much nicer in France, so being at the back isn’t the end of the world.

So about ½ way through the race and near the top of the big climb was the feed zone, which is where my trouble started. I was with the main group and grabbed my mussette bag, tossing it over my shoulder. The problem was when I was taking it off it got caught on my glasses which I had in my helmet, so they promptly fell off – rats. Double rats: they were my Rudy Projects with prescription inserts that I just got 2 weeks ago and have been AMAZING to wear while racing. Triple rats: there was no stopping to get them! So going down the downhill I was having some trouble seeing what was coming my way – it made it pretty interesting (in a bad way).

Then at the bottom of the downhill I had my other major problem – the peloton was CRANKING along at sprinters pace along the flats (seriously – I was BARELY hanging on the back, all the while wondering who the fuck was pushing the pace at the front!!!). So I popped into my 53x11 and cranked a few hard pedal strokes – and that’s when my chain skipped. I was so happy I didn’t die – at 60kph when you click out of your pedal and get thrown off balance the first thing that goes through your mind is “where’s the nearest soft spot where I can crash”. My heart was in my throat – but somehow I didn’t fall. Eventually I clipped back in and got my chain back on, but by this point I’d lost contact with the peloton. And my legs were on fire already, so this was trouble.

I just couldn’t keep up with the cars either, so eventually I got spat out the back. Fuck. But by the next big climb I caught up to another rider and we ended up riding together all the way to the finish – some 60km away. We easily made the time cut (we finished 24 min back from the leaders – super shitty, but the time cut was 35 min so we had plenty of time). I can tell you that 60km was pretty painful too.

DAY 4 – CERNAY to GRAND BALLON, 160km, 4 MAJOR climbs, July 30th

Right from the start I knew this day was going to be tough – just look at the elevation profiles! I mean wtf! With this heat (this was the warmest day yet) – and the previous days of racing – this was going to be epic. I also knew it was going to be tough when I woke up totally un-rested, stiff, and grumpy. This had tough written all over it.

As soon as I threw my leg over my bike I knew I wasn’t going to have a good day – my legs were completely blocked and I had an empty stomach at the start line – even after that huge breakfast. Luckily there was about a 25 minute neutral start, so I was able to at least warm up my legs a bit and get some blood going in them. I assume that’s why the organization did that – because I’m SURE the whole peloton needed it!

But unfortunately right away after about 20km we hit the first climb (Cat 3) and I (along with a bunch of others) was spit off the back. Down the other side we formed into chase groups and surprisingly we eventually caught the peloton again – wahoo! I totally thought they were gone, so that was a good surprise for once :o) BUT – next up was the Ballon d’Alsace, the Cat 1 climb and the toughest we’d see during the entire race. Right away at the bottom the peloton blew up, and again I was one of those off the back. It’s a 16km climb, so all you can do is set your own pace and grind it out – and grind I did. I haven’t checked the data yet, but I think I was cranking at about 65rpm – well below normal (95-105rpm), so really hard on the muscles and the knees. Shift you say? Well – that was my easiest gear!!!!

At the top was the feed zone, and our DS actually asked us to get into the team van, but I wanted to keep going and finish my first stage race, so off I went (hehe). I joined up with 2 other riders, one of whom was EPIC on the downhills, and onward we went. Oh yeah – the downhills. SOOOOOOO much fun when you’re with a small group, on closed roads, and hammering. I’ve never gone so fast around corners in my life, and I have a totally new confidence with it – just epic G-forces, and I could tell we were on the edge through many of the corners. I can’t say this enough – SOOOOOO much fun!!!

After about 1.5 hours riding together we came across another group of riders (including the green sprinters jersey!) about 20 km from the finish. Just in time for the last climb to the summit finish – on the Grand Ballon. It was another epic grunt in the heat, but I was able to make it in 40 minutes behind the winner, and just within the time cut-off. I was so done by the top – this had been a long 4 days!

So I’d finished every stage of my first stage race – wahoo! I have to say the 1.5 hours on the flats into the headwind was pretty tough going, and I thought more than once about quitting (ok, maybe I thought about it once every 5 minutes!).

THE PLAYERS

Here are some of the teams – most of them are French Continental teams, however most of the foreign ones are like ours (we’ve got 2 continental pro’s on our team):
- AG2R (France)
- Cofidis (France)
- Coogee/Saar (Switzerland)
- Lapierre (France)
- Rosthause (Germany)
- Davitamon (Belgium)

Each team is allowed 6 riders and there are 25 teams, so that makes 150 starters in total.

So I haven’t mentioned much about the guys behind the scenes who are keeping us on the bikes and in good moods. The funniest I think is Willy – he’s the soigneur. He’s a really interesting guy as he’s been around the block as far as cycling is concerned – he’s been a soigneur at all the big races (Tour de France, Giro d’Italia, Vuelta a Espana) and everything in between. Now he’s semi-retired and running a massage clinic out of his house. He’s FULL of awesome little tricks to get the most out of us:
- before the race he gives us a high-energy drinks and makes sure we drink them :o)
- during the race he keeps us tip-top with either water, energy, or mineral drinks as we request
- after the race he sprays us with a ‘refresher’ over our faces and legs that tingles – feels nice!
- then of course come the massages at night, which are a MUST (I had NO idea how much this really makes a difference – you cannot race a stage race without massage, no way)
- and before the team time trial he gave us some stuff that was like tiger balms that he put on cotton balls and we put up our noses to keep the breathing passages wide open – cool!

And perhaps the funniest thing about Willy is that he looks EXACTLY like the Willy who was the soigneur at Fesina who got pulled over by the Belgian customs back in 1998 that was at the center of the “Festina Affair”. I actually asked him about this during my first massage and he pulled out an old scrapbook and showed me pictures of him next to the other Willy – it turns out he’s not the same Willy as the Festina Willy after all! But he has been in the business for 30 years, so he sure knows what he’s doing.

Our mech is Theo, also an interesting character – he’s got Leukemia, but he’s been taking a new experimental drug (costs 65,000€/year!) and it’s been keeping him alive and well much longer than the average leukemia patient. He’s also able to work full time, and he can still hang out with us for the weekend (he used to be a racer too, so that’s why he’s interested in it).

Our Directeur Sportif is Wim, who is the typical DS – bald, scolding, deep voice, and stern. He also smokes like a chimney, drinks coffee till he shakes, and drives like a mad-man. Pretty funny actually, but a great guy all around.

So that’s the support team at the race – none of this would be happening without them!

DAILY ROUTINE

The usual morning routine is that we’d get woken up by a knock at the door (around 8-8:30), drink a glass of water, put on some clothes, and go downstairs to eat breakfast. Breakfast consists of stuffing our faces with as much food as possible. Period. Then drop our bikes at the van, go back upstairs, prep our gear for the day, and rest for about ½ an hour. Prepping our gear includes selecting clothing for the day (socks, undershirt, jersey – with your numbers pinned to the back, shorts, gloves, helmet, shoes at the least, along with HRM gear, food for the race, and something to look at in the car ride). Then off to the van for the transfer to the stage start, reading about the stage and muching/drinking all the way.

At the start it’s: find a good parking spot, the mechs set up the bikes and chairs while we head off for a quick pee, then it’s back to gear up, last minute check of the bikes and food count, then off to sign in for the race. Then we cruise around for about 20 minutes to loosen our legs and check out the scene around the start – pretty fun actually, as all the attention was for us!!!

Post race it’s cross the finish line, get shuffled to our team area by the mech or soigneur, and flop down into your chair that’s such a wonderful break from the saddle! There’s a towel, bottle of water, cola, and recovery drink waiting for us – these guys treat us well :o) Eat our snacks while changing out of our clothes, hop in the van, still eating our snacks, and drive back to the hotel to shower and stretch (ok – I’m the only one on the team that stretches!) before heading downstairs for the team dinner.

Dinner is very similar to breakfast – stuff our faces with as much food as possible. They say the person who eats the most is the best rider on the team – for 2 reasons. 1 – he’s the most recovered (it’s really hard to eat food when your body hasn’t settled down enough after the race) and 2 – he’ll ride the best the next day.

After dinner it’s up to the rooms to relax, watch some TV, and just generally chill out before going to bed. No wandering the town or anything at this level of racing – one late night and you’ll be screwed! Bed time is typically 10-10:30.

FOOD CONSUMPTION

So what do you eat at a stage race? For those that have no idea of cycling and what’s involved, here’s a little breakdown. Notice the quantities of pasta (for the easy carbohydrates) and salt (needed to retain all the water we’re drinking!).
Breakfast – must be finished 3 hours before start time to allow ample digestion:
- 1 bottle water immediately after waking up
- 2 croissants with jam
- 1 roll with butter and salt
- ½ baguette with ham, cheese, and jam
- 2 yoghurts
- 1 litre water (I prefer the bubbly stuff, with fruit syrop to give it some taste)
- 2 glasses orange juice
- 1-2 servings of pasta (about the size you’d get if you ordered just pasta in a restaurant) with tomato sauce, cheese, and salt

Lunch – skipped as the stages normally start around 12:30 or 13:00, so you don’t want to eat too close to the race:
- however usually good to have a banana and a Powerbar about 1 hour before the race, sometimes the banana on the start line, and always a bottle of water near your side!

Race Food – to be consumed with copious amounts of water of course:
- electrolyte replacement drink (2 bottles/stage)
- mineral replacement drink (2 bottles/stage)
- water (4 bottles/stage) – usually I’ll start with 2 water bottles on my bike and 1 in my jersey pocket. A lot of this ended up dumped over my head and back to keep me cool on the climbs (so freaking hot!)
- 1-2 small cans cola (usually near the end of the race for the sugar)
- 4 Powergels (about 1 per hour)
- 4 granola bars (about 1 per hour)
- 1 Powerbar (1/2 every 2 hours)
- 1 banana (usually near about the 1 hour mark)
- 2 apple sauce packets (there are found only in France and are AWESOME!!!)
- Obviously these amounts change with the pace and temperature, and the timing of consumption depends on the pace of the race and the terrain (you can’t ask the peloton to slow down on the climb because it’s time to eat your banana!)

Post Race Food – to be consumed immediately after the finish:
- 1 bottle recovery drink
- 1-2 small cans cola
- 1 bottle electrolyte replacement drink
- Small sandwich with jam and peanut butter
- Energy bar (if I can down it – normally not – too turned off after racing so hard)
- 1 banana

Dinner – eaten after returning to hotel and showering:
- 1 serving protein (not beef, but can be fish, chicken, or pork)
- 2-3 large servings of pasta with tomato sauce and salt
- 2 rolls with butter and salt
- Large salad with carrots, lettuce, beets, tuna, etcetera
- Broccoli and spinach
- Soup if you can get it (the salt in soup is a great starter for dinner)
- Dessert – apple pie, yoghurt, applesauce, usually something sweet to finish the meal
- Generally you jam AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE down your gullet at dinner, and go to bed feeling bloated, so your body can digest and use the food during the night!

Snacks – eaten at any time:
- TUC crackers (they’ve got salt and are tasty, crispy, and pretty neutral for your stomach)
- Wine Gums – no fat, good sugars, and super tasty – I have a new appreciation for them (I’m hooked!)

THE ALSACE REGION (France)

The Alsace is a region running North-South along the French/German border, straddling the Rhone River (this is the border). The area is famous for the Black Forest, it’s really hilly and wonderful roads through the countryside, and it’s wine production.

The race itself was great – really beautiful countryside, along some of the best roads I’ve ever ridden (really smooth and wide open), and really undulating terrain (such neat little towns throughout). And the fans lined most of the course – it was great: we’d roll into each town and the fans would be out there cheering for us and splashing us with water, it was really motivating. But one strange things I heard lots though – “Sans drugs” being shouted by about 20% of the people. It was great to hear, and I couldn’t agree more – go UCI and WADA!!!

The terrain wound around small lakes, through tiny towns and large cities, over tiny humps and large mountains with wonderful views, through vineyards and orchards, and most of this was on the best asphalt I’ve ridden on – the roads really make the race, and these were wide, smooth, well patrolled by Gendarmes and marshals, and were completely a pleasure to ride.

The Coolest Start: Strasbourg for sure! Right at the base of the huge church in the center of the old town. The village surrounded the church and was full of people and vendors, and the atmosphere was just like the start of a TdF stage! The rollout through the old town was pretty sweet too.

The Coolest Finish: Gotta be the last stage on the Ballon d’Alsace – course lined with people, writing on the roads, epic heat, and huge crowds gathered at the finish to cheer us in. Stellar.

The Craziest Moment: Tie. Stage 1 when I almost hit a post in the road when nobody in the peloton indicated it was coming (it brushed the hair on my arm as I swerved past it at 50kph – so freaking close!). Downhilling from the Grand Ballon behind a German rider – I’ve never gone that fast in the corners and it was so incredibly fun and crazy. We would have died if we’d gone off the road – nuts.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I’m writing this as we’re driving back to NL, so maybe I’ll have some more reflections after a few days. But my first response was one of utter disappointment – I’m so disappointed with myself that I wasn’t riding better than I was. I know I can ride better – and I’ve done it tones this year. Why wasn’t I riding well? It could be a number of things: I’m not happy with how things have been going with my life recently which has been a pretty big distraction and drain; I was recently in the French Alps for about 1 week that was pretty intense (very little sleep, some good partying, some REALLY hard training, and work – I was wiped out when I got back to NL); I found out I’d be riding this race while in the Alps, so I only had 1 week before the race to get my shit in order; the week of ‘getting my shit in order’ was a pretty intense week of work (long hours, lots of stress trying to get things turned around after the TdF trips). All in all, I wasn’t stepping into this race with my best foot forward.

On the brighter side of sports though, I actually finished the race. That may sound lame, but there are several good points to this: it’s my first real stage race (I was taking it day-by-day, and after the 2nd day my goal was just to finish); all the guys on the team were pretty happy I finished the race – this was a really tough stage race overall, so it was even harder since it was my first one; I got dropped on the 3rd and 4th days but was still able to ride in before the time cuts, which can be pretty demoralizing, so I’m happy I kept it together for that.

Also on the brighter side, it was such an incredible experience. Being with the guys on the road has been great, seeing the Alsace region has been stellar, and now I know what level of competition the UCI 2.1 stage races are at (tough!). All in all it was a really great time, so I’m glad I made the push prior to the race to get things in order so I could come. My work may have suffered a bit, but barely (I put a lot of time into it the weekend before coming), so it was totally worth it.