GP Saguenay

Sauguenay was a 4 day UCI race in Saguenay Canada; you know, the French speaking side. It was quite the adventure getting to the race. We spent a lot of time in the airport talking to the bartender, building bikes while we waited for our ride, almost running out of gas and getting to the hotel at midnight the night before the first stage. Not ideal prep, but you have to roll with the punches sometimes and not waste energy on things outside your control, even though sometimes it seems like there is an easy fix.

Thursday morning rolled around very fast and before I knew it we were back at the buffet table trying to fuel the body for a big day in the saddle. The first day was 103 miles on a hard circuit with a really steep kicker of 12% for 600 meters. During the race it felt much steeper and longer then that. Right from the gun we went straight up this hill, and a group of 10 went up the road. The next lap Conor and I jumped with another group of 10 and worked very hard for 30ish miles to make a connection to the top 10. It was now a 20 man break with many teams having 4 guys represented. Conor and I had to pick our moves wisely and only follow the wheels we thought we needed to. Unfortunately Conor had stomach problems and had to drop back, and it was up to me to hang in there for the team. Every lap I thought it was going to be my last, but somehow I dug so deep to hang in there. I finished with the break in 16th, about 15 min ahead of the field.

Day 2 was 95 miles with a similar circuit. A break got up the road with Gavi and Drew and I was able to sit in the field to save energy, which is easier said than done. The last 4 laps were full of attacks of GC guys and in the end I lost 18 sec to yellow. The team really worked hard for me, especially Fabio up to the last 2 k.

Day 3 was the "crit" on a 2 k course with a short, but very steep climb every lap. I felt very good and followed the dangerous GC moves with the guys. It ended in a field sprint, and no time was lost.

Day 4 was the last day to show what you got with everything to loose or gain on this day. There was a longer climb and the boys road awesome all day in every move that went up the road, just like every other day, and I stayed out of trouble the whole race. Conor was in a break that looked like it was going to last the distance, but unfortunately got caught in the last k.

In the end I finished 16th overall, 48 sec off of yellow. I was super happy with how I performed and very impressed with all the guys. Almost all the guys got a top 10 finish throughout the week on a hard few days.

The legs and all the boys are feeling good as we gear up for Philly this weekend.