MUCKERS MARCH CHAMPIONSHIP RACE 3. 21/03/24
ROUVY Route Used: Challenge Gunsan-Saemangeum 2021 | Korea 45 km | 28.96miles | 682ft climbing
2EARLY4ME RACE RESULT:
Is this now the turning point of the year for the participation to drop? or is it just the choice of route?? We always try to use challenge routes and this was a strange little challenge route so lets see what happens next week. But well done to “stetopps” for a brave solo effort! kudos!
| HR? | # | Cat. | User | Points | Age | Team | time | Time GAP | mph |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N/A | 1 | Men |  stetopps | 80 | 60+ | WBCCC | 1:29:10.1 | 19.48 |
LATER-ON RACE RESULT:
NO ONE TOOK PART IN THIS ONE TODAY.
2LATE4ME RACE RESULT:
Well done to Muckers team rider “bjm151” who gets the nod over regular 2LATE4ME rider “Jettro” even though they had identical times. 5 minutes later “IscoRider” comes over the line in 3rd place with a strong time considering it was probably a solo effort.
| HR? | # | Cat. | User | Points | Age | Team | time | GAP | mph |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N/A | 1 | Men |  bjm151 | 86.66 | 40-49 | Muckers Worldwide | 1:14:14.5 | 23.4 | |
| N/A | 2 | Men |  Jettro | 86.33 | 50-59 | Red Pill Racing | 1:14:14.5 | 0:00:00.0 | 23.4 |
| N/A | 3 | Men |  IscoRider | 82.5 | 40-49 | 1:19:21.7 | 0:05:07.2 | 21.89 |
MAIN RACE RESULT:
111 Registered | 85 Starters | 65 Finishers | 20 DNF | 27 DNS
29 miler from the Challenge North and South erm challenge and its only got 680ft of climbing in a bit of a lumpy middle section. So its a championship race AND quite flat so que up the fast start while everyone hopes for a fast group to settle into!
“BareRemi” gets our Muckers Worldwide first place tonight! Just in front of “Gil.Mad.io” in 2nd and “breers33” in 3rd. 4th comes “karel_sousek” just 4 seconds off the leading trio, then we have a 1 minute and 24 second wait for the next pack of 7 rapid riders to come over the line together! the order on Rouvy goes: “hinsbergen” in 5th, “Stefan_Schmidt” in 6th, “nielsbrynnum” in 7th, “Minyana_GURE” in 8th, “lrollin” in 9th, “RocketRoy” in 10th and finally “STADLER-TONI” over the line in 11th.
A train of Muckers Worldwide team riders come next with “Andy_UP” in 12th, “chorus” in 13th, “m-forby” in 14th and “Grochang” in 15th. 16th goes to “KeithOldGit” who was surrounded by 1 or 2 NEDs, which means “tranberg” gets the 1st bump up to a mention place with 17th, Mucker “tomlerieger” in 18th, Top Woman and Muckerette “SillySilNL” in 19th and final bump up to the mentions comes “owni.d” in our 20th place!
Some new mentions in todays top 20, so why not pop over to the shop and get the 2024 special mentions T-Shirt in the language of your choice?? And don’t forget, we do have our own line of outdoor cycling kit at the Muckers shop at owayo.com if you fancy showing your support while out there in the real world.
This was a really great race if you were in the draft. Well done to you all for finishing, and well done to ROUVY for bringing this exciting turn of events to racing, just as most are starting to venture outside.. wonder if its gonna make more people stick around over the summer, or at least stick to the large group races as you know its gonna be a lot more fun now!
Remember, if you are not shown in the top 50 placings below, its because you have be declared a NED because I (Mucker1974) can’t see your stats due to no friendship, or if we are friends, you aren’t supplying HR data which we need to see just to make a guess about your effort.
Keep scrolling to see how the championship is looking.
| # | Cat. | User | Points | Age | Team | Race | GAP | mph |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Men |  BareRemi | 245 | 30-39 | Narvik | 1:00:00.7 | 0:00:00.6 | 28.95 |
| 2 | Men |  Gil.Mad.io | 242 | 40-49 | 1:00:00.9 | 0:00:00.2 | 28.95 | |
| 3 | Men | breers33 | 239 | 40-49 | Protech Velo | 1:00:00.1 | 0:00:00.3 | 28.95 |
| 4 | Men |  karel_sousek | 237 | 40-49 | CK Vinohradské Šlapky | 1:00:04.1 | 0:00:03.5 | 28.92 |
| 5 | Men |  hinsbergen | 235 | 40-49 | Team Adam-Chris | 1:01:28.6 | 0:01:27.9 | 28.26 |
| 6 | Men |  Stefan_Schmidt | 230 | 40-49 | 1:01:28.7 | 0:01:27.1 | 28.26 | |
| 7 | Men |  nielsbrynnum | 227 | 50-59 | Muckers Worldwide | 1:01:28.7 | 0:01:28.6 | 28.26 |
| 8 | Men |  Minyana_GURE | 224 | 60+ | GURE | 1:01:29.3 | 0:01:28.4 | 28.26 |
| 9 | Men |  lrollin | 222 | 50-59 | 1:01:29.1 | 0:01:28.5 | 28.26 | |
| 10 | Men | RocketRoy | 220 | 50-59 | Moon Riders | 1:01:29.4 | 0:01:28.8 | 28.25 |
| 11 | Men |  STADLER-TONI | 215 | 50-59 | VAL RENDENA RUNNING | 1:01:30.2 | 0:01:29.5 | 28.25 |
| 12 | Men |  Andy_UP | 211 | 40-49 | Muckers Worldwide | 1:02:39.1 | 0:02:39.3 | 27.72 |
| 13 | Men | chorus | 209 | 40-49 | Muckers Worldwide | 1:02:40.2 | 0:02:39.5 | 27.72 |
| 14 | Men | m-forby | 207 | 40-49 | Muckers Worldwide | 1:02:40.1 | 0:02:40.3 | 27.72 |
| 15 | Men | Grochang | 205 | 40-49 | Muckers Worldwide | 1:02:40.1 | 0:02:40.3 | 27.72 |
| 16 | Men | KeithOldGit | 200 | 60+ | Old gits | 1:02:45.4 | 0:02:44.7 | 27.68 |
| 17 | Men | tranberg | 197 | 30-39 | CK GOG | 1:03:37.7 | 0:03:37.7 | 27.3 |
| 18 | Men |  tomlerieger | 194 | 50-59 | Muckers Worldwide | 1:03:39.4 | 0:03:38.8 | 27.29 |
| 19 | Women | SillySilNL | 192 | 50-59 | Muckers Worldwide & de Gastjes | 1:03:39.8 | 0:03:39.1 | 27.29 |
| 20 | Men |  owni.d | 190 | 30-39 | 1:04:33.3 | 0:04:32.7 | 26.91 | |
| 21 | Men | MikeHagen | 185 | 60+ | Muckers Worldwide | 1:04:34.6 | 0:04:33.9 | 26.9 |
| 22 | Men | Anonhemust | 182 | 50-59 | DAWG | 1:04:34.6 | 0:04:33.1 | 26.9 |
| 23 | Men |  macko | 179 | 40-49 | rvy_racing, Qlarze | 1:04:34.8 | 0:04:34.8 | 26.9 |
| 24 | Men | boogybill70 | 177 | 50-59 | Muckers Worldwide | 1:04:34.8 | 0:04:34.1 | 26.9 |
| 25 | Men | BTK_jiri70_cz | 175 | 50-59 | BTK Eurobike Praha | 1:05:59.7 | 0:05:59.5 | 26.33 |
| 26 | Men | MatthiasHeil | 170 | 50-59 | www.matthias-heil.co.uk/rvy_racing | 1:06:47.9 | 0:06:46.4 | 26.01 |
| 27 | Men | batbuilder | 167 | 50-59 | Muckers Worldwide | 1:06:47.6 | 0:06:46.9 | 26.01 |
| 28 | Women | A.wool | 164 | 50-59 | 1:07:28.5 | 0:07:27.8 | 25.75 | |
| 29 | Men | Superman8 | 162 | 40-49 | DTCC | 1:07:28.8 | 0:07:28.1 | 25.75 |
| 30 | Men | RaTim | 160 | 40-49 | Muckers Worldwide | 1:08:27.6 | 0:08:26.9 | 25.38 |
| 31 | Men | Squalo_delle_Alpi | 155 | 40-49 | Muckers Worldwide & Shark Attack | 1:08:27.7 | 0:08:26.1 | 25.38 |
| 32 | Men | Dok_PS | 152 | 50-59 | 1:08:32.5 | 0:08:31.9 | 25.35 | |
| 33 | Men | HalAir | 149 | 40-49 | Muckers Worldwide | 1:09:03.8 | 0:09:03.1 | 25.16 |
| 34 | Men | Mick_Michel | 147 | 40-49 | Muckers Worldwide | 1:09:07.8 | 0:09:07.2 | 25.13 |
| 35 | Men | Lyndon65 | 145 | 50-59 | Muckers Worldwide | 1:09:08.3 | 0:09:07.4 | 25.13 |
| 36 | Men | kylofski | 140 | 40-49 | Muckers Worldwide | 1:09:08.7 | 0:09:07.4 | 25.13 |
| 37 | Men | Mucker1974 | 137 | 50-59 | Muckers Worldwide | 1:09:09.3 | 0:09:08.4 | 25.12 |
| 38 | Men | ogee | 134 | 50-59 | NMCC | 1:09:10.3 | 0:09:09.6 | 25.12 |
| 39 | Men | grupedo | 132 | 60+ | UCC, WEDU, Muckers Worldwide | 1:09:10.4 | 0:09:09.7 | 25.12 |
| 51 | Women |  Regina_L | 95 | 30-39 | 1:09:10.4 | 0:09:09.8 | 25.12 | |
| 52 | Men | M-Think | 94 | 50-59 | ASD Ciclistica PARONA | 1:09:10.4 | 0:09:09.8 | 25.12 |
| 53 | Men |  robinagy | 93 | 40-49 | Muckers Worldwide & Fittikék | 1:11:31.2 | 0:11:30.5 | 24.29 |
| 54 | Men |  Rivers_Mofeta_15 | 92 | 30-39 | Mofetas | 1:11:59.7 | 0:11:59.1 | 24.13 |
| 55 | Men | JohnNada | 91 | 30-39 | 1:11:59.8 | 0:11:59.2 | 24.13 | |
| 56 | Men | JimmyA | 90 | 50-59 | 1:12:03.7 | 0:12:03.5 | 24.11 | |
| 57 | Men | stelviobound | 89 | 60+ | Muckers Worldwide | 1:12:03.8 | 0:12:03.1 | 24.11 |
| 58 | Men | Phil_SCRT | 88 | 50-59 | SC Race Team | 1:13:14.7 | 0:13:14.7 | 23.72 |
| 59 | Men | max_1964 | 87 | 60+ | KSG Gerlingen | 1:13:31.1 | 0:13:30.3 | 23.63 |
| 60 | Men | DolphWader | 86 | 50-59 | Muckers Worldwide | 1:16:10.2 | 0:16:09.5 | 22.81 |
| 61 | Men | mtbfunk | 85 | 60+ | Team Momentous | 1:16:12.4 | 0:16:11.8 | 22.8 |
| 62 | Men | MNHROUVY | 84 | 50-59 | 1:18:21.5 | 0:18:20.8 | 22.17 | |
| 63 | Men | DKN90 | 83 | 30-39 | 1:18:32.4 | 0:18:31.8 | 22.12 | |
| 64 | Women | lyndaRyQc | 82 | 60+ | Rouvy Québec (RyQc) | 1:24:33.6 | 0:24:32.9 | 20.55 |
| 65 | Men | hejo | 81 | 50-59 | Tri is Fun | 1:25:13.9 | 0:25:13.2 | 20.38 |
CHAMPIONSHIP TABLE AFTER 3 RACES OF 4:
BareRemi did the best he could to close the Gap to breers33 with a win and 1 place gap finish to keep the pressure on at the top with 1 race to go. Even with his 2.5% winners ballast, Gil.Mad.io is still hanging onto a top 3 place with the only threat being karel_sousek in 4th. Wel then have a gap to 5th, but its close between 4 of them for this place. tranberg and nielsbrynnum look safe for the last 2 top 10 places, but Chorus and Andy_UP aren’t gonna just let them take it without a fight.
At the other end of the top 50, its only ReginaL in 37th place that looks safe! Anyone from 38th to 75th can potentially get a top 50 place at the end of the last race next week! We still have Tuden and Edu in the top 50 and they only turned up for the first round, so if they don’t turn up for the last round, thats 2 places easily up for grabs for those just outside of the top 50!
| Position | Rider Name | Total Points |
| 1 | breers33 | 723 |
| 2 | BareRemi (-0.5) | 718.38 |
| 3 | Gil.Mad.io (-2.5) | 707.84 |
| 4 | karel_sousek (-0.5) | 697.48 |
| 5 | RocketRoy | 665 |
| 6 | Minyana_GURE | 662 |
| 7 | Stefan_Schmidt | 659 |
| 8 | Lrollin | 651 |
| 9 | tranberg | 619 |
| 10 | nielsbrynnum | 613 |
| 11 | Chorus | 593 |
| 12 | Andy_UP | 582 |
| 13 | Grochang | 564 |
| 14 | MikeHagen | 522 |
| 15 | macko | 501 |
| 16 | Dok_PS | 489 |
| 17 | SillySilNL | 475 |
| 18 | hinsbergen | 472 |
| 19 | HalAir | 469 |
| 20 | andy_emmo | 457 |
| 21 | Lyndon65 | 445 |
| 22 | m-forby | 401 |
| 23 | Alieno79 (-1.0) | 386.1 |
| 24 | owni_d | 380 |
| 25 | BTK_jiri70_cz | 369 |
| 26 | kylofski | 365 |
| 27 | Mucker1974 | 359 |
| 28 | Squalo_delle_Alpi | 355 |
| 29 | batbuilder | 352 |
| 30 | ogee | 351 |
| 31 | boogybill70 | 344 |
| 32 | tomlerieger | 339 |
| 33 | Jettro | 330.33 |
| 34 | Anonhemust | 319 |
| 35 | A.wool | 311 |
| 36 | RaTim | 309 |
| 37 | Regina_L | 308 |
| 38 | yayarecki | 289 |
| 39 | DolphWader | 268 |
| 40 | MatthaisHeil | 264 |
| 41 | bjm151 | 254.16 |
| 42 | stelviobound | 254 |
| 43 | Tuden | 242 |
| 44 | Mick_Michel | 238 |
| 45 | rouvy1bryon | 232 |
| 46 | Edu.Armada_GURE | 230 |
| 47 | grupedo | 227 |
| 48 | stetopps | 224.66 |
| =49 | IvanSagan86 | 220 |
| =49 | nelsonsnyder | 220 |
| =51 | adampel | 215 |
| =51 | STADLER-TONI | 215 |
| 53 | magayol | 209 |
| =54 | cespa | 200 |
| =54 | keitholdgit | 200 |
| =56 | Grep. | 197 |
| =56 | s.p. | 197 |
| =58 | hj2010 | 192 |
| =58 | neminemlaedere | 192 |
| 60 | Badeskum | 190 |
| 61 | s.cata | 185 |
| 62 | robinagy | 183 |
| 63 | marcomartins | 178 |
| 64 | kjohannessen | 175 |
| 65 | Phil_SCRT | 171 |
| 66 | thorc | 170 |
| 67 | jeff65 | 168 |
| 68 | Rodaballoso_CURE | 166 |
| 69 | DKN90 | 165 |
| 70 | Gunthinger-Mike | 164 |
| =71 | miicha | 162 |
| =71 | Superman8 | 162 |
| 73 | rmadden1 | 161.33 |
| 74 | PFHM | 161 |
| 75 | Kaihu | 160.66 |
| perswe | 152 | |
| Rens_Piccavet | 152 | |
| Yois_court | 148.5 | |
| cdtchris | 148 | |
| Southafro | 147.5 | |
| ambrosedelaney | 140 | |
| liboraa | 137 | |
| A7-453-DAVID-CAPOCCHI | 134 | |
| El_Tractor | 134 | |
| Slyfly | 132 | |
| runeholtzmann | 130 | |
| DonMatteo_07 | 125 | |
| FlyingSkywalker | 122 | |
| kaz1bar | 117 | |
| wgasiewicz | 117 | |
| Ingmar_ | 115 | |
| MLA78 | 110 | |
| FlyingPastor | 105.5 | |
| Hoppytherocket | 104 | |
| M-Think | 94 | |
| alfiocrist75 | 92 | |
| edgarcadence90 | 92 | |
| Rivers_mofeta_15 | 92 | |
| cjfandel | 91 | |
| JohnNada | 91 | |
| JimmyA | 90 | |
| Easyspanner | 89 | |
| BTPciclismo | 88 | |
| dan-mountainboss | 88 | |
| kubek81 | 87 | |
| max_1964 | 87 | |
| stijnley | 87 | |
| Mikeee73 | 86 | |
| JaviLeal | 85 | |
| mtbfunk | 85 | |
| MNHROUVY | 84 | |
| Keung | 83 | |
| hellonana | 82.5 | |
| IscoRider | 82.5 | |
| 19991992 | 82 | |
| lyndaRyQc | 82 | |
| CoffeeKing | 81 | |
| hejo | 81 | |
| NickoMagnan | 81 | |
| jahew | 79 | |
| Lefikz | 79 | |
| pass911 | 78.5 | |
| Tofizapar | 78 | |
| user_1417699 | 78 | |
| davidexp3 | 77 | |
| MickyCharly | 76.5 | |
| happy_thor | 76 | |
| ardelft | 75 | |
| morellana | 74 | |
| paoloomassi | 73 | |
| daniel30 | 72 | |
| Mortarmonkee | 71 | |
| EvandroSantos | 70.5 | |
| Hajdi | 70 | |
| Murcisoy_GURE | 69 | |
| user_1417699 | 68 | |
| angelostg | 67.33 | |
| sebkol | 67 | |
| danielmarino | 66.5 | |
| bondy | 66 | |
| mikado67 | 65 | |
| rpacovsky | 64 | |
| TerenceHale | 63 | |
| outlawill | 62 | |
| eric62 | 61 | |
| Damjan.G | 60 |
What an interesting race! Got into a great group at the start all the way to the “hilly” section and when we hit the first climb, no one went stupid hard and we all kept together! i thought just how lucky i was getting with a group of like minded riders who all knew the pack had to stay together to keep the chasing pack behind! by about the 4th climb, we were down to 3!😣. gutted and the fast group behind were catching now. time to back off and accept our fate, me grupedo and robynagy had given it a good go but it was time to join the chasing pack, and they caught us at the top of the climb just after we had turned round to come back on ourselves.
Some very strong riders here and we worked very well together, unfortunately dropping roby but eventually catching a few others to make our pack nice and strong.
I was dropping to the rear to see what place was last in our group and it was 52nd so this meant, out of the 10 or so riders in this group, 2 weren’t getting into the top 50 and the decent points! pressure is now on not to be in the bottom 2. This had been a long ride so it seemed everyone was waiting to sprint as late as possible as we were all still together at 0.21 miles out, but once the countdown started, we were all off! over 700 watts for me and head down over the line!! the result screen that pops up said 44th so i was buzzin! Strangely the final results on Rouvy had me at 48th,still inside the top 50 but a little concerning that it can change your position 4 places, especially when you fighting on the fringes of the top 50, which is quite important in the Muckers Championships??
Anyway, i feel im now quite safe this month in the championship and looking forward to next Thursdays final race just to see if i can move up a few more places.
Is this my first official Top 20 mention? I think so 🤪🥳. Then I must give credit too Tuden for sharing his tactics to stay in the front group from the start and Andy_UP to translate this into a feasible tactic for us mortals. It worked fantastic!!! I had my rocket start and was in the front group with the big guns until km 17 💪. I was going from place 23 to 1 up and down. If you’re in the back of the pack you can’t see if anyone up front is going hard trying to break the chain, so I kept on pushing to the front only to fly by and take first position 🤣. During that I only saw about 8 out of the 23 riders, which means (as Andy said), we were probably all riding next to each other, so the rest ‘was invisible next to the road’. It actively was rather easy to stay in this group, just drafting along.
Then the small hills came and I was just waiting to get dropped (while giving it my best effort Tuden!) and the second small hill killed me. Fell off together with Mike Hagen. We were picked up by a new group of 6 and I had to work hard to stay there with Tranberg and Tom Rieger. Sometimes one of the group tried to get away at 8W/kg, but we/I managed to gap the bridge every time until the end sprint.
Very pleased with this result, I even got a QOM 🥳🤪. Thankfully it was a flat route, but I’m definitely going to try this tactic in more Muckers races 😎
First, I’d like to mention that this is not my favorite route; it’s just 5 miles on a bridge, then 1 mile around another island, and another 4 miles to yet another island’s round and back. It’s mostly flat, with a slight bump in the middle, great for a zone 4 ride with a HIIT session in between.
When it comes to Muckers Championships, it’s a different story; go as hard as you can until you can’t go anymore, then go even harder at the finish. Eight of us crossed the line within the space of 2 seconds; that’s how you need to deal with this route.
It all started well for me, 7w/kg for 30 seconds, then find a group. Nope, the group had gone. So here I was, all alone at sea with 27 miles to go. I could see Lyndon65 coming up behind me. We formed a group of 2, then we found 2 other riders, mtbfunk and someone else I can’t really remember. Lyndon and I were swapping on the front, and the other 2 sat on our wheel, that was until we found a larger group coming up behind us. Lyndon and I jumped on that, and we started motoring. By the time we had gotten past the halfway mark, we had a group of about 10-12 riders all working together.
Nearing the end, we caught a few more riders, and as you can see, it was a very close finish. Thanks to all those riders who helped pull me along this route. I did try to do my turn on the front, but I struggled on the flats. See you all for a Hungover Sunday Social. (Mucker1974’s 50th Birthday Bash Saturday Night)
I have ridden this course a few times already, first time was the 90km Challenge route a while back – I was sooo bored 🤣 Equally bored next time I rode this shorter 46km one, also for Challenge completion. (have also used this route for Workout sessions, but then rather stream Youtube/Netflix as visuals…)
Que Muckers Thursday, March edition 😂
Started warm-up 15min before start and got out of the start-pen with a moderate 5-600w initial effort, quickly placing me in about 30th position as the initial shuffle settled down. The front group was already gone so settled into a group of about 10-15 riders. Held that group untill the route started to go up/down, and I eventually dropped out the back. Rode solo for some time and letting ReginaL and Ogee catch up and joined them for a while. Then Kjohannesen caught up with us after putting down some power, and me and him broke away into a small duo chaingang. We would trade place regularely, clearly showing with power when we wanted to stay in front or draft. This went on for a good while, really nice 🙂
Towards the end a team of Muckers ++ got closer so my effort was increased a little to maintain a safe separation across the finish line, and I rolled over it in 42nd place without having to sprint.
The past week I have not been up to my usual power, lacking the extra “oompfh”, but I havent been feeling sick either at all and sleep have been good… From last Thursday to Sunday weight suddenly spiked up almost 5kg (88-93kg) before dropping down to my typical 89 again this Thursday. No real clue as to why 🤔
Outdoor season is just around the corner here in my part of the world, so I am proritizing the Muckers March Championship. today’s 33rd scored standing I maintain my 19th ranking in the overal ranking. There is a chance I am away on the final round next Thursday, due to Easter break, but will be in the start-pen for sure if able!
Thanks for the competition this round, looking forward to Sunday Social 😀
Cheers, HalAir
I lost 30th position in the sprint to @RaTim by 0.1 sec, but I’m quite satisfied.
Without line problems, like a week ago I could be placed better in the general classification, but it will become a good battle with friends @Neil and @Kyle. Good start in a very large group, I tried to exploit the draw (but I only averaged 44%, I have to apply myself more). After 2 climbs, I lost contact with the front and detached the rear, I was in doubt whether to wait but then I saw @Ratim in the same situation and we joined together on alternating pitches. In the last stretch @Dock_ps also joined us and we all worked, every now and then I checked @HalAir and when he gained something I tried to increase the speed in my shots. Sprint on fire for me and @RaTim, same time on Strava but he was better by a whisker. Greetings everyone
I actually kind of hate this kind of route. Long and not much happening, but this time, I found it funnier than usual – it is simply always a joy to race these Muckers races.
The race did not get the best start for me. I was sitting on the bike just 10 seconds before start, so the sprint for getting in the best group was simply too tough for me. I found myself in a good strong group around 25th position and we slowly catched some strong riders that were dropping off the front group. The small hills in the middle were fun and slimmed our group down a bit. In the last 10 km, it was obvious that we would not catch more riders in front, and the teamwork started to fade. Instead, it opened up for some fun with attacks flying left and right, but everything coming back together for a good final sprint. Unfortunately, I think I will miss the last Championship race, but already looking forward to the next round.
Never thought I would hear anyone call me ‘a strong rider that was dropped from the front group’. Like living a dream 😇. No, dream, was damn hard work! Nice to ride with you, if only this once on a flat route 😉
what a race, was not looking forward to it as its pan flat but with the new drafting you never no. we are off and as always a slow start for me managed to pick a few off and then saw Kyle just up ahead. we got together and shared the pace. we were joined by another group and the drafting definitely helped. super sprint by us all at the end and managed to come 35th very pleased. Thanks muckers
Wasn’t sure I had race legs as I’d felt pretty weary on Wednesday, but enough excuses! I knew a rocket start to get with the lead pack would be crucial. Nailed that. Actually had fourth place and got to see Matthius Heil leading the peloton just 200 m in! Amazing. That lead group of 23 was amazing. We hit the bumps in the middle still together, and the whole pack went up the first ramp together. Awesome! Then reality bit. Couldn’t hold on the second ramp, and found myself with SillySilNL in 21st and 22nd. But we were caught by another group, and then I couldn’t hold on the next ramp and found myself riding with boogybill in 27th and 28th. Then we were caught by another group and I feared dropping into the mid-30s. But this group was pretty chill, no one really wanted to work (even me), so other than a couple of surges (we lost W.S.W on one of them) we just cruised to the finish. Little bit of a finish sprint and I got 3rd of the six of us left. 29th in the Rouvy official list but with NEDs deleted I missed a mention by one! I’m a disappointed not to stick closer to the front, but there will be other days. Good fun.
I didn’t find this race that easy, as a few have said is was quite boring scenery. A good draft was essential. I managed to keep up with a group until the bridge but I couldn’t keep up on the up. On the return leg I caught up with matthiasheil and we cruised along to the sprint finish where he beat me.
Here we go again with tune of the week. Big peloton with more than 20 riders for the first half of the race, anyone surprised with totally flat profile? Everyone waiting for real action, patience is the king they say. Finally few bumps showed up and to my surprise only five stayed in front after them. Could it be drafting bug or just rest did react too late? Who knows.
Spotting that opportunity, we all pushed to keep that gain. As no one in second group was able to get us back, our advantage quickly grew. We started to focus for sprint finish. Like on Tuesday several attacks by everyone, but all together. One big push within 1km to go, after which i was done. Final sprint with 400m to go and here i could not react. 5th place is max, im very happy with that. Top racing, thank you all.