Another wet Arlberg Giro. It started to rain as we ascended to Arlberg Pass but unlike last year it wasn’t foggy at the top which allowed us to descend quicker. I didn’t seem to ride up the pass particularly fast. The descent was nice as usual. Water was coming from all directions in the bunch. A bigger group caught us up after the descent and we headed up the valley towards the next climb.\u00a0 Not far from the Bielerh\u00f6he climb my back wheel felt a bit squidgy and I looked down to see that I had a flat tyre. \ud83d\ude41<\/p>\n
Oh no. I lost about ten minutes changing the tube and many bunches rode by. I headed up the pass by myself being overtaken by lots of people. For some reason I\u2019m always rubbish on the Bielerh\u00f6he climb.\u00a0 Markus almost caught me up and I saw him just a corner behind me. This motivated me to ride a little faster.<\/p>\n
At the pass I pulled on my jacket again and headed down. There wasn\u2019t much in the way of a bunch and I rode alone to start with. At some point I collected two other guys and we rode the rest of the long long descent together. I stopped at the drink station before the last turn to head back up the valley to Sankt Anton to get some much needed energy and tried to cramp horribly.<\/p>\n
I gasped and groaned my whole way up the valley at one point loosing the bunch and having to chase back on to it. I was even a bit too pooped to try sprinting properly at the finish.<\/p>\n
Still, I guess my time was ok considering the conditions and that I lost my good bunch and plenty of time by puncturing.<\/p>\n
Arlberg Giro 2016 5:17:21.9<\/strong><\/p>\n