![\"Ho\u0308henprofil_BadBleiberg_2018-768x384\"](\"https:\/\/cris.lovell-smith.com\/trips\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Ho%CC%88henprofil_BadBleiberg_2018-768x384.jpg\" "\\"Ho\u0308henprofil_BadBleiberg_2018-768x384\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\nAbove: The height profile for the stage.<\/p>\n
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It promised to be a fast course today. I started in Block B and as usual it was neutralised leaving Ossiach. A few kilometres before the race began the guy behind me told me my saddle bag (the little bag with a spare tube under my bike seat) was about to fall off my bike. I looked down and it certainly seemed to be the case. I tried to fix it, fiddling around with the velcro straps. To do this I unfortunately had to slow down loosing my place in the middle of B block. The entire block rode by and I still couldn\u2019t get the thing fixed. The motorbike in front of Bock C was approaching. One of the guys in the front of the block rode up to me and pushed me up the slight incline as I tried to fix the problem, which was nice. It wasn\u2019t happening though so I stopped and rethreaded the velcro. This cost so much time that all of Block C rode past then all of Block D and finally the broom wagon. Oh no\u2026 the end of my race before it had even started.<\/p>\n
There was no chance of getting a top bunch but I thought I might be able to catch up to some people at least. I time trialled my way back up to the broom wagon. They let me pass and I continued working my way up to the back of D grade. I rode off the front of the first big bunch I found and passed various stragglers. I pulled one guy back onto his bunch and tried the same with another guy. After a good bit of effort I caught up to a bigger bunch and worked with them for a bit. Three people went off the front and I worked at the front of the bunch to chase them but when I looked behind the majority of the people following had dropped off so I rode over the few in front. A strong rider in this group pulled for a while then I had a go. I guess the bunch behind us must have caught up again as there were suddenly riders around us. Achim was in the bunch and shouted out to me whether I had slept in and missed the start.<\/p>\n
The bunch was quite speedy and worked well together. I worked up the front with perhaps 15 others. The course was pretty flat with a few gentle ups and downs until around the 20km mark where it started to climb steeply. I held my position near the front of the group but could see riders ahead of us so decided to try and bridge across to them. With effort it worked and I caught them up and rode to the front of this group. There were some familiar riders from the last couple of days in it. We had a nice descent and everyone stayed together over the next climb until we got to the base of the 18% section. I grabbed a banana as I rode past the drinks station with a few other riders. We had lost most of the bunch by this stage and after the descent there were perhaps ten of us.<\/p>\n
We motored along the flat everyone working well. I realised my legs were starting to fade a bit so eased off a little and around 82 km we hit the last climb. I remember it from last year and I remember struggling. It has some steep parts. With a lot of panting though I managed to stay near the front and then ride off the front behind one or two other guys once we reached the main road up to Bad Bleiberg. I couldn\u2019t keep up with Sebastian who was in front of me but was still passing the remains of a bunch that had been ahead of us. <\/p>\n
I got to the last descent and at some point one of the guys I had passed caught up. I jumped on his wheel and he pulled me and another guy at a tasty pace towards the finish. Surprisingly he just kept pulling and didn\u2019t motion for us to pass so I happily sat on his wheel until 200 m before the finish. He swore at me as I sprinted past and I grinned. We may have been sprinting for 100th place but it was still a race and I\u2019ll take any places I can get.<\/p>\n
Overall a nice fast stage and I was really happy how my legs went. They felt strong for essentially the entire stage despite giving them a hammering at the beginning to try and TT up the field. It was a bit sad though that I couldn\u2019t start where I had been in B Block. I may have got quite an acceptable time otherwise. Still, I was happy I could move up the field and didn\u2019t have to ride the entire stage by myself!<\/p>\n
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Above: The height profile for the stage.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n