Tour de PEI Stage race - UCI 2.2 (June 10-14)This was the first year for the Tour de PEI, a 4 day, 5 stage UCI road race put on by the organizers of the Montreal World Cup and tour de Grand Montreal. The idea behind having 3 big races back to back was to give the international teams coming to Canada for the World Cup lots of racing while they were here and to motivate them to come over for the racing.
I rode for the "Advil-Chapstick" womens composite team in PEI. Our team was well taken care of by Sean Scott, our team director and Scott Kelly, our mechanic for the week.
The organization of the race was exceptional. The athletes were treated really well. We were fed 3 meals a day, put up in accomodations and transported all around the island on a coach bus. I highly recommend this race to anyone who is thinking about doing it next year. Apparently, the race has a 3 year commitment from their sponsors and I definitely plan to be back next year.
Here's a brief race report:
Stage 1: Sunday was a circuit race. There were many attacks and I hung on for the first half of the race, even making a presence at the front of the group and going with surges. My legs went into a bit of shock after several surges from the pack and I couldn't hang on with just over 4 laps to go after getting caught in the back half of a split. I finished with a small group within the time cut, 11 minutes back.
Stage 2: Monday's race was a 28.8 km Time Trial across confederation bridge. It was a really big deal that they closed the bridge - only the 2nd time they've ever closed it. It was a straight on tail wind going out and a straight on strong headwind coming back. I peaked at 67.5 km/ hour going out and struggled to do over 20 km/h returning. I finished a little more than halfway down the field - legs were pretty toast. Some of the top results from today were questionable. I think the commissaires made some mistakes and riders were given faster times (not me), and unfortunately it was not resolved, affecting the overall General classification. My teammate, Elisa Gagnon told the commissaires that the time they gave her was wrong (too fast by 4 minutes) and they corrected it.
Stage 3: Tuesday featured a 121 km road race. One big loop. It was WINDY again (Hey - we're on an island. What do you expect I guess?). My legs finally started coming around today and I felt good. There's definitely something to be said for not working and only having to concentrate on racing! There was alot of gutter action with the crosswinds today and I chased back a few times after thinking I was dropped for good. I managed to (sort of) finish with the main group. With 1 km to go, there was alot of jostling for positioning going into the sprint. I was with the main pack and got kinda shoved onto the side of the road. I did a bit of cyclocross and got back on the road but the pack was flying and I couldn't catch them as they set were setting up for the sprint. I finished in 65th?, just 15 secs or so behind the main pack. It was good to feel the fitness that I know I have starting to kick in.
There's been a banquet every night and we've been treated really well. Tonight's was at Cavendish, home of Ann of Green Gables. They had an "Avonlea" band, featuring the entire cast of characters from the book. Quite funny! The weather has been great. Not too hot and no rain yet.
Stage 4: Wednesday was the 4th out of 5 stages in the tour. We did a point to point 96 km road race. The terrain was rolling and there were 3 sprints and 3 QOM (Queen of the Moutain) sprints. The pace felt a little more relaxed today (that's to say I wasn't feeling my heart in my throat for the entire 2 hours and 33 minutes). Also, I felt like my race legs were really starting to come around. Oftentimes at this point in a stage race, I really start to suffer by I seem to be getting stronger every day - a good sign my fitness is there waiting to come out!
The first sprint was at the 24 km mark, and I was up near the front for it, so after the sprinters did their thing, an Expresscopy team rider attacked. I was in the right place, and went with her. It didn't last long, but it was good to test out my legs and see how I was feeling. Shortly after that, the pack was riding along slowly, and I tried to see if I could just roll off the front, as sometimes the pack will let that happen if the rider is not an overall contender. Again, it was shortlived, but fun to play around.
With about 10 km left in the race, some of the main contenders tried to go up the road, including the overall stage leader, Diana Zilute from Lithuania. I was near the front and tried to go with them, but could not even hold their wheels. There are some seriously strong riders in this field. I thought this break would stick, but we ended up all coming together a few minutes later.
In the end, an Australian and a Russian rider got a bit of a gap on the field and finished 1st and 2nd. The last QOM was 2km before the finish and I got dropped on this but managed to bridge up through the caravan to catch back onto the main pack to finish with them. I think my place was 50-something?, same time as 3rd.
Last day is tomorrow - a 50 km crit in Charlottetown, then a big party afterwards featuring some Canadian rock n roll!
Stage 5: The last stage of the tour de PEI was a criterium in Charlottetown. It was a fairly straightforward course but not without a few crashes. I got caught behind/ beside one in the first half of the race. I got back in but was not in good position and got behind a rider who gapped us. So... I chased with a few other riders and we managed to stay in long enough before getting lapped that we got a finishing time. The stage was won by Giorgia Bronzini and former World Champ Diana Ziliute took the overall title.
In the evening we had a big banquet with awesome food. Great race!!!
For full results and reports go to: www.cyclingnews.com
