UCI Para Cycling World Cup Round 3

Wow! Apologies for the delayed weekly post but it has been a more hectic block of European racing and travel than I initially thought it would be.

The best place to start is to go back to Saturday the 2nd of May (which may as well be a month ago at this stage). I flew out to Italy to join up with the Cycling Ireland Para Squad to pilot Ciaran O'Toole for round 3 of the World Cup. His main pilot had college exams so I got the call up to go. The one thing about the logisitics of this event is that we would have a long lead in to the actual racing itself. Our first race wasn't until the Time Trial the following Friday so I had plenty of time to get used to a new bike (very different from the one I'm usually on) in both road and TT set ups. Also it was really important for CIaran to get used to a new Pilot and my style of riding as well as me adapting to Ciaran on the back. Luckily we've been away on training camps and other race trips together so we know each other well, but this was the first time we would be on a bike together.

The Lead In:
When I found out about the long lead in to the race I was delighted. An extra few days in Italy would be fantastic. Good food, excellent coffee, and wonderful roads are all the things I enjoy. Turns out we were in what I would call "fake Italy". Montesilvano was clearly once a wonderful place to holiday and definitely has the potential to be that place again. Unfortunately it's prime was likely in the 80's and it seems not to have moved on much since then. However he craic in the hotel with the squad was mighty (even if the hotel food wasn't- checking if your chicken was cooked fully did get a bit tiring). As I said early the positive of the lead in was that Ciaran and I could really dial in the bike and and learn from the other more experienced riders on the Elite Squad which was fantastic Mitchell and Damien (the Elite Male Tandem) were particularly helpful and always offered words of encouragement and advice throughout the week.

The Time Trial:
By the time Friday's TT rolled around we were more than ready to race. Ted and Lindsay had our bike in top shape and Neil Delahaye (Our coach for the week) had our race plan nailed. Everything was set up for us to execute the best performance that we had on the day. The course (see the file uploaded for Friday 8th) was flat as can be with only a slight rise over a bridge every lap. It could be broken into two distinct sections though. Section one of the ramp was the technical section with a left hand bend after the start, over the bridge, into a u-turn, back over the bridge, and through a chicane. Once through the chicane it was three kilometres dead straight to the turn around and three kilometres back in the same road with a ninety degree right hander just before the finish. We had a total of three laps totalling twenty four kilometres. Despite the forecast of rain, the sun was high in the sky and with temperatures up in the mid twenties this race was going to be hot. Nerves were building throughout the warm up and as we rolled onto the start ramp I just couldn't wait to get started and settle into doing what I've done so often; Ride a bike as fast as I could and not let CIaran down after his brilliant results the previous week. The beeps went and we were off the ramp and into the effort. Adrenaline carried me through the first half when reality started to bite. With two kilometres to go I saw God but somehow we managed to keep some sort of speed to the line. I can't remember the last time I had gone so deep but it was worth it. 16th on the day (our of 36 starters) and more importantly just two minutes down on the winners. It was a real confidence booster ahead of the road race that was to come on Sunday.

The Road Race:
This was where we had a chance for a top 15 result to back up Ciaran's 10th place last week and we were excited for it. We were less excited about the eight thirty start time. This meant coco pops at five thirty (in our room, eating out of a plastic bowl, using a plastic spoon. Bike racing is glamourous). Unlike the TT it was pissing down rain as we headed out on our warm up lap. We rode with Damien and Mitchell hoping to learn from their experience and line choices. Two kilometres in distaster struck. The went into the chicane (taking care with the wet roads) when the bike went from under them and they hit the deck hard. We just about avoided them, coming to a stop upright. Helping our team mates off the ground in the warm up wasn't part of the plan. Damien had sliced his hand open and Mitchell had a hard knock on his elbow and hip. In short it didn't look as if the race would go as well as they were hoping for. For us it was a shock but at least we learnt how treacherous the lap would be, particularly in the early stages.

Tandem racing is hectic at the best of times but this was next level. With thirty six bikes on the start line, coupled with the weather, this was going to be insane. Thankfully Damien and Mitchell had been patched up and their bike had escaped any damage and they were with us too. The first lap was carnage. We got caught behind two or three separate crashes (I lost count) but somehow stayed upright. However we were left chasing to try and get back to a big group ahead. A French bike that had crashed early joined us in the chase and we managed to close what was at one stage a minute gap to find the safety of what was now the group racing for 10th. Damien and Mitchell had made the selection and were now racing for the win, putting to bed their disastrous early morning crash. Things settled down a bit after that first hour of mayhem (outside of another one or two crashes on wet roads- quite frankly I had almost become immune to them at this stage). Our group got slightly bigger as riders dropped back from the front or came back from behind, but then would shrink as riders got dropped again or crashed again. With six kilometres to go we were now racing for eleventh (A spanish bike that came back to us just went straight through without saying goodbye). We switched our race heads on as at this level every place counts. There was a brief lull with five kilometres to go where we gave our first attack. The French bike that has chased with us previously closed us down with the others following on their wheel. (Shout out to that pairing though- they crashed out of our group after chasing back with us, then rode back to the group again). There were a few more jumps but nothing major and as we went through the three kilometer to go mark, we made a plan to launch at 1.5km to go. The French National Team bike beat us to it though (they were 2nd in the TT) and immediately got 10 bike lengths which in Tandem racing in particular a huge gap. The Kasakh bike did us a favour though by giving everything to close them and stringing the group out into one long line. I knew the second they stopped we needed to launch and launch hard. Sure enough with one kilometre to go they stopped, and as the group stalled Ciaran and I left everything we had left out on the road. We had a gap immediately and now needed to see God one more time to hold it to the line. As we hit the last bend I knew we had it. A 12th place finish has never felt so good. Even better than that though was when we saw Mitchell and Damien. They rode a stormer of a race finishing 2nd- their first World Cup podium and an incredible recovery.

Next up for Ciaran and I is the Hetman Cup in Poland! Stay tuned here as I'll upload the race files every day, with a full race recap when I get back home.


Enjoy the last few photos from the World Cup below!

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