The Race: Green Mountain Stage Race, Stage 3, Road Race w/ Mountaintop Finish on App Gap
The Course: 60.7 miles, roughly 5,000 feet of climbing, 1 sprint point
The Field: Pro 1/2 woman
The Finish: 11th
The Internet access at my B&B was problematic last night, so this race report had to wait a day. That day made a lot of difference, but I’m going to try to keep this post focused only on Stage 3 and not include any of the other [SHITTY, UNPLEASANT, NEGATIVE] details about Stage 4.
I knew my field had some very strong climbers, so the objective for the mountaintop finish race was to get the sprint points and then conserve my legs up the mountain and make it through to today’s crit [THAT DIDN’T HAPPEN, WHICH MEANS THIS CONSERVATION WAS UNNECESSARY]. Right after neutral rollout ended, a rider attacked and went up the road. She wasn’t in contention for the GC (had to miss her TT start due to work, so she was 6 hours back in the GC and was also not going to attend the crit), so the field didn’t put up much of a chase. I was happy to have her up the road, because I knew she would take 1st at the sprint point and only leave two more places eligible for points. With the way the points stood, I needed some of the jersey contenders to not get points in that sprint.
The first KOM/QOM wasn’t bad; it hurt, but it was early enough in the race that I was feeling okay and was just focused on the sprint coming up in 10 miles. There were multiple attacks, but nothing stuck and my legs felt good when I’d helped shut them down. As we approached the sprint point, a Kenda rider was setting the pace at the front and I was tucked in at second wheel. We hit the 1km to go sign and nothing happened, nobody changed position, and then we hit the 500m to go sign and I couldn’t stand the wait any longer. I jumped out and drilled it towards the line as hard as I could.
It was too early. I started fading with around 50m left and two riders went around me at the line, taking the second and third place points. I finished fourth, just out of the points and perfectly set up to beat myself up over a bad tactical call for the next 40 miles. [GOOD THING I HAD A CHANCE TO MAKE IT UP TODAY, OH WAIT, EXCEPT FOR THE PART WHERE THE RACE WAS RAINED OUT.]
The remainder of the stage went as expected. The field rode so slowly at times that we might have moved faster by jogging (people were making cracks about how it was like an extended trackstand), and I started getting very impatient about getting to the freaking ten-mile climb already. Just wanted to get it over with so I could go rock the crit the next day [THE CRIT THAT I NEVER GOT TO START, BUT DON’T WORRY, JUST REALLY DISAPPOINTED AND BITTER].
The climb to the finish was very challenging. The field broke apart on Baby Gap (the first big section) but regrouped after and went into App Gap (the final 5k) together. Then it shattered and we ascended the mountain at our own brutal, grinding pace. I was pleased with finishing 11th and ready to move on to the next stage [THAT NEVER HAPPENED].
I think we can skip a post dedicated to the cancellation of Stage 4. It rained heavily today in Burlington, VT and the race was called for safety reasons just as I was about to start my warmup. Honestly, it was a good call, but since I had a lot of hopes for the crit and was eager for a stage that played to my strengths, it was a big letdown. Instead of going home feeling like I’d accomplished something and wrapped up the event conclusively, it feels like there’s unfinished business.
So that was Green Mountain.
You did accomplish something. You raced. You finished. You didnt’ get hurt, and you learned an experience in sprinting.
Bummer about the cancellation, L, but great results anyway and your plan for day 3 made sense; here’s hoping no hurricanes/tropical storms/biblical deluges visit VT next year!