The day started with good news when the woman at the reception desk of hotel les Cappucins in Belfort: told us: "Pas de pluie aujourd'hui"!
Since I had some doubts that she checked the weather forecast at 5.15 am (when we started our breakfast), I decided to bring a raincoat anyway. And oh my, was I happy with that decision! The four of us (Bruno, Patrick, Tim and myself) just closed the car and rode to the start on our bikes, and were hit by a terrible "Vosges"-shower. We were soaked by the time we arrived at the start (6.30, official start was at 7.15). I was shaking, shivering... and envying Bart Bury (last year's winner), who was still in his sweatshirt, enjoying a nice hot coffee in the athletics hall right at the start.
A couple of minutes later, it stopped raining and I joined the ten to fifteen riders who were already at the start. I got a "priority" starting position, and I must admit it is quite a nice feeling to quickly nod your head in the direction of your race number when the person in charge of the access to the priority starting grid just sent off a rider trying to start at the front. You have to be able to prove a top 300 finish in order to be given that "privilige";-).
Compared to other years, I had the impression that the start wasn't very fast. We rode in the direction of the first climb of the day "Ballon de Servance", (were my legs just didn't feel like working last year) in a very disciplined manner, and for the first time I didn't see any crashes to my left or right. I guess the favorites for the win must've been a bit cold as well, since there weren't any real attacks on the first meters of the climb. I did have to let the first ones go however, and quickly looked for a pace of my own, and I immediately felt it went way better than last year. I rode up the first climb with Gerdie, an econometrics professor from Ghent university, and I knew from previous years that we are more or less equals when it comes to 3 ballons results. In the descent of the Ballon de Servance however, I was very unlucky. First, I lost one of my bottles and in a split second I decided to continue the ride and not to stop to go and pick it up (a decision I quickly regretted, since riding the whole 205K with just one bottle is just NOT an option). After having riden a fast descent, I was unlucky a second time when we were forced to stop at the traffic lights. A potential re-group with the riders just in front of us was gone, and a large number of riders joined our group of 8. In addition, this newly formed big group didn't work well together AT ALL, and we rode up the next two smaller climbs in a very slow pace, which allowed even more riders to join our group.
When we started the long way up the Grand Ballon, I really started worrying about my water supply. The climbing went very well, my heart rate showed I still had some margin to accelerate (which is always nice to see), and even the last few steeper kilometers up to the route des Crêtes went much better than last year & the year before. Near the top of the Markstein, (=where we got onto the Route des Crêtes), I did something I'm not proud of, so here's a bit of "therapeutical writing": A woman was standing by the side of the road with a bottle in her hands, waiting to give it to someone, and in a split second, I reached for it...., and she gave it to me! My water problems were solved! However, I hope I didn't cause someone else's, and I would hereby like to offer my sincere apologies...I still don't know what came over me, and immediately regretted it a bit if I'm honest, but on the other hand this meant I could still hope for a top 100 ranking.
Immediately after the first descent, Thomas (founder of wielertoerist.be and a rider that has repeatedly proven to be much more talented than me), caught me and we would ride most of the day together. In the Grand Ballon climb, he noticed I had got legs, which was nice to hear, and it also gave me a mental boost to see he wasn't climbing better than me. Now that I lost the water-handicap, everything was possible again. Up the Route des Crêtes, our group still rode VERY slowly, but I said to myself that that didn't really matter as soon as no other groups came back from behind. On the top of the Grand Ballon, I decided to make a bold tactical move: No stop at the food & drink stop, ride a very fast descent, and see how many riders were still with me at the start of the next climb, the Hundsruck (only 5 to 6 K long, but steep, I always suffered bigtime there the last 2 years). Everything went as planned, When we reached the small town at the foot of the Hundsruck, only 10 riders (15 max) were still with me. one of them was Thomas, who must have ridden a dazzling descent, because he DID stop to fill up his bottles. No sign of Gerdie though. But then, I was unlucky once again: We were stopped by the race officials in order to give priority to local traffic. I guess we stood still for at least 90 seconds up to 2 mintues, and practically all riders came back (I estimate around 40-50).
On the Hundsruck climb, I had the feeling I was one of the best climbers, and the difference with previous years was huge: I always had to let my group go, and now, I crossed the top in 5th position!
On the leadup to the Ballon d'alsace, the group once again didn't feel like working together, and as a result when I stopped for water on the start of the climb, another big group caught up on us. However, in the first couple of 100 meters on the climb, the riders from our original group quickly regrouped in the front, and from then on, everyone rode for what he was worth. I rode up the climb in a good pace, but slowly but surely I found myself in the back regions of the first group (a lot of riders had already had to let go). At the top, I estimate the difference coulnd't have been more than 2 to 300 meters, but it was enough to never see the first riders again and lose a potential top 100. I did all I could, but the pace was just a little bit too high. However, I was quite happy with my climbing, especially if I recall that state I rode up this climb last year. Now, I still had some reserves for the 20 to 30 K to Champagney and the start of the final climb, "La Planche des belles filles". I took the front in the descent of the Ballon d'Alsace and tried to avoid more riders coming back on the way to Champagney. That seemed to work, and we took turns with 4 riders (1 couldn't help us out anymore). Unfortunately, after ten kilometers, a group of around ten riders caught up on us, (their pace on the flat was slightly higher than ours), and so I found myself again in Gerdie's company.
On the slopes heading into Champagney, I still felt good, and I crossed those small hills always as 3rd or 4th in our group, without wasting too much power. When back into Champagney, we lost some riders that had to stop for water one last time, but we rode with 15 or so to the start of the final climb. Nobody wanted to do some work at the front after a couple of Ks, so I did the last 3. The first couple of hundred meters up "La Planche" went alright, but suddenly...the light wents out. I guess I got passed by a 4 to 5 riders, before crossing the finishline as 119th. I lost a lot of time on the final climb, and although this was without a doubt my best 3 ballons so far (with great sensations during the entire day, but not a superfast time because of the specific race circumstances), this was also without a doubt the worst climb up La Planche...
I'm very happy with that performance, even though I didn't reach the goal of finishing amongst the 100 best riders. However, I got the confirmation that if I get just a little bit stronger and everything falls into place, it is definitely possible!
I already knew that I could ride very descent results in sportives in the ardennes (73rd in the Velomediane in 2009, 40th in this year's Gran Fondo Ardennaise), but unfortunately, I still haven't managed to really do a top performance on rougher area. Maybe I still need some extra years of strength/stamina/...?...Nonetheless, once again, I'm extremely happy with this year's 3 ballons performance. Next year I'll be back for more! Below some pictures...
On Sunday (after a restaurant-visit on Saturday evening of course;-)), we drove back home, and on Monday, the local's race at Delphine's hometown of De Pinte was on the program. To put a "long" story short, I immediately felt my legs weren't recovered from 2 days before. I tried focusing on last year's strongest riders, but unfortunately, 2 others escaped and battled it out for the win. I did all I could, and was able to finish the race quite easily, but was far from strong enough to make a difference. In the one to last lap, I decided to launch an attack right in front of my fans, here's what it looked like.
Was caught back quite fast unfortunately, and finished 13th, 6th in my age category (under 35). Good fun! Thanks again to all the supporters! And now, we rest for what's to come in Morzine & Vaujany!
Oh yes, and I let myself go after the race;-)...
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