Crankbrothers Racing Team: MOUNTAINBIKE VAN VLAANDEREN

This is our second stage race of the season on Belgian soil. We travel a lot and it's fun and exciting, but racing nearby is fun too. Because the down side of travelling abroad is the long hours in the camper. It is a bit more relaxed than sitting in a car, but it still is exhausting.

But like I said not for this race. It is about an hour and a half from home and as we could change our start time for the Prologue to the afternoon we left on friday morning.

PROLOGUE

A little different than last year... In the first edition we had to ride a fast cross country style loop next to the pond on the domain where we are camping. This year a 34K ride was planned with 3 specials (special 1: 1,9K, Special 2: 5,4K and special 3: 3K). The parts in between you could ride at economic your own speed.

Black is beautiful

Man in black?

The first part of the ride Peter and I used to warm up. When we arrived at the start line of the first special we had to wait in line. In between each rider was 1 minute so it wouldn't jam too much.
I started before Peter, when I crossed the timing mat I waited so we could ride the next part together. This part of the track we used to recover a little and get our legs prepped for the next longer special.

In the second special I could almost get to the rider in front of me, but when I finished I had to wait longer for Peter than just 1 minute. Apparently just like many other riders he missed a turn and lost more then a minute.

For the last special I let Peter start before me. It was a bit more turning and he is much better at that than me.

When we finished I had the leading time in the women categorie but there still were some riders starting later on.

For this first day I was 3rd women, the podium was a fact and the time differences between me and the other riders was really small. So I could still move up the coming two days.

DAY 1 127KM - 2176AM

It would be a long and hard day with some technical difficult sections. The loop for today was 63K two times. We never had to climb long, but just the alternation between the short steep difficult parts and the fast rolling parts hurts the legs and in the second loop the fatigue doesn't make it any easier.

Almost ready for the start

The big highlights are true icons like Koppenberg 'offroad', Leo Pironpad which is like a badly designed rockgarden, Taaienberg, 'Mijnheer Dokteur' an offroad switchback part and 'Ijskelder' a cobble stone path thats even is a challenging with a mountainbike.

Team effort

And this not just 1 time, but 2 times...

This year the women got a seperated start so Alice Pirard set the pace. And at the time the first men passed us it was waiting to find a good group to ride with. I could get in second position and kept this position for almost the whole race. Peter reached me before the end of the first lap and put me out of the wind as much as possible.

At the last feedzone the winner of last year reached me. We still had a little more than 20k to ride. Not the most difficult ones, but although it was still early she attacked. At the moment she looked back to see if I had been able to react she missed a turn and was off the track. I did turn of to the left and gave it my all. I know she would try to get back to me so I couldn't drop my pace, but my energy level was low. A friendly rider pased me and I could ride in his wheel to the finish. I had to dig deep but I was able to reach the finish 10 seconds sooner than her.

Second place was mine, but in the GC I was still 1 second behind.

DAY 2 103KM - 1690AM

Last year I won this stage. This year this will be much harder, let's say in normal circumstance impossible. Alice is much stronger than me, so if nothing strange happens she'll win the stage and the GC.
Just like the first stage we have a start 3 minutes before the men. Alice sets the pace and I pick her wheel. I did hesitate wheater I would ride in second or 3th position. Second seemed te best spot to be in. When the leading men start to pass us we are riding a rather difficult rolling single trail. It makes it a little bit hectic and even dangerous. One of the riders hits my handle bar, but I don't panic and can keep my balance. When we get to the road my legs still feel better than expected. No soreness from yesterday and I can follow the wheels I pick without too much effort.

Girls riding,... and smiling

I try to ride smart and sit out of the wind, because it blows harder than yesterday and althoug this stage is a shorter one, it still is long enough. After 10K I have to drop to a group a bit less fast, but I find a good pace. I have know idea how big the gap is with the other ladies, but I try to concentrate on myself. When we reach the feedzone we also get to a more technical part of todays stage and to my surprice I can see Alice in front of me again.

On the asphalt road I managed to get back to Alice. From now on I can stay with Alice, we ride together at a steady pace. The Koppenberg is the last hill of the first lap and everything is going surprisingly well. When we pass the finish Michiel tells us we have a big gap so we need to keep working together to make sure we can stay ahead.

Koppenberg cobble stones

The beginning of the second lap is hard, the wind picked up speed so we have to hide in a wheel and luckily there is a rider who is willing to let us ride out of the wind. At the last feedzone I need to refill my bottles so I'm on my own now. I know I can do this, because I did it last year. I still feel strong and keep a steady pace. In the last K's to the finish there is still a hard part. I need to crush my teeth now to be sure of my second place. And it works... I finish second and with much more than 1 second in front of third.