To start off my 2019 road season with Zappi Junior team we headed to southwest Belgium for the 4th edition of Danilith Nokere Koerse UCI 1.1 on the 16th of March.
We arrived at the hotel Friday evening ahead of the race on Saturday afternoon. After a goodnight sleep, we woke at 8am for breakfast at the hotel then a light pre-race spin on the bikes to wake the legs followed by an early lunch before the race. We then travelled to the start of the race in Nevele for the sign on presentations. The course was 117km long with several cobbled sectors including the finish climb witch we would do several times on the finishing laps. With strong winds we knew it was going to be a tough race and really important to be at the front.
From the start it was full gas with everyone fighting for position. About 15km into the race a rider came down in front of me and I just avoided crashing but my rear wheel had been knocked and so was rubbing. This meant I had to stop and fix it before chasing back on with riders who had been held up in the crash. As we were just meters off the back of the peloton there was another big crash in the centre of the bunch. To avoid going into the riders on the road I had to swerve onto the path at the side of the road but I hadn’t seen that it ended in someone’s garden. Going to fast to stop I went onto the grass which turned out to be very soft so my front wheel dug in and ejected me straight over the bars. I quickly got up and with a push from the mechanic I was in the convoy chasing back onto the peloton. After a few kilometres and the mechanic leaning out the window to tighten up my rear brake as it was rubbing, I made it to the bunch before the first cobbled sector.
About 50km into the race my quick release on my rear wheel came loose on the cobbles and I had to stop again and then chase back through the convoy to the peloton. The break went after 100km of racing and stayed away till the finish with Alex Haines taking the win. I felt strong towards the end of the race, having a little dig off the front with 2 laps if the finishing circuit left but didn’t have any success. I position myself well and came 5th in the bunch sprint up the cobbled climb to finish 30th in my first UCI of the season. It was a good race and I was happy with how I performed considering the issues I had during the race.
The weekend after came Guido Reybrouck classic UCI 1.1 on Sunday 24th of March. The team travelled out early Saturday morning so we could get out on our bikes to recon the course for Sunday. The race was 130km long with over 20 cobbled sectors and 2 large laps followed by 5 small laps of a finishing circuit. Saturday night we headed into the town of Damme, where the finish was, for dinner that was put on by the organisers of the race. We then went back to the hotel to rest up before the race the next day.
on Sunday we had our usual breakfast followed by an early lunch of pasta before heading to Damme to get ready for the start of the race. After signing on and team presentations we lined up for gear check. Starting towards the back of the bunch was not ideal especially as there was a crash 400m into the neutralised zone that caused the race to be stopped while everyone picked themselves back up.
I moved up the bunch quickly, knowing there was the first cobbles about 10km into the race so it was important to be near the front. I stayed active near the front the whole race. tried getting in a few attacks off the front but nothing was sticking. As we got to the finish line for the first time to start our 5laps of 7km finishing circuits the whole bunch was together but as we went through the feed zone a few riders went off the front and stayed away to the finish. Feeling tired from my efforts in the first half of the race I was only able to stay in the bunch until the last lap where I made an all or nothing attack to go with a group just up the road from the peloton. I had almost bridged across but legs ran out and I had nothing left in the tank with little over 2km to go in the race. The bunch caught me and I was left to roll in at the back of the bunch.
I felt I had ridden the race the best I could at the time and rode a much more aggressive race then last week. A big thank you to everyone who helped out the last two weekend and a special thanks to the support of PatelMiller this season.
Angus Hawkins 