On the 19th April I competed in Ster van Zuid Limberg, a 4-day stage race in Belgium. I travelled with the team on Thursday ahead of the time trial Friday afternoon. We stayed the night in Leuven, Belgium and then after some breakfast headed to the start of the race in Borlo. The race consisted of a time trial prologue and 3 road race stages over 4 days.
Once arriving in Borlo we had some lunch and prepared for our individual time trails which started at 3pm. We then went to recce the course and have our TT bike measurements checked. The course was 5km long starting with a gradual hill out of the town with a headwind then a fast road back around into the town with some fast corners up to last kilometre and then flat to the finish. After a good warm up I was ready to go. with it being a short time trial, it was just a full gas effort from the beginning. I finished with a time of 6:53 in 44th place and 26 seconds behind the winner. A big thank you to PatelMiller for providing me with my new Giro TT helmet and Vittoria tyres.
Stage 2 was 112km road race of a big lap and 7 small local laps. It was a very hot day at 26 degrees Celsius so hydration was key throughout the day. The large lap had a few climbs but was mostly rolling. For the first hour we averaged 45km/h with the American national team setting the pace on the front preventing any attacks going away. We got to the local laps after 70km and I quickly realised it was vital to be at the front as the finish straight was 3km long with a slight cross wind so the bunch of 80 riders was splitting up every time along there. With 2 laps to go a group of 8 got away and stayed away to the finish. I followed an attack and got away as we crossed the line with 1 lap to go with 3 other riders but we got caught with about 5km to go. I then finished in the bunch sprint in 18th place and moved up to 36th overall.
Sunday’s Stage 3 was similar to the day before but with 2 cobbled sectors for added difficulty. A group of riders got away after about 50km into the big lap. After 65k we reached the start of the small laps of which we would do 6 times. The start of the lap was a 90-degree left corner then up a narrow hill with a sharp left at the top. As we reached the start of the laps I attacked into the corner and up the climb, then me and another rider worked for a few kilometres before being joined by another rider. The three of us worked to increase our gap as my teammate Tom Couzens and another rider bridged across to us to make a group of 5. Our gap over the peloton increased to 50 seconds but was brought back with just over 20km to go in the race. I tried a few more times to get away in the final laps but none of the attacks I followed got anywhere. As the race was coming down to finish for the bunch sprint I made sure I was positioned near the front. In the final kilometres I remained at the front of the bunch but had nothing left in my legs for the sprint and as a result I was overtaken by a few people in the last 200m but I held onto 12th place. I am very happy with this as it is my best result this season and with the way I rode on today’s stage.
Monday was the final and hardest stage of the race. 120km long, the race went out along a dead straight main road for 15km with a head wind before turning off onto smaller roads. The main challenge of today’s stage was 2 really steep climbs, 30km and 33km into the race, and then back along the main road to the final finishing laps of the race. I made it over the climbs in the main peloton of about 30 with a group of riders just ahead of us. The bunch soon caught the group ahead after 10km of chasing but a lot of people didn’t get back on to the front group after the climbs early in the race so I knew I was in a good position to move up on the general classification. As we reached the 5 final small laps there was constant attacks to get away and gain time. With 3 laps to go a promising looking group of about 13 formed ahead of the bunch. Along with 2 other riders I attempted to bridge across but got about 10 seconds off the back of them and ran out of energy. I then tried to recover as best I could in the bunch but with the group being so small at 20 riders, there wasn’t much resting I could do. With 6km left of the race I attacked with another rider and finished 20th on the stage with a 6 second gap to the rest of the bunch.
I finished the race in 25th place in the general classification after moving up on the last day by gaining those 6 seconds on the last lap. Overall it was a very good race for me and the first race of the season where I showed what I could really do. I learned lots and I have gained a lot of confidence with how I rode by getting into breaks and still performing in the sprints on every day. A big thanks to everyone who helped out that weekend and made the race as good as it was.
Stage 1 Prologue – 44th
Stage 2 – 18th
Stage 3 – 12th
Stage 4 – 20th
Overall – 25th
Angus Hawkins 