Episode #9

I've been back from my altitude training in Spain for a good week and as I write this, I'm in Belgium for the World Cup races this weekend in Ostend. This afternoon the individual time trial is on the program!

As I told you in my previous blog, last week the Tour of Flanders was on the program. It was one of the highlights of the season and I felt really good a week after the altitude training. Unfortunately, it became clear during the race that form is not always a guarantee for success. If you don't make the right choices tactically, you still miss your target. Ouch!

The first part of the race actually went fine for me. My fellow countryman Martin van de Pol rode away from the peloton and got a Belgian with him and they gathered a lead of a little over a minute and this made the situation easy for me to control. When a French rider decided to cross over to the leading group, I didn't really worry about it, because I trusted in my strength and knew I could close the gap in the finale myself. It was important to keep a close eye on everything and to save as much energy as possible for the tough final that was still to come. When another rider wanted to cross solo to the leading group, I still didn't think that was a big problem, but now I had to make sure there was organization in the peloton, so the lead of the now 4-man breakaway wouldn't become too big. Well, there was no real organization! One attack after another was made and it seemed like everyone wanted to make the crossing to the leading group solo.

At the moment one of the Colombians gives full throttle to take his chance, I decide to jump with him and because another Colombian rider tries to cross with us to the break away, we are able to join the front of the race. The riders in the first group didn't immediately notice that we were joining and I decided to make use of that moment of inattention by attacking right away. Unfortunately the Ukrainian rider pushed very hard to get me back and I was caught. Again I made a fierce attack, but this time it was a Frenchman who didn't agree and while I was catching my breath, one of the Frenchmen made an attack of his own. By the time I realized I should have responded right away, it was already too late and apparently the rest of the group didn't have the legs to close the gap. Normally I should be able to make the difference on the last climb of the day, but now there just wasn't enough in the legs to do it here. The Frenchman managed to stay out of our grip and when we approached the finish line it was once again confirmed that I'm not a sprinter... I crossed the line as the last one of the chasing group.... So tactically I didn't ride very strong and I think I could have had a better result if I had waited with attacking until the difficult climbs.

I'm looking forward to revenge during the World Cup races in Ostend! More on this later..
During the Tour of Flanders I rode my first race in the new clothing that FUTURUM designed and produced for me. The design of the clothing that I wear in races where I am not allowed to wear the champion's jersey, has become very special! The graphic elements in combination with the colors of my sponsor NL Training, make sure you can't miss me in the peloton. What do you think!

Cheers, Daniel

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