Race recap - Vuelta
The month of September involved more racing and travelling than usual for me - first the Vuelta a España (7-11 Sept), and then the World Championships in Australia. What seemed a little daunting at first, actually turned into an extremely valuable and enriching experience.
The Vuelta was my first international road race since the Olympics in July 2021 and hence in many ways a shock to the system. I had (temporarily) joined the UCI team “Soltec Costa Cálida” and was greeted with the typical Spanish hospitality (thank you!).
The TTT on the first day was relatively unspectacular (it was clear that our little team would lose some time, there was only one other rider who actually had a TT bike!).
The second stage - and first road stage - was a real mental challenge. I had wanted to do really well on this one, since it featured more climbing than the other stages. But the climbs were relatively short and positioning was crucial… It really brought me down mentally to feel like I was wasting energy and not making use of the form I had worked so hard to build. I got caught in a vicious circle of negative thinking. Anyway, I kind of pulled myself together towards the end and finished 15th, and while I was terribly disappointed in the moments after crossing the finish line, a few hours later I could also see the positives like knowing that I had the physical power to do much better.
The third stage was more fun, it was super hard physically, attack after attack. I tried my luck a few times, but it wasn’t to be and the stage ended in a sprint from a reduced group. Pro tip from Annemiek van Vleuten after the stage, when I said that I had suffered a lot: “The higher the fitness, the less you suffer.” Ah right… I’ll take it to heart, champ ;) .
I think this text might be getting too long, but stage 4 was a pretty special one. A long flat stage (160km), boring or scary depending on how one sees it (i.e. how comfortable one is with riding in the bunch). I don’t know what bug bit me, but I attacked at KM0. Actually I thought some other riders would join me on the breakaway. I turned around and there was… nobody. ‘Ok well, very nice, only 160km to go…’ And so I just took on the challenge of trying to stay away from the bunch, ideally until the line. I don’t want to bore you with the different shades of physical pain I went through during those lonely hours on the wide roads between Palencia and Segovia, the moments of “flow” and self-confidence, the moments of despair and wanting to throw the towel. I got caught with a bit over 1km to go. I had no regrets about the way I had raced. It was a beautiful, character-building experience. And ultimately, this is one of the reasons for which I love sports.
Stage 5 was just a criterium in Madrid, which I survived, and then I went straight to the airport to take the plane to Australia for the World Championships.
PS. If you are interested in results, time gaps at the finish etc., procyclingstats is your friend ;) . I just wanted to give a little glimpse of the story behind those results.
