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Vuelta of Mexico
UCI Cat 2.2
Professional
from 9/13/08 to 9/20/08
Result: 48th overall of 160
http://www.vueltamexico-
First of all, thanks to the team and to Director Bruce Wilford to let me go to ride that race under the color of another team. I was invited to race with the composite Leopard-Dr. Pad Team. Also, thanks to Bill Salefski for lending me his bike case.
This race is a part of the UCI America Tour, it is a cat 2.2 so it is open to all teams. This year 10 amateur teams and 10 professional teams entered including Scott-American Beef (formerly Saunier Duval), Cinelli team, and Team Type 1.
Stage 1: Aguascalientes-San Luís Potosí 193.7 Km
The first stage is always peculiar, everybody is nervous and there are a lot of crashes, and that was the same thing here in Mexico. An escape of about 5 guys was off the front during the entire race and the pack arrived just 1 min after the escape. For me the end of the race was not as I expected. I had a puncture just 20 km from the end just when the Scott team worked on the front of the main field to reduce the gap. As we were not a complete team we had the last car in
the caravan and I had to wait a long time!! That resulted in a 6 min loss for me!!!!
Stage 2: San Luís Potosí-León GTO 197.2 Km
The start of the race was done just at the beginning of a 15km climb. At the king of mountain we were just 30 guys in the main field and just 30 other guys succeeded to catch us, the other pack finished the race at 30min. I tried to stay in good position for the final sprint but the finish line was after 5km of crazy descent in downtown so I preferred to stay safe by finishing that stage easily!!
Stage 3: León GTO-Guadalajara 228.6 Km
This stage was the longest stage, and it started badly for me by a crash during the start!! And that bad luck continued by a puncture at mid race. The end of the race was very crazy, a storm appeared just before 10 km to the finish, and the finish line was again after 5km of decent in downtown!!! I managed to stay with the first pack but there were again lots of crashes, so I preferred as yesterday to finish the race safely...
Stage 4: Circuito Guadalajara 79.2 Km
That stage was unique because it was a criterium. We started under the sun but after 10 laps another storm appeared and caused lots of crashes, the road was like an ice rink. So all the professional riders decided to stop the race, so all the pack was stopped and the race restarted but with just 5 laps remaining and just for the courageous or crazy riders, so without me!!! Restarting was done just to name a winner, it had no bearing on the GC.
Stage 5: Zamora-Morelia 146.3 Km
After a transfer by bus during 3 hours we arrived to the start line in the mountains because the 4th last stages contained big climbs. I felt better than the first stages, maybe the altitude, so I decided to do the race in the front. So in the first climb I tried some attacks but without success!! We arrived 50 guys for the victory, and I finished 24th in a crazy sprint again!!!
Stage 6: Morelia-Zitacuaro 150 Km
The queen stage with 3 climbs, and one over 2800 meters. Like the day before I tried to be on the front but there were a lot of guys within a few seconds on the GC, so the leader's team didn't allow for an escape. On the big climb of the day, the war was launched!!! All the Scott guys attacked one by one. But the leader (Chadwick, Team Type 1) and his team managed to respond to all these attacks!! At the summit we were just 20 guys on the front after a crazy climb!! During the rest of the stage the team leader controlled the pack and we finished the stage by a sprint of about 50 guys, I tried to participate but a crash at 500 meters from the finish line stopped me!!
Stage 7: Zitacuaro-Toluca 91.2 Km
Again a mountain stage, and one of the last occasions for the leaders to dispute the GC. We started just on the beginning of an enormous climb, 28kms!! At the start, I was not really in good position and there were lots of attacks, which put me in the second group. My group contained some leaders in the GC, so we caught the first group just 20km before the finish line. I finished in the middle of the group, I think that I began to get tired!!
Stage 8: Toluca-Zona Metropolitana 52.9 Km
Last chance for the leaders to win that race. An enormous climb, over 3000 meters, again at the middle of the stage was on our program!! I was very tired this day, my heart didn't want to climb that final mountain. I managed to stay with a second group at 1min from the leaders and I finished the stage in this position.
So after 8 stages I finished the race in 48th position just 8 minutes behind Glenn Chadwick the winner of the race. If the puncture hadn't occurred on the first stage, I should have finished the race at only 2 minutes. That would be near the top-20!!! The race was a great experience for me, in a new country with new people!!
Thanks for reading
Fabrice
