Monday, May 14, 2007
Premiere Win of 2007
Its been a hideous season for me so far, after missing the whole winter through a knee injury I started to get going for the start of April, only to contract an illness just before the Circuit des Ardennes which developed into Gastro-Intestinal issues for the Tour du Loire-et-Cher and which dragged on until Bourg-Arbent-Bourg.
So when the team decided I needed to rebuild gently as opposed to my usual 'you must be joking' I took their advice and opted to stay at home and race on the Cote d'Azur. Friday night was Piste, down at Hyeres, with decidedly stiffer opposition in the sprint events (Bourgain, Sireau and the Chinese National Squad) but I started the weekend with 3 wins on the Wood.
Sunday saw me take the start of the GP d'Antibes, an tough race closer to Sophia-Antibolis than to Antibes, which nonetheless included some 1700m climbing in little over 90km. I took off in the early 10man move which by the time the race had reached half distance was whittled down to 4. Not long after this point a series of attacks left myself and Martial Ricci-Poggi (also of AVC Aix) at the head of affairs. We soon tucked 2minutes into the chase pair and 4min into the peloton, decimated by the heat and the circuit.
Being team-mates and both of whom need a win, we decided to race 'a la pedal' in a clean sprint, unfortunately for Martial, im pretty rapid in a small-group sprint and I took out my first Road win in France since the end of 2005.
Next up is the Coupe de France Individual Time Trial where on current form im hoping to grab a good result.
So when the team decided I needed to rebuild gently as opposed to my usual 'you must be joking' I took their advice and opted to stay at home and race on the Cote d'Azur. Friday night was Piste, down at Hyeres, with decidedly stiffer opposition in the sprint events (Bourgain, Sireau and the Chinese National Squad) but I started the weekend with 3 wins on the Wood.
Sunday saw me take the start of the GP d'Antibes, an tough race closer to Sophia-Antibolis than to Antibes, which nonetheless included some 1700m climbing in little over 90km. I took off in the early 10man move which by the time the race had reached half distance was whittled down to 4. Not long after this point a series of attacks left myself and Martial Ricci-Poggi (also of AVC Aix) at the head of affairs. We soon tucked 2minutes into the chase pair and 4min into the peloton, decimated by the heat and the circuit.
Being team-mates and both of whom need a win, we decided to race 'a la pedal' in a clean sprint, unfortunately for Martial, im pretty rapid in a small-group sprint and I took out my first Road win in France since the end of 2005.
Next up is the Coupe de France Individual Time Trial where on current form im hoping to grab a good result.
# posted by PageK @ Monday, May 14, 2007
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
Matt Brammeier update. April
Well another month and 12 races have gone by and as usual I’ve had a few ups and downs along the way. It seems like only a few days ago that I was sat trying to remember what I’d been up too in March. Anyway I`m sat here in quite a bit of pain (ill explain later) so excuse any bad spelling or stupid comments!!
I’m well and truly settled in my new place now, and I`m really taking to this new era of Belgian weather, I haven’t seen one drop of rain or the thermometer drop below 20 degrees for a solid month now!! Is it really April?? It feels good to have somewhere that feels a bit like home with a familiar bed to come home to after a hard day in the saddle. I can really feel the benefit of getting home to a comfortable house and chilling out, with depending on the time a good coffee or glass of wine.
As I said before I’ve had 12 races this month so quite a busy months riding with not much chance for any serious training, just recovery rides and a bit of cruising round really.
My first race of the month was the Trophy Van Haspengouw in Aalst. A pretty big race on the calendar and pretty near to home which made it a bit of an aim for me. The parcours looked good with a few rolling hills and a nice finish circuit with the usual 1 in 4 climb and the mandatory cobbled stretch, not to mention the vicious crosswinds!!
It was a pretty nervous bunch to start of with a few crashes early on to try and dodge. I got through the first 20ks unscathed where I received the warning of a real bad crosswind section on a big open road. For once I used my head and battled to the front out of trouble, sure as hell we turned onto this road, straight in the gutter looking out for the invisible road furniture and the parked cars which are rarely pointed out by the other riders!! It was pretty grim for a few kms here and I had to dig deep a bit to hold the wheel in front, but I was just glad I was in the first 10 and not at the back chewing my stem. Anyway I found myself on the front and didn’t feel too bad, I had a quick look behind at the carnage and thought what the hell! I moved right, got out the saddle and rode as hard as I could for as long as I could. Sure as hell there was a nice little split of about 20 guys and we rode away to about 2 mins, which was nice as I didn’t have to battle for the front all day to stay out the wind. I felt real good all day anyway until the finish circuit where I started to feel it a bit. To cut a long story short I rode like a bit of a D**K in the finish laps and hesitated like a 90 year old women and let nearly the whole break go up the road, I ended up in a pretty disappointing 13th place.
Next on the cards was a smaller but by no means easy Amateur kermess race at Herne. The conditions were tough but just not tough enough to split the 220 strong field. I didn’t have the best of luck when my cleat came off about ½ way through, I had to stop and do a bit of a bodge job on it screwing it back on with just 2 screws instead of 4 which was a bit dodgy. Being the cheeky scouser that I am, I hid in the bushes and jumped back into the front group after an 8k lap out! The race came down to a mass sprint but with the 2 screws in the back of my mind I didn’t commit 100% and just rolled in the top 20 somewhere.
Next came the epic Tryptique Des Monts Le Chateau a 3 day battle around the border of France and Belgium. I rode this race 3 years ago with the U23 Academy and it was still in my head as the hardest race I had ever ridden so I was looking forward to
seeing how much id moved on. Last time I was here I was literally hanging on from start to finish each day and finished lantern rouge! The first day was a long road stage with no major hills or obstructions which ended in a massive sprint in which I was too far back and without a chance of even a top 20. So not a great start. The next day was an 8km TT which I was pretty excited about as I was 18th at my last attempt. Unfortunately I had to ride today on a road bike with clip on bars and normal wheels so the chance of a result was out of the question. I still went full gas to try to prove myself to the team and hopefully get a nice bike for my next tt, I rode pretty well and only lost 27 secs on the winner finishing inside the top 30 which I was quite pleased with. A few hours later and I took to the start again for a 121 km road stage. It was a pretty fast race today and was pretty easy in the peleton, it really looked like it was going to stay together for a big group sprint which was gradually up hill and on cobbles which excited me a bit and I was hopeful of a result. It wasn’t to be and a group of 17 slipped away on a small hill and made it to the finish. I finished quite strong in 7th place in the group sprint. The last day was a bit of a disaster for me, we hit a climb which I can only describe as a cobbled wall after about 120ks and that was game over / grupetto for me for the day. I rolled in quite a way down looking for answers and quite disappointed.
3 days later I was on the grid again in the GP Pino Cerami a UCI 1.1 ranked race in south Belgium. My legs weren’t great from the start but I tried to ride through it and race hard. I found myself in a break of 15 which didn’t get much room from the strong peleton behind and was quickly reeled in. After this the big Pros from T-Mobile and Quickstep decided they were too tired ( a lot of them had just finished gent-wevelgem and had Flanders in 2 days time) they decided to call a time out and neutralise the race and keep the bunch at a steady 30kph for about an hr mid race. My legs totally seized up here we were going that slow and when they decided to start racing again my legs didn’t want to play and I was on my way to the showers early.
A few days later and I rode out to ride a local Kermess race. My legs were really good and I was riding really well, going with every move and not really having to go too deep. The last 5 ks were really fast and I decided I was going to sit in for the last 2 laps and 100% gamble on a group finish. My numbers didn’t come in and a group of 12 went away and was yet another day out without a result!!
Next on the programme was the 2.2 ranked Rhone Alps Isere tour in the south of France. And yes it was as hilly and as hard as it sounds! It was a bit of a trek down there but my legs felt fine in the evening when we went for a bit of a spin. The first day was “flat” according to the locals, but with 2 5 k climbs I chose to ignore that statement. However I got stuck in battled hard and got in the breakaway. I managed to hang on over the hills and get to the finish in the front group of 16 nearly 3 mins up on the peleton. In the finish I felt great but just chose the wrong side of the road, I ended up a respectable 4th place and in the young rider’s jersey! As per usual I wanted more and could only think what could of happened if I would of gone to the left side of the road not the right. Straight after the race as if by magic I had a massive bout of tooth ache which lasted for the next 3 days, kept me awake till 2 am and close to tears sometimes. My whole body shut down and I was unable to continue racing. A quick trip to the race doctor and I was prescribed with codeine and penicillin. Unfortunately it was a Saturday and all the chemists were closed until Monday !! However I had a bit of good luck when the chef from the hotel noticed I was in pain, asked me how I was. When I told him the story he came back 5 mins later after a quick phone call to his mate ( who was a chemist ) with an address of his chemist. The guy opened up his chemist especially for me and sorted me out with my drugs!!
My next race was a massive goal for me before the tooth pain kicked in but I still decided to make the start for the Espoirs Tour of Flanders. The course looked savage with no less than 12 cobbled bergs including the oude kwaremont, valkenberg and the taienberg. I decided to forget about the tooth and go full gas. To my surprise I felt great and was in the front all day on the hills. A small group of 10 went on the Valkenberg with about 50 k to go which was a bit early to start showing my cards do I chilled out and let it go. 30 k later the gap was 40 seconds and looked bridgeable on the crazy cobbled section coming up. I hit the cobbles with everything I had and made it to the break just before the end of the cobbles, however I think it must have been the last cobble on the stretch that I hit hard and had a massive blow out. It was chaos behind so neutral service were unable to help so I was forced to wait for the team car which was all the way back n position 29 as you can guess this was game over for the day for me and a dull end to an up and down month.
But all isn’t bad, it’s now the 2nd of May and i`ve a bit of a result to write about in my next months fairytale!
So until then
Take it easy !!
P.s unfortunately though the antibiotics didn’t clear the infection in the tooth so i`ve just had to have my tooth pulled out! I didn’t take it too well and passed out with the pain! Don’t laugh!!
Chow!
Matt
Well another month and 12 races have gone by and as usual I’ve had a few ups and downs along the way. It seems like only a few days ago that I was sat trying to remember what I’d been up too in March. Anyway I`m sat here in quite a bit of pain (ill explain later) so excuse any bad spelling or stupid comments!!
I’m well and truly settled in my new place now, and I`m really taking to this new era of Belgian weather, I haven’t seen one drop of rain or the thermometer drop below 20 degrees for a solid month now!! Is it really April?? It feels good to have somewhere that feels a bit like home with a familiar bed to come home to after a hard day in the saddle. I can really feel the benefit of getting home to a comfortable house and chilling out, with depending on the time a good coffee or glass of wine.
As I said before I’ve had 12 races this month so quite a busy months riding with not much chance for any serious training, just recovery rides and a bit of cruising round really.
My first race of the month was the Trophy Van Haspengouw in Aalst. A pretty big race on the calendar and pretty near to home which made it a bit of an aim for me. The parcours looked good with a few rolling hills and a nice finish circuit with the usual 1 in 4 climb and the mandatory cobbled stretch, not to mention the vicious crosswinds!!
It was a pretty nervous bunch to start of with a few crashes early on to try and dodge. I got through the first 20ks unscathed where I received the warning of a real bad crosswind section on a big open road. For once I used my head and battled to the front out of trouble, sure as hell we turned onto this road, straight in the gutter looking out for the invisible road furniture and the parked cars which are rarely pointed out by the other riders!! It was pretty grim for a few kms here and I had to dig deep a bit to hold the wheel in front, but I was just glad I was in the first 10 and not at the back chewing my stem. Anyway I found myself on the front and didn’t feel too bad, I had a quick look behind at the carnage and thought what the hell! I moved right, got out the saddle and rode as hard as I could for as long as I could. Sure as hell there was a nice little split of about 20 guys and we rode away to about 2 mins, which was nice as I didn’t have to battle for the front all day to stay out the wind. I felt real good all day anyway until the finish circuit where I started to feel it a bit. To cut a long story short I rode like a bit of a D**K in the finish laps and hesitated like a 90 year old women and let nearly the whole break go up the road, I ended up in a pretty disappointing 13th place.
Next on the cards was a smaller but by no means easy Amateur kermess race at Herne. The conditions were tough but just not tough enough to split the 220 strong field. I didn’t have the best of luck when my cleat came off about ½ way through, I had to stop and do a bit of a bodge job on it screwing it back on with just 2 screws instead of 4 which was a bit dodgy. Being the cheeky scouser that I am, I hid in the bushes and jumped back into the front group after an 8k lap out! The race came down to a mass sprint but with the 2 screws in the back of my mind I didn’t commit 100% and just rolled in the top 20 somewhere.
Next came the epic Tryptique Des Monts Le Chateau a 3 day battle around the border of France and Belgium. I rode this race 3 years ago with the U23 Academy and it was still in my head as the hardest race I had ever ridden so I was looking forward to
seeing how much id moved on. Last time I was here I was literally hanging on from start to finish each day and finished lantern rouge! The first day was a long road stage with no major hills or obstructions which ended in a massive sprint in which I was too far back and without a chance of even a top 20. So not a great start. The next day was an 8km TT which I was pretty excited about as I was 18th at my last attempt. Unfortunately I had to ride today on a road bike with clip on bars and normal wheels so the chance of a result was out of the question. I still went full gas to try to prove myself to the team and hopefully get a nice bike for my next tt, I rode pretty well and only lost 27 secs on the winner finishing inside the top 30 which I was quite pleased with. A few hours later and I took to the start again for a 121 km road stage. It was a pretty fast race today and was pretty easy in the peleton, it really looked like it was going to stay together for a big group sprint which was gradually up hill and on cobbles which excited me a bit and I was hopeful of a result. It wasn’t to be and a group of 17 slipped away on a small hill and made it to the finish. I finished quite strong in 7th place in the group sprint. The last day was a bit of a disaster for me, we hit a climb which I can only describe as a cobbled wall after about 120ks and that was game over / grupetto for me for the day. I rolled in quite a way down looking for answers and quite disappointed.
3 days later I was on the grid again in the GP Pino Cerami a UCI 1.1 ranked race in south Belgium. My legs weren’t great from the start but I tried to ride through it and race hard. I found myself in a break of 15 which didn’t get much room from the strong peleton behind and was quickly reeled in. After this the big Pros from T-Mobile and Quickstep decided they were too tired ( a lot of them had just finished gent-wevelgem and had Flanders in 2 days time) they decided to call a time out and neutralise the race and keep the bunch at a steady 30kph for about an hr mid race. My legs totally seized up here we were going that slow and when they decided to start racing again my legs didn’t want to play and I was on my way to the showers early.
A few days later and I rode out to ride a local Kermess race. My legs were really good and I was riding really well, going with every move and not really having to go too deep. The last 5 ks were really fast and I decided I was going to sit in for the last 2 laps and 100% gamble on a group finish. My numbers didn’t come in and a group of 12 went away and was yet another day out without a result!!
Next on the programme was the 2.2 ranked Rhone Alps Isere tour in the south of France. And yes it was as hilly and as hard as it sounds! It was a bit of a trek down there but my legs felt fine in the evening when we went for a bit of a spin. The first day was “flat” according to the locals, but with 2 5 k climbs I chose to ignore that statement. However I got stuck in battled hard and got in the breakaway. I managed to hang on over the hills and get to the finish in the front group of 16 nearly 3 mins up on the peleton. In the finish I felt great but just chose the wrong side of the road, I ended up a respectable 4th place and in the young rider’s jersey! As per usual I wanted more and could only think what could of happened if I would of gone to the left side of the road not the right. Straight after the race as if by magic I had a massive bout of tooth ache which lasted for the next 3 days, kept me awake till 2 am and close to tears sometimes. My whole body shut down and I was unable to continue racing. A quick trip to the race doctor and I was prescribed with codeine and penicillin. Unfortunately it was a Saturday and all the chemists were closed until Monday !! However I had a bit of good luck when the chef from the hotel noticed I was in pain, asked me how I was. When I told him the story he came back 5 mins later after a quick phone call to his mate ( who was a chemist ) with an address of his chemist. The guy opened up his chemist especially for me and sorted me out with my drugs!!
My next race was a massive goal for me before the tooth pain kicked in but I still decided to make the start for the Espoirs Tour of Flanders. The course looked savage with no less than 12 cobbled bergs including the oude kwaremont, valkenberg and the taienberg. I decided to forget about the tooth and go full gas. To my surprise I felt great and was in the front all day on the hills. A small group of 10 went on the Valkenberg with about 50 k to go which was a bit early to start showing my cards do I chilled out and let it go. 30 k later the gap was 40 seconds and looked bridgeable on the crazy cobbled section coming up. I hit the cobbles with everything I had and made it to the break just before the end of the cobbles, however I think it must have been the last cobble on the stretch that I hit hard and had a massive blow out. It was chaos behind so neutral service were unable to help so I was forced to wait for the team car which was all the way back n position 29 as you can guess this was game over for the day for me and a dull end to an up and down month.
But all isn’t bad, it’s now the 2nd of May and i`ve a bit of a result to write about in my next months fairytale!
So until then
Take it easy !!
P.s unfortunately though the antibiotics didn’t clear the infection in the tooth so i`ve just had to have my tooth pulled out! I didn’t take it too well and passed out with the pain! Don’t laugh!!
Chow!
Matt
# posted by matt8195 @ Wednesday, May 09, 2007
Thursday, May 03, 2007
Peter Bissell scores a win
the race was called the GP Quimper it was an Elite race around the town of quimper over 100 km's, it was quite a tough circuit rising up along the home straight over to a climb of about 400m, then descending to a flat section past the finish. there were 80 odd starters, a break of 8 went away after 6 of the 18 laps and had around 45 seconds, i decided it was time to go across so i attacked at the foot of the climb and crossed solo in about 3 laps, after riding with the front group with 3 laps to go one of my team mates in the break attacked and i countered taking team mate, Anthony Moran (ex Credit Agricole pro) and a rider from lorient, with the advantage in numbers we proceeded to attack him to wear him down and with 3km to go i attacked solo and crossed the line to win with around 20 seconds in hand at an average speed of 43kmph.
Classement : 1. Peter Bissel (VS Quimper); 2. Nicolas Jouanno (VCP Lorient); 3. Anthony Morin (VS Quimper); 4. James Canévet (VS Quimper); 5. Fabrice Morcel (TC Granit Rose); 6. Radek Blaska (VS Quimper); 7. Niel Canévet (VS Quimper); 8. Mathieu Raoult (CC Blavet); 9. Fabien Kéromnès (Bic 2000); 10. Bartek Oswit (VS Quimper); 11. Damien Folgar (UC Nantes); 12. Anthony Vignès (VS Quimper); 13. Alexandre Aulas (Chambéry C.); 14. Nicolas David (VS Quimper); 15. Denoël Chedaleux (V. Vannes)
Classement : 1. Peter Bissel (VS Quimper); 2. Nicolas Jouanno (VCP Lorient); 3. Anthony Morin (VS Quimper); 4. James Canévet (VS Quimper); 5. Fabrice Morcel (TC Granit Rose); 6. Radek Blaska (VS Quimper); 7. Niel Canévet (VS Quimper); 8. Mathieu Raoult (CC Blavet); 9. Fabien Kéromnès (Bic 2000); 10. Bartek Oswit (VS Quimper); 11. Damien Folgar (UC Nantes); 12. Anthony Vignès (VS Quimper); 13. Alexandre Aulas (Chambéry C.); 14. Nicolas David (VS Quimper); 15. Denoël Chedaleux (V. Vannes)
# posted by cycling news @ Thursday, May 03, 2007
