Race Report: 2024 Tour de Bloom - Cat 2/3
Race: 2024 Tour de Bloom - Cat 2/3
Date: Friday 3 to Sunday 5th May, 2024
AVRT racers: Andrea Cloarec
Top Result: GC: Andrea 1st / 84 . Stage 1: 18th, Stage 2 TT: 2nd, Stage 3 Crit: 23rd, Stage 4 RR: 1st
Course: 4 stages Race
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/11341163358/overview
Nutrition: I fueled at 100g/h for every stage. Mix of Malto/mapple syrup in bottles, and GU gels
Race Recap:
I decided to not race the p/1/2 with my teammates to race solo in the cat2/3 instead in order to maximize the upgrade points for my cat1 objective. With a TT on Road bike and a small 4' finish on the last stage, the course of this stage race suited me quite well.
Stage 1 - 56 miles pretty flat road race
Nothing happened, it was quite relax and easy. I managed to grab 2 bonus seconds at the intermediate sprint. And the final sprint was a very short one, so I stayed calmly in the pack, finishing 18th/84.
5th on GC thanks to the bonus seconds.
Stage 2 - TT, 8.5miles, Merckx style
I estimated it would take me 18 minutes if I road at 45km/h. So I set my power at 400w, trying to stay low and aero (I tried at least, see photo).
I finished in 18'06", for 402W. Now 2nd in GC 9 seconds behind the leader. I was pretty happy with my position: without the responsibilities of the leader, and still super closed to him.
Stage 3 - Crit, 45min
Just a rectangle, but.. It was raining, wet, and the guys up there in Washington/Canada have no problem riding under the rain and racing crits.
I quickly understood that my only objective was to hold it for 45'. Even if I didn't have the best lines, I wasnt taking any risks, which made me push more power. I was able to finish safely with the pack, 23rd.
Still 2nd GC before the last stage, 11" behind leader.
Stage 4 - 86 miles Road race. 3 loops rolling / flat for 85 miles, then 1 mile uphill at 6.5% finish
I had one objective : do nothing for 3 hours, and go hard for 4 minutes at the end.
Quickly I realized that the leader and the big teams were controlling the course. Perfect situation for me. I was safely staying at the back, moving right or left depending of the wind. 3 hours thinking of saving energy. My competitors did not see me at all, I was at the back, averaging 200w, fueling 100g/hour.
So I moved up with 5k to go, feeling pretty fresh and confident.
Before the final mile, I managed to get into a lead-out from another team, 4th wheel, perfect for me.
As soon as the climb started, I went. A short acceleration to quickly create a gap with the group, and after that it was 4 minutes of pacing to the end. I knew the watts I could do in this situation. So I averaged 525w for 4min10 and won the stage. The previous leader arrived 34 seconds later.
So I got the win of the GC in this cat2/3. Got a bunch of upgrade points toward the cat 1. Everything went according to plan.
Very good weekend with the team.
The guys in the p12 did a crazy effort, with races way way harder than mines. Congrats to them!
Also a huge thank to Roger, Nathan's dad, for his precious help.
Alto Velo could not race these stage races as well without his help and support!
Andrea