Race Report: La Ruta del Lago - Elite Open Men
Race: La Ruta del Lago - Elite Open Men
Date: April 1, 2023
AVRT racers: Nico Sandi
Top Result: Nico Sandi (1/55)
Course: 60 miles out and back on newly paved road long Lake Titicaca (starting elevation of 12,600ft). Two main climbs at the very beginning and at the end of the course. Climb 1 was short and steep. Climb 2 was longer, with steep bits at beginning and end, but false flat in the middle. Mostly flat with some mini climbs the rest of the way.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/8814849975
Nutrition: Coffee and oats in the morning. Four sleeves of clif shots, two bottles with malto/gatorade mix (one bottle flew away early in the race so I was left with only one).
I was targeting this weekend as my A event for the road season. I had planned to travel to Bolivia to race elite road nationals on this same day. I got my UCI license, insurance, permits from local cycling association, planned travel…everything. But nationals got postponed last minute. So I pivoted and reframed my trip as a time to spend time with family and train at altitude. And luckily found a road race to go use my fitness and smash it.
A note on racing and riding at elevation: After riding at elevation for almost two weeks I had to recalibrate my expectations of numbers I saw on my bike computer. My new max heart rate was 170 (down from 190 at sea level). I lowered my power expectations by 50 watts at least. And, at anything above 10,000ft, relative perceive effort was through the roof because I was constantly gasping for air. Very uncomfortable.
My Strava investigations into this race from previous years showed me that people went super hard in the first and second climbs right off the start. Then settled into a steady group ride pace and then used the final two climbs to decide the race.
As advertised the first climb was hard. Only 2.5 minutes but I was already questioning my decision to race at such high elevation.
The second climb was also super hard. Two riders went clear and I decided to just do my own pace and not implode trying to chase them. I eventually caught up to them and was able to just sit on their wheels through the false flat and final steep bit of the climb.
Coming down the other side of the climb it was only 6 of us. The race was completely blown apart 20 minutes into the race. I liked it! This meant it was a small group to control, it was mostly flat for the next 90 minutes. I just had to focus on eating well, taking short fake pulls, saving energy and preparing for the two climbs at the very end.
I didn’t know anybody in the group. Three of them looked young and fast, but the older man was the one who put the hurt on the climbs. I eventually found out he was Juan Cotumba, Bolivian cycling legend. He was national champ and had won the Vuelta a Bolivia 10 years ago. He is 42 now and still fast! I marked him as the one to keep and eye on since he was the one dropping us on the first two climbs.
Nothing of note happened during the flat part of the race. A couple of the guys in the group attacked on a couple of rises. We would slowly bring them back and then let them dangle off the front letting them waste energy. I did not attack or try to get away. I was confident I could follow and/or create separation on the last climb.
As expected, we were all together coming back into the last two climbs. The second to last climb starts with 4 minutes of steep, levels out and then a final 2 minute kicker at the end. Juan made his move in the middle of the steep bit and I was the only one to follow. I was glued to his wheel until it leveled out. I came around and we had a chat. I told him we should work together until the bottom of the next climb and then see what happens. He agreed and so we worked well together to keep the rest of the group away.
We came into the bottom of the last climb with a very healthy gap on the chasers and so we had plenty of time to finesse. We started the climb super slow and I was just waiting for his move to go. And it did and I tried and I couldn’t. He got away. I decided to not burn myself chasing and just try to pace my own climb. I had reconned the climb the day before and I knew it is deceivingly long.
I noticed Juan started to slow down ahead of me. I was closing in just focusing on my own pace. I caught him with 100 meter to go on the climb and I could tell he was cooked. I still had a little bit more in me to accelerate and get a gap in the the decent and keep that gap to the finish.
No brakes, full send down the hill and I thought I had it. But I looked behind and he was gaining on me (100% aided by a motorcycle that should not have been there but whatever). I knew he would catch me so I stopped working hard and waited for a sprint.
The finish is weird because it is literally 30 feet after a left turn. I just had to be first into the corner. I lead it out, gapped him and turned the corner to see the finish first.
You can watch a video of the final climb here. (minute 8:30) You can also try to find more videos of the race on the same Facebook page. I would recommend this video (minute 41:45) just to see how beautiful this race was. You can see the Andes in the background! This guy was on a motorcycle live streaming the race from his phone and commentating. It was great!
Hopefully I get to race road nationals next year!
Nico
