17 Jun Lotto Thüringen Tour 2.1: Jenna Merrick
I’d like to think we make our own luck, but this week it felt as though something wasn’t quite on my side despite my best efforts. I had a challenging start to the tour, suffering from travel sickness and GI issues before racing started, I raced stage 1 severely unfueled. The weather took a turn for the worst at the end of the stage and my body struggled with the sudden dip in temperature. I rolled into the finish at the back of the front bunch, crossing the line and collapsing into a shivering heap, unable to talk or move myself. Stage 3 bought a terribly timed mechanical at a point in the race where team support had slipped well out of convoy. By the time I got going the damage was done to any GC success, the gap between me and the front bunch was too significant to bridge singlehandedly. Stage 6 saw me working my butt off and battling hard to finish strong, positioned well with 100m to go my chain flipped off as I hit the cobbles, and any chance of a strong finishing result gone.
it’s really easy to look at all this and write it off as a week of bad luck, but that isn’t honest.
In stage 2 I rode smart and hard to finish with the front of the race where crosswinds and hard power-climbs had completely split the bunch into pieces.
In stage 4 which was said to be the hardest due to its large climbs, I took a gamble and launched an attack on the main climb, I wanted to see how far I could get and challenge myself- practice attacking some of the best riders in the world is one way to learn the skill.. I stayed away for a few kms and got caught by a chase bunch at 1km from the top, staying with them for the rest of the way and finishing the stage In 15th place.
Stage 5 ITT was a little deflating result-wise as I didn’t have a TT bike, wheels or helmet like many of the others. However I set new power PBs, rode to my race plan and emptied myself. I can’t ask more than that!
Despite falling short by 100m in the final sprint of stage 6, I know I pushed myself hard to set myself up for a strong finish. I started working from 10 kilometers out, feeling tired and just wanting the tour to be over, I dug deep mentally and push myself to finish strong and get something constructive out of the race. I was determined to practice fighting for position and executing a sprint, because there is no better way to learn than amongst the pros, and this cannot be taken away by the final finish disappointment.
I gained confidence navigating around the bunch at high speeds on European roads, pushed my body to new limits, and learnt about the way to approach recovery and nutrition around longer tours. (Previously the longest I had ever done is 2 days!!!) It’s so frustrating feeling as though my efforts and way I rode was not reflected by the results sheet, but at the end of the day I experienced huge personal growth and successes throughout the week. In the long run these are the factors which will make me a better cyclist with a dynamic skills base, and the ability to dig deep when things get hard.
