Cycling News

16 August 2009

Vuelta a Burgos

5 days, 5 stages including on 15km tt.

My goal was to use the Vuelta a Burgos to get some more racing km in my legs. It was a good race and course to back up with following the Tour of Denmark the previous week. There were a couple of stages that I liked the look of, so I thought a good stage result might also be possible.

I really struggled with the 36 degree temperatures on stage one. It was the first time since the Giro d’Italia that I had ridden my bike in such heat. On the second stage I thought the steep uphill finish would suit me quite well, however unfortunately with the combined fatigue from Denmark and the previous stage I wasn’t up to the challenge and finished mid peloton. Stage three was a flat windy stage that ended up in a bunch sprint. I did my best to stay up the front and keep out of trouble. The time trial on stage four was over a rolling parcourse and once again it was really windy. I didn’t think the course suited me very well at all, but I thought it would be good training to race it full gas and I was interested to see what sort of result I could do. My morning preparation and warm-up went well, so I felt good when I took off from the start ramp. I started out pretty hard, probably a little too hard, as I faded in the last 3km of the course. I crossed the line with nothing left, so I was very satisfied with my 8th place. The final stage was the only real hilly day of the race. My plan was to stick with the front guys for as long as possible without going too deep. I was starting to feel the fatigue of the past two weeks racing, so I didn’t want to push myself too far and end up getting sick. I was able to stay up front until around 6km to go on the final climb before I let the race go and cruised to the finish.

I'm really happy with what I achieved at the Vuelta a Burgos. I was happy with my time trial and it was an important race on my way to some big objectives I have over the next couple of months. The race was also really well organized and a great event to be part of.

Simon.

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