VUELTA A ESPAÑA, NR 1

I can’t believe it’s already the first rest day. I’m an optimist so in my mind, we are basically halfway.

If you told me before the Vuelta I’ll be able to say the team, aka Ben King, has won two stages, then I wouldn’t have believed you. I knew it’s possible, but to actually pull it off is another story. The team is on such a high. Everybody is going above and beyond to do their part. Now that we have the taste of victory, we want more.

As you would have seen, the first week was HOT. Scorching temperatures. Day after day we raced in close to 40 degrees for 5 hrs +. This takes an extra toll on your body and takes some time to get used to. It’s a daily challenge to refuel and rehydrate to ensure you are ready for the next. We have a great medical/performance team here who manage our fatigue and nutrition. We even give them a tasty urine sample each morning to track our hydration. We are 8 riders being taken care of by 18+ staff members (this excludes the behind the scenes staff who aren’t physically at the race). All here to help us perform at our best.

Stage 1 was hard. Lumpy all day long and as usual super stressful. Every rider has a director in their ear telling them to ride at the front to ensure you don’t get caught behind a crash or split. The road is only wide enough for a couple of teams, so it’s a constant shuffle and fight for position. It’s tiring, but necessary. This is also my role. To help guide the team throughout the stage. Finding the right spot so that they can save energy to get the result in the end. We survived the first day without any time loss and stayed out of trouble. Success.

Ryan gave stage 2 a go. Had he not been dive-bombed with 500m to go which caused him to break, he could’ve pulled off a proper result. He had to settle for 9th. It’s a good start, but he is capable of more so look out for him over the next few days.

Ben stormed to an impressive victory early on.

Stage 4.

Now, for the first exciting day. Stage 4. The plan was to get Ben in the break. He followed the first move and slipped into a perfect break. That was probably the easiest part. He then outsmarted the break and put in an insane performance to go ahead and win the stage. This was just incredible. Our whole team was wholeheartedly so happy for him and everyone’s morale went through the roof.

But even with our high morale things can quickly turn. Stage 6 changed from a perfect ‘transition stage’ into a full-blown TTT after our whole team was caught behind a crash 30km to go. Crosswinds right after didn’t help as the race ahead only sped up. We did our best to limit time loss for Louis, but had to settle with a bill of 1’45. Not ideal, but as I said I’m an optimist, it could have been worst.

Stage 7 was one of the hottest. Everyone was suffering in the heat. It was one of those stages which on paper looks like a sprint stage, but being the Vuelta, it probably won’t be. Ryan was just short of sprinting for the win from a select 30 man group. The highlight was Louis gaining back some time on GC and showing good form.

Then came stage 9. Obviously, there was a stage 8, but I’m fast forwarding a bit. Ben was once again given the opportunity to jump in the break. A strong group formed who forced their gap up to 7 + minutes. Ben was the virtual leader, once again, for most of the stage. Now that he had the taste of Nederburg champagne, he craved some more. He rode away from some of the best breakaway artists in the world to win his 2nd stage – even more spectacularly than his first.

Two wins before the first rest day. The feeling of satisfaction is incredible. Everyone is feeling strong, healthy and beyond motivated to go get some more. This coming week will be tough as we move towards the North. I’m personally feeling really good. I’m happy with the contribution I’m able to make towards the team and I firmly believe there is more to come.