Merelbeke

Third race of the year, very close to home in Merelbeke this time. At the start about 130 riders; the same as last week. The loop we have to do is pretty nice. It does not have sharp corners; and it has an uphill stretch of 1km towards the finish line. I really like this loop a lot. It is a loop for riders that can sustain a lot of power over a time period of 2,5 hours. When we do the uphill stretch (around 3%) we get a speed of 47 km/h. This is hard; however for the rest of the first half of the race the pace is a little lower than last week in Oordegem; and I feel really comfortable the first 50-60 % of the race. I think to myself that this is more a walk in a park rather than a race. However, I still don't want to join attacks because the risk to get dropped afterwards is still there I believe; or fear :)

However; after 10 of the 16 laps are done; the overall pace starts to go up instead of down. The opposite effect of last week. We will average (at least the front group) 44 km/h. Pretty high AVG; and indeed since I always stay in the back of the peleton; many riders start to leave gaps. It's with closing these gaps easily that I notice that I have some extra power in comparison with many colleague riders next to me; and this makes me feel optimistic.

This race is for the rest pretty uneventful; and I finish in the tail of the big group. I am more exhausted than I was the last 2 races; so this was an excellent training once again. This Wednesday I will ride in Kluisbergen; where the terrain will force me to go a 100% and see what I already can deliver when it comes to power. After all the investments in improving pure athletic power; I look forward to this event; since it will tell me more about my potential.

Euer,
Joris