It has been a busy last week, but also a very satisfying end to the first half of the 2012 season, as I managed to win both the elite men’s time trial and road race at the National Club Champs.
The final stage of the 2012 Tour de Korea was over all over not long after it began, as we rattled off the final forty six kilometres in little over an hour. While there were a few optimists who went searching for a break away, a sprint was inevitable, especially with so much at stake for the general classification. After shying away from the final kilometre madness all tour long, Subway Pro Cycling committed to delivering Paul Odlin to the finish as best as possible in the hope that he could at least jump in the slipstream of the much faster sprint specialists. I took the boys to the front in at the five kilometre mark and held pace for the next kilometre before Matt, Nick, Pete and then Wes maintained the tempo and control of the front. Eventually the Jelly Belly Cycling team overtook us and Paul was able to slip into their pace line, sitting in the top five wheels into the final kilometre. Unfortunately a chicane and some speed humps added to the usual last minute chaos and Paul lost his nerve and position, slipping through the pack and eventually crossing the line in about 20th place. This gave him an overall placing of 16th.
View from the coms car during neutral - photo CyclingIQ
Today was the hardest stage of the tour on paper. With two big seven and five kilometre climbs located less than twenty kilometres apart, it seemed sure that today was the day that would finally crack the general classification wide open. I haven’t been climbing that well this tour – well actually my climbing is probably unchanged however the pace uphill in Asia is a massive step up from back home. With that in mind I went into today’s stage with a clear goal, to get up the road early.
Stage 6 Start in Gumi.
164km of racing today plus a long neutral section and on paper it was probably the most favourable stage of the tour for the Subway Pro Cycling team. The stage featured one classified climb at 96km and one big climb preceding it, but it was the constantly rolling terrain over the final thirty kilometres that really suited the strengths of our boys. Again conditions were pretty mint, sunny and hot with a tailwind blowing all day. Wes and Pete knocked it up in the day’s early break, a move that had around twenty riders and reached a maximum lead of around three minutes.
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Mechanical Check from Nigel as I get back on - Photo Roger Dungan
It’s been an unbelievable two days at the Tour de Korea and not in a positive way unfortunately. Firstly, after twenty minutes of neutral riding, yesterday’s planned Stage 4 from Yeosu to Geochang was cancelled due ‘adverse’ weather conditions. It was raining pretty hard on the start line and the wind was gusty but it wasn’t that cold, reportedly around 7-8 degrees so far from the worst conditions I’ve ridden in. It definitely would have been a miserable day on the bike and so part of me was happy to climb back in the team bus but it also means that there is one less day to shake up the general classification order. I also know the conditions would have suited our team more than others.
Today’s 135.6km stage was all about Oddy. Paul attacked in the opening kilometres and unlike previous days, was immediately let go. He had Kristian House from Rapha-Condor-Sharp and one other asian rider for company. In sunny and warm conditions, the trio slowly built up a lead that peaked at around two minutes and was still at a minute and a half with twenty kilometres remaining. Unfortunately however, despite being joined by a couple more riders, they were caught inside the final ten kilometres as the peleton wound up for a sprint.
The view of Gwanju from our hotel
On the cards for today was 198km, featuring a sprint at 56km and KOM at 155.8km. The stage didn’t really have the impact on GC that one might have expected however.
Conditions today were overcast but pretty damn warm. We also seemed to be pushing into a headwind for the second half of the race.
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It was a short, sharp fifty five kilometer stage from Incheon to Seoul that got the 2012 Tour de Korea underway today. Conditions were pretty rough – freezing cold, wet and windy but being the first stage, everyone was feeling good so the pace was hot.
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Travel Montage
After a long journey, the Subway Pro Cycling team has arrived for the 2012 Tour de Korea. Gone are my younger days when long haul flights were are novelty. For me the travelling is now definitely one of the hardest parts of racing overseas. This year we endured a 10hour flight from Christchurch to Singapore followed by a 6 hour flight to Seoul. This also included a seven hour stopover in Singapore airport, although a swim in the terminal roof top swimming pool and time in the Star Alliance Lounge did provide some respite and refreshment.
Archive Photo - Subway Pro Cycling
Contrary to plans in my previous post, I did race over the weekend with the team making a late decision to enter a team of four into the Around Brunner ride. The elite race and prize money for this event was scrapped for 2012 and so we started amongst the recreational riders. It turned out to be a really hard day on the bike however and well worth the trip.
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