台灣 Team Cinelli Ritchey 車隊

The 4th round of the national series was held in the North-East coast, home to some steep climbs, windy coastal roads and rain. Tough conditions for some, but Team Fuji was hoping for them as to show the strength of the team.It rained all night long, and as we had breakfast, it was clear it was not going to stop. I could see no one was really upset about this, we felt strong and the rain would only help us prove it. That, and the steep climbs. As for the bikes, we rode Novatec Spirit lightweight aluminum wheels and Continental GP4000 tires, so we had a really high quality setup for this conditions, light for the climbs and grippy and safe for the downhill.

The race started with Team all in front. There was a long neutral ride along the coast, it was windy and wet. I thought I was strong, but I couldn’t get warm. When we finally started racing, I felt I still needed to warm up, so I decided to sit back in the group and try to spin my wheels. There were some attacks, but it was clear the two climbs of the day will decide the race.

As we started the first climb, everyone found its place in the pack. I suffered in the first hill, then catch a group just behind the leaders, who else but Chris and Leo in front! I saw Chris riding strong and leaving all others behind, it make me feel better, because I couldn’t be up the front in case he needed some help, but the climb was tough and he wouldn’t need any help, he would ride solo all the way to the finish line.

Just a little before the end of the climb I lost contact of the group of 7 I was riding with, there were some attacks I couldn’t respond. I started the descent with my arms locked-up and the other rider I was riding with made a few strange turns that really made me loose concentration… it was not my best descent ever! Thanks that I had good Continental tires, they make a difference in these wet and twisty roads.

Just at the bottom, Yanyi and 4 more riders catch us and we all set a good paceline, making the rolling 10km to the base of the final climb at a very good speed. I finally found my pedal stroke, my body was warm and looking forward to push it in the climb. We catch a group of 6 just before the tight right turn to go uphill, we were 12 riders all looking to see who would lead the climbing.

Soon the attacks came, and the group split. After a couple km that were not so steep, we entered the final km that really pointed to the sky,

Marco was taking pictures and cheering us up, he yelled “500 meters!”, I reacted instantly, shift to a harder gear and sprinted to pass all the riders in my group. I was hurting, but the line was to be close… suddenly, a hundred meters away, I saw a sign on the road, 500mts! Damn, and it was the steepest stretch of the climb! I shifted up, took advantage of the Compact gearing (50/34 FSA K-Force Light crankset) breath deep for a few seconds and charged again to finally brake away from my group. It hurt, but the others were hurting more!

I still had the energy to sprint to the finish line. I started the race slow, but at least finished strong and score a 6th position. The good news was, Chris had won and Leo placed 3rd! So, we had a podium full of Fuji jerseys.

There are more races to come soon, we are hungry for more podiums, go TFT go!