September 30/10 23:29 pm - Tobago International Cycling Classic: Stage 3

Posted by Editoress on 09/30/10
 

It was a day full of high excitement and stress on the island, with both stage II and III today. First from the view of a scooter (before it exploded) and then on the side of the road, I saw our riders pushing through extreme sweat, pain, roadrash, and a jersey full of blood before the day was done.

Stage II (Time Trial)  RESULTS
The day started out for us at 5:30 am to make the start for our first rider leaving the 12 km TT start at 6:40 am. Andre Tremblay had our highest GC placement from yesterday's stage and I followed him closely in our vehicle for his 7:20 am start. I literally hammered the horn at any thing that moved, lessons learned from my last support stint in 2008.

At the end of the stage the majority of the team was seated in the top half of the results. Top ride was blasted by Jamie Sparling of Exustar with Andre giving up approximately a minute and placing 11th on the stage.


Stage III (Circuit Race)
The afternoon heat really took a toll on patience before the 1:30 pm start. The start/finish location was changed after the T&T police made a call to relocate due to safety concerns. The race headed from the main highway adjacent to downtown Scarborough and headed up Mt. Marie for 5 laps in total.

The course had one moderate climb that headed through a severe descent that I would compare to a roller-coaster ride. I had the scooter pegged just to keep contact with the rear of the pack. After this first climb the road kicked up again to put the hurt again on the riders. What followed was several technical descents to a main straight drag leading to the final descent on 'Bad Hill' to the start/finish. The scooter decided to kack out just after the final descent and the tank was immediately streaming gas from the rear onto the road. I had to hitch a ride back-tracking the course to the feed zone to pass out bottles.

On lap 2 Andre approached the feed zone with blood literally covering his face and jersey. He continued to ride through a nose bleed, and after getting medical support while rolling on the side of the road, the blood flow was under control. I must say, I witnessed pure focus in Andre's eyes. He had trouble sleeping last night thinking about the GC lead and maintaining the young jersey's classification. Evan Mundy told me after the race that Andre made the climb in his big ring for one lap. With 25% grades, he was almost riding possessed today.

On lap 3 a move went that represented all the major GC teams including 2 Rapha riders. A gap of approximately 1 minute was established and team TDQ/Waltersforensic.com pegged the front and brought the move back within the next 10 km. Impressive. I guarantee the other teams took note.

In the finale, Andre was our top rider placing 5th on the stage. Stats of the race included a maximum descending speed of 93.3 km/h and maximum grades of approximately 30%.

Rest day for tomorrow. Glass bottom boat tour! "I'm on a boat".