2014 Colorful Yunnan Gran Fondo Stage 2

Saddle Drunk November 18, 2014

Daniel Carruthers still reporting for us SaddleDrunkers from China.

The Gran Fondo concept has been popularized in recent years in Europe, America and Australia; but it is only just the beginning of the Gran Fondo boom that is about to happen in China. More Chinese riders are increasingly attracted to long distance challenging cycling events and Nordic Ways in conjunction with Kuai Sports have been the first to host the Gran Fondo event in China back in 2012 at Yanbian. It has taken a while for the concept to take hold, but with the Yunnan government standing behind the concept it looks like the Colorful Yunnan Gran Fondo event will pave the way for many such events in the future; and it is also seen as a perfect way to promote tourism and place the unique region on the map.

Check out the official event website: http://www.granfondochina.com. For live daily updates, you can visit http://kuaisports.tumblr.com. Also follow Facebook.com/Asiacyclingnews

Race Report: Carruthers Perspective

The 181km stage was an epic one that splintered the field into pieces and was a big GC shake up with Wei Kui from the Specialized team taking over the Green jersey with his third place in Yuxi. None of the top four winners from the first stage were present in the top 30 and lost a considerable amount of time. The parcours was undulating around the Fuxian Lake that was buffeted with strong prevailing winds, punctuated by several climbs that wore down the legs of the riders, especially the last long climb after 160kms of racing in the legs. Quite a number of riders struggled with the distance and it was a day for riders to gain time ahead of the mountain time trial in Chuxiong.

How it unfolded

It was reported that young riders from the sport development team “ruled” the day, however that is not entirely true as they were allowed to escape and gain time without reaction from the peloton as they did not have direct bearing on the overall GC of the race. In the opening stanzas of the stage, leaving the city of Yuxi, it was a long steady ramp of about 3% on a highway and there were a number of attacks from the local provincial ‘pro’ teams, each were chased back and I drove hard a couple times to keep moves in check. On the next ramp up, a move of four riders was allowed to slip clear and I sat in the peloton thinking they would be brought back soon. They quickly gained 40 seconds and then the gap was a minute when crested the last long false flat climb out of Yuxian; it was at this point I decided to drill it on the front to reduce the time gap. The most help I got was from the Indian Quick Team rider. Between me and him we traded good pulls to keep the pace close to 50km/h and the gap was controlled to hover around the 50-60 second mark. However we got no help from the other teams. The Specialized team was content to sit on my wheel and provided no assistance. When I saw this, I thought maybe one of them somehow got across and was in the move, but I found out that all of the riders were safely in the peloton. At that point, I decided to stop chasing and I told the Indian to also stop chasing; it was at this point the gap to the four leaders ballooned out to well over two minutes as the peloton slowed right down to 35km/h. The four-leaders were given a great head-start. Just before the approach to the Fuxian Lake, a couple of riders including one Specialized jumped away to have a 500m gap on the peloton. Once on the shores of the lake, the road narrowed and was more twisting and turning with undulations. Some more attacks went and were reeled back in. At this point I made a counter-attack and jumped across to the group that was dangling of the front. We became a powerful group of 8 riders including Hu Hao and Wei Kui from Specialized. We quickly put the peloton out of sight and I thought that this was the move of the day as we all co-operated well and maintained a high speed. However on the long climb, we were caught by the peloton led by the Mongolian Team Attilia. I managed to get over the climb with the skin of my teeth to remain in the front group that now contained all of the GC contenders, but on the next short climb it all came back together again.

Another Specialized rider attacked and went away solo after the descent without reaction. It was at this point I attacked hard and the Indian rider from Quick joined me. Both of us swapped turns and we caught up with the Specialized rider; the three of us rotated well together to increase the gap. About 10 minutes later, we were joined by seven “pro” local riders and the group became ten riders. We rotated reasonably well in the cross-winds but not with efficiency I would see back home in New Zealand. Five minutes later we were joined by yet another group of five riders led across by John Cattrall (English rider). One of the five riders happened to be Wei Kui who would later climb brilliantly and ride his way into the Green Jersey.

There was no real cohesion in the second break of 15 riders. Many riders were being lazy, particularly the ‘pro’ riders; always dropping wheels or missing turns on the front. It was quite a jagged procession around the Fuxian Lake. John, myself, and the Indian were doing most of the work on the front. John in particular was driving the pace hard in order to keep our advantage of the chase groups from behind. It was also particularly frustrating when I would finish a pull on the front and no one is rotating through. Then when I drift down the pace-line, the Chinese riders would open gaps thinking I would jump in and save them from a turn on the front. With 40km remaining, I had a small twinge of cramp so had to back off from riding hard on the front in order to survive the last stage of the race. When the final climb came again, Wei Kui from Specialized accelerated away quickly, leaving me with no choice but to ride tempo up the climb. I was surprised that several riders from the group also got dropped and finished behind me. It was a particularly hard last 20km into block head wind to finish the 181km stage. I finished 12th on the stage and officially 7th overall when you take out the five ‘pros’ that were in the front group. Wei Kui, together with the ‘pros’ caught up with the three young talented riders that had been in the breakaway move all day. The 16 year old Li Wenjie was the last rider to be caught at the 170km mark and he came in 5th out of the six riders that finished in the front group. John Cattrall was also dropped on the upper slopes of the climb, but was able to TT well to limit his losses to be 1min 34 behind Wei Kui. Cattrall who had finished 2nd overall at the Masters Tour of Chiangmai in Thailand, is a proven climber and has a solid chance in tomorrow’s 24km individual time trial. If there is one rider that could upset Wei Kui’s position, it would be the English-man. I’m sitting in 7th overall on GC, over five minutes down on the GC leader so my ambition is to limit my losses so that I can remain in the top 10 for the Colorful Yunnan Gran Fondo.

We have moved further west into Yunnan and staying in Chuxiong now. You can see the difference in the air quality and the dramatic change of scenery as we have left the urban areas of Kunming. Stay tuned for some amazing photos after tomorrow’s stage.

Thank you Daniel and good luck.

Colorful Yunnan Gran Fondo Stage 1

Saddle Drunk November 16, 2014

This month SaddleDrunker Daniel Carruthers still travelling around continents with his bicycle and now he is in China taking part in Yunnan.

The inaugural Colorful Yunnan Gran Fondo stage race kicked off today in Kunming City with 800 participants racing 114km around the Dian Lake; Specialized team rider Zhu Fanxin won with a long sprint to head off Mongolian Myagmarsuren Basaankhuu, followed by Quick’s 18 year old Xu Zuoling and Mongolia’s Bat Erdene Narankhuu. The main group consisting of 34 riders was came in 46 seconds down on the quartet and was led in by Chinese rider Zou Long.

Top 10 place-getters

1. Zhu Fanxin

2. Myagmarsuren Basaankhuu
3. Xu Zuoling
4. Bat Erdene Narankhuu
5. Zou long
6. Ling Chending
7. Pu Jinxue
8. Daniel Carruthers
9. Yang Jiajie
10. Sainbayar Jambaljamts

How it unfolded - Carruthers perspective

With 800 riders on the startline it was always going to be important to be near the front and stay up there to avoid the inevitable crashes! I had ridden over from the hotel 7km from the start line not knowing the direction; just relying on people’s hand gestures and some good luck to get to the start/finish area on time. However, with just minutes to the start, my front tire gets a puncture. I ran around like a headless chicken trying to find someone who would have a inner tube for me. With just five minutes remaining, I found someone who had a spare tube and I got it installed and pumped up. I had to then run in my cleated shoes back to the rest of the bike and then jump over the guard rail to ride backwards to the start. I was able to start on the second row and while standing there, I noticed that my tire was not sitting on the rim 100% properly, but with just one minute to the gun, I had no choice but to hope for the best that I would make it through the stage!

The gun went and we were away: fast! it was the typical fast start that you enjoy here in China with the wide-open smooth roads that had 100% road closure. There were plenty of attacks going off the front and after the first 5km I made an attack of my own but it was going no where. Soon, three riders opened up a gap on the peloton but Team Attilia was quickly organized in team formation on the front and set the pace. With the Specialized team and myself sitting behind the Mongolians, the gap never extended beyond 30 seconds and it was reduced to 20 seconds during the approach to Dianchi Lake. A number of teams decided to swamp the front and wind up the pace to make the catch. Once the catch was made, I made a counter-attack right before going on the Dianchi Lake bridge. It did not get far at all with riders not keen to let me get away. Attack after attack kept coming and whenever there was a dangerous looking break, I would jump across to join them. However the peloton had other ideas and were always right on my heels.

After 50kms of racing, there was a solo attack by a Specialized rider and the peloton was happy to let him go. It was a temporary lull in the pace, a calm before the storm that was to follow. When the road snaked back around to the other side of the lake, there was a strong prevailing cross-wind and it was at this moment three of the Mongolian Attila team launched their decisive attack that splintered the peloton into pieces. I saw this attack happening and responded instantly but still had riders in front of me dropping wheels in the cross winds. I made it to the front group after closing gaps in the windy section of the road, and it was looking good as the race had just exploded but at 75km mark there was a climb that the front group went full gas up and without adequate recovery, I was jettisoned out the back, legs turning to jelly as I struggled to crest the short but vicious climb. I was quickly into a group that swelled in numbers and through the concerted efforts of myself, Aussie Shannon Bufton, and John Catrall from England. The chase was hard, and some inconsistent riding by Chinese riders and some un-called for attacks, did not make it easy. The catch was eventually made, but the 4-rider winning breakaway group had already formed and were over a minute up the road.

With just 20km remaining, I was on the front helping to drive pace but not getting much help. This is the time when you need a team to organize on the front and rotate hard for 10km to pull back the breakaway; but none of the teams were organized enough and I was racing solo. Coming into the finale, I kept position near the front and Shannon Bufton helped with towing me into a better position a couple of times. With 4km remaining, we had hit the bottom of the steep bridge just as the breakaway quartet was cresting. I continued to move up into better position and with 1km remaining I was still a little too far back and was also exposed to the wind, however I did slot into third wheel going through the roundabout and just 300m remaining. I stayed behind the two riders as they seemed to be doing ok with the pace and we were not getting swamped. As soon as the first rider behind passed me, I opened my sprint just before the corner; I was passed by three riders and I held on to finish 4th in the bunch sprint for 8th overall for the stage. Quite a respectable finish considering I just stepped off the plane, traveling 48 hours from New Zealand!

Tomorrow’s stage will be quite interesting as it is 181km and consists of undulating parcours throughout. It is particularly interesting as most amateur races in China are usually no more than 60km long and many riders may not be conditioned for the long-distance. I expect time gaps to be even greater by the end and the front groups will be smaller than today. Stay tuned for the action report for stage 2!

Thank you Daniel and good luck for next stage.

Poetry (in motion) part 2 from Serene

Saddle Drunk November 16, 2014

This,it is part 2 of the previous blog from Serene, talking to us from down under and still in a concussed state.We hope her a quick recovery and a get well soon.

The concussed (3 weeks and counting).

And so, the bad luck continues. What more can I say when my bike was one of the six that didn’t turn up at the criterium venue? I was out of GC contention right away after being awarded peloton time for the unfortunate DNS. Fair – but not so fair. 2m2s to 4 girls – with 2nd being a teammie – it was time to shelf away some personal ambitions and help Grace snare the yellow jersey.

My pleasure, and honour!

“The too-long road stage”

The time-triallist in Grace needed to do her thing, so she duly punctured 20km in. The wheel-bearing road captain, apparently a new niche that Sarah had carved for herself, selflessly gave up her wheel to get Grace going. Meanwhile, I got about my business and captured the full KOM points at the 28km mark. The next 20-25km went by, with me either sitting in the pack or latching onto those purposeful surges by SJ. There was no reason to drive the pace as I waited for Grace to make her comeback. She did, but not quite in time to contest for the intermediate sprint.

More attacks. Nothing went.

To be completely honest, I was stuffed. My legs were buggered and I was nauseated. The humidity, the travels, the lack of mileage/intensity from the yesterweeks and the (still) on-going post-concussive syndromes came together and rebelled in earnest. I considered pulling out but I had a job to do. There was only me and Veronica left to help Grace in her bid for glory – you just have that little extra percentage more for a teammate.

Thankful for a 15-20km respite when then yellow jersey wearer had a mechanical. The peloton ambled along at a very sedate pace by the coast, while waiting for her to get it fixed. It didn’t quite happen – tough luck – but that’s bike racing. I was dealt a bad hand the day before too. On that note, my utmost respect to SJ for finishing the stage sans seatpost.

We needed to get the bike race going. Everyone was getting rather restless.

The rest of the stage was peppered with the classic 1-2 attacks thrown by Grace and me, with #85 and #73 driving the pace otherwise. The former motoring along the flats and bombing the descents; the latter grinding up the climbs. I went for a few solo attempts after finding myself with a good gap atop the rollers but fact was that I was in no shape to do a Tony Martin. Grace wasn’t doing too well with her on/off cramps too so we just readied ourselves for a sprint finish. I was confident we would nail that anyway.

True enough, stage one-two. That bugger was cramping up sprinting towards the finish and was going to take to the comforts of her saddle to power to the line. But I wasn’t going to let that happen with another girl coming quickly behind us. I yelled at her to “GO, GO, GO”, which she did, and I crossed the line jubilant just behind her. Job done. She got all the bonus seconds and I took some of the other.

One step closer.

“The still way too long 2nd road stage”

A yellow jersey to defend;

A polka dot jersey to protect;

A green jersey to fight for.

We gave green a good go but SJ proved too formidable despite her misfortunes of the previous stage. Classy, aggressive sprinter – she deserved it.

I love dots (and stripes) so obviously the fashionista in me wasn’t going to let the jersey slip away. Full points on both KOMs as per previous stage.

Yellow – the all important one – was still to be played for. We weren’t too sure of the GC time gaps but were rather confident that all Grace needed to do was to finish with the same time as 2nd and 3rd, a good few seconds back, due to Grace’s superiority in sprint finishes.

Long story short, with the strength and unity of the Mavettes, yellow was never quite in doubt.

Sarah sat at the head of the peloton for a good 90km of the race – tapping out a solid tempo to deter attacks, and even more impressively, upping the pace to snuff out any dangerous moves. Singlehandedly. Superstar.

I had an armchair ride behind her, “orchestrating” her metronomic riding – I actually thought that she might start hearing my voice in her sleep for the next couple of days. Apart from my voice power, I latched onto a couple of attacks that looked dangerous but really, the Mavettes were always in control.

Veronica was the water girl of the day. You know, in that sort of weather conditions, it is akin to a lifesaver. Probably she wasn’t feeling as fresh as the day before, but she somehow kept going back and forth the bunch to ensure that our hydration needs were cared for. Top teammie.

10km to go.

Sarah had just used up her last ounce of energy to set me up for the KOM. She blew up; I blasted onwards and upwards. Managed a good gap but I knew it wasn’t enough to hold off the bunch behind me. Got caught soon after and an attack went. Grace was in tow, as were the other contenders, so the onus was on me to chase it down. I was stuffed but I still had enough in me to snuff it out.

5km to go. I was sitting 2nd wheel. 1km to go, I was still there. Shit. Not the place to be for an uphill finish. But it was alright, I had ridden the last 15km with Grace the day before and we had talked it out. Along the way during the stage, we also rehashed our plans.

500m to go, I found myself in front. I rode tempo and then opened my sprint with about 250m to go. I went as hard as I could but knew right away that the legs weren’t going to power the bike across the finish line first. The road veered right in the last 100m and that was the shortest line. I took a cursory glance to the side and as I had expected, saw Christina coming up on the right, with SJ in tow. I closed that gap “ever-so-slowly” and right on cue, Grace shot out of the dwindled bunch and blasted past me. She got a good gap right away, which SJ couldn’t close before the finish. Me? I faded but still made it across for a podium finish.

Stage one-three.

Let’s just say it was one hell of a successful weekend.

Yellow jersey.

KOM jersey.

2 stage wins.

2 seconds.

1 third.

Bearing in mind it was the first time 4 of us had ever ridden together in a race, you couldn’t have asked for better teamwork and understanding. This is what bike racing is about – the camaraderie triumphs all.