No, not my report from the 2011 Flight Centre Epic. That’s still floating around my head.

If you are desperate to find out how the Epic went (and if you regularly read this site then you are the very definition, the absolute essence, of desperate), may I suggest you read AB’s report. Anna mentions getting mistaken for other elite women racers, which is pretty funny. Also she talks about getting a marriage proposal. That wasn’t from me. Only because I didn’t think of it, every male cyclist I know would want to marry AB. Quite possibly a few females as well.

I had talked with Anna in the lead-up to the Epic (yes, yes we’re getting to a race report of a race other than the Epic, just be patient while I digress for a minute, OK?) and said “I will give you a cheer as you go past me!”

So on the one flat section of bitumen in the whole race, Anna comes past me at a speed about twice what I was doing at the time and yells out: “Androooooooo!”

So of course when I realised who it was, my response was: “Go AB!”

And then I realised that Anna was towing along a group of maybe five or six blokes, all hanging on for grim death.

So I jammed it onto the big ring, cranked up to speed behind this group of wheel-suckers, and said quite loudly: “You blokes realise you’re getting towed by a GIRL!”

So then they started working with AB, taking turns etc etc. I managed one turn on the front of that group and then got spat off the back.

So, yes, a Race Report.

The Cunningham Classic was held last weekend as well. It’s one of the great races of the Queensland road-racing scene. I would go so far as to say that it is THE race: point-to-point, with a climb worthy of a KOM.

My mate Ernie was in his second Cunningham Classic, and some friends from the South Bank bunch went along to cheer for him, and others we know who also raced.

Below are some excerpts from Ernie’s race report. I have been a bit liberal with the editing, hope Ern doesn’t mind …

“This was a race that was I was convinced would need to be two races for me.

By ‘two races in one’, I meant that the first finish line was the top of Pilton not the KOM. Happy to concede the lift in intensity and pace to win KOM I wanted to be back with the leaders at Pilton Hill. If achieved this was going to be a terrific day and assumed that this would set me up for the ‘second’ race.

I really didn’t expect what happened though.

The race start was easy and no wind effect. For some parts I was happy to be three abreast with no wheel to follow . The effort was easy despite the constant positive gradient.

I was watchful at the 20km mark where, had a break formed at the traffic signals, with a lot of luck, could have aided a getaway.

With the ‘bridge with bolts’ neutralised the race stayed together all the way to the last 3km of the climb. I was pleased I was coping well with the uphill so far. Some periods of stress  5 mins of Heart Rate zone 4 but the rest was zone 3.

10k from KOM I was in zone 4 all the way with some zone 5 at the top.

To be honest I was surprised to see the “Truckpark 250m” sign when I did. I looked a head and saw a splash of Burnt orange at the top of the hill – the SBB cheer crew were there Daz, Greg, Jan and Dr John. I tried to shout Southbank three times but I’m not sure if I did.

I had managed the hill very very well and was very pleased to be where I was , that was on Jonno’s wheel!

Jonno is the fattest rider in the race. He is a powerful climber despite carrying 31kg more than me. He is also a real champion bloke and very much a team rider. Today he would put his body under more stress and pain than he has ever done.

On our practice run four weeks ago Jonno cleared the top 100 metres ahead of me. Today I was with him.

My feelings of pleasure and joy and the sight of my SBB colleagues brought a lift and to prove this I was out of the saddle to overtake one rider in front of me and to get back onto Jonno’s wheel. I hoped that this lift in someway would help them realise I appreciated the support.

My feeling was short lived.

There were three of us going hammer and tongs for a few more riders in front of us. I was in shock at the speed and ferocity at which we had to chase.

Hang on. I conquered the hill already! Let’s ease up here and ‘live a little’. No. This was still do or die and I really had to hammer myself again, still catching my breath from the hill.

Although downhill I felt I was weaker than the climb. For the next 7 km we three averaged 49.5 kph.

At the base of Pilton Hill ( a 2k hill) a problem with my water bottle changeover (my fault) cost me about 30 metres and the strain to get back to the two riders, which had become eight riders, was almost too much.

My avg speed became 20 as I tried to get back on to the 8 who were trying to get back onto the front group.

I was now so close to the leaders with a group in between. Awesome! I’m in this!

I missed by about 30 metres at the top. I still had hopes of pulling myself onto them. The next 2km I averaged 46km/h by myself and then joined by another Bundaberg Sugar rider who was far stronger. I sat on his wheel for another 6 km where we averaged 50kmh. I pulled one turn and he knew that I couldn’t help him.

I had the wind for maybe 30 seconds and then he rolled past with me taking his wheel again.

We were now chasing down the lead group that had absolutely bolted down the long slow hill. This is excruciatingly painful.

For 8km I had pedalled 92 rpm at average 47.64 km/h.

As I turned left onto the highway, well, I saw that we had lost ground on the group we were chasing. And I had nothing left for the Bundaberg Sugar Rider who only 30 seconds before had announced that he was ‘gone’.

As I headed up the rise I kept looking back for some riders but there was nobody to see. The rise is 7km long and still no one.

I am still suffering in the legs and the soreness of my whole upper legs is more than I have ever felt when riding. I’m still managing 36kph by myself. Tailwind.

Another 3 km after this a lone rider came past. So quick did he come up behind me that I hadn’t seen him when last I looked (which was regularly).

This confused me. His shirt number was higher than rider 60. This meant that he was actually a C Grade second group rider. Poor bugger I chuckled to myself – He started with the wrong group.

Brian Bagster actually won the C2 race by breaking away 30k from the start and doing a solo – all the way! An amazing feat of courage to attempt it.

He was past me before I even thought of grabbing a wheel for a while.

Several other groups passed me. Mostly C2 riders (including my mate Peter Williams, good to see him) leading their race (behind Bagster of course) and one I latched onto I held for 6-7km and I’m busted up again.

With 3km to go I come passed a rider who is being attended to by the first aid. He has crashed and a collarbone is broken. I’m tempted to stop and lay down beside him. He looks at peace.

My finish is uneventful and as I cross the finish line I feel the need to just ride my bike casually up to the next round about. I’m not sure if I’m ready for the “how did you go?” question.

At this stage I have not ‘enjoyed’ this race. And not far away are my mates who will be disappointed for me and also excited about their finishes.

Eventually I do stop and climb off. Trying to figure out where I come is impossible for now.

I catch up with Mick and Sally and Stephen and hear that Deano abandoned at the top of the climb. I feel bad for him. I hear Mick was in the mix at the end finishing in top ten I think.

And I heard JB caught the lead group. As if he wouldn’t! He had cramped most of the way since the turnoff and cramps with 3k to go prevented a sprint finish he surely would have been on the podium.

I hear that Peter Williams has done some amazing brave riding to bridge across two groups after the KOM and after Pilton to get in with the leaders and not knowing the finish probably prevented him from going earlier than he did.

A fourth for Peter is an unbelievable result. The best he ridden he reckons.

It is probably the best race I’ve ridden too.”

Great stuff Ernie. Well done mate!

From a Roadgrime TdF thread:

Laurens Ten Dam, hard man.

Alberto Contador, doing some PR work with the fans.

I’ve got a couple of posts to make in the wrap-up of the Tour (and I know the whole interweb is holding its breath waiting for my analysis so I better crack on with it), but I want to make this first one as a tribute to Cadel, not just because he’s an Aussie, but also because this has been the most courageous Tour win I’ve seen since Lance Armstrong’s first win.

(From Chiara’s twitpic feed)

So Cadel is in line to win his first Tour. How did he do that, when every other time he has fallen short? What changed this year to finally make him the Tour champion his talent has always ear-marked him as?

Cadel won the Tour because of all the riders in the race, he …

• was the most consistent across all terrains and all disciplines of the race
• had the best plan
• had the best attention to detail
• was the calmest and most patient

… and because he was at least as brave as all the other contenders.

This was the best, most exciting but also most dangerousTour de France I can recall, and there were a stack of outstanding performers. Courage, bravery and panache were the hallmarks of all the people who made the race. So I can’t say Cadel was braver than Thomas Voeckler or Alberto Contador or Andy Schleck, because all three of those rode out of their skins and seized every chance they could to make a difference in their favour.

After Stage 18 up the “wrong” side of the Galibier Andy Schleck said he had attacked because he didn’t want to just sit back and finish 4th in the Tour. Well, the only rider he critiqued with that statement was his own big brother, who did indeed finish on the podium, but failed to make the impact he should have on the race.

So let’s go back to those factors.

Most consistent.  Cadel isn’t the best climber in the peloton, he isn’t the best time-triallist, but he is the best all-rounder. One of the types of races that Cadel has improved in over the last few years is the hilly classics, especially in adverse weather conditions. Races such as Fleche Wallonne and Amstel Gold. And the first week of the Tour this year was almost like a series of mini Ardennes classics, and Cadel’s skills in those events and the work of his team in positioning and supporting him, was just superb.

Most obvious of course is that to be the best all-rounder you have to be able to time-trial at very nearly the top level, as well as being a kick-arse climber. Contador has shown that climbers can improve their time-trialling abilities, and Cadel’s performance in the TT last night was the way he showed that his plan for winning the Tour was right.

Best plan. This has been one of the most interesting Tours ever, and one factor in that has been the tactical battle. During the Armstrong era, the importance of a Tour-long plan was diminished by the over-whelming force of Lance’s team approach. And US Postal/Team Disco’s pattern in the mountains of steady hard tempo by your super-domestique to the bottom of the last mountain and then set the team leader free, really suited Lance down to the ground.

It also suited Alberto Contador, although as the most successful Grand Tour rider going around, he can win with several different plans. But the Armstrong approach  doesn’t suit Andy Schleck, because he needs to gain more time  in the mountains than can be gained on a final climb. It doesn’t suit Cadel, because it simply isn’t possible to put together more than one team in the pro peloton at any one time which has the capability of doing this, and also because Cadel isn’t explosive in the hills, and the team leader needs to be able to attack hard on that last climb.

So what were the characteristics of this “best plan”? It was to be patient, and prominent, and to use energy where it was necessary (i.e. to stay prominent) but save energy where it could be saved (i.e. in not following every Schleck/Contador surge). And at the end, trusting in Cadel’s ability against the clock. It was a plan that took into account how difficult the first week was, which left the plans of many other teams (Radioshack and Sky most notably) in tatters. It was a plan that played to Cadel’s strengths.

Best attention to detail. This was on display so many times, especially in comparison with his rivals. Contador’s team, Saxo Bank, raced the worst team time trial, perhaps because the team didn’t have the right balance of rouleurs and grimpeurs. And that poor TTT was the start of Contador losing the Tour. Andy Schleck spent the Tour’s week in the Pyrenees, where the roads are steep and narrow, complaining that the roads on the descents were steep and narrow. This lead to lost time for Andy, when he needed to be gaining time on Cadel and putting himself out of reach before the individual time trial.

Cadel’s time trial bike, the perfect balance of BMC’s team selection, pre-riding the final TT in the Criterium du Dauphine, so many times in preparation that John Lelangue and Cadel got it right. Cadel hasn’t been lucky, he has made his own luck.

Calmest and most patient. This was just about the most impressive part, because sometimes in the past, we observers of these races have though that Cadel can panic or lose focus when things go wrong, when “bad luck” does indeed come along. And there were a couple of situations in the two massive Alpine stages when things were going against Cadel and he had the patience to trust his preparation and respond calmly.

Looking back on the Tour, for me the key moment in the whole event was Cadel’s long response to Andy Schleck’s attack on the Col d’Izoard.

First, he said it was OK to let that attack go, because it at least meant he knew where Andy was, and he wasn’t having to deal with the one-two surges from both Schlecks. So Cadel and BMC did their best to limit the time gains of the Schleck-Monfort breakaway before the bottom of the Galibier. This obviously did not go according to plan, and Andy was further up the road than Cadel would have been comfortable with at the base of the last climb. But, calmly and patiently and with maximum bravery, Cadel realised that his measured effort up the Galibier would put him in a position to win the Tour.

And we all saw him lay everything on the line on that very testing climb. I was exchanging messages and tweets with quite a few friends that night, and we all marvelled at the efforts of both riders. Finally though, it was Cadel who measured his effort slightly better, and closed the gap just enough.

Andy was magnificent, but Cadel was superb.

Vive le Tour!

I’m going to enjoy Cadel and BMC’s parade laps of the Champs Elysees tonight. Soon enough I’ll post my take on the other stars of the Tour, because they were many and marvellous.