Off to Italy! The first of two times I get to go out of the country this season.
It's going to be a tough test because it's a HC rated race but
I'm coming into good form. So let's see what happens!

April 15-19, 2017 : Giro del Trentino



Yeah, we got our work cut out for us. A top 10 would be cool.



The GC favourites are Kangert, Van den Broeck, Polanc.
The trio is by far the best climbers in the peloton.



The team brings Craddock back from Sea Otter Classic win and
Warbasse in his 1st race of the season. And me of course.
We have our own trio attack.

--- *** --- *** --- *** ---



An interesting downhill finish to start this 5 stage tour.



Let the record show that Paul Evans protected me, Travis Newton,
in his first professional stage as a pro. This kid is going to do great things.
He is oozing with potential, I wish I could capture some of it.



Not many tactics come into play today with it being the 1st stage and all.
A few attacks on the final climb create a lead group of 5.



Craddock uses all his energy on the downhill to try and drag them back.
I just sit in the peloton all day saving energy for the TTT tomorrow.



One guy slips through Craddock's chase and gets a solo win.
It's the Italian British Airways rider Salvatore Puccio.



Everybody else comes in 54 seconds later, including me.

(For some weird reason the export didn't work on all three stages. )

(Simulated because TTT are still unplayable on PCM )

4 teams have a chance at winning this thing: Sporza, Target, Astana, and Fox.



Astana is the weakest link of the 4 teams. 28 seconds lost to the winners.



Sporza is way better, but takes 2nd. They finish only 4 seconds off the winners.

Those winners are...



Not us. We take 3rd. But, we also only loses 4 seconds to the winners: Target.
Craddock and Brown really carried the team today. I also did my fair share.

The first of two key mountain stages. I'm excited but also really nervous.



I get the green light to join the breakaway! I'm joined by Cristiano Monguzzi.
We are working well together and have a 10 minute gap by the sprint point.



At the top of the cat.1 climb we are dominating the race, 16 minute gap!



50kms to go, 19 minute gap! That's not a typo. This is amazing!



30kms to go and Monguzzi ditches me. I'm fairly exhausted
and the final climb is still to come. Luckily, I still got a 17 minute gap.



I hit the climb, 10,000 meters with a 10 minute advantage over the peloton.



Behind a group of 4 has formed, they are severely cutting into my gap.
Diego Rosa, Alessandro De Marchi, Tanel Kangert, and Jurgen Van den Broeck.



Craddock is leading the chase group behind them.



5kms to go, 5 minute lead over the group of 4. Monguzzi is long gone up ahead,
so I have to try and keep 2nd place. A minute per Km sounds easy enough.



Not quite. They catch me with 1.2kms to go. Agh, but I did give it my all.



Monguzzi holds out and gets a fantastic solo victory, and the yellow jersey!



I drag my body over the line for 6th. Sooooooooo tireeeeeed.



Craddock, in the youth jersey, comes in about 2'30 after me.

+2 EXP for the efforts on stage 3 as they deserve to be rewarded.
The stage jumped me up the leader board into 6th overall after all.

The next race update will include the last 2 stages of the Giro del Trentino:

EXP - Hill, Cobbles / Form - Mountain (x2), Downhill

Here are the last two stage of the Giro del Trentino.
I'm looking to hold onto a rare Top 10 in a prestigious HC race.

--- *** --- *** --- *** ---



Very similar downhill finish as the first stage except
more climbing before we get to that point.



After protecting me on Stage 1 and 3, Paul Evans gets in his first pro breakaway.



Not much happening during the course of the day so...
Let's jump right to the final climb. Evans has been dropped from the break,
who are looking like they could steal a win with a 2 minute gap on the peloton.



Behind it's Craddock leading the charge as all the favourites are in this group,
well all except for one. Polanc attacked and joined the break on the final climb.



The break uses the downhill finish to perfection as Roman Klimov takes the win.



57 seconds later the chase group comes in.
Polanc is the only GC contender to gain time.
So, I will gladly keep my 6th overall for another day!

(The export function just doesn't work for this race it seems.
I keep getting this "Worksheet Setting" error. )

I barely have anything left in the tank and this is the final stage.
I'm going to die. Not literally, well... maybe considering my luck in the past.
But, then again I'm writing this blog post so I didn't die.





The team tries something different today by setting a false tempo on the front.
That way I can stay fresh for as long as possible.



It works wonders. We lead the peloton all the way to the cat. 2 climb.
Then we send Craddock off on the attack to try and make something happen.



But that doesn't work. The original breakaway and Craddock are picked up
by the remaining 30 man peloton as we make our way to the final climb.



Adios, there goes Tanel Kangert! I'll just tell you now.
I won't see him again until after the race.



Kangert's attack rips the lead group apart. We are all separated by
how well we can climb. Which drops me in one of the last groups to form
out of the 30 riders that were left when we started the climb.

I do however have Craddock protecting me and
the pink leader's jersey of Monguzzi by my side.



Kangert went "Beast Mode" and never looked back.
He takes the stage and overall victory for Target - AT&T here in Italy.



Almost 2 minutes later come Van den Broeck and Polanc to claim podium spots.



With 3kms to go I tell Craddock to race for himself.
Monguzzi and I crawl up the climb together.

We both losing a remarkable 10 minutes to Tanel Kangert
even though we were fighting for 20th place on the stage.

The end result: I lose my top 10 overall by two places, but I still beat Craddock.

Disappointing to lose my top 10 overall but 12th isn't bad at all. +1 EXP.

The next race update will include the Joe Martin Stage Race: