First race, Geluveld

Alex, Addison and John rode their first race in Belgium today. 79 juniors, 93 miles, 15 laps of 6.2 miles in Geluveld, a community that is part of Zonnebeke, in West Flanders. I think it was an eye-opening experience for all of them. Both John and Alex finished in the pack, but Addison unfortunately found out how rough racing can be. He was pushed into a ditch and had to chase to get back on. Solo chases like that are almost always a losing proposition and his was no different. He was pulled early.

Getting ready

The race course was triangular and it had a 1km climb that I judged at 3-4% max. It did not seem to slow people down very much and the average speed was high at 25+ mph.

Alex is ready to go

The US National Team was there too and all but one raced (one guy from Colorado was ill and did not start). Matt Lipscomb had the best result as he was in the winning break and able to catch several primes and a second place finish to boot.

US juniors before the start

Attention: bike race

Results

After the race