The 55th running of FCC’s Annual 3 Day Tour took on a different format this year – 3 road stages of moderate duration with a mix of rolling hills and flat land – no Time Trial. The revised format ensured close racing and it was decided early that time gaps would be tight and any bonus time were very important. James Love and I lined up for this one and we were both in reasonable form with a solid lead up of intense training and quality racing.
Stage 1
We were met with chilly, yet sunny and calm conditions for stage 1. The Balliang course consisted of 3 flat 10km laps, with intermediate sprints on the first two, followed by an out-and-back section over the short sharp climbs over Granite Rd. Almost from the start line, James launched an attack, everyone looked at each with shrugged shoulders, However, the sprint was less than 7km up the road. By the time the others considered organising a chase, James’ lead was easily enough to reach the line first. The second intermediate sprint wasn’t quite so successful, this time gun sprinter Dom Dudkiewicz was alert to my attack and even with James following his wheel, we weren’t able to out-sprint him to the line. As we turned off the third lap, we noticed some light crosswind pick up, and tried some gutter action, but the conditions simply weren’t hard enough to split the field. The first KOM therefore saw everyone looking at each other before James kicked first with 150m to go, Dom was boxed in on the left and took to the gravel while I got around on the right for 2nd. A teammate of Dom’s rolled off the front after this and rode well to stay away to collect the next KOM, while Dom got past James halfway up for 2nd and took off after his teammate. James and I didn’t panic, instead we rolled some consistent turns and with some help from others in the group, we had caught Dom and Steve by the turnaround. I was feeling good for the final KOM, but again Dom’s explosive acceleration had the better of me, and I managed 2nd. From here, the race was mostly a downhill run to the finish line. A couple of short-lived moves went, but nothing looked dangerous until James launched a massive attack with around 3km to go (video of the final 5km). He was looking very good and forcing Dom to chase. With the slight tailwind we were stomping along at 50+ kph. With around 800m to go James was finally caught, and Dom remained on the front looking over his shoulder constantly like a track sprinter. He opened the sprint early, and I was unable to stay on his wheel. I nearly held on for 2nd, but was rolled just before the line by Chris Munro with James not far behind. Immediately afterwards we were satisfied with the race, with a reasonable amount of bonus time putting which we thought would put us into equal 1st and 3rd overall. However when we saw the official results later in the day we noticed that the larger finish time bonuses had been awarded and had moved Chris Munro into 2nd! We questioned the race officials, however the program apparently contained a ‘typo’. We were rather frustrated as our race plan was to target the sprints and KOM’s and not be too worried about the finish. In the end, the results stood, which meant we had some work to do in stage 2.
For the final KOM, it was like an uphill cat-and-mouse track sprint. I laid off the wheel and launched, but Dom reacted quickly and held on by half a bike length. This acceleration had pushed Miles beyond his limit on the climb, and was off the back. Dom and I agreed to push on. From here we rolled consistent turns. While I felt really good, I kept thinking, ‘how can I beat this guy?’ My minds’ eye was flashing with imagery of tactics, but the one that remained was from what James and I had discussed earlier: there was a short descent followed by a sharp rise about 1.5km to the finish. My plan was to let Dom be on the front on the descent then use the momentum and the slipstream to slingshot off his wheel and blast past him to try and create a gap. I did exactly this, but he is so powerful that he was almost immediately on my wheel and the plan of a solo attack to the line was foiled. My last resort was to now sit on his wheel and try to outmanoeuvre him near the line. I could see him watching my shadow so I tried a few sneaky fake out-of saddle jumps and weaving around to try to make him react early. His sprint experience was too great to be tricked by that however, and as we got nearer the line I knew I had to jump first to have any chance. Unfortunately at the split second I decided to go, so did he and he surged away to the line a few lengths ahead of me. I’d moved up to a comfortable 2nd overall, and Miles rolled in 1.5min later, but with James unable to make the gap to us. He only managed fourth on the stage comfortably winning the bunch sprint but had lost almost 4 minutes to Miles in 3rd Position. This was certainly a disappointing result as having James with us at the end could of provided the extra help needed to get me across the line first. This scenario reinforces the fact, one error in judgement can change the whole concept of the bike race – Needless to say, that’s racing.
Stage 2
The She Oakes – Maude circuit is feared by many for its’ tough undulating profile. Our plan was to launch an attack on lap 2 with both of us in it to force Dom to follow, which would allow one of us to sit on and save energy. Plans changed however, when Dom went on the offensive on the main climb of lap 1. I saw his acceleration, unsure if it was a soft-attack to draw us into tactics of his own but followed just in case. James thought the same and didn’t react, putting the onus on others in the bunch to chase. Miles da Costa had also come across on my wheel and almost immediately the 3 of us had a gap. I tried to sit on and delay our progress so that James could bridge across, but as we turned off to the left at the top, I looked back and couldn’t see anyone. I was unsure what to do, as this wasn’t part of our race plan, so I started rolling some soft turns while thinking about what to do. I looked around again and still couldn’t see any chasing riders. James later told me he had waited until later on the climb to attack the bunch and tried to bridge across, but by this time it was him v.s a group of 3, and those maths rarely work in the favour of the lone chaser on flat roads. After a little while I was certain James couldn’t get to us, so I began striking a deal with Dom and Miles. It was agreed that Dom would win the intermediate sprints regardless, and that I would let Miles take 2nd if he let me go for the KOM. Dom was again able to roll me on the first KOM, then I took the second.
Stage 3
After a frustrating day, James had some anger to vent on stage 3. To get back into 3rd overall, he needed about 4 minutes on Miles today. It was a big ask, but we were both keen to see what damage we could do. The Flinders course is an elongated rectangle about 12km around, finishing with a 2km climb up to the You Yangs national park KOM finish. We noticed some wind beginning to pick up, and although it wasn’t the typical westerly, which can decimate the field on the long exposed, stretched of the course, today’s northerly could still be used effectively on the shorter straights. From the gun James was like a greyhound in the start box, impatiently waiting for the lead car to drop the flag. When it did, we had turned into the crosswind and we immediately dropped the hammer. James jammed it while I had just enough room to get a sit, while I rode as close to the edge as possible to minimise the amount of draft possible to those behind. By the time we turned into the tailwind section a few km later, we had shelled 5 or 6 riders, but Miles and Dom were still there. The next couple of laps, a few more short lived attacks went and came back, but on the last lap after a lot of legs had been softened up, we tried our initial tactic again. After a tough little uphill section into the headwind, we turned into the crosswind and again dropped it in the gutter, this time with even more vengeance. This sustained effort late in the race created headaches for everyone behind and I looked back to see Miles did not have the legs, with only Dom and Chris Munro able to stay with us. After seeing the gap I yelled to James that we need to keep driving it. As we did, the gap continued to grow and James’ 3rd overall was on the horizon. This situation was ideal, Chris was just behind James on GC but close enough that if he contributed he could also jump Miles. Surprisingly, Chris would not roll through. With Dom not willing to contribute I had to be careful not to expend too much energy so as to be able to challenge the stage win. With that in mind James pulled some of the longest and strongest turns of the entire weekend while I did what I could to help out while still saving enough energy for the battle with Dom to the finish. James led us into the national park for the start of the climb. It’s not a particularly steep or long climb, but it was certainly my best chance of putting a sprinter of Dom’s calibre into any sort of trouble. At the start of the day I was just over 30s behind, and if I got the 15s time bonus for the win, plus a gap to him on the road, I could have been in with a shot to take the overall. I attacked on the first ramp and although I sustained the effort, Dom was onto it straight away. I tried to keep the pace high, knowing that I had probably 10 or 12 kg less to carry uphill than Dom, and that maybe I could soften him up before the kick to the line. With 150m to go, he rode up beside me, and although I could see him really working hard, we opened up the uphill sprint with 100m to go and we remained side-by-side until 20m to go where I faded and his impressive kick got him to the line a few meters ahead of me. James came through in 3rd and had managed to claw back just shy of 2 minutes on Miles – While not quite enough, the signs of form are there.
In conclusion, Bikebug.com / Aussie Pallets contested everything, won some, lost others. We are very pleased to be represented on every podium KOM / Sprint King / Stage Result / GC Result. While Dom undoubtedly performed flawlessly all weekend, we are excited about the form shown for some of the larger open events in the next few months.
