On Sunday May 4, we raced the Tour de Bern World Cup.  Mirjam and I went to Bern directly after our time trial, while the rest of the team arrived late Saturday afternoon.  I used the day between the TT and the WC, to ride a lap of the new course and to relax.

The race consisted of 4 laps of a 33.5km circuit.  The lap was heavy.  It started with a very gradual climb out of the town of Lyss.  Eventually, this turned into a steep few minutes up to a QOM.  Over the top, the course rolled a little on small roads before a non technical, roughly 10km’s, back down to our start/finish. 

The race went hard from the gun.  The Cervelo and Bigla teams were ready to make the race difficult immediately.  By the time we had gone over the first QOM, there was a small break of 4 off.  I was content to be in the group just behind this.  There were many teams missing, and with 120km to go, I did not think this would stay.  Sure enough, High Road put their team on the front and chased for the rest of the lap.  They brought the break back by the time we reached the climb for the second time. 

Basically, the same thing happened every lap thereafter.  The pace on the climb would be solid.  There would be attempts to break away or sprint for the QOM, but over the top, there was always a small group.  On the downhills, more people would chase back on.  There would be attempts to attack and get away, but nothing succeeded for any sustained amount of time.  Obviously, with each succeeding lap, there were fewer people chasing back on, but the pattern stayed the same.

On the last lap, there was a small group of 17 after the climb.  I was there with my teammate, Mirjam.  I went with Brandli for a momentary escape, but this came back along with any and all other attempts.  About 8 more riders came back, but our group moved fast down to the finish.  The one and only time when there was a bit of hesitation in the group following an attack was when Susanne Ljungskog went about 7-8km out. It was perfect timing on Susanne’s part, and the hesitation allowed her to establish the gap she needed to solo to victory.  Behind, despite numerous attempts to get away, the bunch came to the finish together.  My teammate Mirjam finished second in the bunch sprint and 3rd overall for the race.  What a great result for her and a podium for the team!

The next race on the international calendar is the Tour de l’Aude, thee hardest race for women.  I will be racing with my USA National team, since my Flexpoint team (the winner of the race the last 3 years, 2 for me and 1 for Susanne,) was not invited!  Although this threw a small, temporary wrench into my plans, I was able to find an opening with the USA team.  Thankfully.  It will be different for me, but I am excited to race with Alison, Amber R, Katheryn, Chrissy, and Brooke.  We will do our best to do some damage next week!