However, before I could actually race, I had to get there.  I departed the states on Friday evening (9/5) and arrived into northern Italy on Saturday (9/6) night.  The next day (9/7) I raced a time trial as an opener (ouch,) then drove 8 hours that same day(seriously) to the Ardeche region.  Monday, the day before Ardeche started, I completed the journey on my bike. (aaahhhh.)  I rode with my teammates Susanne and Trine from our hotel to the camping site that would be our base for the race.  This turned out to be an incredible ride along the Ardeche river gorge which included views of the Pont du Arc.  My whirlwind of travel was finally complete, and I could settle in and breathe… at least for the afternoon.

Ardeche started the next day, Tuesday.  The first day included a Cat 3 climb that we all agreed was far from a typical 3.  I raced it hard after the Brits got the action going.  Over the top, we had a small group of 11, but we still had a long, mostly downhill 40km run back to the finish.  There were attacks and counters out of our group, and eventually, a small group of 4 escaped on the twisty downhill.  It was just too far, though, and by the finish just about everything was back together.   

The second day opened with a short 10km time trial.  It was a very gradual uphill run from one town to another.  My team and I took 3 of the top 5 spots.  Soeder won it with a great ride.  I was second, Susanne third, Nicole Cooke fourth, and Mirjam fifth.  This also became the GC.  My team was now in a great position to race for the win. 

The afternoon stage was quite heavy considering the morning TT.  It was just under 100km, but it included two cat 2 climbs and a cat 1.  The racing was hard on the climbs again. Of course, I was happy to instigate this, since we wanted to get ride of the yellow jersey.  It was the same scenario, though.  We had a small group of 10 with 60km to go to the finish.  Just like yesterday, things eventually regrouped, and there weren’t any changes.  However, Susanne did make it interesting.  She was able to get away solo in the final 15km’s and cause the yellow jersey to react and chase a little.  However, at the finish line the bunch was together, and the GC remained the same.

The third day of racing brought the fourth stage.  It included a cat 2 and two cat 1 climbs that were followed by 55km mostly downhill back to the finish.  Team Flexpoint still had 3 riders in the top 5 of the GC, so we had cards to play.  However, the first order of business involved trying to get rid of the yellow jersey.  On the second climb of the day, which was the first cat 1 climb, my teammate Saskia started to ride tempo at the bottom.  After a few minutes, I took over.  I was hearing on the radio that the yellow jersey was dangling on the back, so I kept the gas on.  About 1km from the top, Emma Pooley jumped for the QOM sprint.  I looked over my shoulder and saw that no one was responding, so I went with her.  She sat up after the sprint, but I kept riding.  I knew we still had 85km, but I was confident that if we could make it to the next Cat 1 climb without getting caught, then we would have a chance to stick the break.
Sure enough, the two of us managed to not only get to the next climb, but to eventually put more than 5 minutes on the closest chase group.  My teammates Susanne and Mirjam were in that group and did a great job of controlling things behind me.  The gap was large enough to move me into the GC lead!

I was excited to have the yellow jersey, but I knew there were still two more tough days to go.  My team, however, continued to ride brilliantly.  They helped me keep anything dangerous under control.  The 5th stage involved a Cat 1 and a Cat 3, but it wasn’t as tough as the previous day.  There was another bunch sprint for the stage.  Team Flexpoint still had the team GC, and I was still in the leader’s jersey.

The final day brought some fun, hard, tactical bike racing.  We did 6 laps of a 14km circuit.  Each lap had a fairly steep 1.5km climb that came only 4km’s after the start.  The British team blew things apart on the first lap.  I think they were anxious to get out of the peloton.  I was with a group of 5 or 6 after we made the first climb, only a few km’s into the race.  I was happy to just sit, since I was sufficiently outnumbered.  Eventually, everything regrouped, and before the climb on the second lap, a big group that had Susanne in it went up the road.  That was good.  She was highest in GC, so she would take over the lead if none of the other GC contenders would react.  Susanne then attacked with Laws off the front of this group, while I was now in the third group with all the other GC trheats.  On the third climb, Emma, Cooke, and I left this group and bridged up to the second group.  Susanne was still off the front gunning for a stage win.  I was safely in the leader’s jersey, but Emma was still in danger of losing her position.  That meant that on our final time up the climb, she drilled it again.  I followed her.  Cooke eventually came back to us, and the two Brits rode hard to the line to secure their own GC spots. 

It was a great day for Team Flexpoint!!  Susanne won the stage, the team won the team GC, and I won the overall!  Yippee…  But wait… Mirjam and I had to race the Chrono at the other end of France the next day, while Susanne, Trine and Saskia had to drive all the way to Nurnberg for the World Cup, also the next day.

We did our podium thing, and then we were off in the car again.  Thankfully, our time trials didn’t start until 3pm the next day so we could split the 7 hour drive in half.  I don’t know what the world cup crew ended up doing.  I do know everybody made it.

My time trial (The Chrono Champenois) was ok considering it was actually stage 8 for me!  I ended up 3rd.  I was on the podium… even with sufficiently worked legs;)

The World Championships are next… the TT on Wed, Sep 24 and the RR on Saturday, Sep 27.  Giddyup.

Sign in before the Ardeche TT.

And on the start line...

Through town. And yes...there were lots of cars on the road in every stage!

In the middle of an 85km breakaway with Emma Pooley.

Team Champs and GC Champ and where is Trine?

The Chrono Champenois Podium. Loes G. Thurig. Me.