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Tracey Gaudry
The Tracey Gaudry Diary 2000
The Local East Coast Australian Time is
GP Féminine International
du Québec
Canada, August 23-27,
2000
Grand Prix Feminin du Quebec, August 23-27, 2000 This tour marks the
final international event I will compete in before the Olympics, thus
I am using it to gain a solid racing/training week on challenging, varied
circuits and to race against some of the competition that will be also
in Sydney. I had also been looking forward to this event, having received
rave reviews about the terrain, event organisation and hospitality of
the region. Timex decided not to send a team to this race, with riders
having varied programs for their respective Olympic preparations and
other riders gaining opportunities to race in Europe with the US National
Team. Giana worked very hard to organise a composite team consisting
of Pam Schuster, Julie Young (both from Autotrader.com), Roz Reekie-May,
Melissa Holt (both from New Zealand) and myself. We all truly appreciate
the efforts she put in to create this opportunity for us.
Stage
1 - August 23: Farnham, 97 km
OK, maybe my expectations of this race were too high - the weather
this morning was absymal and getting worse. By the time we signed on
and prepared for the start, it was raining steadily and so I donned
full wetweather gear for the 97km journey. Things were pretty sedate
for the first 20km or so and then the race completely transformed into
a truly aggressive state. Elita went on the attack and continually sent
riders down the road, countering as each move was brought back. All
of our riders felt pretty average for the first half and we were happy
just to be in all the moves, to minimise the 'chase' factor.
None of us were ready for the KOM and so we went over the top in a
small group, not contesting the sprint. The British team were looking
strong, along with the Canadians and Charles Schwab, and it was great
to see such an active race. Lyne was on every move I made and so it
seemed was Elita. They certainly had the numbers, and the motivation,
being defending champions. As the race progressed several breaks formed,
and each time we had someone in it. A very decisive move, containing
Sarah, Lyne, Pam and another rider looked like it was going to stick,
and then Jeannie Longo got on the front and drove like a steam train
to bring the move back!
With about 15km to go, Sarah went again with a Canadian rider and
they hovered at around 30 seconds. No team was willing to commit to
a chase, nor were they willing to allow anybody to jump across. Our
efforts were not going to get another rider up there. We thought Great
Britain and Schwab would do the job but it wasn't a committed effort,
so with 5km to go and the gap at around 20 seconds we tried to bridge
across one by one. This wasn't working but the gap was coming down.
I launched hard at 2km to go and this narrowed the gap even further
to ensure that the run-in to the sprint would completely nullify the
break. The pair were caught on the last turn, with Sarah still holding
on to win the stage, followed by a fast-finishing Lyne who had the luxury
of sitting in, with a rider in the break.
I rolled across the line with the field, pretty tired from the late
effort I had made. After a very solid training week last week, I fully
expected that it would take a day or two to 'ride' into the race, and
we were all happy to finish in one piece in this disgusting weather.
Results
Stage
2 - August 24: Frelighsburg, 123 km
Yes! The fresh easterly winds blew and the misty, drizzly morning
became breezy and sunny on cue, about 10 minutes before our 11am start
- just enough time to shed the multiple layers of wet weather gear.
Today is the longest stage, and although the 'real' mountains will be
tomorrow's obstacles, we would still overcome three climbs, two of them
classified as KOM primes. We wanted to initiate a break and try to put
our team in a good position going into tomorrow's stage. We were pretty
much in everything from the start, though nothing was able to stick
before the first KOM. Lyne led it out, and boy is she riding strongly!
She won the sprint easily from me, followed by Sarah Ulmer. There was
a small bunch of us with a gap over the top, but too many 'hitters'
were here watching each other. It came back together, and then Roz Reekie-May
attacked.
One by one, riders went across to here, including Sarah Ulmer. It
was a good break and it was going away. Then Lyne attacked us and I
tried to jump on her wheel, missing it. She had a gap and I was chasing
like mad until the bunch got to me. There was no use dragging the whole
bunch up to where Roz was. Then we hit a hard short climb, ouch! Jeannie
attacked going after Lyne. She got to her, and Lyne went again, getting
to the small break over the top of the hill. Then Longo got to them
and started to work. We saw Roz drop off and get back on. Phew! As expected,
the break didn't work smoothly and other teams started to chase so soon
enough the break came back.
It was only together for a short while, when another attack was launched
and a small breakaway group formed very quickly. It was eight riders
strong, and so most contending teams were represented. This was great
for us, as Pam was clearly one of the strongest riders in the group.
We rode tempo while the break moved away and after 15km, it had gained
over three minutes on the field. We thought that Jeannie would send
her Bermuda girls to the front pretty soon, and were surprised when
the whole Canadian team was summoned to the front to reel the break
back in. They had a rider up the road, but it was apparent that they
were worried about the strength up there. Jeannie rolled through with
them, but I could see she was conserving energy wisely.
Within 15km they had brought back over half of the deficit and we
could see the convoy up the road. Then we received word that the break
had split, with two riders riding off the front. They were Pam and Sarah
Symington. Super!!! Within 5km, the rest of the break was swallowed
up by the field, and with 15km to go Elita came to the front and swapped
off with Canada to try to minimise the damage. This was a great scenario
for us, and Pam and Sarah went on to finish ahead of a fast-finishing
field by more than a minute.
Results
Stage
3 - August 25: Jay Peak circuit to Knowlton, 100 km
The toughest stage of the tour was ahead of us. I very nearly didn't
make it, having warmed up and accidently ridden past border control
as the booth was closed (we started the stage in the US, and finished
in Canada), and turned around to find an angry 'law enforcer' chasing
me in his hefty four-wheel drive, siren blaring. He escorted me back
to the office, and was going to arrest me when another official kindly
explained our purpose for crossing the border. He was pretty bummed
that he couldn't create a 'drama', and so I bolted back to safety at
the marshalling area.
It was a rude start to the stage, only one kilometre into it and we
faced a steep climb, uggh! I half expected Jeannie or Lyne to put down
the hammer, so I set a fast tempo on the front resulting in the three
of us leading the already fragmented bunch over the top. Oh dear, the
'real' climbs hadn't even started but they weren't far away, with the
first KOM, a 10km stair-stepper, starting at only 15km into the race.
Jeannie rode easily at the front until the base of the climb. With Pam
to protect, we felt it wise if I ride tempo at the front, anticipating
moves by Lyne and Jeannie. It was easier if I set a good pace and covered
movest from the front, so the first 7km went by pretty quickly, with
Longo and Lyne making frequent surges.
The rest of our team were safely tucked in the already small climbing
group and I was pleased to see Pam looking comfortable. I suffered in
the middle sections and recovered, but then the hammer went down. That
was the job done for me and I blew up completely. Longo was riding away
from everyone, and the group was in pieces. Roz and Melissa came off
the back near the top and I caught up to them, so we could work together
down the other side. There was a group ahead of us, another ahead of
them and Longo out in front somewhere. We caught the next group at the
base of the next climb, a steep 7km, with a block headwind! This group
was already wasted and had lost motivation, but the small front group
was just up the road. Come on, girls! I tried to coax them all to work,
but it was no use, so Roz, Melissa and I rotated through, with the others
coming through when they could.
We were losing time and I thought to go away by myself to try to get
across, but a solo ride in the headwind would not catch a group of 10
who were still frantically chasing Jeannie. Then we received word that
Longo had been caught and so our group was motivated to work, but it
was spasmodic. The gap was steady at 3 minutes, then it went down and
back up again. I was using up everything I had. Then we got word that
we were at four minutes! No, it couldn't be. That was it for the group,
and with 25km to go the wind was let out of the sails.
At least I knew that Julie and Pam were safely up there, and no other
team had more than two riders in the front group, so we were ok with
numbers. By now I was totally spent and starting lagging on even the
smallest drags. After Roz and Melissa came back for me a couple of times,
I settled back in but then we hit a nasty section of unforgiving hills
on the roughest road you could find in the region. That was it for me.
I trailed off the back and rode in solo for the final 15km, finishing
shortly behind the group.
Meanwhile, Longo had attacked again, with Lyne, Ceris (GBR) and Nicole
Cooke (Wales) going with her. Lyne won the stage. Julie was not far
behind, and Pam in the remains of the front bunch shorty behind that.
So, despite losing any GC possibilities, we still have two of our riders
in good contention, which will make for an interesting next few days.
Results
Stage
4 - August 26: Bedford Individual Time Trial, 19.3 km
Here was a stage where I wanted to have a solid go, not that I didn't
try yesterday! I had nearly dropped off my bike with exhaustion. The
course was triangular with a long drag on the way out, mildly undulating
across the hypotenuse, and pretty flat on the way back. It was right
out in the open countryside, and breezy, so it seemed like we faced
crosswinds all the way around - I couldn't figure that one out.
I had a really good warmup, and was preparing to get ready, when the
officials must have thought I looked too relaxed and wanted to cause
me a bit of angst. After our mechanic had brought the bike and helmet
up for verification, they decided they wanted to check my position on
the bike. The commissaire was on the other side of the marshalling area!
We found him, and he ok'd the bike with two minutes to go. The rider
in front of me was already on the start ramp. Where was the helmet guy?
Back on the other side of the fence. He disallowed my brand new Giro
TT helmet, though it is UCI approved, and the same as the one which
Lance rode in the Tour this year! With less than a minute to go I changed
helmets, found a pair of Rudy Projects and bolted up the start ramp.
I clicked both feet in and with five seconds to go, I just had time
for one deep breath! Boy, was the adrenalin flowing!
After being careful to calm my nerves and settle into a steady rhythm,
I realised that I felt pretty good, darn good in fact. I was doing 40km/hr
into a cross-head wind up the drag and knew that if I kept things under
control until the undulations and the long back stretch that it would
be a very respectable ride. I caught my one-minute and two-minute riders
after 8 km, and then started to pump things up over the rollers. The
bike was feeling great and very responsive - pity about having a standard
road helmet. Another left hand turn, and I faced a straight 7km flattish
section, before the final turn into a rough road 1.5km from the finish.
This is where the race would be won. I pushed a 53/13-14 gear, pretty
big, but it was turning smoothly and I caught the three-minute girl
just before the last turn. Then the home straight. It was faster than
I thought and I pushed and pushed to keep the momentum high over the
cracked road surface. I was satisfied, feeling that this was one of
my best time trial rides this year. Now all I had to do was wait for
half an hour while the rest of the hitters came through.
Longo was in fine form, riding smoothly all the way. Ceris Gilfilian
was a surprise packet with a superb ride, showing her fantastic form
at present. Lyne had the fastest time by over 20 seconds at the halfway
mark, so I figured she had it won easily. It turned out that she must
have gone out too hard as she 'died' on the way home, finishing out
of the medals. Great news came to me eventually. I had won by 19 seconds
from Ceris with Longo in 3rd.
Results
Stage 5 - August 26: Cowansville Criterium, 41km (29 laps)
My re-awakened energy system was still on fire tonite, and I attacked
this criterium with gusto, along with the rest of the team. We had decided
that our main priority for this tour was to snatch the Team Classification
away from Canada, who held a two-minute margin over Charles Schwab,
then us. The whole team was switched on, and Julie Young was with the
move that Lyne Bessette made out of the blocks. Everyone wanted to be
in this move, and so with eight riders up the road within a lap, there
was no way that was going to stick. As the gap was closed I flew down
the fast back straight and opened up a 100m gap straight away.
It was far too early to go solo, and after three hard laps, one of
the Elita girls came across to me. Then the teams started to chase,
and a Canadian came across to me. Now our momentum wasn't smooth but
we managed to hold them off for another three laps, taking some sprint
primes in the meantime. When that came back, Roz went in the next break.
It was a good one, but Charles Schwab was missing the moves and chasing
everything down, running out of fuel steadily.
Back together again. I attacked and Lyne and Sarah came with me, forcing
Jeannie to chase for a few laps. This race was by far one of the most
active criteriums I have ridden in North America this year. It was great
fun. It was also getting very dark, given our 7pm starting time. With
ten laps to go the field was together again. I was still feeling great
and attacked again, looking to set up a good countering opportunity
for our team. It worked, and so Julie went in the next move and she
was away with Karen Dunne from Elita and a Susan Carter from Great Britain.
They hovered about 100m in front of us for oh, so long and eventually
they drew away. A Canadian tried to bridge across, but didn't quite
make it, hanging midway for the rest of the race.
We and Elita nullified everything that moved, and foiled all attempts
to bring the break back. I was still feeling great, and had the energy
to go again if the break was reeled in. It didn't, so this was good
for the team goal. With a lap to go, Jeannie went to the front and drove
hard, stringing the remainder of the field out at over 50km/hr. A good
thing too, as it was nearly too dark to see. The trio ahead stayed away
by 13 seconds, with Karen Dunne winning the stage from Julie. Sarah
Symington lead out for the field sprint around the final corner and
I powered out of her draft to win the bunch kick. Another great result
for our team.
While the overall individual GC will be a hard fought four-way battle,
we will have our own war to wager for the Team GC. Let's hope we all
have something left tomorrow for the final mountainous stage!
Results
Stage
6 -August 27: Mont Sutton Circuit Race, 90km
The ultimate stage of this tour held significant reasons for many
of us. Ten of the peloton were heading off for their respective Olympic
preparations shortly after. Others were competing on their home turf
and wanted to perform well, while others were using the race for selection
into respective World Championship teams. For me today marked the end
of my international season, and my final race for 2000 in my Timex race
strip. Our composite team, Timex/Autotrader was having a blast of a
time and had worked extremely well together. The goal of overall Team
victory was not out of our reach so this, and/or a stage win became
our objective for the race.
It was an absolutely disgusting morning. We rugged up for the 7km
neutral downhill start in a pea-soup fog. We would climb back up the
same mountain in a few hours time. I left all my woollies on, and was
thankful as we set off. It started pouring, and did not stop for two
hours. Great fun. Almost immediately Karen Dunne, Elita's sprinter attacked
the field and nobody even flinched. Elita had not repeated their enormous
success from last year, and were looking to finish strongly, being a
Canadian-based team. She had a minute after only 10km.
Shortly thereafter, an 800.com rider attacked and I saw Roz getting
organised. She went after her, and subsequently a couple of Canadians,
and one other rider went across too. They caught Karen after about 15km,
and then I saw one of the Canadians coming back because she knew that
Roz would not work with them both up there. We were wrapt because we
needed to have the numbers in the break, and with two Canadians up there,
they would have extended their overall Team lead. Now, Roz just needed
to take time out of her opponent if the break stayed away.
After 40km the break had over four minutes. This was great and everyone
was having an easy ride. I wasn't feeling great, having drunk too much
early on, and having a full belly, but I figured it would be beneficial
as we neared the climbs later on. Ceris was glued to Jeannie's wheel.
Lyne was floating nearby. Charles Schwab moved to the front and rotated
to keep the gap from blowing completely out. The break hovered at four-five
minutes until the first KOM when Great Britain went to the front and
wound up to a fierce pace in the lead up to the climb to keep Longo
or Lyne from attacking.
Longo still attacked and in her customary fashion she put lengths
into the field immediately. I settled into my own pace and watched as
they rode away. I was in the third group as we neared the KOM, but started
feeling better so I jumped across to the second group. We could hardly
see what was happening up front, it was so foggy. Our bunch wasn't going
anywhere fast, and I could just see the front bunch of six or so ahead
of us. I attacked my group, knowing we were still going up hill and
reached the front group, complete with Longo, Ceris and Lyne just at
the final crest. Only one option - keep going and hope that their tactical
game did not include me!
Yes! It was the right move. They watched as I flew past and I drove
down the winding descent with only 10km to make up time before the final
7km climb. The breakaway was now just over a minute up the road. I had
one and a half minutes on the field as I turned onto the climb and could
also see the break ahead of me. This was it. How long before Longo did
her stuff and reeled me in? No, that wasn't going to happen. The signs
said 3km to go, but I was sure it was more than that?
I reached the breakaways and had to sprint a couple of times up a
steep pinch to get rid of Karen. Then it was just me and the steep winding
road ahead, but for how long? I reached the 1km to go sign, but there
was no sign of the top. Oh dear, I was running out of gas fast. There
was no finish line! What? Still 3km to go now and it got steeper. Ok,
I can still do this. I looked behind and I still had the lead convoy
behind me so I knew they weren't catching me yet. The crowd was great.
2km to go. I settled and drove harder, out of the saddle all the way.
1km to go. I could do it now, but could I also get the time on the Canadians.
It was so foggy I could hardly see the banner, but I was there. I had
won the final mountain stage. Now the waiting game.
Karen Dunne had outdone herself, just holding off Longo and Ceris
by 4 seconds. They came in just over a minute down on me. Lyne came
in shortly after. I was so wrapt when I saw Roz coming in just behind
Lyne. What a superb effort, having been out there in the break all day.
The rest of the field came in dribs and drabs a couple of minutes later,
with Julie, Melissa and Pam all finishing strongly. We had not only
won the stage, but the overall Team Classification for the tour as well!
What a fantastic outcome to a most enjoyable tour, and what a way to
cap off the international season.
Final results
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