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The Emma James Diary 2004
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Welcome to one of Cyclingnews' up-and-coming female talents, Australian Emma James. Emma has spent the past two years with the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) team based in Italy, and in 2004, she has graduated to a full professional contract, firstly with Team S.A.T.S. and now with Bik Gios. She's a gutsy rider who's decided that she'd rather be testing the waters of professional cycling than testing the salinity of the Sydney's waterways as an environmental scientist - which used to be her previous occupation before Emma decided to take the plunge.
Belgium, May 16, 2004
A win in Belgium... and some long-awaited podium flowers!
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It has been an interesting time for me training and racing in the Netherlands through April and May. Time to learn a few things that matter on and off the bike. My coach, John de Haan, flew out from Amsterdam to immigrate to Australia while I was racing in Belgium on Sunday. I have had a couple weeks of assisting with farewell parties and understanding another perspective of what leaving home, friendship, circumstance and the priorities we choose are all about.
I had plenty of motivation to do well in the races after a solid month of training, and it all came together at Nederzwalm, the 'Ereprijs Taverne 't Snackske'. Following the race in Assebroeck, near Brugge where I came eighth on Saturday, I piled into the local Dutch team car and drove about 300km with friends from the Netherlands to the race (90km on a 7km circuit).
I had been hoping for a bit of a climb in the circuit to make it a little more selective than the average races around here. There was a little bump, but nothing significant. It was windy, and a narrow road, with plenty of sharp corners with sand for good measure. A good circuit to be in a small group riding smoothly, rather than fighting for position all day! There was no other racing on so a few riders from the teams in Holland had traveled down for the day, joining the Belgian teams and club riders to make a decent field of about 60 starters. Most professional riders are at the Tour de L'Aude in France, so there was not the strength of the fields you see in most of the Dutch National Series racing, but plenty of strong riders making tactics and luck essential for the win.
In the first half of the race any attacks were covered by the many individual strong riders who seemed keen to keep it together. They don't seem to understand the concept of attacking and counter-attacking in a way that would break the field. I was careful not to waste energy with pointless chasing, but tried to stay in good position and judge the right move for the day.
One rider had got away and established a 50 second gap with about 60km of the race to go. I went with a move by Vlaanderen rider Ine Wannijn, and we got a good gap. The bunch did not respond, and we worked well together to pull back the other Belgian rider within a lap. The three of us worked together, staying ahead of a group of two and the peloton chasing behind. The Vlaanderen team had enough riders to block the chase a little, so I was quite confident the break would succeed once we had a good gap.
It was windy, and although I knew I was the strongest rider in our break, I worked fairly equally with the other two, just maintaining our position ahead of the field and pushing hard where the road was good and we could really get some speed. With a couple laps to go, I planned where I would attack to ensure I could go for the pleasure of a solo win rather than a sprint! I backed off the group a little, and hit them with speed on a fast but windy section with just under 10 kilometers of the race remaining. I went a lot harder than I had in the break, and had a well established gap of 200m within a couple kilometers with one lap still to go. I time trialled and enjoyed it, finishing 30 seconds ahead of the other two by the end.
It was great to return with flowers to the welcoming support of the De Haan family that has 'adopted' me (on an 'exchange' while their son starts life in Sydney, based for a while with my family). It was my first win in Europe, and only my second win for the year, but there is still plenty of racing left in this season, and with good preparation, I know there are more top results to come!
Cheers,
Emma
