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Papillon: The Joe Papp Diary 2004
Joe Papp is a UCI Elite rider with the UPMC cycling team. He was a double stage winner at the 2003 Vuelta a Cuba (UCI 2.5) and in 2002 won the GS Mengoni Grand Prix, the BMC NYC Cycling Classic for elite amateur men and a stage at Superweek, among other events. Joe's writing is good enough to make boring races intriguing and intriguing races captivating.
Tour of Korea - 2.5, Korea, June 12-20, 2004
Acton - again!
Stage 5 - June 17: Yang Yang - Yang Yang, 136.2 km
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The less-than-cordial behavior that tends to manifest itself between friends (or at least polite acquaintances) on different teams during high-pressure situations in the closing miles of a bike race can be amusing. Or at least that's what I was thinking to myself while Michael Carter and Cory Lange of Marco Polo were directing a relentless stream of "encouragement" towards Gerardo and me as we fought for dear life to hang onto the back of the small split we'd found ourselves in after the final climb on today's course, which was the same ascent as yesterday's (in fact, the final 50km or so were exactly the same).
With Alvaro and Alejandro up the road with two other riders, and the gap between their break and our chase group plummeting thanks to the pulls being taken by the Marco Polos and David McCann, we had no reason to work! And of course, being good teammates, we weren't about to. That said, we also weren't going to go slinking back into the field, either. Sorry guys, you can't have it both ways - if we're not working, we're not rotating, which means you've got to move back into the line ahead of us and can't expect us to close gaps for you. It's all par for the course, however, since I've been in Carter's position myself, and have no doubt offered the same "encouragement" and coaxing to my non-laboring breakaway partners.
With race leader Suzuki somehow not making the split on the descent after the climb, Lange had good reason to ride all-out, and no doubt McCann was being a mate by adding his horsepower to move, though Jerry and I were there as observers. Until the final kilometer, that is, when we did what we're supposed to do: win the sprint from our group to ensure that we also won the team classification for the day, thanks to Ale's having won the stage with Coto in third.
Win the sprint for fifth we did, with me taking the place thanks to a great lead-out from Jerry, and five minutes after the finish we were all friends again. No hard feelings, boys.
And in case you think I'm being nonchalant about our second stage win in two days - it was awesome! Audacious, even! Coto made it over the big 25km climb that came at the start in the lead group, and Jerry, Ale and I were just dangling off the back after losing contact with 1500m to the KOM, but close enough to catch on the descent.
Shimano rode tempo at the front of the greatly reduced field to the summit of the second KOM, where Coto and Ale attacked on the descent in pursuit of a two-man break that had gone much earlier in the day! They eventually bridged the gap, and with the Japanese marking a steady pace for our peloton, the lead four gained well over three minutes on the bunch. For reasons unknown to me, Marco Polo joined Shimano at the front and started chasing very hard on the return to Yang Yang, with the result being that the field was more than a bit winded before we'd even hit the last climb.
Still a bit shamed after pulling the pin yesterday, I started the climb at the front next to Carter and resolved to go over the top in the lead-group. Jerry and I both did, and when we hit the windy flats after the twisty descent, McCann and Lange started driving it. I haven't had to go that hard just to stay with a break for a long time, but it was worth it in the end, since we now have 1st and second place team GC trophies to give to our patron, Mike Fraysse.
Email Joe at joe@cyclingnews.com
