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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.
Green Mountain Stage Race, Vermont, USA, September 3-6, 2004
Saturday, September 4, 2004 - GMSR Stage 1 - Circuit Race
Eneas is an intense guy at times, and he was hyped-up to ride well in today's stage, a 71-mile circuit race. His enthusiasm can be infectious, and I was soon ruminating over how we might outfox the other 110 riders in the race to claim a stage win. While reading the coverage of yesterday's stage on cyclingnews.com, I read a preview of today's race in which it was stated that Mark McCormack "has never lost this stage in the previous 3 years of this event, and his Colavita teammates plan on keeping it that way." So I figured that while I would ride my own race, as I always do, I would keep a close on the Colavita guys and maybe key off of them.
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The course, which featured a long, stair-step KOM followed by an equally lengthy descent, was an immediate favourite with me, though the strong winds on the backside (especially by the finish line, which was in a different location than the start) looked likely to contribute to a massive bunch sprint, or at least a large break, as opposed to favouring a small group of riders. Thus, I tried my best to ignore the repeated attacks and small breakaways of two or three riders (even when Eneas went away early with Ed King from Louis Garneau Racing) in hopes of finding the "perfect" break. I figured that for McCormack to be content with letting a breakaway go that he wasn't with, all of his other teammates would have to be in it.
I did decide to contest the first intermediate sprint, despite the abrupt line changes and sketchy behaviour that rippled through the bunch as we set up in the last kilometre, all the while trying not to cross the yellow line while still advancing position. In an instant, as the field snapped to the right en masse, a hole opened on the left with about 350m to go to the line and McCormack exploded through it as if model rocket engines were strapped to his bike and had been surreptitiously ignited by his clever teammate Tyler Wren. My form has been steadily improving since returning from my midseason break, and finding myself unimpeded, I jumped onto Mark's wheel and thought I'd have a go. I suspect that Mark was using a 55-something, but with my 53x11 and a high cadence, I actually was able to push past him on the right, taking the sprint ahead of the veteran pro and Maxime Vives of Espoirs Laval-Societe Generale!
Eneas was up the road with King the next time around, but with third place in the 2nd sprint still on offer, I again made an effort. It's a shame that the points won in intermediate sprints (and the KOM's) also count towards GC, which means that riders like Dionne and McCormack are almost obligated to contest them. In this case, I got the better of Mark for the second time in a row, something that happens very rarely and certainly was a sign of a special day for me.
As we headed into the climb for the third time, and with what was looking to be the winning break going up the road, I decided to try to go across. While this hill was no Middleburry Gap, it was still a tough grind, and I shocked myself by actually bridging solo and catching on just as they were sprinting for the KOM. With three Colavita riders in the break (Herriott, Olson, Wren) and McCormack back in the peloton with race leader Perras, I thought that this was the move. There was enough horsepower between all of us, and a sufficient number of motivated riders that even though there were several guys sitting on, we motored. As good as my legs felt, and as perfect a break it seemed, if there's one thing you can count on in cycling, it's the unexpected.
I kept glancing over my shoulder regularly to check the progress of the field, and in what seemed like a minute they went from being off in the distance to breathing down our necks. I didn't understand what had happened, but the catch was inevitable and the break doomed. The expected counterattack went soon after, though at the top of the KOM on the last lap, things were back together. After the descent, however, something unexpected happened.
There were only about 10km left to race, and while the main bunch was together after the KOM, there was more than one tired face in the group. I'm sure I wasn't the only guy planning to making a move in the next section of the course, and the air was electric after we finished descending, turned right and entered what I thought would be the stretch of road where the field would be torn apart by attacks.
Instead, we were stopped by the officials and informed that our race was temporarily neutralized so that we wouldn't catch the pro women's field before their sprint. Excuse me?
It wasn't as strange an experience as having a chicken commit suicide in front of me by throwing itself in my path on a mountain descent in rural Venezuela, but it was surreal nonetheless. I can't think of a worse time to stop a race than in the closing kilometres when a lot of riders are planning to launch attacks while a lot more are hanging on by their teeth. But so it was, and after the expected griping and sarcastic comments, we shut up and got on with it.
I guess that Eneas was nonplussed by the whole episode, because as soon as the officials gave us the go to start racing again, he bounded up the road like a jackrabbit with Josh Dillion of Garneau in tow. It was a perfectly timed move, one of the best I've seen, because it caught out a majority of the field, who were caught in their minds somewhere between being neutralized and being keyed up to race the last kilometres of the stage. There was a chase as a few riders jumped up the road, but then a lull as the field caught them. McCormack made a concerted effort of almost 1km to bring back the escape, but when he swung off the gap hadn't fallen and I was the next rider in line.
It was Andrew Randell (Jetfuel Coffee) who finally broke free of the peloton as another lull occurred in the chase. He jumped on the left side of the road, on the course's last little climb. I couldn't resist the temptation to see two ACT-UPMC riders in the break, and given the ferocity of the Canadian's attack, and the desperation with which I rode him down, we were well clear of the field within a matter of seconds. Still, however, I wouldn't pull Randell up to the break, and refused to work with him for several more minutes. With Eneas up ahead, my tactics were sound, and the energy that I might spend by prematurely contributing to the chase could be better used in the last kilometre.
I finally started working with Andrew, and with 5km to go we linked up with Eneas and Josh. I was definitely fresher than Eneas, but he did his job and kept pulling for as long and as hard as he could. Andrew and Josh did the same, and I was now fully committed to the move. It would be masterful if we stayed away, but if we were caught, there was no hope of winning a place in the sprint so I poured it on.
Ironically, the four of us caught the women's field inside of 1km to the line, which might have been a blessing in disguise. When we passed the ladies, we were momentarily out of site of the chase, which was closing to within seconds.
Sensing how close the field was to catching us and the proximity of the line, Randell started the sprint first and attacked with over 400m to go. I hesitated, hoping that Dillion would chase, but he couldn't, so I went hard on the right. I put the Jet Fuel rider into my sights and gradually rode him down for the second time today, looking left as I passed him and then quickly refocusing on the line. I threw my arm in the air and turned to see Eneas best Josh for third. Wow. A stage win and both of us on the podium, and first and second in the points competition was almost too much.
While I just missed taking the leaders jersey, there was nothing that I would change about the finish and Nancy, Eneas and I savoured a very sweet victory. If I don't get sick and I can hold this form until Univest on the 18th, I think I'll be in with a chance for the win.
Part One - Part Two - Part Three - Part Four - Part Five
Email Joe at joe@cyclingnews.com
