De tweedaagse Boucles de l'Oise Juniors kende gisteren zijn laatste rit (hierover lees je meer hier). De winnaars van het eindklassement werd de Brit Tom Day van het FlandersColor-Galloo Team. Hij stuurde ons volgend verslag van deze tweedaagse.
Boucles De L’Oise Race Report by Tom Day
With lack of racing in the UK, I was super excited to ride Boucles de L’Oise for my team Flanders Colour Galloo and came into the race well prepared with lots of training and course preparations completed.
I am a time trial specialist so I planned no time lost in stage 1 which I executed by bridging to the lead group with 1 other rider. We stayed away for 70km at which time we joined the front runners and gained a lead of 3 minutes with 11 other riders. I came into the time trial stage 2 with a lot of time trial experience and wins from the UK and made many reconnaissance of the circuit in the days leading up to the race. It was a beautiful circuit, with some hard sections generated by a strong wind; this suited me well as I spent many hours perfecting my aero position this year. I was expecting a large margin coming out of this stage and I was pleased to take the win.
For stage 3, I had also made a reconnaissance earlier in the week and my plan was to defend my time gains as I felt very strong. My number 13 was against me today as I suffered a double puncture after 10km ! …. My team mate Wout Remmerie gave me a wheel from his own bike so that I could chase back for which I am very grateful. It took me 8km to rejoin the peloton at which time the attacks started. I have a strong team with a special mention to 1st year junior Jan Van Dyck who supported me to chase down all of the attacks so I arrived in Noigent Sur L’oise in the leading group.
This was truly a team victory for Flanders Colour Galloo, and I thank my team mates and support staff , led by Nico Mattan and Rik Deleye who made my victory possible. I’m looking forward to being back in Belgium to race in the coming months. And of course my lucky number is now 13"
