UCI World Cup #5, Mont Ste. Anne CAN, 26.07.2009

Finishing in 35th position is not what I had expected.

Once again Mont Ste. Anne took its toll! The Canadian all-time-classic course with its tricky roots and slippery rocks was again a really technically demanding one and last days’ heavy rain showers even worsened this race track! Well, normally nothing to be afraid of , but something to be looking forward to when riding a Cannondale Scalpel…!

You know already ahead of such a race that crashes will be the order of the day, so the additional challenge of Mont Ste. Anne is knowing how to hit the ground without hurting yourself too seriously… ;-)

I felt confident in the start because after two weeks of racing in rain and mud at the Europeans and the Belgians, this kind of racing was something I really could have taken! We went off and I felt pretty comfortable in the first lap where I also could manage to stay in the leading group. Way too early, in the second lap I unfortunately slit away, hit some rock violently and so my front tire got completely ripped off the rim!

This technical accident threw me back to 60th or 70th position and this race was decided for me in advance.  I also hurt myself; I hit the ground with my left hand and somehow bruised my fingers or twisted at least my little one. I don’t really know what exactly happened, I just feel the pain now and I hope this comes ok very quickly!

Back in the race, the only thing left for me was limiting the damage and making up ground as much as possible. The big chasing began and I eventually managed to fight back to 35th position. I permanently thought of abandoning the race due to the hopeless position, but I couldn’t. My legs still responded well, I felt like flying up the hills and leaving everybody behind – at least in the uphills ;-) – made up my mind to get through it!

Let’s hope I’ll recover well from the crash during week and be ready again for the upcoming World Cup race in Bromont next weekend!