LESPY

P9 @thetraka and racing near the front for a good chunk of the day!

Very happy with the top 10 ride, but more stoked on the courage to race from the front, make moves and put myself in a position to go with the leaders.

If you want some of the story of the race. 👇

I went in a break that formed at around km 80/325. We had a good group and were working well together. Fellow @smithoptics athlete @gregvanavermaet was there driving it! This was a bit of energy investment but worth it to get through the tough climbs in the middle of the course with a head start. For me, this worked perfectly. Mads and Hugo caught me just as I was cresting to start the descent before the last climb out of this section. I followed. Then I figured I needed more time for the next climb so I worked the descent and got a bit more time. On the final climb out of this section I got gapped but rode my pace and limited my losses so I could hopefully close on the final ~6 min descent out of this section. I rode a fast but safe pace on the descent and made it to the leaders. In hindsight, I could have done a few things better once I got there, but stoked to have committed and made it. I didn’t last too long in that group but luckily had strong riders coming up behind. I rode most of the main flat section with Paul Voss all the way to km 223/325. He was great to ride with and motivation was high was we were still racing for 3rd. On the final main climb I got caught by 1 strong group with Matt, Romain and Ben but couldn’t hold on. The next group that came by, I could, and we worked a good chunk of the next flat sections together. In the end, that group shattered and I was rolling in solo for 9th.

What a day!! Happy with my first experience at the Traka.

Special thanks to @3tbike for the support out there and the very fast bike. Also thanks to @smithoptics and @quocshoes for bringing the energy and enthusiasm all week!!

Photos by @_matteo.grava_