Tour Di Via Italia

Tour di Via Italia was a special race. It was the first race I have done where hundreds of spectators line the streets and scream with excitement as the peloton goes flying buy. The field turned out to be much more stacked than I expected with some complete American teams, as well as the usual Garneau, Jetfuel, and La Bicicletta teams. My goal was of a top 15 was going to be very hard to accomplish.

I had a brutal start being the last one to line up. During the junior race they said that they were behind schedule and that the elite race would be starting at 5:30, so I went by that and warmed up on my trainer till 5:15. Just after I got off, my dad came running over to tell me that they were lining up, so I scrambled to get my DA wheel in, get my bottles, put my helmet on and then hammer over to the start. I got there 5 seconds before it started.

My poor start didn't really matter, because I was feeling strong, and was able to move to about mid pack by lap 2. On the second turn of lap two, I crashed pretty hard. I was wide on the left, making the right turn, then something happened on the right causing guys to to turn left, including me to avoid it. Next thing I know I'm headed straight for the curb going quite fast. I turned sharp to try and make the turn, but my front tire let go and I wound up sliding on my hip into the curb. I guess I could have stayed upright by jumping up the curb, but I could have killed some spectators in the process. Others were down too, I think from the crash on the right, but I never looked back I just jumped on my bike and hammered like a madman determined to catch back on. My saddle had turned to the left and tilted down and my bar tape was ripped and peeling off on he right, but everything else seemed fine. The pack was maybe 100m ahead of me, and I was able to get within 50m maybe, then I started to fade. Just as I lost hope of making the catch, I remembered the rule about a free lap if you crash. After about 3km of chasing, I pulled into the pit and told them what happened. I was relieved that I didn't ruin my free lap by trying to chase. They were fine with that, and even adjusted my saddle for me. I peeled off my ripped bar tape, had a drink, than I was off to rejoin the race. I got in to a mid pack spot, and hovered around there for the rest of the race. The crash had me feeling a bit shaky in the turns, and I was not being nearly as aggressive as I wanted to be. There was another crash about 10 laps in, but only two guys went down thankfully.

The pace was very fast, but I was not finding it tough to keep up. It was very tough to hold my ground though and I felt like I was getting cut off a lot, and forced off my line. About mid race they called out a prime, and feeling good I decided to go for it. Two guys attacked, but were reeled in before the last turn, and I got third wheel in the counter attack. Two Panther guys pulled me to the final straight. The first guy pulled off, then I started my sprint around the second guy with 100m to go. I went for the shift into my 12t, and the shift was delayed then skipped around when it got on the 12t. Because I had to back off, I lost the sprint to a guy coming up on the left. Shit! Why did I not check my shifting while I was in the pit? It was obvious that I had bashed my rear derailleur when I fell on my right. My hanger was slightly bent, just enough to to delay shifts into the 13t and 12t. There was nothing I could do about it now, just be aware of it.

The second half of the race was a lot of moving up, then falling back over and over. With 2 laps to go I got into the perfect spot. I was about 10th wheel on the left side. Turn 2 on the last lap I lost my good position when a close call occurred just ahead of me. The Jetfuel guy ahead of me had to hop up the curb to avoid crashing, but luckily I was able to stay on the road. The downside was that I had to brake hard, and watch a large swarm of riders fly by on the right. This ruined my chance of a top 15, because I was closer to 30th, maybe further back now. The pace was nuts the rest of the lap, as teams had guys drilling it on the front to prevent an attack. I moved up a few spots before the final turn, got around clean and then past a few more guys as I sprinted out of the turn. All I could do from there was hold my spot which happened to be 24th.

Without the bad luck I could have done better for sure, but am still happy with how I felt, and how I was able to get off the front for a prime sprint, even though I didn't get it. I did end up with a silver medal in the U23 Ontario cat, so I am happy about that.

I would like to do this race again, but I may do the GMSR in Vermont instead next year. Etzl did amazing this year finishing 9th in GC, beating some of Canada's top Juniors. Perry was just behind him too, so congrats boys.


I laced my Powertap up to a Mavic CXP 33 Saturday morning, so that I could try it out. Liberty did not have the right length spokes in stock, so I cut and threaded some myself being to impatient to wait and order some. It worked out, and my Garmin read it without issues. I took it out for a test in the wind Saturday Aft, and did a couple sprint to get ready for TDVI. I hit 1400 watts in a good sprint, not full out though, and averaged 230watts for the whole ride. I also used this wheel for my warm up yesterday, and found it very helpful to gauge my effort. I think the powertap will really motivate me to do intervals, and make my sprint workouts exciting as I will always be trying to squeeze out bigger numbers.

Well Its back to school for me tomorrow. Its been 2 years since high school, so it may feel weird, but I'm sure it will be fun. It means no more working at Liberty, which I will miss, but likely return to in the summer. I am taking Construction Engineering at Niagara college, what I hear is there best, but toughest course.

Wish me luck!