We arrived in Cittiglio, Italy for Trofeo Alfredo Binda-Comune di Cittiglio after a nice training camp with the team in Tuscany. This was the second event on the UCI Road Women World Cup calendar. It was at the team presentation the night before the race that I got an idea of the magnitude of the occasion. Each team was properly introduced and the names of all the top cyclists in the world were announced the one after the other. I finally got to put a face to the names that in the past I have only read or heard about and feel very lucky to have an opportunity to line up against 174 of the best riders in the world.
It was a 131.2km race that started with one big lap and then finished with 4 circuits of 17km around town. It was the climb on the big lap that ended up being the first deciding part of the race. After what surely felt like an all-out hour of racing the bunch split on the climb. There were about 70 ladies that made the front split. The pace never really slowed down after that leaving very little time for recovery. It was with one lap to go that I dropped from this bunch and finished 62th. The race was won by Marianne Vos who proved again to be in a league of her own. Teammates Ashleigh Moolman ended up with a very impressive 10th and Ludivine Henrion finished 24th. Joanna Van De Winkel had bad luck having torn her tire to pieces after having to break for a crash on a downhill and was never able to get back to the front bunch with that pace being set at the front. To start your European racing campaign with a World Cup was never going to be easy. More than half of the riders that started did not finish. I set out to just finish the race but was disappointed coming so close to finishing with the front group. It has by far been the hardest race I have ever done. Welcome to world class European racing!
Out of the 174 starters I got picked for dope testing. I guess it was a case of first time ‘lucky’. We started the 9 hour journey home straight after. Driving back through Switzerland made the long trip worth it for sure with its snow-capped mountains, big lakes and waterfalls. We went through the Gothard Tunnel which at a length of 16.4km is the 3rd longest tunnel in the world. After crossing the borders of Italy, Switzerland, France, Luxembourg and Belgium we finally arrived home at 4am.
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| We received recycling bins as a gift at the Team Presentation Gala Event. Even the venue with its certified attention to the environment and the use of alternative energy sources was chosen with care in support of the UCI's ReCycling project. It was nice to see that Team MTN Qhubeka is not the only cycling organization that supports a better cleaner future. |
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| The view of the snow-capped mountains in Switzerland on the way back. |
 While out doing some retail theraphy today I spotted this pair of shoes that surely would not have passed my drug test after the race. |
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