Race Report: Dottignies 1.15 Belgium Race

On Thursday we did our first local Belgium race in Dottignies .  Having done a few of these races with Team MTN Qhubeka last year we knew what to expect from the race.  We were not quite prepared for the cold though.  We lined up with about 75 other ladies looking a bit more like the Michelin man with all the winter kit than actual bike racers.  The temperature during the race did not go over 10°C and it felt much colder with the strong wind blowing.  It was an 8.16km technical lap that we did 12 times for a total race distance of 97.92km.  After the first lap I decided to attack.  I was joined by Martina Corazza (ITA) from the UCI Kleo Ladies Team and Sylvia Debboudt (BEL) from the local Keukens Redant Team.  Sylvia Debboudt did not contribute after which me and Martina Corazza attacked to get rid of her.  We worked really well together to establish a gap of over a minute.  There was a decision made by the rest of the Lotto Ladies to try and get another rider into our break.  Teammate Cherise Taylor (RSA) crossed over to our break with two other ladies after the Lotto Ladies set a hard pace at the front of the bunch 45km into the race.  Together our group of 5 established a reasonable gap over the rest of the field.  Our break was eventually brought back on the last lap with 6km to go.  Teammate Joanna Van De Winkel (RSA) chose a perfect time to counter our break and the bunch let her go with 5km to go not realizing that it would be the winning move in the end.  She was joined by Martina Corazza and Laure Werner from the Sprinters Malderen Team.  It was a sprint between these three in the end and Joanna Van De Winkel secured a podium for the team finishing second behind seasoned sprinter Martina Corazza.

(Pictures: Ladiescycling-Cyclingnews.nu and Photographer: Alain Sennesael)

We Live In a Zoo - Our Belgium Animal Adventure

I have mentioned before that the team house we live in is on the property of a very interesting and entertaining Belgium family.  Included in their extended family is a horse, two donkeys, two dogs, sheep with new born little lambs, chicken, fish, ducks and a variety of birds.  Never a dull moment around here.

Egor the ladies man.  Due to his fondness of running after the ladies and causing havoc at every opportunity he gets he has to stay in the shed for the most part.  We make a point of treating him with some sugar cubes or apples every now and again.

Brother Love.  The two donkeys brothers Suzarre and Bill.  These donkeys are definitely not meant for pulling a donkey car.  They are a lot more like pets and come running from across the field when they see us coming.  A typical sibling fight erupts when the one is given more attention than the other. 

Mary Had a Little Lamb(s).  Soon after we arrived here in Belgium the sheep had two little lambs.  If you can handle the evil stare from the dad you can get close enough to touch the little guys.

Chicken dance.  Not sure what type of chicken this is but it looks a bit more like a cross between a chicken and a sheep.  This is just one of the many chickens that gives us the typical farmstyle wakeup call in the mornings.

Eendjies Eendjies Stap in ‘n Ry 1, 2, 3, 4 Stap Hul Verby

Birds of a feather flock together.

We found Nemo. 

He looks a bit like a bouncer protecting the entrance to the family’s house.

Make love to the camera…  Fragile (yes she is named after “fragile” due to her size and breakability) is the little dog with no personality but sure does like the camera with this model look and pout. 

Meeting Freddy Maertens and a Trip to Oudenaarde

We were invited by one of the sponsors of the team to go to the exhibition of cycling legend Freddy Maertens.  The exhibition was held at the Ronde van Vlaanderen Museum in Oudenaarde, Belgium and included a discussion with the man himself.  Although all of the conversation was in Flemish, which even with being Afrikaans I could not really follow, we at least understood after that what a legend he is.  A hero of many local cyclists with a very impressive resume that includes two world championship titles, two green jerseys in the Tour de France, stage wins in many tours and several one day classic wins to name just a few.

Me, An-Li, Freddy, Cherise, Robyn and Guy,

All the teams Freddy rode for in his career.

I had an eventful day leading up to the exhibition as well.  There was a race that finished in Oudenaarde which most of the Pro Tour teams raced.  Lotto-Belisol, Astana, Omega Pharma-QuickStep, FDJ-BigMat, GreenEDGE and RadioShack-Nissan were among the Pro Tour teams that raced the 3 Daagse De Panne race.  I set out to go watch the finish of the race before we had to meet up at the Ronde van Vlaanderen museum for the exhibition.  As it goes with me and travelling lately something had to go wrong.  I missed my train out of Aalst after having some mechanical issues with the commuter bike I was using to get to the station downtown.  I finally got on the correct train to Oudenaarde an hour later.  I got there just in time to see the 2^nd and 3^rd bunch crossing the finish line.  After getting a lift back to Aalst with the sponsor after the event I now had to get the bike back from the station to the house.  So I set out for a 4km midnight run to the station and rode back.  Only in Belgium!  Although I always miss South Africa it is a nice feeling being able to walk or ride your bike at night without having to look over your shoulder.  Reading the book Killing Kebble by Many Wiener which is about the underworld in South Africa makes me appreciate being able to do this even more. 

Welcome to what is world class European racing!

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 10^th and Ludivine Henrion finished 24^th. 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 3^rd longest tunnel in the world. After crossing the borders of Italy, Switzerland, France, Luxembourg and Belgium we finally arrived home at 4am.

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.

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.

Under the Tuscan Sun

We arrived in a very chilly Belgium about a week ago for the start of our European racing campaign with Team Lotto Belisol powered by Team MTN Qhubeka.  We are based in Aalst, Belgium not far from Ninove where we stayed as a team last year so it is not all unfamiliar territory.

A quick bike setup was done upon arrival and we took to the streets later in the afternoon to spin out our legs from the flight.  The next morning we got a bit of a rude awakening from the steep cobble climbs and narrow roads that are typical in Belgium as we did a team ride on the Ronde van Vlaanderen race route.

We are now in Italy for training camp close to the beach town San Vincenzo in the Livorno province in the Tuscany area.  It is apparently no secret that the training in this area is great as the Rabobank professional team is staying at the hotel next to us and several other professional teams are also in the area.  Around every corner it looks like a different scene straight out of a movie.  It really is beautiful here and I can understand now what all the talk is about when it comes to Tuscany.

View from the hill behind our hotel.

The highlight for me so far has been our trip to Pisa to go see the leaning tower and have pizza.  We were being typical tourists and thoroughly enjoyed taking pictures and walking around in the city.  A close second was the 9km climb that we got to do today up to the town of Volterra.

Team Lotto Belisol at the leaning tower in Pisa.

We have a couple of days left under the Tuscan sun before we leave for the Trofeo Alfredo Binda world cup close to Cittiglio, Italy.

Carlo has got his race drink mix right for being in Italy.  He obviously has not heard about PVM supplements yet.

Nationals Race Report

Nationals

We headed out to Nelspruit for the National Championships which was held from the 1^st through the 4^th of March.  Our team had a training camp in Nelspruit a couple of weeks ago.  We did a time trial simulation and trained on the route for the road race so we knew what to expect.  Having been familiar with both routes gave us a bit of a competitive edge which is necessary in an event of this significance.

Time Trial (TT)

I went out to Nationals with the TT as my main focus mainly due to the rolling nature of the route as well as the fact that a TT usually is a race over which you personally have much control over the outcome.  I spent a lot of time on the TT bike leading up to the event.  Based on the race simulation that we did on the route during training camp our coach, Dr Carol Austin, was able to prescribe very specific intervals that imitated the surges due to the undulating nature of the route.  I never felt more prepared for a race.  On the day the sport of cycling proved yet again its uncontrollable nature even under the best of circumstances.  The first part of the TT was going well until I started to feel some resistance coming from the back wheel.  After the turnaround this worsened dramatically.  I got off the bike twice to try and release the breaks thinking that it was causing the resistance but nothing was working.  As it turned out the hub cap of the disk wheel came loose and forced the wheel to rest “comfortably” on the left break pad.  Having worked so hard in preparation of this race there was obviously no words to describe my disappointment.  The fact that we only get to race this discipline in South Africa once or maybe twice a year made the disappointment even worse to deal with. 

Road Race

We were facing two laps of an undulating route with a total race distance of 110km.  It was Karien van Jaarsveld, Charlotte van der Merwe, An-Li Pretorius and myself lining up for Team MTN Qhubeka.  The day before the race we drove the route with manager, Carri-Ann Botha, once more to make sure that we knew the crucial parts of the race.  The climb out of Nelspruit was surely going to be the deciding part of the race.  This climb had three uphill sections.  We expected Momentum Toyota to make the climbs as hard as possible by setting a steady tempo and by attacking and counter attacking.  Knowing the route well we decided that I would attack on the last part of the three uphill sections.  If you were not familiar with the route it would appear that the climbs were done but then it kicks up for about another 300m.  The race went exactly as we thought it would and I was able to launch a counter attack at just this spot after an attack by one of the Momentum Toyota riders.  At the time it was only Ashleigh Moolman Pasio and Joanna van de Winkel, both from Team Momentum Toyota that could respond.  We quickly had a sizeable gap on what was left of the remaining bunch.  After some deliberation we worked well together for the rest of the lap.  Ashleigh thought that it might be too early in the race but I have been in long breakaways in the races leading up to the event and was confident that the move would succeed.  I did not quite account for all the attacks that I would later be subjected to though.  It was at the start of the second lap that the attacks from both Ashleigh and Joanna started coming.  They did a good job of racing together attacking and counter attacking each other to make it difficult for me.  Having done a lot of race specific intervals I was able to close all the attacks.  With about 20km to go it became clear that the race would finish in a sprint.  Joanna was leading it out for Ashleigh with me on her wheel and Ashleigh on my wheel.  Not having much experience in the sprinting department I took the sprint a bit too early and Ashleigh came past me just before the finish.  Although winning is always better I have to be happy with a second place after not being able to finish this race last year.  Teammates An-Li Pretorius and Karien van Jaarsveld did not disappoint and finished 5^th and 6^th respectively.

Just like the terrain in Nelspruit Nationals surely had its ups and downs this year.  I am now looking forward to the Argus in Cape Town this weekend.

A Season in the Saddle

A Technical Review of the 2011 Season

During our recent goal setting session with Team MTN Qhubeka for the 2012 season I decided to take another in depth look at all my SRM Power Meter race files for the 2011 season.  Having set big goals for myself at the start of the 2011 season I wanted to get a good understanding of what I have achieved this past year, what it is that I want to achieve this coming year, how far away I am of achieving those goals  and what it would take for me to make it happen.

I set out to compare the level of South African women’s cycling to that of the international racing I did during our trip to Europe in June/July.

For me the races that I competed in during the 2011 season can be categorized in four distinct groups.  From each of these four groups I chose the two hardest and/or most comparable races to analyze in this article.  Please refer to the specific endnotes to this article as well as Table 1 at the end of this article for a brief description of the races analyzed.

Group 1 (Blue Graphs):  International UCI Racing

(UCI 2.2 4-day tours in France)

Tour de Bretagne Féminin Stage 4 A

Tour Féminin en Limousin Stage 4 B

Group 2 (Red Graphs):  Local Racing - Breakaway

(Local racing where we raced in a women’s only bunch and where I was in a breakaway) 

Engen Dynamic Cycle Challenge – Durban C

Amashova Durban Classic D

Group 3 (Green Graphs):  Local Racing - Bunch Sprint with Men

(Local racing where we raced with the veteran men and the race usually ended up in a bunch sprint)

Argus Cycle Tour E

Dis-Chem Ride for Sight F

Group 4 (Orange Graphs):  Local Racing - Bunch Sprint Women Only

(Local racing where we raced in a women’s only bunch and the race ended up in a bunch sprint)

Lost City Cycle Classic G

MTN OFM Classic H

To compare these races to each other I used Average Power and Normalized Power (NP) both of which are measured in watts as well as Total Stress Score (TSS) and Intensity Factor (IF).  I also looked at the amount of race time spent in each of the training zones (Active Recovery, Endurance, Tempo, Threshold, VO2 Max and Anaerobic Capacity) during the races selected.  All of these terms are explained in detail by Andrew R. Coggan, Ph.D.1 and are used in the popular training software TrainingPeaks. 

Figure 1:  Compares the Average Power for each of the race days used in this study.

Figure 2:  Compares the Normalized Power (NP) for each of the race days used in this study.

Figure 3:  Compares the Total Stress Score (TSS) for each of the race days used in this study.

Figure 4:  Compares the Intensity Factor (IF) for each of the race days used in this study.

Figure 5:  Compares the amount of race time spent in the different training zones for each of the race days used in this study.

Figure 1:  Average Power

International UCI Racing:                                   176 – 179 watts

Local Racing - Breakaway:                                  201 – 220 watts

Local Racing – Bunch Sprint with Men:            161 – 175 watts

Local Racing – Bunch Sprint Women Only:     155 – 163 watts

Figure 2:  Normalized Power

International UCI Racing:                                   216 – 216 watts

Local Racing - Breakaway:                                  234 – 235 watts

Local Racing – Bunch Sprint with Men:            206 – 216 watts

Local Racing – Bunch Sprint Women Only:     206 – 211 watts

Figure 3:  Total Stress Score (TSS)

International UCI Racing:                                   230 - 234

Local Racing - Breakaway:                                  249 - 253

Local Racing – Bunch Sprint with Men:            209 - 226

Local Racing – Bunch Sprint Women Only:     194 – 218

Figure 4:  Intensity Factor (IF)

International UCI Racing:                                   0.862 – 0.865

Local Racing - Breakaway:                                  0.936 – 0.938

Local Racing – Bunch Sprint with Men:            0.850 – 0.895

Local Racing – Bunch Sprint Women Only:     0.822 – 0.843

Figure 5:  Training Zones

Anaerobic Capacity Zone:

The two international races had by far the largest percentage of race time spent in the Anaerobic Capacity zone of all the races analyzed.  With a bigger bunch and more teams racing at a higher level this was not unexpected.  The Argus in which we raced with the veteran (age 30+) men also had a relatively large percentage of race time in this zone.  This was mainly in response to the racing done by the men as opposed to attacking and covering moves.  Interestingly enough OFM had the fourth largest percentage race time in this zone.  I was surprised by this and it shows that at a race where we were racing in a women’s only bunch the racing was aggressive.  The races in which I was in long breakaways naturally had a lower percentage time spent in this zone.  At both these races I was able to ride a steady tempo for a large part of the race.

VO2 Max Zone:                                                                                                                                         

The percentage race time spent in the VO2 Max zone was similar for the international races and the local races where I was in a break.  It was also higher than that of the other local racing which ended in bunch sprints.  The only explanation for the Engen Dynamic race having the highest percentage of time spent in this zone is a serious case of self-inflicted pain in an 80km solo breakaway.

Threshold and Tempo Zones:

The races in which I was in a break had by far the biggest percentages of time spent in the Threshold and Tempo zones.  These efforts were similar to individual time trial efforts and it explains why it was so much higher than that of the other race groups.  The percentages of race time spent in the Threshold and Tempo zones for the other local racing that ended in bunch sprints were just slightly lower than that of the international racing.

Endurance Zone:

A smaller percentage of time was spent in the Endurance zone for the international races and the local racing where I was in a breakaway.  This was probably due to the higher percentages of time spent in the Threshold and Tempo zones for these races.  The other local races studied which ended in a bunch sprint had a higher percentage of time spent in the Endurance zone which goes hand in hand with the lower percentage of time spent in the Threshold and Tempo zones for these races.  This is a result of the lower intensity of the racing.

Active Recovery Zone:

All local racing that ended up in a bunch sprint had a large percentage of time spent in the Active Recovery zone.  At the Argus and Ride4Sight it was mostly due to the bigger bunch sizes and the women that were not really contributing to the racing that was happening up front.  For Lost City and OFM where we had a women’s only bunch it was probably due to the lower intensity of the racing between attacks.  Not surprisingly the two local races where I was in a break had by far the lowest percentage of time spent in this zone.  The two international races also had high percentages in this zone mainly due to the bigger bunch sizes.

Conclusion:

When looking at the data above the Group 2 races (which in 2011 also included other big races like the Momentum 94.7, Dome2Dome Cycling Race and the Jacaranda Satellite Classic) consistently had higher average/normalized power, Total Stress Scores (TSS) and Intensity Factors (IF) than that of the international racing.  These were also the races that had the biggest percentage of race time spent in the VO2 Max, Threshold and Tempo zones.  It was usually the same group of women who made the break in these races.  If only looking at this data it would not be an unreasonable assumption that the group of women who are able to race at this intensity locally should not only be able to compete internationally but also perform internationally.  A very important question would then be asked based on this assumption.  Why do we, with the exception of a couple of athletes, not perform better when given the opportunity to race internationally? 

I personally have had many sleepless nights thinking about this issue.  I have found that the main problem is a lack of experience and in some cases a lack of opportunities.  Bunch skills, racing tactics and mental concentration which develop over time are vital ingredients to a successful international cycling career.  These seem to be second nature for most women racing internationally but for a few women including myself that started cycling later in life it steepens the learning curve considerably. 

In my opinion the best way to develop into a cyclist that can compete internationally is still having the opportunity to race internationally.  It unfortunately is expensive and an investment of that kind cannot be justified for every women cyclist in South Africa.  That is why finding ways to improve cycling locally is vital to the continuous development of the sport and the individuals in it.

The topic of how to utilize local racing to better prepare us to perform internationally has been much debated this past year.  Many believe that having the women race with the men would help to make the jump from local to international racing less severe.  To some extent racing with the veteran men the first half of the 2011 season did help with bunch skills but it did not come without sacrifice.  Since the men we were racing with were stronger than what we were most of the racing were being done by them with the women mainly sitting in the bunch.  We lost the opportunity to work as a team and practice good racing tactics both of which are also vital to success when racing internationally. 

Looking at Figure 5 above the percentage of race time spent in the Anaerobic Capacity zone for international racing compared to that of our local racing is much higher.  The percentages of race time for these international races are also more evenly spread amongst the different training zones when compared to the local racing.  Adding more aggressive forms of racing like criteriums and circuit races to the local calendar would not only help with high end anaerobic racing and attacking but will also improve bunch skills due to the more technical nature of these types of racing.

Although not all professional women cyclists in South Africa are physically and/or mentally ready to step into the international racing scene it does seem to me that most now understand what it takes to prepare for international racing.  Over the past two years that I have raced in the local women’s bunch I have seen a conscious effort made by most to make the racing as hard and as aggressive as possible.  There is a will and drive to succeed not just locally but internationally as well.  Changing the way that we race locally was a big step in the right direction.  I think few people realize how far the women’s bunch has come in recent years. 

With Team MTN Qhubeka and their full support of the Lotto Belisol program in 2012 it is going to be an exciting year for me filled with the opportunities of a lifetime.

Table 1:  Race Detail

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A  Tour de Bretagne Féminin Stage 4:  It was a 110km race over mostly flat and rolling terrain with a total elevation gain of 855m.  There were about 100 riders in the bunch from 18 international teams.  The race finished with three 12km laps of a hilly circuit.  The bunch split as soon as we hit the finishing circuits and there were only about 12 of us left in the front group.  Another group crossed over to our group with a lap to go increasing the front bunch to about 40 riders.  It was a small bunch sprint with one solo rider off the front and I finished with the front bunch.

B  Tour Féminin en Limousin Stage 4:  It was a 104km race over mostly flat and rolling terrain with two climbs and 1315 m of elevation gain.  There were about 130 riders in the bunch from 20 international teams.  A small break of 5 riders went early on in the race and stayed away to the finish.  The main bunch split on the second climb of the day and there were about 25 of us left after that.  It was a small bunch sprint in the end and I finished with the front bunch.

C  Engen Dynamic Cycle Challenge – Durban:  It was a 97km race over mostly flat and rolling terrain with one climb about 10km into the race and a total elevation gain of 772m.  There were about 20 women in the bunch with representatives from Team MTN Qhubeka, Team USN and the FJR Ladies Cycling Team.  On the climb one of my teammates attacked and Cherise Taylor, Team USN, countered her move.  I managed to jump onto Cherise’s wheel.  After about 1km I attacked her and then managed to stay away for the rest of the race.

D  Amashova Durban Classic:  It was a 103km race over mostly rolling terrain with a total elevation gain of 522m.  There were about 50 women in the bunch with all riders from the major local race teams (Team MTN Qhubeka, Team USN, Team Nashua Toyota and the FJR Ladies Cycling Team) present.  The bunch stayed together for the first 50km of the race.  One of the hills caused a split in the bunch and on the following hill Ashleigh Moolman Pasio, Team Nashua Toyota, attacked.  She managed to stay away for the rest of the race.  Joanna Van De Winkel also from Team Nashua Toyota and I crossed the finish line in 2^nd and 3^rd a few minutes ahead of the main bunch.

E  Argus Cycle Tour:  It was a 109km race over mostly rolling terrain with a few climbs and a total elevation gain of 993m.  We were racing in the same bunch as the Veteran 40+ men.  There were about 280 riders in the bunch with all riders from the major local race teams (Team MTN Qhubeka, Team USN, Team Nashua Toyota and the FJR Ladies Cycling Team) present.  The bunch was split going up Champman’s Peak and Suikerbossie but came together shortly after and stayed together for most of the race.  It was a big bunch sprint in the end and I finished with the front bunch.  Note:  Comparing the Argus to the other local races that finished in a bunch sprint is difficult due to the fact that it was raced at a low altitude and had higher elevation gain that the other races of this nature.  I included it in this article due to the significance of the race.

F  Dis-Chem Ride for Sight:  It was a 116km race over mostly flat terrain with a total elevation gain of 571m.  We were racing in the same bunch as the Veteran 50+ men.  There were about 110 riders in the bunch with all riders from the major local race teams (Team MTN Qhubeka, Team USN, Team Nashua Toyota and the FJR Ladies Cycling Team) present.  During the race there were a few attacks by the women in the bunch but all of which got neutralized by the men.  It was a big bunch sprint in the end and I finished with the front bunch.

G  Lost City Cycle Classic:  It was a 113km race over mostly flat terrain with a total elevation gain of 527m.  There were about 40 women in the bunch with most riders from the major local race teams (Team MTN Qhubeka, Team USN, Team Nashua Toyota and the FJR Ladies Cycling Team) present.  During the race there were a lot of attacks especially by Team MTN Qhubeka but the race stayed together for the most part.  I was racing for the sprinter on the day and was attacking and covering moves.  It was a small bunch sprint in the end and I finished with the front bunch.

H  MTN OFM Classic:  It was a 98km race over mostly flat terrain with a total elevation gain of 448m.  There were about 50 women in the bunch with all riders from the major local race teams (Team MTN Qhubeka, Team USN, Team Nashua Toyota and the FJR Ladies Cycling Team) present.  During the race there were a lot of attacks especially from Team Nashua Toyota.  A small break went early on in the race but it was later brought back by Team USN and Team MTN Qhubeka after Ashleigh Moolman Pasio, Team Nashua Toyota, crossed over to the break.  I was racing for the sprinter on the day and was attacking and covering moves.  It was a small bunch sprint in the end and I finished with the front bunch.

1  For a detailed description of the terms used in this article please refer to the following link:  http://home.trainingpeaks.com/articles/cycling/normalized-power,-intensity-factor,-training-stress-score.aspx