Mei Prijs, Hoboken

Mixing it up with the pros today. There were a good number of pro teams in attendence inluding Landboucredit- Colnago, Unibet Continental, Fondas, Gerolsteiner continental, Sunweb, Predictor-Lotto continental, and others. This was my first UCI of the year and a good chance to get some good k's of racing... 184 in total. The race was 3 big loops of 45km and then 4 laps of 11km. The weather was absolutely beautiful: no clouds, 70s F, but... there was wind and plenty of it. While sitting in the folding chairs before the race, our turn-out awning was nearly blowing off of the van. We had to roll it back up and sit in the sun.

The biggest differences between UCI 1.2's (pro/am) and 1.12's (amateur) is the distance, speed, and etiquette. 25 km more, 3-5 km/h faster, and a little less sketchy. It's more chill at times, but when it goes hard, it's hard.

So... my race started out well. It was very fast in the first big lap and no breakaway got too far up the road. A small group finally got away after an hour or 1.5 and things chilled out a little. Still, it was fast and hard in the crosswind sections. I was doing fine with positioning and fueling my engine. I felt very good on the bike today, especially since I was ill on Friday with stomach problems. At about 10km before the local laps Unibet Cont. went to the front and closed down the gap to the break. That was THE hard section for the day and by that time my legs were having trouble at the top end. I was fine sitting on a wheel in the gutter but when little gaps opened up I just couldn't close them with a quick acceleration. That was the begining of the end for me and I was dropped from the peloton just before the local laps. A bit disappointing but lets stay positive: I raced well for 3 hours, This was my first long race of the year, I felt good after being ill and I did the right things while I was racing. As much as I would have liked to finish, I know that with a few more long hard races in my legs I'll be uncovering some good summer form. Then it will be time to race for better results.

A quick word on the team's performance. Steven Van Vooren and Jim Camut did a great job and finished the race in the top 50.