Race 10. Eguzon Grand Prix round two 22nd July 2007
Fact. Eguzon is hilly! This was my first grand prix race for the team. In our team were Pierre Guilloux, 
Hermann Landemine and Cyrille Neveu (world long course champion with the stripes on his suit to match). Cesson had finished 10th in the first round grand prix so we were 10th pick of the start boxes for the swim. At first glance the best start position was on the right and the first 9 teams assembled in these boxes accordingly. When it got to our choice we went to the far right and watched the middle boxes fill by teams after us. In my mind we had one of the best start spots, out of the fight with little extra to swim. Tom and I were laughing at the choices of some of the earlier teams to go for the middle. It was a pretty standard swim, few hits at the first buoy…. and for the rest of the course. 
Being a no wetsuit swim helped a bit as I could distinguish who was actually hitting me. I got out of the water in about 15th and started the climb to the steepest transition area I have ever seen. Many of the guys chose to put there shoes on then run their bikes, as it was all up hill out of the transition for about 2km. I think this sort of helped me a little and I passed a lot of them 
and got a clear passage out the crowded transition and on to the bike course. After the first climb a lead bunch had already formed and would remain about 15 strong for the rest of the bike course. I was happy to be in it but worried at the same time as on some of the descents riders were pushing 
stupid speeds and taking unnecessary risks. I saw Benoit Bouchard over shoot a corner and do some mountain bike riding on one of the many aggressive corners. There were a few crashes in bunches behind (including Gareth Bannon and Aussie for Saint Avertin, who exfoliated a lot of skin from his back after hitting a patch of gravel at the bottom of a steep descent) but none that I saw. Our bunch all came into transition together less one guy who had skipped of the front in the last 2km, and no one cared as he was engulfed 8 paces into the run. Like in many races the last 1km on the bike was stupid and again dangerous, as guys who had done no turns and could not run faster than a 4 year old girl pushed to the front, cut up the road, and clipped wheels. The entrance to the transition was a steep downhill narrowing road, and although all the officials were yelling to slow down we all came in as 
fast as possible. There were a lot of horrible breaking noises a few skids and then we were all off and running. You can probably gather that I was pretty happy to be of the bike and those shitty, skinny, gravel filled, winedy roads. The run in this race was super long. Perhaps the distance was 5km but the times were extraordinarily slow. I blame two geographical features for this. 1, the whole run was either steep up hill or steep down hill, and 2, about 1.5km of each lap was up a creek (water and rocks included) then through ankle splintering cow paddocks. Ridiculous! I know there were other normal roads to put the race on, I saw them, so why the organizers decided on the xterra format is a mystery to me. With 1km to go and all the rocks, mud water and holes behind me, I found myself in 6th position with 3rd 4th and 5th all in eyesight. 
The last 1km was all downhill and although I was running as fast as I could with a stride length of 8 meters (well my groins felt like it) I was unable to gain a meter on any of the runners in front. I crossed the line 25 seconds behind the two winners, Vincent Luis and Nicholas Bolon, who shared the victory, and a painful 2 seconds behind the guy in 5th. 
Hermann finished 34th and Pierre 38th, giving our team 8th on the day. Cyrille had competed in the world long course champs less than a week before and said he was pretty tired for the race. He finished 51st, and I think did well just to start.
Hermann Landemine and Cyrille Neveu (world long course champion with the stripes on his suit to match). Cesson had finished 10th in the first round grand prix so we were 10th pick of the start boxes for the swim. At first glance the best start position was on the right and the first 9 teams assembled in these boxes accordingly. When it got to our choice we went to the far right and watched the middle boxes fill by teams after us. In my mind we had one of the best start spots, out of the fight with little extra to swim. Tom and I were laughing at the choices of some of the earlier teams to go for the middle. It was a pretty standard swim, few hits at the first buoy…. and for the rest of the course. 
Being a no wetsuit swim helped a bit as I could distinguish who was actually hitting me. I got out of the water in about 15th and started the climb to the steepest transition area I have ever seen. Many of the guys chose to put there shoes on then run their bikes, as it was all up hill out of the transition for about 2km. I think this sort of helped me a little and I passed a lot of them 
and got a clear passage out the crowded transition and on to the bike course. After the first climb a lead bunch had already formed and would remain about 15 strong for the rest of the bike course. I was happy to be in it but worried at the same time as on some of the descents riders were pushing 
stupid speeds and taking unnecessary risks. I saw Benoit Bouchard over shoot a corner and do some mountain bike riding on one of the many aggressive corners. There were a few crashes in bunches behind (including Gareth Bannon and Aussie for Saint Avertin, who exfoliated a lot of skin from his back after hitting a patch of gravel at the bottom of a steep descent) but none that I saw. Our bunch all came into transition together less one guy who had skipped of the front in the last 2km, and no one cared as he was engulfed 8 paces into the run. Like in many races the last 1km on the bike was stupid and again dangerous, as guys who had done no turns and could not run faster than a 4 year old girl pushed to the front, cut up the road, and clipped wheels. The entrance to the transition was a steep downhill narrowing road, and although all the officials were yelling to slow down we all came in as 
fast as possible. There were a lot of horrible breaking noises a few skids and then we were all off and running. You can probably gather that I was pretty happy to be of the bike and those shitty, skinny, gravel filled, winedy roads. The run in this race was super long. Perhaps the distance was 5km but the times were extraordinarily slow. I blame two geographical features for this. 1, the whole run was either steep up hill or steep down hill, and 2, about 1.5km of each lap was up a creek (water and rocks included) then through ankle splintering cow paddocks. Ridiculous! I know there were other normal roads to put the race on, I saw them, so why the organizers decided on the xterra format is a mystery to me. With 1km to go and all the rocks, mud water and holes behind me, I found myself in 6th position with 3rd 4th and 5th all in eyesight. 
The last 1km was all downhill and although I was running as fast as I could with a stride length of 8 meters (well my groins felt like it) I was unable to gain a meter on any of the runners in front. I crossed the line 25 seconds behind the two winners, Vincent Luis and Nicholas Bolon, who shared the victory, and a painful 2 seconds behind the guy in 5th. 
Hermann finished 34th and Pierre 38th, giving our team 8th on the day. Cyrille had competed in the world long course champs less than a week before and said he was pretty tired for the race. He finished 51st, and I think did well just to start.
posted by Kristian at 4:20 AM
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