Nick Friesen Race Report - June

Just thought I would give you another update. It is hard to believe it is almost July, already. The Tour will be starting here next week. I was able to get some sight-seeing in at the beginning of June, with my family. My parents and my brother arrived on the 27th of May and left the 11th of June. I had a week off the bike and we managed to hit pretty much all of the major sites. Paris is packed with Museums though and I think it is impossible to see them all without spending a few months, at least. As far as racing goes...

Just before my break I did a race in a small town not far from Paris, called Thorigny sur Marne. It was a climber's course. The field seems to be small whenever the course is extremely difficult. I think there were only around 40-50 guys at the start. It was a short circuit race with 18 laps of about 6km in length. The climb was about 800m long and had pitches of 14%. To add to the difficulty, the surface of the road was really rough. After 4 laps, the race had exploded and I found myself in the lead group of 5 riders. Auber 93 had a whole team present at the start and they had the best team representation with two guys in the group. There was also myself, another rider from a local team and Eric Leblachler (former Pro with FDJ and COFIDIS, I believe). It was hot (over 30 degrees) and I suffered. There were primes for the top three riders through the start/finish on several laps and I managed to take part in 4 of them. The last 5 laps were brutal. I wasn't able to respond to the accelerations by Leblachler on the climb and I kept coming off on the climb. At that point the group was only four of us and since Leblachler wouldn't work with the Auber riders, I kept crawling my way back on the false flat after the climb. With a lap and a half to go, we were joined by a third Auber rider. The last time up the climb we summited as a group but Auber attacked at the top. I wasn't able to respond to the attack and the group broke into two groups with Leblachler and 2 Auber riders in the front. I was left pulling the third Auber rider around. He attacked me, as predicted, with half a lap to go and I soloed in for 5th place. He was able to bridge to the leaders and Auber took the podium.

May 28th and 29th I did the Tour of Val Saintonage. It was a three stage race in the Bordeaux region of France (near Cognac). The countryside was characterized by rolling hills (false-flats) and a lot of exposure. The weekend consisted of wind and rain for the most part. It was a tough weekend and the eschelons were a huge factor, so I tried to stay near the front. Mederic Clain (former pro for COFIDIS) and his amateur team were there. I have to admit he is very strong! On the first stage I was on his wheel when he attacked and I think it caused me to explode shortly after. The first stage was tough and despite making the lead group, I exploded when the attacking started. I found myself in what was left of the peloton and finished the stage 30th. The TT was a rainy mess. The third and final stage came down to a sprint among a dwindling peloton. My teammate John took 15th and I was close behind him in 18th. John had taken the points jersey on the first stage but lost it on the final stage as the rider in third place in the points competition made the day's breakaway of five riders (we had one rider in there but he wasn't able to take all the points). In the end I finished the stage race 32nd overall and the team was 7th in the team competition. It was really nice to have a jersey to protect, despite losing it. We did take 2nd and 4th in the points competition and 4th in the KOM competition as well.

June 13th was my first race back after my break. I didn't know what to expect after a week off the bike. In the end I managed to make the day's breakaway of 12 riders, which went after 3km of racing. I was in the break for 110km before we were caught by another small group of 10 or 15 riders. At that point, I was pretty tired and when the attacking started I found myself in the third small group on the road. I held on for 15th on the day. Overall, I was happy to have made the break and I hope it is an indicator of things to come.

Sunday, I did my second race back. It was a 100km circuit race and the field blew to pieces after 4 laps (of 22).I was in the counter for the duration of the day and took 2nd in our group sprint (4 riders) for 8th. I am racing again tomorrow night. It is a 90km crit. Sunday is another brutal climbing race so that should be more up my alley.

-Nick Friesen is a PRW Team member who is currently racing in France