Victory in Switzerland WC
After my killer qualifier I had yesterday I knew I could be a threat for the win today. The first turn was going to be tricky and with the rain that came just before the race started, it made most of the turns slick. It was a good choice I think going with flat pedals. Since the start was so steep right out the gate & with the first turn being so tricky, I figured I would run them giving me the confidence to run it in hotter with the ability to just take my foot off and put it right back on the pedal without having to worry about clipping in.
The final was Prokop in lane 2, Polc who has been killing it lately in the DH in lane 3, Gee in lane 4, and myself in lane 1. Prokop just got a great gate, putting me second in the first turn. With the flat pedals and my EL MOCO Kenda tires hooking up, I dove to the inside of turn one, setting me up to the outside of turn 2. Prokop was on the brakes a bit too much so I let it go around the outside of him. Now we were going down a rock section which led to a small stepdown into turn 3 which was a left. We were elbow to elbow, but I had the inside going into turn 3 so I let it go through the rocks and edged him out to take the lead. From there I never looked back. There were still some slick turns right after turn 3 and I think I was getting through them fast and I got about a 3 bike length gap on Michael.
In the end it was myself, Michael, Polc, & Gee. With a second in Vigo and this win I took the leaders jersey.
It was a pretty good final race and an interesting night. The course was slick in the wet which cause many riders to make mistakes, but luckily there were no injuries.
Off to Engleberg Switzerland tomorrow for a GT press camp and then on thur. I will finally get to go home after being on the road for 6 weeks. Nice way to cap off my journey.
The DH is tomorrow and I guess the course is crazy steep. Almost everyone is riding flats, including Peaty & Nico. Yep, that is what I said. Nico is back for a couple world cup races this year after being out 3 or 4 years and I guess he is looking fast. Should be a crazy one tomorrow for the boys...
Posted by Brian on June 9, 2007 03:12 PM