Riding the TorTour UltraCross Cyclocross Stage Race
Three days of mud, gravel, sub-zero temperatures, and flat-out racing. An invitation to ride the world's first ever cyclocross stage race, seemed like an opportunity that couldn't be missed...
Race Report: Stage 2 - 74km - 1,530m elevation
I pushed from the gun - trying to hold my own in the front group.
I didn't quite push hard enough though; before long, the five front-runners had got a gap, and I was left in the chasing pack. Nothing for it... solo bridge time.
It turned out to be a long bridge to cross. Almost an hour of sitting at threshold, trying desperately to regain the wheel of the last rider in the group ahead.
Eventually I made junction. Exhausted; I clung to the wheels. By now the two professional riders were long gone into the distance, and our small second group comprised of two Swiss junior riders (one the U23 National Champ), a super-strong German, and myself.
Up. Up. Up. Today was a day of hunting vertical. From vineyards, through forest, and then up above the snow-line.
Ice and boulders lurked beneath the thin layer of white dusting. I took caution, after the German rider wiped out in front of me. The two Swiss juniors were fearless though - long gone on the technical descent.
Fortunately, there was more climbing to come. A chance to regain some of the ground lost from my timid descending.
Chasing wheels, running up stairs, hurtling round corners, praying for grip.
The last twenty kilometres flew buy. Joined by two Frenchman racing in the team classification, we powered on down through the valley, on cycle track and single-track.
In the last 5 kilometres our small group splintered. The two Frenchman sprinting off, whilst I managed to draw out a small gap too. Legs burning, I eventually crossed the line.
I finished 4th on the stage, and moved up to 4th on General Classification as well.
What an incredible event. I need to race 'cross more often...
Solo bridge across to the lead group - it took a good hour at threshold
An hour at threshold, to make the junction
Stage 2 took us up... into the snow
Proper snow
Incredible scenery, to distract you from burning legs (Photo: APIX)
The finishing 20 kilometres took in some fast paced cycle paths and blue skies
What a race
Sun on the finishing straight
Final Rankings - Spot the Brit
Race Report: Stage 1 - 80km - 830m elevation
Endurance bike racing is a battle of attrition. You've got to know your limits; ride within those limits; and hope that your limits extend further and deeper than your competitors'.
It makes for a rollercoaster ride.
You might start at the back of the pack, and spend the first part of the race working your way up through slower riders. You'll find a small group of similar ability riders, and hopefully you'll work together - to make progress on the lead group. Then, as bodies tire, and will power fades, the group will get whittled down... leaving you sprinting against a small group of riders, whose limits are similar to yours.
That was how today's stage of TorTour CX panned out: There was no let-up from the word go, and before long I found myself in a good group. We worked together through open fields, forest roads, sharp inclines, and muddy single-track. By the time we reached the final 10 kilometres though, what was once a group of 15, was now a two-up time-trial.
The legs felt good, and the everything seemed to work well. I placed 5th on the stage, moving me up to 5th on Solo Male General Classification, too. Tomorrow, we head to the hills...
Kit choice for the first stage of TorTour Cyclocross
Working my way up through the field
Racing on the open flatlands (Photo: Apix)
Challenging riverside trails
Stairway to Hell (Photo: Apix)
Superb trail conditions (Photo: Apix)
A stunning day's racing (Photo: Apix)
The weather conditions proved favourable again, with the sun coming out in the afternoon
Refuel - after a chilly, but enjoyable day's racing
The sound of pedals clicking into cleats, and knobbly tyres buzzing on tarmac lasts only a handful of seconds.
Then you hit it. 'The Wall'.
Pebbles ping from beneath tyres; heart rates jump to high heaven; lungs are shocked into a frenzied gasping fit. The prologue of the TorTour UltraCross might only be 23 kilometres long, but each one of the 8 laps starts with a 25% leg burning kicker.
The first ascent of the climb instantly strings out the field; riders jostling for places, just as they are scrabbling for grip.
I start mid-pack, in the 200 strong field. By the top of the first climb, I can see the Elites riding off into the distance; but I've placed myself in the forward ranks of the following pack.
Lap after lap, 'The Wall' continues to cause havoc. There is little time on the top of the hill for your body and mind to recover, before you swoop down, and hit it all over again.
As we come round to lapping riders, the game intensifies. You try to hold wheels, as you weave in and out of other riders; it's like a conga line going in and out of moving bollards.
I have good laps and bad. The last two aren't so strong, and at one point I have to put my foot out on a loose section of gravel. Valuable metres and seconds lost.
Still, I cross the finish line after 49 minutes of racing; with a finishing position of 7th in the Solo Men's Category.
A decent start... but there's still a lot of racing to go.
Rider briefing - numbers ready
Ahead of the carnage
Calm before the storm
And it begins...
Flat-out racing
Prologue done. Beer in bottle cage. This is a proper cyclocross race.
Supporting the arch and heel of your foot when cycling is crucial to both performance and injury prevention. Supportive insoles such as those from SOLESTAR help to hold your foot in a safe and secure position, allowing for maximum power transfer, and maximum support throughout your pedal stroke.
When you push down on the pedals, it places great force through the arch and ball of your foot. You transmit power through a relatively small surface area underneath your shoe's foot bed, so cycling shoes are made to be stiff so that the power transfer is not lost by the flexing of the shoe. However, few riders consider the lost power from the foot itself flexing during the pedal stroke, equally they do not consider the potential for injury when your foot abnormally contorts.
During work I did with Phil Burt, the lead physiotherapist at British Cycling, he highlighted how important the structure of a cycling shoe is to power transfer. For the Beijing and London Olympic Games they designe…
Three days. Three stages. Three chances to explore the gravel roads in the beautiful Lucerne region of Switzerland. The TorTour Cyclocross Stage Race provides a lung bursting, leg busting challenge.
The concept of the TorTour Cyclocross event is familiar to me; I rode the winter edition in 2017 in the Schaffhausen region just south of Zürich. That event featured snow, sub-zero temperatures, and a plethora of winter kit. This premiere edition of the Summer Cyclocross is in the foothills of the Alps, and delivers a contrasting mix of dust, grit, 'shark-tooth' climbs, and summertime temperatures.
The Prologue
The three-day event starts with a 20-kilometre prologue on the Friday evening. A chance to test the legs, or rather give them their first beating of the weekend.
Short course racing has never been my forte, and my aim for this first stage was simply to stay safe and minimise time loses ahead of the longer stages.
From the moment the start gun sounds it is a blur. Dust flie…
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The standard large size road bike (56cm) will come with a 100mm stem and 42cm handlebars. Most 'racers' will whip that 'short' stem straight off, and replace it with anything up to 130mm in length. Most will stick with the 42cm width handlebars though. Both of these choices seems increasingly illogical, in my opinion…
Stem Length
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A quality multitool could make the difference between tightening or adjusting a bolt and getting on with your ride, or struggling with a misaligned component or dangerously loose clamp. The Pro Bike Tool Multitool is a lightweight, beautifully machined stainless steel tool; built to be reliable, long-lived, and stylish.
The Pro Bike Tool Multi-tool is only 0.7 cm thick, 9.4 cm long, and weighs just 99 grams. Machined from SUS420 Stainless Steel, it is one of the highest quality alloys that you can get, and the brand guarantee it will remain rust-free.
It certainly looks the part, and has 8 of the most useful tool bits that you need for road or trailside repairs; including Allen/Hex 2.5/3/4/5/6, Torx T25/T30, and a Phillips PH1 screwdriver. The only thing it is of course missing that I always recommend taking on a ride is a chain-tool; but Pro Bike Tool make a separate one of these, which I may review on the blog sometime soon, having seen how good quality this tool set it.
When Restrap launched their new Saddle Pack it was to test the possibility of designing and producing a product in the space of 24 hours. The key lay in simplicity, tried and tested fabrics, and a great knowledge of bikepacking and bicycle touring.
The Restrap Saddlepack is larger than most. It is designed to hold a lot more than just a spare tube and tools; but rather to have the capacity to hold clothing and supplies that might be required for an audax or long distance ride. It has a 4-litre volume, which is about four times that of most saddlebags. It places it somewhere in between a seat pack (like the Restrap 14 litre Bikepacking Seat Pack), and a small saddle caddy like the Lezyne Large Caddy Saddlebag.
The size is perfect for gravel adventures. It is big enough for two 29er tubes, tools and spares, and a jacket and emergency food supplies; the kind of things that become essentials on the road less travelled.
The pack mounts up without any tools or fiddly buckles. There is a s…
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