JUNIOR TOUR 2015
14 - 19 July 2015
Race Report - By Dillon Ryan.
JUNIOR TOUR
Stage 1 - 14th July 2015
Stage one finished, a 6.4 km Time Trial, all my team mates finished high up, did it in 9:55 so 38.5 kph tomorrow is the real start though with a 110 km long stage so that will be the first real tester!
Stage 2 - 15th July 2015
Day 2 finished, a really tough stage to complete, we had a lot of climbs, including a cat 1 climb, the pace was up right from the start and it was more a game of hanging in for as long as possible, after 60 Km I had noting left and I was dropped from the front group! So it left 45 km to go. Luckily I got into a group of 5 and we rode in about 15 minutes off the front group, I'll find out my result later!
Stage 3 - 16th July 2015
Stage 3 was supposed to be a "rest stage" but it was far from it with the average for the first 15 km at 47 kph, I was dropped going up a cat 2 climb after 16 km and made it back on with a dodgy descent in the rain, you learn quickly that you have to take big chances or you can end up on your own for a long time, the next climb was a cat 2 climb after 46 km, I got to the top of it and a dog ran out in front of the back of the bunch and caused a split this made 5 of us have to try and get back on but to no avail, so slowly our group grew and about 15 of us rolled in together 20 minutes down, after the finish I heard one of our riders had to be taken to hospital after crashing hard two days in a row and was forced into abandoning, tomorrow is the toughest day with 3 category 1 climbs all in 116 km so it should be sore!
Stage 4 - 17th July 2015
Stage 4 complete, today was to be the Queen stage, the hardest stage! It was 116 km with 2 cat 1 climbs, 2 cat 2's and a cat 3, the first climb of the day was a 6 km category one climb after 12 km which meant for torture, I was dropped with 2 km to go to the top but once again I made it back on the descent, I stayed with them till 40 km until we came onto an exposed road were it just shattered me to pieces with such severe crosswinds, luckily it split in 3 and I got into a group of 30 riders, so it suited fine and we rolled in 30 minutes down but happy to still be alive!
Stage 5 - 18th July 2015
Stage 5... Today was to be a day with 2 cat 1 climbs and a cat 3, but not till late in so it gave us all a chance to keep with the bunch for a good while, it was raining starting this morning and my legs felt great starting off, after about 5 km I just heard a massive crash and all you could hear was carbon screeching off the ground, I kept going until 15 km where I noticed I had a puncture. It seemed to take forever to get the wheel but eventually I got going but I ran straight up the back of a car and went over the handlebars and got my first taste of tarmac. I got going again and I managed to get back on after over 10 km of chasing back on. I was comfortable in the bunch until we came to a climb after 75 km and I blew my legs after my tough chase back on, so I rolled in a few minutes down. After the finish line I heard my other teammate had punctured and on his chase back on he hit a wall and crashed and was brought to hospital!! I think he is going to be o.k. but he is out of the race so it's just down to two of us out of the four that started. so tomorrow is the last day which is an 8 km loop done 10 times.
Final Stage - 18th July 2015
Stage 6 finished and so is the junior tour, today was supposed to be a flat day which was a 10 km loop completed 7 times, it was nowhere near flat with long hard drags and very dead roads, after the fifth lap I was dead and I ended up in the group of 10 of us so we just worked together and we crossed the line a few minutes down but happy to be finished. Our team started out with 4 and it ended today with only 2 as the other 2 had crashed out but are o.k. now, thanks all CW for the support over the last 6 days.
57 Ryan,Dillon Y1 Clonard CC West 14h48’05”
505.8km @ Ave Speed 34.17 kph!