JP Murph

Groene Hart aka Green heart was another race in Holland summed up like most of them are, Heavy Wind. So we were fighting for the first 50km to stay at the front of the group when the echelons split it all up. Unfortunately at the very moment the group split, we had no rider in the first 33(the first echelon). I made one huge jump to get to the front group. I was about 5 meters off the back but just couldn’t do it. That’s the worst. Your so close yet so far away. That’s how it goes sometimes. If I had been in the front like normal it wouldn’t have taken a superhuman effort to make it. So Jackson, Kristoff, and I chased in the second group for about 70km before we caught the shattered front group. Once we finally caught the front group, it had split and there was another group of 15 off the front! So we had to keep chasing. This was one of the hardest days I’ve had on the bike since I can remember. I came apart so hard in the last 30km of the 207km race. I cramped so hard and it was all I could do to ride in with the last group. I must not have eaten enough but since we spent so long chasing I just lost track of time. Bad news. So the day ended with the 15 rider break staying away. Kristoff had a go at the sprint for 16th and took it. Hopefully this race will prove as a wake-up call that we have to be riding at the front at ALL times and always be ready for the race to shatter.

Now we have a week until the next race, E3 and Gent Wevelgem this weekend. We are staying in Izegem which is my old stomping grounds from my U23 days. We’ll do some reconnaissance of the upcoming races and also visit the good old canal a bit too! Time for some rest now lots of big races coming up.