This was the second day of the two-day KSI Cup and, in fact, my very last race on the Bianchi. The distance was 91 km—two laps, and we crossed the railway tracks twice. That will come into play later.
I was the only U17 rider at BTS. Once again, I really missed having one or more teammates to work with during the race.
In the first lap, a breakaway of about seven riders formed. I couldn’t stay with them, but I was faster than the main peloton, so I ended up riding solo between the two groups.
Towards the second third of the first lap, the railway crossing lights started flashing, signaling that a train was coming. The race officials stopped everyone, but two riders from the breakaway didn’t notice that the peloton had been stopped and kept going.
Everyone was stopped in their race positions, and no one moved up, so once the train passed, the race resumed with everyone in their original spots.
My whole race was spent chasing, and although I could match the breakaway’s speed, it was only enough to keep me from losing ground—I couldn’t close the gap. To catch them, I would have had to be faster on my own than they were working together.
The situation stayed the same until the end of the second lap, and I finished in 6th place with a time of 2 hours, 14 minutes, and 53 seconds (which includes the time we spent waiting for the train).
I wasn’t satisfied with the result, but realistically, I didn’t expect much more. Without a teammate to work with in the breakaway, this was all I could do on my own.
I was already looking forward to the Cannondale and the National Time Trial Championships, where I’d finally get to race with it.
