Day three of riding with professional road cyclists… mostly wheelsucking 🙂
I’m a little behind with video production / blog posting due to excessive fun on the road bike, first world problems as most would say.
Yesterday, January 14, I did a sweet but hard training ride with AG2R La Mondiale into the hills of Adelaide. These hills aren’t hills, rather they are small mountains. The average climb may be five to eight kms in length, but enough to hurt, especially when following a professional road cyclist’s tempo.
Before I met with AG2R, I ran into Team Sky for a kilometre or two, and later, after I bid AG2R La Mondiale farewell, I had a chance meeting with Movistar. Admittedly I was pinching myself a little.
AG2R had a full complement of riders on today’s ride including a bonus 18yo Stagaire rider from France. AG2R’s Tour Down Under Roster includes:
- POZZOVIVO, Domenico
- DUMOULIN, Samuel
- DOMONT, Axel
- KADRI, Blel
- RIBLON, Christophe
- BERARD, Julien
- GOUGEARD, Alexis
I also did a little spy photography on the ride. Namely, I caught sight of a prototype SRAM electronic drivetrain aboard Christophe Riblon’s bike. BikeRumor did a little article with the photos I took. You’ll see it in the video.
The video is just over three minutes in length. Please enjoy in High Definition, courtesy of YouTube.
As per Tour Down Under’s website, Alejandro Valverde hasn’t flown to Adelaide to take part in the race. Too bad..
Yes, he wasn’t to be seen with the Movistar guys 🙁
He must be preparing the late Winter / early Spring Classics elsewhere.. Can’t wait to see him at the Strade Bianche in early March (He placed 3rd overall last year)
Great to meet you – have a ball while in Adelaide and good luck with the ride to Tailem Bend, I’m sure it will be more interesting than it sounds…
Likewise Oli! The Tailem Bend ride is 170kms, which will hurt quite a bit. However, I’m putting together a plan B ride, in the event I get a bit soft and decide to ride shorter 🙂