By Michael Barry
We are no longer racing. The lead group has left us and is up the road, under the gaze of the cameras. For now, I ride alone with Christian Vande Velde, through a valley in the depths of the Dolomites. Around us, peaks tower. We have numbers on our backs, food in our pockets, race radios in our ears, yet it feels like it is now just the two of us out on a training ride as there are no riders, team cars, fans, police motorcycles, or race cars in sight. We follow the direction arrows posted on poles if there are no marshals to direct us.
The formation of the gruppetto
Both of us had been riding on the front of the peloton, driving it at a stiff pace into the last climb, doing our job for our leaders, Ivan Basso and Paolo Savoldelli, who were battling each other for the race lead. On rival teams, we were now an alliance: two old friends and training partners, trying to make it to the finish line. Through the next valley, the gruppetto, which was still many minutes behind us, would catch us. We would slide into the safety of its slipstream, where there is strength in numbers, to make it to the finish before the axe of the imposed time limit cut off those who couldn’t follow.
Read the full feather at Canadian Cycling Magazine>>
