While Kaya, Jules, and Chris headed back to the states in preparation for US nationals- I stayed in Ireland for a couple extra days before traveling to France. Spent a day in Dublin and day in Galway before starting the trip to France with a pit stop at the Clifs of Moher on our way to the ferry terminal. The 18hr ferry from Ireland to Cherbourg France was surprisingly smooth, it was a great experience which also provided some forced rest.
Once in France I rode around and checked out the region for a couple days before getting on course on Saturday. This venue last hosted a World Cup in 2021, it is a beautiful setting with the course riding around the castle and crossing a pond on a floating bridge. A lot of the course had remained the same since my last time here with a couple new additions and change to the section right before the finish.
My race started well with a second row call up and moving into a good position down the start straight. There was some typical carnage in lap one with traffic and crashes but I was able to navigate it pretty well and found myself just outside the top ten for much of the lap. The heavy rain the night before the race had done some damage to the course which left a lot of sections much muddier and more slippery than during pre-ride, so the first lap or two was a lot about learning and figuring out what lines were better- it also included a tire change for me. I was happy to feel stronger this week and feel like I was able to attack and counter others attacks, legs were much more responsive and was nice to spend most of the race with someone always in my sights infront to try and chase. This course was a ton of fun and the fans brought great energy to make it a really great experience. Happy to see the improvement with a 16th place finish.
Next up for the team is USA CX Nationals in Kentucky where Jules and Kaya will be racing the the U23 men’s and women’s categories on Dec 10 (and they will get to reunite with team mechanic extraordinaire Charlie!). Next for me is the Val Di Sole, Italy World Cup also on Sunday! Jules is at home recovering after catching the flu and is hoping to be feeling good again in time for nationals. Kaya has spent her time leading up to nationals in Washington with coach/mechanic/team boss/training buddy/legend Chris McGovern. They are on a training camp to get the young ripper ready for the Louisville race! She also may take some lessons on driving a standard - watch out, next euro trip Kaya might be the team driver!
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