Carnage

Every single rider on the team had a problem today, and it started right out the blocks. We had three flats, two crashes and a rider who bonked. I will write more about this later tonight but suffice it to say that tomorrow only four will be allowed to start, and two will start with a huge time delay in GC.

Before the carnage

We lost John and Addison early on due to flats. At that point, getting back in was all but impossible. We were car 29 and by the time we got there the place was deserted. Billy Innes helped us out with the double whammy but to no avail. The pack was going fast and furious and the wind was blowing hard. John ended up in the broom wagon but Addison was passed by and he rode back to the start where the people at the cafe served him food and took care of him.

Unfortunately, their adventure ends here. Tomorrow they can get rides in the team car and help at the feedzone, or go on a ride or watch Liege-Bastogne-Liege.

Team AC Racing

Start caravan

Police escort bikes

Erik and Hunter had problems about midway through the big loop. Hunter crashed and Erik had a minor crash that resulted in a bike problem. We gave Erik a new bike and together the two of them were able to rejoin the pack and finish in the middle. Alistair did not drink enough and suffered bad cramps in the second of the four final loops, while Alex crashed and got back up one half lap later. Alex was able to finish with a 10 minute time gap, but Alistair was forced to ride two 12.5 km loops on his own resulting in a huge gap, close to 20 minutes. We had originally been told riders who were back 5 minutes or more would be pulled at the finish line and be set 5 minutes back, but Alistair was forced to ride two circuits on his own even though he had lost way more than 5 minutes by his first transit. Alex too had to ride a lap and half on his own. Drafting cars on the local loops was all but impossible due to the many backups and the enormous amount of "road furniture."

Simon driving the car

After the ride we had to go pick up Addison in Borlo. I tried to talk to the officials but to no avail. Two won't be allowed to start although they will be cleared and able to do local races. Unfortunately at this time of year there no kermesse races in the area where we are at.

Our best placed riders now are Hunter who is in 100nd at 1:58 and Erik who is 113th and 2:03 back.  Alex is more than 10 minutes back and Alistair lost 18 minutes overall. Unfortunately we are now at the bottom of the team classification, which means we will be in an even worse position tomorrow.  Our team is now 13:10 back.