I knew the course really good and I want it to make a good impression. I raced the short distance, but with this I didn't had my best start. I didn't push too hard on the first climb because I knew that the second will kill me. And so it was. On the second and the hardest climb of the race (medium climb 17%, max. 22%) when I had 1 km to go my batteries got almost empty and I've decided not to push and to let some riders pass me as I will get back on the descend and on the last part.
I've made a small mistake and I didn't filled the bottle with water so i got a bit dehydrated on the last kilometers of the race. Finally I finished 3rd with 17 minutes better than last year, which for me is better and I think that I have a lot of things to improve. The bike went super smooth and really well so the result is only because of me, the only one to blame is me. Is a bit frustrating after having such a good week end the last victory. But this is racing, sometimes you win, sometimes you don't. A lot of riders had 1 or 2 flats but I didn't had any problems with my Joe's No Flats Sealant.
I would like to congratulate all the participants and the winners, the organizers, my parents, Simona, and everyone that waited me at the finish area. I would like to apologize for not having my best results, but I can assure you that this results won't affect my motivation for training in the future and I am looking forward to see some improvements for the last races.
I would like to thanks again to my sponsors. Without them I couldn't be where I am now : Cannondale Bikes, Maros Sport, Ashima, Continental, Syntace, VDO, Sapim, Adidas Eyewear, Xpedo, 661, Buff, Sram, Kool Stop and DT Swiss and my new sponsor Joe's No Flats. Also I must thank to: my parents, Simona, Raluca, Aghiutza but also at the guys from Westend.ro for the photos, and to everyone who supports me.
For more photos, please CLICK HERE I will upload more photos when I'll have them.
The start of the race:
Cheers,
Vlad
