Hello Voxwomen friends!
I am writing you from Bruxelles airport where I am currently stuck due to a missed connection on my way to Goteborg.
Nothing too bad, just normal routine when you are a frequent flyer!
Luckily, I am never worried about my luggage and bike when travelling as I always try, especially for one day races, to travel only with my hand luggage and my team always brings my bikes, helmet, and just in case, my spare shoes. No doubt tomorrow I am going to train and everything will be ready and supplied for my ride!
So, as my two colleagues Christine and Cecile blogged about Giro Rosa fun facts and its hangover :-), I decided I am going to talk about it too, so you all can have a different perspective about how three girls, all competing in the Giro Rosa and La Course (as this year I considered it as a single stage race of 12 days….) reacts on racing the hardest race on the calendar and what is needed to recover from it.
One of the biggest training day on altitude: my first time up Stelvio!
This year, the Giro in my opinion was very hard. We raced every single stage full gas (ok, maybe not the “ITT” but you still needed a decent watt output to go up that climb and make the time cut), there was no space for breakaways, we took every climb in a fast and furious style and the sprints were quite hectic. For me the Giro this year was: “Stay at the front and lead out Alexis for the sprint”, “Stay at the front and lead out Kasia before the climbs” (and the same for La Course), “go in a breakaway if you have the chance.”. The result: I ended nicely destroyed.
Plus, my heart broke when, after the last stage in Cividale (30km from my home) I had to say goodbye to all my family and friends who came to cheer me and were having a super nice time altogether, because I had to drive to Venice and fly to Geneva to race La Course.
My family and friends in Cividale del Friuli during last stage of Giro Rosa.
After this busy 12 days, I felt I needed a little time off everything concerning bikes, tactics, travel, heat and climbs.
This may sound weird, but there was just one place I wanted to be and that was Livigno. Yes, you are right, Livigno is all about cyclists and climbs, but not if you choose shopping, good restaurants, some nice walks with friends and you switch your cycling kit and your training roads for a swimsuit and SPA.
Taking in all the recovery during a nice MTB ride to Laghi di Cancano!
Additionally, my boyfriend was up there too for some serious training and I think it may have been a hard time for him to handle with a not so focused bike rider for some days, but to do something totally different for one week helped me to get back on my bike and on my training routine fresher and happier.
Cross training in Livigno!
Also, I found it amazing to feel much better on my bike when it came down to hard training sessions again. For me sometimes, it’s hard to take a rest, but this time it was really what I needed and I understand now how important it is.
To drop Attila I had to use my e-bike!
So now I guess what the hell am I going to do after to recover, if one day I will race that much wanted three weeks stage race…………
To be continued!
Elena
