Vuelta Portugal came to an end yesterday afternoon. 12 days of tough racing, hours of salty sweat, a mix of crushed expectations, despair, shine, bitter and sweet memories.
In a few days, nobody will remember our ICA six journey. Nobody will remember how hard they fought day in day out. Nobody will write many words of praise to the five great days that “only” ended with five Top 10 results, three of them podiums and single 2nd place that came so close.
But “close” is not enough. That’s the reality of pro racing.
Still, we felt we cannot just move on. So, we decided to ask each and one of the riders to choose two moments that reflect this reality of everyday cycling: a moment to remember and a moment to forget.
They chose and described them. With happiness and pain.
This is what they said, and we hope you will all appreciate their sincerity and devotion, in success and failure.
Ben Perry Moment to remember: (2nd place on stage 6): I choose coming 2nd for both memories. In hindsight, it was a great result for me in such a hard race…
”It is also a moment to forget because it was a failure, but even more of a lesson then a failure and it helps me to learn what I can do better next time. Less tire pressure, for sure. Had to change bikes and should have done it sooner. Little things that can make a difference. There is always something to be left on the table.“
Zak Dempster moment to remember: “The 3rd place in the 5th stage. I was actually really happy with my third. Okay, it’s not a win but get a podium on a super hard stage with an uphill finish that’s not really at all my thing, that was super satisfying.”
His moment to forget: “When we lost Alex Cataford and the chance to fight for the GC. Still, we picked our battles and went for it when we had a chance”.
Omer Goldstein moment to forget: “In the Sixth stage I tried so hard but missed the breakaway. Luckily, Ben Perry was able to make it and finished second, but I felt horrible that I missed such a great chance.”
His moment to remember: “being able to make it to the next day after my failure. I went to the breakaway and although finished eighth, I felt that I am getting there. And I will never hesitate again.”
August Jensen’s great moment: the lead-out that my teammates presented for me, giving me a chance to win. I got 3rd and 4th and was happy I can battle for a win and came close”.
A moment to forget: “when I Touched handlebars with my rival in the finish and lost momentum, I felt so bad that I missed a chance”.
Awet Gebremedhin: “Actually it’s mostly bad moments in this Volta. I was tired the entire race and disappointed. The good? I take is that I made it to this race for the third time…
Freddy Ovett: for me, the moment to remember was the really the entire tour. It’s been four months since my last proper race so the Volta was just a matter of me getting back into racing, getting through it and helping the team the best I could. I felt I did this and had a lot of fun with a great group of guys at the same time. It’s the longest stage race I have done so I managed to get to know the team very well and by the end of the tour everything within the team felt comfortable and just a great place to be in general.”
Freddy’s moment to forget : one of the harder moments was the day after the rest day when I attacked so hard to try to be in the days breakaway that I ended up going too deep and backward quickly which resulted in me riding with a group further down for 5 hours in the rain, full-gas to get to the finish. Character building!
Pictures: FotoJaff
