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Tales from the (Mexican) Peloton
From the left chair: A week in the life of a DS
Bill Laudien, DS of Sportsbook.com, spends a week behind the wheel at the Tour del Sol in Hermosillo, Mexico, and in doing so, battles his way through traffic jams, stifling temperatures and pizza delivery trucks.
February 5 - Destination Hermosillo
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Flew into Tucson to find out that the jerseys were being held up in customs. Thankfully, Red Rose Imports provided us with some emergency jerseys to get us through. The RRI red, white and blue proved to be appropriate as well as helpful and we departed the US for the four hour drive into Hermosillo, Mexico.
After a managers' meeting in Spanish (which I don't speak) we had some dinner and went to sleep with the nervous excitement of our first race dancing in our heads.
For the race we had Matt Svatek, Adam Hodges Myerson, Nathan Rouse, Ryan Pinkham, Ross Krause and Mexican rider Omar Cervantes. For staff, there was myself and Go Mart's pro racer on injured reserve, Mike Jones.
Stage 1 - February 6: Time trial, 5 km
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The plan was to use the TT to blow the cobwebs out of the legs from the previous day's travel and to see how our snow legs stacked up against the Mexican riders, for whom this is the meat of their racing season. We had a nice surprise with Omar breaking into the top 10 and taking the U23 lead and Matt Svatek and Nathan Rouse (who missed the turn around and cost himself at least 25 seconds) breaking into the top 20. This would move us into 4th place in team GC which proved to be important as the race wore on. The winner was Domingo Gonzalez of the Tecos team which held 6 of the top 10 spots.
* Tecos is the University of Guadalajara's school team. The riders are all fully supported with salaries equivalent to that of a TT2 team. They have two team cars, a staff of six people, an equipment truck, and they just bought a tour bus. As Ryan Pinkham would say, "Tight!" They had two teams in this race, but the one wearing the jerseys of San Luis Potosi would prove to be the dominant force as they are in all the Mexican events.
Stage 2 - February 7: Road race, 100 km
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This was held in the afternoon after the TT on an out and back course along the eastern highway out of the city. The parade through the city was cool as traffic was brought to a halt and all the people along the city route came out to cheer the riders.
The first half of the race was relatively tame on the bikes but rather hectic in the caravan as officials tried to give lessons in caravan protocol to some of the smaller local teams who were all trying to get to the front in vehicles ranging from a Volkswagen bug to a pizza delivery truck. Thankfully, the officials did a good job and by the turnaround everything settled into order.
In the closing moments, we attempted the first ever Sportsbook.com leadout for Myerson. Svatek and company did a pretty good job of getting Adam clear of the field, but the experience and firepower of team 7-Up was unstoppable as US Pro Champ Kevin Monohan brought Dan Schmatz up as well, passing Adam in the closing meters.
Stage 3 - February 7: Road race, 140 km
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This was the only stage with climbing. The course went over the same climb three times from two different directions. The riders hit it first at around 30km, then again twice at 125km. The second and third climbs were achieved by the riders doing a U turn in the middle of the road at the base of the descent and going right back up. The finish was listed in the race bible as being 10km from the final descent, but ended up being about 5km.
A group of 10 went clear on the first climb, but was brought back by the Tercel team with some help from us and 7-Up. Then a group of three Tecos riders (wearing two different jerseys) counterattacked their own move and got 1:45. With 110km and the two climbs to go, no-one seemed overly worried except for the Tercel team manager, who must have seen this type of thing before.
When the break go up to two minutes, the Tercel team came up and stated chasing. Then the lead went up to 2:30! So 7-Up started chasing hard, and the lead went up to 3:30!! So then Sportsbook.com put riders on the front and despite five Tercel riders, two 7-Ups and two Sportsbook.com riders pulling, the lead went up to 5 minutes by the turnaround.
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Finally, either the change in wind or the duration of effort started to take its toll and the break started coming down. The bunch shattered on the final climb with 25 riders making the final selection. Coming off the final descent, the leaders still held over two minutes, so with five riders in the front group, we took control of setting up the bunch sprint for the last 5km and did a little better with Adam grabbing third in the group. We also held our spot on team GC and Omar retained his lead in the U23 competition.
* The race is organised by the city government and was very well run. Despite shutting down the city and causing gridlock, the race was very well received and the people of Hermosillo were the nicest of any I've met in any city, including the US. On the nights that we went out shopping downtown or venturing into the city to pick up supplies, I felt safe and welcomed. The police also would often see the riders going to and from the hotel and stage starts in small groups and would file in behind them with their lights on to provide safe shelter.
Stage 4 - February 8: Road race, 160 km
Out and back again today on a new stage route for this race. Today was a test of nerves for everyone involved. The timing for the stage appeared to coincide with everyone from Hermosillo trying to get out of the city and for 20km we had, quite literally, a caravan of 300 vehicles.
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The officials neutralised the racing until the traffic cleared but as soon as we were clear and reestablished the rolling enclosure, the cars would start banking up again. Thankfully, the generosity shown by the people of Hermosillo extended to their driving skills and we had none of the beeping and screaming that you would encounter in a similar situation in the US. People patiently waited and waited… and waited until they were allowed to pass.
On the way back the racing was really fast and soon there was a three-man group clear with a 45 second lead. With 30km to go, the race became completely single file as both Sportsbook.com and 7-Up drove hard to bring back the break. With what we thought was 10km to go, we began our leadout with five men on the front, driving the field in the hope of getting Svatek and Myerson to the front until 200 to go.
But at this same time, the officials were caught in traffic behind the race and the police, not understanding that the finish was coming, started letting vehicles through. So on a two lane road, with no shoulder to speak of, we had riders lined up at 50 km/h on the right and tractor trailers and busses coming through in the right lane at double the speed only a few feet away. It was the scarierst thing that I think I've ever seen.
Brain Forbes (Jelly Belly) went down with 10km to go but luckily crashed off the road to the right; thankfully there were no other incidents. With what was supposed to be 5km to go, we hit the 1km sign and (further) pandemonium ensued.
The sprint started from way out with riders everywhere; Dan Schmatz won the sprint but missed catching the break by 20 meters as the three just held on and were passed in the chute after the finish line. Omar was still leading the U23 classification, but we couldn't shake 4th on team GC. We also receive a compliment from both the Tecos and Tercel team bosses who told me at dinner that their riders were impressed with the way we were conducting ourselves in the racing, which I took as a kind compliment.
* For all of the stages the officials were diligent about not letting riders pace back on after flats or mishaps. On stage 3, I saw two junior Mexican national team riders chase for 15km and get within 50 meters of the back of the field twice, before attacks would lead the field away. Both times, as the pair would come through the caravan, the moto official (dubbed "El Bouncero" by Mike Jones) would chase off any of the team cars trying to give the kids a moment's shelter. Harsh stuff.
Stage 5 - February 9: Criterium, 90 km
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This was our last chance to either get a stage win or move up to a paying spot for team GC. After 45km of fast racing, we finally got Nathan Rouse into a good move that included a Tercel and a Tecos rider. A lap later, Matt Svatek came across with Schmatz and then a lap after that, a group that included Myerson made it across to form a break of 20 that would go on to lap the field.
Throughout the race, Svatek attacked and attacked again, trying to get a small group clear. However, time and time again, he was brought back, but he was starting to get a fan club and his attacks would be accompanied by the cheers of "GRINGO!" from the crowd along the finish line.
With 5km to go, the Tecos boss came up to Mike and I and through an interpreter said: "If your man with the hair (Svatek) attacks and gets clear, we will not chase," which I took to be a great compliment. He then radioed in his riders and asked that one of them find Matt and tell him to attack. With three to go, Matt jumped clear and I thought: "Oh my goodness, we're going to win a stage of our first race!" but unfortunately, not everyone was on board with the plan.
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Schmatz led the charge with a couple of other riders looking for a field sprint and brought Matt back with a lap to go. In the end, it was a Tecos rider jumping clear with 600 metres to go that won the race, with Myerson grabbing a 5th place spot that would see him on the podium. Although we didn't win the stage, with three riders in the break, we accomplished the goal of moving up into 3rd on the team GC.
* Svatek crashed in the last lap to mar what was otherwise a great race for a guy who was forced to weather to cold spell in his hometown of Carlisle, Massachusetts. He was a favorite among the crowd and many of the Mexican riders for his aggressive riding and outgoing personality. While being attended to for his road rash, he drew a crowd of about 60 people. Overall, for our first race as a team, I am very pleasantly surprised. Our younger guys stepped up to the challenge and the experienced riders showed good leadership. As we integrate our other riders into the mix and build upon our lessons learned in Mexico, I'm hopeful for the season ahead.
Photos
Images by Bill Laudien
- Adam Hodges rolls down the start ramp for the opening TT
- Chuck Coyle in the capable but stern hands of "El bouncero", the Tour del Sol's moto official
- Hermisillo's finest
- Tecos Mercurio riders chase their way back to the peloton
- Pandemonium as a traffic jam takes place in the middle of stage 4
- Jose Isabel Garcia, the overall winner of the Tour del Sol
- The finish of the final stage; unfortunately, not everyone was on board with the plan to let Matt Svatek win
- Wheels anyone?
- Ross Krause working hard at the front of the peloton
- The Sportsbook.com cycling team
- Matt Svatek, nicknamed "El Gringo" for his tenacity
- Matt Svatek in the break
- Matt Svatek's army of fans make sure their hero is OK after crashing on the final lap
- The final podium comprised all Tecos Mercurio riders
- Go Mart's part-time porn star, Mike Jones
- Sportsbook.com moved into third place on team GC after a well-fought final stage
