mandel leie schelde
28/August/2011 18:15
MANDEL LEIE SCHELDE
On Saturday, Daniel Eaton faced the toughest race course and event of his short (but awesome) race career. The 120 km race includes 7 climbs that are part of theTour of Flanders race (!)......complete with cobbles. We attached a pic showing a list of the climbs, with max gradient and average gradient. Note some of the big names: the Koppenburg and the Muur which are so steep and have such tough cobblestones that many of the pros are forced to walk up the grade! Past Junior winners of this race include Tom Boonen and Tomas Dekker.
This is the first time the US squad was allowed to wear their Team USA kit (Daniel has been racing in his Strada colors) and they were lined up at the start near the front. Anyone who has seen these races knows that there is a huge fight to get to the front for the cobblestone sections where position is crucial to success. As usual, Daniel took that in stride and dropped the hammer and wound up in the front group some miles from the start. The battle was fully on and, like many seasoned pros, the cobbles wreak havoc on bikes and riders causing frequent crashes. Unfortunately, Daniel took a spill but was quickly up but his bike was damaged. He got a new bike and started chasing again. He had to wind his way through the pack on the cobbles and by the end had caught up to the group of leaders but too tired to mount his usual dazzling sprint. He finished in an incredible 23rd place finish! The top US rider finished 19th so Daniel once again showed his toughness and consistency. Over 150 riders DNF the race!!!!!!!!!! Congrats, Daniel. He advises us that he is on his way to a Switzerland for the next stage race and on September 3 the US World Championship Team will be announced. Good luck, Daniel.
On Saturday, Daniel Eaton faced the toughest race course and event of his short (but awesome) race career. The 120 km race includes 7 climbs that are part of theTour of Flanders race (!)......complete with cobbles. We attached a pic showing a list of the climbs, with max gradient and average gradient. Note some of the big names: the Koppenburg and the Muur which are so steep and have such tough cobblestones that many of the pros are forced to walk up the grade! Past Junior winners of this race include Tom Boonen and Tomas Dekker.
This is the first time the US squad was allowed to wear their Team USA kit (Daniel has been racing in his Strada colors) and they were lined up at the start near the front. Anyone who has seen these races knows that there is a huge fight to get to the front for the cobblestone sections where position is crucial to success. As usual, Daniel took that in stride and dropped the hammer and wound up in the front group some miles from the start. The battle was fully on and, like many seasoned pros, the cobbles wreak havoc on bikes and riders causing frequent crashes. Unfortunately, Daniel took a spill but was quickly up but his bike was damaged. He got a new bike and started chasing again. He had to wind his way through the pack on the cobbles and by the end had caught up to the group of leaders but too tired to mount his usual dazzling sprint. He finished in an incredible 23rd place finish! The top US rider finished 19th so Daniel once again showed his toughness and consistency. Over 150 riders DNF the race!!!!!!!!!! Congrats, Daniel. He advises us that he is on his way to a Switzerland for the next stage race and on September 3 the US World Championship Team will be announced. Good luck, Daniel.