FRED WRIGHT
Last week was Paris-Nice, an important early-season stage race that has it all. Typically, you start off with some flatter stages and slowly, as you head south, things get more lumpy. Throw in some crosswinds on those flat days and it’s definitely a solid week on the bike.
For me, it’s a race for adding the icing on the cake before the Classics kick off properly. Writing this the day after the race, I’m hoping it wasn’t too much icing, as the body feels rather destroyed. They call it ‘the Race to the Sun’, but this year it was more a race to the rain. We started the week with nice weather and not even a crosswind in sight but come the weekend the heavens opened.
The last couple of days of racing were short but brutal. The stage profiles themselves were hard enough but throw in the rain and they got really interesting. Getting the clothing right was tough. Luckily we have lots of options to choose from.
Normally, I’m great at making the right choices but the past few days I just couldn’t get it right. I was either too hot or too cold. It’s important to not overheat up the climb but then have options to stay warm on the descent. That means a rain jacket stuffed up the back of the jersey and extra gloves in the pocket.
