Foto´s 19e Ronde van Noordeloos

10 augustus 2010

19e ronde van Noordeloos, gefotografeerd door Anton Vos

zie ook: uitslag 19e ronde van Noordeloos | Emily Collins 4th in Noordeloos

Emily Collins 4th in Noordeloos

10 augustus 2010

SwaboLadies in Noordeloos

Race Report; Monday August 9th, 2010: Noordeloos (NL)

by: Emily Collins
fotografie: Anton Vos

After a very tough UCI race in the Holland Hills on Sunday, I fronted up for the Noordeloos Ronde yesterday afternoon feeling a bit stuffed! Noordeloos is only 15km from Oosterwijk where we are staying with Sofie and the Van Horik family so I was still very keen to race (it’s the only race on the calendar we can actually ride to from home)! We had a good line up of Swabo girls; Emily, Tracy, Miffy and Sofie. Nice to see lots of pink and white out there!! The race was around a very short/sharp 800meter circuit with a few cobbles here and there.

Surprisingly as soon as I got out there I felt great. The legs were going good and I was very set on getting a good result. It was a quick start and riders were dropping from the word go. I started attacking on the 4th or 5th lap and was consistent with this throughout the race – dead set on getting away in a break. Unfortunately I was unable to do so, but managed to push the pace enough to drop a lot of the field. I was up there for the prim’s – feeling good and sprinting well and managed to get a 2nd and 3rd. With about 10km to go I really went for it with another girl for about 4 laps. The bunch eventually reeled us in so I decided to stick in for the last 5k and focus on the sprint.

Coming into the last few laps I tried to focus on getting in a good position, however the bunch was very fast moving and on such a small circuit this proved a bit difficult. I managed to get right up there halfway through the last lap and was in a set spot for the sprint. Coming into the last straight I went ‘that bit’ too late and came in 4th place. I was happy with the way I rode – as I was aggressive and confident out there and am learning to take chances with getting away. I am however, very disappointed to have missed the podium. Was so very close!! Damn fourth place is a pain. The win went to Anna van der Breggen (WV De Noord-Westhoek).

Sofie had a good aggressive race also and was up there with the front bunch the whole way. She came in 12th. Was nice to see her crew of local fans out there supporting her and the Swabo girls! Thanks to Theo and Elles Van Horik and their family friends for giving us all a yell.
Mif and Tracy are still finding form but was great to have them out there. Team support is always good! We are now all off to Brasschat in Belgium today for another race. Hopefully the legs aren’t too weary! Has been a tough old week on the bike.

zie ook: uitslag 19e ronde van Noordeloos |

SwaboLadies verbazen in Holland Hills Classic

10 augustus 2010

Holland Hills Classic

fotografie: Bart Hazen

Valkenburg – Een week na de verkenning van het Holland Hills Classic parcours was het dan zo ver. De zwaarste een-dags koers in Nederland stond op het punt van beginnen. Het SwaboLadies team stond met zes dames aan de start, te weten: Emily, Aafke, Natalie, Cecile, Wendy en Tracy.

Helaas moest Myfanwy met een gebroken rib (Jens factor 5) de race laten voor hij was en was Stella vrijdag en zaterdag geveld door buikgriep. Desalniettemin stond er een formatie die er mocht wezen met 4 echte klimmers. Echte verwachtingen waren er niet, want in de verkenning was de schrik toch wel goed in de benen geslagen; Dit parcours was “zwaar in het kwadraat” met 2x de Eyserbosweg, 4x de Cauberg, 2x Geulhammer, 2x Kruishoeveweg en 2x Bemelerberg en ertussen natuurlijk nergens vlak.

Ondanks dat de start voor de volgers erg chaotisch verliep (tussen het gewone verkeer) hebben de deelneemsters er niets van gemerkt en konden zij na de neutralisatie direct ligt omhoog. Vanaf dat moment begon het peloton van 120 deelneemsters langzaam uit te dunnen en dit proces bleef tot de finish doorgaan.

Op kilometer 40 vond het eerste incident plaats; Wendy werd van achter aangereden door een ploegleiderwagen en smakte hard tegen de grond. Door schade aan fiets, lijf en leden moest zij de strijd staken. Tracy en Cecile gingen in het verloop van de race uit koers omdat zij het hoge tempo niet meer konden volgen. Zij waren in groot gezelschap aangezien het peloton op dat moment niet meer dan 60 rensters bedroeg.

Met nog 40 kilometer te gaan ontstond er een kopgroep van 10 dames waar alle grote namen en ploegen in waren vertegenwoordigd. Emily, Aafke en Natalie miste net de boot omdat zij net te ver achter in de groep zaten om nog te kunnen reageren. Vooral voor Emily was dat zuur aangezien zij nog over zeer goede benen beschikte.

Deze benen liet zij dan spreken in laatste kilometers, waar zij op de Cauberg 5e werd in de peloton sprint; 15e overall. Met nog een 43ste plek voor Aafke en een 49ste plaats voor Natalie had SwaboLadies een prima dag en heeft het menigeen verbaasd.

1.	Verbeke, Grace	België Nationaal
2.	Blaak, Chantal	Leontien.nl
3.	Slappendel, Iris	Cervélo Test Team
15.	Collins, Emaly	Swaboladies Cycling Team
43.	Eshuis, Aafke	Swaboladies Cycling Team
49.	van Gogh, Natalie	Swaboladies Cycling Team

zie ook:uitslag Holland Hills Classic

Race report: Kortessem (BE)

4 augustus 2010

Kortessem (BE)

door: Emily Collins – fotografie: Bart Hazen

Sunday 1st August 2010: Kortessem 1.15 Dames Elite

This Sunday I gained my first Euro podium in the Kortessem 1.15 Dames Elite Kermesse in Belgium.
The race was about 90km around an 8.1km circuit (we even got a nice little hill)
Start time was 4.30 and there were 93 girls lined up to race.
Of the Swabo girls, we had Sofie, Tracy and Emily (me).
It was a nice steady start, not too quick off the start line so a bit of time to get a feel for the course in the first few km and warm the legs up properly. Half way through the beginning lap, girls started attacking to and fro trying to get away. This got me focused on getting a good position – up where all the action was.
The finishing straight was about a km long into a nice tail wind. Here, the speed really picked up and any solo or small attacks would usually be chased down along this section. Straight around the corner from the finish we’d come into a nice sharp little hill. – Enough to hurt the legs.
In the 3rd lap I went for it up here with a few Canadian girls and one other. We attacked hard, however were chased down along the following straight by the fast moving peloton.

Kortessem (BE)

From here, the same sort of attacks kept coming. Just small stints by a few or individual riders. Each attack would slowly be pulled in – the team of Topsport girls (purple/yellow) were very respondent to these and would generally be on the front driving them back in. They had a full team of girls racing so were able to work well together.
After several more laps, nothing too exciting was going down. I decided to fuel myself up with half an energy bar and gel. The legs were surprisingly not feeling to bad! – very strange as the day before (Saturday) we had a very tough Swabo training over the Holland Hills classic course (100 plus km) – which we are due to race on this Sunday the 9th of August (going to be seriously hard )! – Anyway, after a night of recovery at team mate, Guusje’s and a lovely massage I seemed to be going well.
At the end of the 8th lap there were only 3 to go so I knew I had to take a chance soon. I was starting to get pretty frustrated with the race as nothing exciting was going on! So about halfway through the 9th lap I put my head down and went for it, just before approaching the headwind straight.

Kortessem (BE)

At first I didn’t really think too much of the attack. – I just went as hard as I could and didn’t turn back!
After a few km another rider bridged across from the bunch to jump on my wheel (Lotte Van Hoek, RWC Ahoy). This was good news for me as it now meant I had someone to share the workload with and push the pace along.
We now had just over two laps and I was really hurting. I forced some more gel down me and got the legs running in a good rhythm. Only 2 laps to go – 16km I kept telling myself.
I refused to look back to see if the bunch was approaching! – Phew it was hard. Especially into the headwind. Lotte and I worked well together, however and kept the pace going.
Coming into the last lap I was very buggered! – We still managed to push the pace hard up the hill and really went go for it.

Kortessem (BE)

It was definitely a mental boost knowing there was only 8km of pain left! Coming into the headwind straight we had about 3 or 4 km to go. Lotte turned back and saw the bunch fast approaching. This really got us going – there was no way we were going to let them get us this close to the finish. It was a pretty big effort having to dig even deeper to further up the pace. Coming into the final straight I was going for it. – Still worried the chasing peloton would catch us in the last few hundred meters. Lotte played the smart game and refused to pull through, sitting in for the final sprint. I could’ve slowed down and played the game too but I was so worried the bunch would catch us I kept driving hard on the front. In the last 200m Lotte sharply came around me and went for the line. Unfortunately I was very much out of steam and too slow to react. I tried to chase her down but she was too quick. A smart finish on her behalf.
So, I came in 2nd.

Kortessem (BE)

Not as good as the win but I am pretty happy with how I rode the race and stoaked to have gained my first European podium placing.
I am continuously building confidence and learning new skills with each race over here. I hope to keep progressing. A win would be good now.
Sofie and Tracy both had a good race, both finishing in the top peleton. Sofie came in a pleasing 17th and Tracy a bit further back. Good to see her riding strongly again.
The winner of the peloton sprint (3rd place) went to Sjoukje Dufoer of Topsport.

We are now focussed on recovering for this weekend’s Holland Hills Classic. It’s been a tough week on the bike so the legs are screaming out for a nice rest. Today will be my first actual rest day in a while! Hmm…what to do….?!

Official results of the top 30 can be found at: http://www.cyclingnews.nu/uitslagen/2010/Kortessem01-08-2010.pdf

Bart Hazen fotografeert SwaboLadies

3 augustus 2010

fotografie: Bart Hazen

De verkenning van de Holland Hills Classic werd op de voet gevolgd door fotograaf Bart Hazen. Hij heeft de meest mooie foto’s gemaakt van de SwaboLadies. Wij zijn uitermate dankbaar voor dit genereuze gebaar.