After 4 Silver European Championship medals (2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014) there really was only one goal in Sigulda, Latvia last weekend; Sally wanted Gold: Badly.
Sally – After training on the course – 80km with just 1300metres of climbing – it was clear that it’d be a high speed race with riders staying together in groups to avoid wasting energy riding alone in the wind on the long open sections. Staying together in the peloton and sprinting for the finish wasn’t really how I wanted the race to pan out, but I knew it would be risky to ride alone in front while the chasing group worked together behind me. Not being one to turn an opportunity down, I made a break from the group after about 25km, leaving only 55km to go alone.
When I knew that my lead was gradually increasing, my attention started to turn to not making any mistakes and avoiding punctures! Sticking to my nutrition plan was critical to avoid blowing up and getting caught: 2.5 litres of TORQ energy and 6 TORQ gels gave me the 90g of carbohydrates I needed per hour. Riding up the final climb, hearing the incredible support from the crowds and knowing that I’d finally broken the Silver Spell was awesome. European Champion. Finally!
Thanks as always for your support! TORQ Chews rock: one an hour before the start and one 10minutes before the start worked really well for me!
Photos courtesy of: Zigismunds Zalmanis (NIKON), Jelizaveta Iljina, Reinis Hofmanis
Here’s a race video clip:https://www.facebook.
Sally’s now back in Austria for some quality time sleeping in the same bed and eating great food before the next big goal: World Championships in France on Sunday 26th June.
Check out Sally’s full race reports at http://www.sallybigham.com
