August 14, 2014 (Belgium) – Recent 2014 Canadian U23 Men’s Road Nationals champ, Benjamin Perry, is in Europe racing with the Dutch Baguet-MIBA-Indulek team and sent us the following report from the Tour de la Province de Namur in Belgium, Aug. 6-10, where he competed with fellow Canuck Sean Mackinnon and finished 9th overall – check out our interview with Perry following his U23 title victory here.

Stage 1:
My Baguet-MIBA-Indulek teammates and I (including Canadian Sean Mackinnon) began Stage 1 of the Tour de la Province de Namur (or Ronde van Namen, in Vlaams Dutch) under ominous skies. The weather for the entirety of the week wasn’t looking too hot, normal for Belgium, and rain was expected four of the five days. It as was a atandard start to a race in Belgium, guttered from KM zero, and before long it was raining. I was pretty aggressive but missed the key break, so I settled into the ebb and flow of the pack.

On such a hilly, technical and wet parcours, staying up front was key. While cresting a small riser I lost my chain, but luckily I was comfortably in the first 20 riders and just pulled over and put it back on with no stress. I hopped back on my bike and got behind a passing car, looking for a pace back to the pack. We were going downhill and suddenly the car started braking so I went around it, only to see about 50 riders sprawled out as if they were trying to make snow angels on the pavement about 50m ahead of me.

I braked as much as I could but going from about 80km/h behind a car on a wet descent, to dead stop in 50m is pretty hard. I got up and was so so so thank full I hadn’t ripped any holes in my Canadian champ suit, my bike and body were also o.k. The last 50km were full of crashes and I used all of the skills from Nathan Chown’s St.Catharines Cycling Club, Tues/Thurs Cross rides to skid through it all, riding over as few people as possible. I was in a lead group of 12 after the carnage but they neutralized the race and let everyone back in. Sure enough there was another crash but there was no intervention this time and 50 or so of us rolled in 45 seconds behind a group of five leaders. My teammates Sean and Kenny also made it to the finish in my group.

Stage 2:
We started the stage under a spherical yellow object, I can’t say for sure but it was about 150 billion kilometres above us, and I had this weird warm sensation as water wasn’t dripping off my clothes. Despite this bizarre weather we set off on stage 2. I was feeling quite good riding with the head of the pack, and after going over the first two KOM’s that came in quick succession I attacked, but no one followed. After about 3km not pushing too hard off the front two riders came up and soon another five joined us.

We rode hard but I was feeling really, really good and as it turned out I was the virtual leader once we had 45 seconds on the pack. We pushed and pushed and for a while it looked like the Lotto-Belisol team, chasing to keep the yellow jersey, was dying. A few teams came to their aid and we were brought back with 20km to go. The pack had split from the effort of the chase and a group of 40 riders scooped us up. Sean had broken his wheel just before the split and unfortunately wasn’t there. I rode the last 15km safe and rolled in with the bunch. Now I was sitting in a 3-way tie for 7th at 45 seconds behind the race leader.

Stage 3
It was another standard Belgian day as the heavens opened. The Vastgoedservice team of yellow jersey Sander Cordeel controlled the race. They let the polka dots go in a break of three and shut everything else down. We rolled around soaking wet and freezing cold for four hours and finished as a big bunch. Boring day.

Stage 4
Don’t let the dry race summary of the wet Stage 3 deter you – things got quite real today. We had a series of tough climbs all day before four climbs in the final 15km. After the first of these climbs I attacked solo off a lined out bunch. Soon riders from Topsport Vlaanderen and EFC-OmegaPharma-QuickStep rode up to me and we proceeded to rip it up. We caught the break of the day that had the polka dot jersey and a few other riders. Most of them were dropped on the next climb and a few other riders jumped across to us.

This is when I noticed my front tire was down to about 40psi. The descent to the final 2km climb was tricky but I kept upright. The three of us at 45sec down on GC kept the pace high all the way up to the finish. I felt good with 200m to go and with my now basically flat front wheel I knew I had to be first around the final 90-degree bend with 50m to go. I launched and no one was coming up beside me, I came out of the last corner still with a bike length lead and smashed the pedals as hard as I could when all of a sudden I got no response from my rear wheel, I had broken my freehub body.

All I could do was coast and watch five riders sprint past me as stage honours went to the QuickStep rider. I was full of different emotions after the finish, happy to have had such a performance and was now tied for the lead in young rider classification, as well as being in 8th on the day and in a 3-way tie for 6th overall. Although initially it was hard to see it, I was quite lucky that I had my mechanicals when I did as they could of happened at worse times which would have resulted in me taking nothing from the day. Still I wondered at what might have been had I had an inflated tube and rolling wheel. Tomorrow will be another day.

Stage 5
Top-5 hardest days ever on the bike. Five teams were motivated to destroy the race. We had wind to the extent that there were tornado warnings. And the rain was like the amazon jungle with 150 nervous skinny guys with shaved legs. In the gutter from the gun the pack split into about 10 groups. I definitely had some nervous moments when I wasn’t in the lead 15 but didn’t panic – my teammate Kenny was with me and kept me sheltered and after 10km we were back in the lead group.

The group swelled as groups began to reattach and at the base of a long hard climb at 50km Sean and about 1/2 the riders who started the day were just behind the lead group. I was positioned well on the climb, in the top 10 with the other main GC riders, when I rode through a huge pothole and got a flat. I took my wheel out and waited, thinking my tour might be over. The pack was long at this moment and there wasn’t a car baring wheels in sight.

The final riders still in contact as the main bunch rolled by and Sean was one of them. He looked at me and we had a very Canadian exchange. “Oh hey man, you gotta flat” – “Ya, I know, it sucks” – “Do you want my wheel dawg?” – “Well, if you don’t mind?”. So I ran over and grabbed Sean’s wheel and put it on, and then followed the cars up the climb. Coming over the top I saw that the pack now had about 60 riders and was in 3 or 4 groups, mangled by the crosswinds. I was alone, chasing hard. With no cars to help me I had a sick feeling in my stomach and went really, really deep. I managed to ride past the 3rd group to get to the second group. We rolled through for a while and when we were about 200m behind my teammate Kenny saw I was behind and he dropped back to my group and pulled me back up.

After more tense moments, wet ascents and descents I was again in the box holding on for dear life in the lead group of 15 with the yellow jersey. A group of 10 riders came up after everything settled down and the showdown was now on for the final 15km.

First we climbed a steep 3km climb before rocketting down a descent to the base of the Citadel of Namur, a famous, lightly cobbled, 3km berg up to a medieval castle. On the first of two climbs I was chewing stem. Riders were flying out the pack and seven of us crested the top together. At this point I had the virtual young rider jersey and assumed no one was coming back on the 80km/h+ descent to the base of Citadel. I was wrong however as three guys in YR came back with a few others in tow – now 14 of us had about a 7-minute climb ahead of us to put all the cards on the table.

We hit the bottom and two riders were immediately dropped, I was following whatever I could and the yellow jersey and one other rider got away clean. The other 10 of us attacked each other constantly, and two others got away. We came around the final bend still only barely together, and utterly gassed from my efforts, I rounded out the group with a 12th place on the stage. I finished 9th overall and us young riders were tied 7th, 8th and 9th on GC as well as 1st, 2nd, 3rd in the classification. Due to the rankings, and because of stage placements, I missed out and got the short end of the stick in the tie game.

I am happy with my race, and really grateful for my teammates Jasper, Dante, Ruben, Sean and Kenny. Without Sean’s wheel on the final stage, and Kenny looking out for me, it’s 100% certain that I would not have accomplished my results. I am also so happy and lucky that three guys can volunteer for a week to drive us around, fill our bottles, wash our bikes, and rub our tired legs. Thank you.

Results

Stage 1 – Aug. 6 – Jambes to Doische – 156.6 km
1. Dimitri Peyskens (Lotto-Belisol U23) 3:53:42
2. Axel Decorte (BCV Works Soenens)
3. Sander Cordeel (Vastgoedservice-Golden Palace)
4. Jimmy Janssens (Team 3M)
5. Antoine Warnier (Color Code Bio Wanze) 0:23
6. Alessandro Soenens* (BCV Works Soenens) 0:40
7. Dieter Bouvry (EFC Omega Pharma Quick-Step)
8. Joeri Calleeuw (Geldof Jielker CT) 0:45
9. Christophe Noppe* (EFC Omega Pharma Quick-Step)
10. Marcel Meisen (Kwadro-Stanah)

29. Benjamin Perry* (Baguet-MIBA Poorten-Indulek)
47. Sean Mackinnon* (Baguet-MIBA Poorten-Indulek)

Stage 2 – Aug. 7 – Bièvre to Gedinne – 159.2km
1. Kevin Pauwels (Sunweb Napoleongames) 3:44:34
2. Florent Delfosse* (Color Code Bio Wanze)
3. Marcel Meisen (Kwadro-Stanah)
4. Michael Vanthourenhout* (Sunweb Napoleongames)
5. Rob Peeters (Vstgoedservice-Golden Palace)
6. Joeri Calleeuw (Geldof Jielker CT)
7. Robby Cobbaert (BCV Works Soenens)
8. Gianni Marchand (Deerlijk Gaverzicht Matexi)
9. Dieter Bouvry (EFC Omega Pharma Quick-Step)
10. Tim Merlier (Sunweb Napoleongames)

43. Benjamin Perry* (Baguet-MIBA Poorten-Indulek)
77. Sean Mackinnon* (Baguet-MIBA Poorten-Indulek) 1:37

Stage 3 – Aug. 8 – Philippeville to Florennes – 160km
1. Joeri Calleeuw (Geldof Jielker CT)
2. Marcel Meisen (Kwadro-Stanah) 0:01
3. Frederik Van Boven (Wetterse Dakwerken-Trawobo)
4. Gerry Druyts (Team 3M)
5. Florent Delfosse* (Color Code Bio Wanze)
6. Christophe Noppe* (EFC Omega Pharma Quick-Step)
7. Jens Adams (Vastgoedservice-Golden Palace)
8. Gianni Marchand (Deerlijk Gaverzicht Matexi)
9. Dimitri Claeys (VL Techniks Abutriek)
10. Yorben Van Tichelt* (Sunweb Napoleongames)

67. Benjamin Perry* (Baguet-MIBA Poorten-Indulek)
68. Sean Mackinnon* (Baguet-MIBA Poorten-Indulek)

Stage 4 – Aug. 9 – Dinant to Dinant – 156km
1. Aime De Gendt* (EFC Omega Pharma Quick-Step) 3:46:01
2. Dries Van Gestel* (Lotto-Belisol U23)
3. Sibrecht Pieters (Team Ottignies Perwez)
4. Colin Joyce (USA U23 CT)
5. Rudy Rouet (Palm PCW)
6. Benjamin Perry* (Baguet-MIBA Poorten-Indulek)
7. Jean-Albert Carnevali (Verandas Willems) 0:02
8. Otto Vergaerde (Belgian Cycling Team) 0:07
9. Marcel Meisen (Kwadro-Stanah)
10. Gerry Druyts (Team 3M)

65. Sean Mackinnon (Baguet-MIBA Poorten-Indulek) 0:49

Stage 5 – Aug. 10 – Walcourt to Namur – 157km
1. Joeri Calleeuw (Geldof Jielker CT) 55:21
2. Sander Cordeel (Vastgoedservice-Golden Palace) 0:05
3. Florent Delfosse* (Color Code Bio Wanze) 0:09
4. Dieter Bouvry (EFC Omega Pharma Quick-Step)
5. Gerry Druyts (Team 3M) 0:16
6. Floris Smeyers (Verandas Willems)
7. Antoine Warnier (Color Code Bio Wanze)
8. Aime De Gendt* (EFC Omega Pharma Quick-Step)
9. Axel Decorte (BCV Works Soenens)
10. Gianni Marchand (Deerlijk Gaverzicht Matexi)

12. Benjamin Perry* (Baguet-MIBA Poorten-Indulek) 0:16
114. Sean Mackinnon (Baguet-MIBA Poorten-Indulek) 23:25

Final GC

1. Sander Cordeel (Vastgoedservice-Golden Palace)
2. Axel Decorte (BCV Works Soenens) 0:11
3. Dimitri Claeys (VL Techniks Abutriek) 0:28
4. Antoine Warnier (Color Code Bio Wanze) 0:34
5. Joeri Calleeuw (Geldof Jielker CT) 0:39
6. Dieter Bouvry (EFC Omega Pharma Quick-Step) 0:44
7. Florent Delfosse* (Color Code Bio Wanze) 0:49
8. Aime De Gendt* (EFC Omega Pharma Quick-Step) 0:49
9. Benjamin Perry* (Baguet-MIBA Poorten-Indulek) 0:49
10. Gerry Druyts (Team 3M) 0:56

76. Sean Mackinnon (Baguet-MIBA Poorten-Indulek) 26:24