Team TIBCO is all about team work
Team TIBCO is all about team work
I thought in this blog, I would write about team work, about how each rider on the team has a specific role to play, about how we share and enjoy our wins and how our tactics are planned out.
I have decided to pick a stage of the Tour of the Gila. The Tour of the Gila stage race, 30th April to 5th May, was held in Silvercity, New Mexico. Our team flew to Tucson where we met our team mechanic with the van and trailer and did the 3 hour drive to Silvercity.
The plan for our team was to win the tour – a plan that all 6 TIBCO riders were 100% committed to. For this to happen, 5 of us would be sacrificing ourselves, in order for one of us to win the tour.
This is an aspect of cycling that many people either don’t understand or have some trouble comprehending. However, within our team, each team mate appreciates the hard work we do, and so this motivates us all to ride beyond our limits in order to help our team mate win. We don’t interpret the win as an individual win, but rather as a win for the team. We all do our specific job within the race to deliver one of our team mates across the finish line first.
A new rider, Jo Kiesanaski from New Zealand had recently joined Team TIBCO, and this race would be her first race with the team. Other Team TIBCO riders included Rushlee Buchanan, Rachel Heal, Amber Rais, Jerika Hutchinson and myself.
Stage 4 of the tour was a criterium, held in downtown Silvercity. Each lap was about 1km with a 300m hill on the back side of the course. Our team was down to 5 riders since Jerika had crashed heavily the day before and could not continue racing. Our initial plan was to have all TIBCO riders driving it hard on the front of the peloton, in a single line, and make the pace so high that when Jo or Rach attacked, it would be difficult for other teams to react. Our plan was to get either Rach or Jo into a break, or away solo.
After setting a high pace for several laps, we realised this plan wasn’t going to work. So we moved to plan B. Rushlee attacked through the start/finish line and took off solo. This forced the other teams to chase her and let us sit in and rest.
As soon as Rushlee was caught, I attacked. I successfully stretched the field into a single line as I pedalled as hard as I could. After a lap off the front, it was all back together and then Amber launched on the climb. Amber got a huge gap and spent the next lap and half away, being chased by the entire field. Amber had won the stage the day before and no-one was going to let her win again. We repeated this pattern of attacking, which eventually had the desired effect of shredding the field. After each attack, the field continued to dwindle as one rider after another failed to remain in contact. Our plan B was working perfectly. Jo and Rach remained patient, both posed, waiting for the right move to come.
With 3 laps to go, 2 riders attacked on the climb and quickly got a 100m gap. I glanced behind me to see Rach sprinting hard down the left side of the peloton and in hot pursuit of the two riders. Within half a lap she made contact and tried to recover from her effort. The peloton watched the 3 riders in front but didn’t react. This hesitation gave the 3 riders a 15 seconds lead over the field that they would hold all the way to the finish.
I had been in a break on this same circuit the year before and had finished 2nd. I told everyone in our team meeting that to win, you need to be first into the final corner. With my words in Rach’s head she attacked hard before the final corner and sprinted across the line for a very sweet stage win.
After the finish, we rolled back to our van where it was hugs and high fives all round. The staff were delighted with our win and congratulated us on a perfectly executed performnace.
That evening we toasted each other on a fantastic team win with red wine (only one glass each as we still had 3 days of racing left), nibbled on some chocolate and discussed what tactics we would put in place tomorrow, to try and win again.
Thanks for reading.
Cheers
Helen.