Well, here I am representing JetFuel and Canada In Fiorenzuola D’Arda, Italy at the 80th edition of the 6 Giorni Delle Rose, one of two Italian 6 day bike races this year. The race dates back to 1929, making this the 80th edition of the race. The velodrome in Fiorenzuolo that we are racing on is the oldest velodrome in the world that is still active. As you can imagine, the racing here has seen many top champions such as Fausto Coppi, Silvio Martinello, Mario Cipolini, and many more. This year, the race is including 5 Olympic medalists, and many more riders with world championship medals. That ranks my partner Mark MacDonald and myself, towards the bottom end of this field. We are team number 19 out of 20. But hey, we have good odds of moving up in these rankings.
OK, Forget the small details, and small races, straight to the good stuff… In the final Madison of the day, Mark and I Lapped the field with the Olympic Gold and Silver medalists from Beijing, Walter Perez and Tony Tauler! It was fast!!!!!!!!! When we watched the race on TV just a few hours later, it was great to see yourself hurt like that! That’s racing. After we caught the back of the group, Mark got a nice “Way to go” tap on the butt from the Olympic champ Tony Tauler… Pretty cool!
As for the rest of the day, it was fast, but very safe. I’ve never rider with better riders in my life. Smooth, strong, and just very confident to ride so close to one another. In the points race, the speed was high, at least 50km/h, but the track is fast and there was no wind making it easier. I managed to get up there in a few sprints, and get some points, when Mark entered the race, he did the exact same thing, so It was good to know that we can sprint with these boys. I chose to ride a 92″ gear, and it was a bit small to really kick in the sprints. When you get a lead out at over 65km/h, a 94″ would be better, but it’s only day 1…
Next, I rode the scratch race, and Mark rode the Miss & out. I finished 5th in the scratch getting us a few more points in the overall, and Mark was 8th, in the elimination just out of the points.
In the Giro Lanciato, I was the rider doing it. And to save my legs, I kept the small 92” gear on (48×14) and gave her what I had. We finished somewhere in the top half, so that wasn’t bad in that gear.
After racing was over, we ate a lot, and we slept even more!. Only 5 more days to go… This is fun!
Hell yeah Coach DeFranceschi
great stuff. keep it coming if you can… many are interested in the North Americans in the race.. your inside details and stories are more than we can find… even in Italian.
Keep it rolling.
North American Riders Rock!