Matt Page, event organiser and racer, shares his experiences on the last day of the Perskindol Swiss Epic.
Perskindol Swiss Epic. Photo: Alex Buschor / aPix
A week ago I arrived in Switzerland, meeting race partner Stu for the first time in the baggage reclaim. Having not ridden with Stu before I was a little apprehensive to say the least.
While I wasn’t at the Swiss Epic for a “result”, I still wanted to push myself and do well and a good race partner is crucial. I know lots of people (myself included) who have raced pairs and ended up falling out and I am sure its common.
It’s great then that Stu and I got on really well and raced well together, learning each other’s strengths and weaknesses and feeling like we were competing towards the sharp end all week.
At the start of the final day, lining up in the front start pen for the last time I tried to soak it all up. I may never get to be in the same race as Olympic and World champions again, let alone chat to them.
Our plan was simple. Flat out, start to finish. We were lying in 21st position, so trying to get into the top 20 was the aim and we would need to take 10 minutes out of the team in front to do that.
The first 2km was the same as yesterday and the pace was super fast at the front as the Stockli-BiXS pair of Mathias Flückinger and Lukas Buchli were ripping it up as they needed just 1 minute to take the overall GC and Team Centurion, the leaders after stage four were on the defensive. There was no way that either of us was sticking with the front group pace up the hill today!
The first descent was taken at a snails pace, some of the teams in front who can start fast were a little tentative on the downhills to say the least.
The track was a mixture between technical singletrack climbing and faster, wide gravel roads. At 29km we arrived in Zermatt, although Stu hadn’t realised and that was probably a good thing.
The final descent was incredible. I led the way, trying to stay smooth and take hardtail lines with Stu following close behind, his skills improving massively during the week. Part of me wanted to just finish the race, but the other part wanted the downhill to go on and on!
We crossed the line together with grins from ear to ear; the final downhill was the perfect way to end and after waiting around the finish for a little, we realised that we’d done enough to take 20th place.
Read the full blog here.
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