I have not updated this one for a very long time, sorry! I have just done my last race for the season and soon been away from home for four weeks on a racing tourJ I am still in Holland, but maybe I should start from the beginning.
World cup in Sweden
My last update was about Thüringen Rundfahrt and directly from Germany we went to Vårgårda in Sweden for the world cup, it was only two days in between. This was also with the national team even though we changed a few riders. It was two races, first the road race on Wednesday and a team time trail on Friday.
In the road race I felt good from the beginning but it did not last that long, after only 30 kilometers I got problem with my chain and had to get service, our mechanic could not fix it so I got the spare bike, it was to small so I had to stop again to higher the saddle, by the time I could cycle again the bunch was far gone. I tried for a while but could not catch them and stopped soon after. Unfortunate since it is always nice to do that world cup in Sweden.
We had never done a team time trail and the team had never ridden together so this was only a fun thing for us. We trained the day before and during that hour we improved a lot and on race day it actually worked well for us and we finished 8th out of 13 teams and even had some professional teams behind us. We were happy with that but we had an accident in the race that took the happiness away totally. With only 300 meters to go a dog ran out on the road and Camilla who was lying first at that moment had no chance to see it and hit it, she had to go in the ambulance to hospital and she was badly injured.
Rest and training
After the world cup I felt that my form was low and I needed to concentrate on my training and not race for a while, so I took three weeks off and went home to my parents. First I had a rest week and then two hard training weeks. I did a fun ride during my training and when I easily could sit in a bunch with guys and do 140 km with an average of 40.3km/h I felt that the form was on its way back.
Races in Sweden
I went down south in Sweden to do some smaller races and since it was in the end of my two weeks of hard training I did not expect so much, it went well but no podium positions. I stayed with my manager during the week until the next race, this was when my little tour started.
Friday till Sunday we had a smaller stage race. It started with a hill sprint of 1100 meters on Friday evening, I got second and it felt good even if my legs hurt a lot. On Saturday morning we did a criterium for 24 minutes, it was a bunch sprint and after a photo finish I was fourth, a bit unfortunate because it was bonus seconds that I would have needed in the final… In the afternoon we had a 15 km time trail, since I love time trailing this was the stage that I wanted to go for and I did, I won by 20 second over Emilia Fahlin that normally rides for Colombia and is the Swedish road champ. I took over the overall lead but only had 3 seconds to Emilia. On Sunday we had a 72 km road race and basically who ever came first over the line of me and Emilia would win since it was 15, 10, 5 bonus seconds. Since she is one of the best sprinters in the world with several podium positions in sprints in UCI races I knew she would be hard to beat. She won and I finished third on the day and second in the general classement.
Holland ladies tour
The day after, on Monday, I flew to Holland to do the Holland ladies tour that started on the Tuesday. I did that race as a guest rider for Red Sun ladies team, the same Dutch team as I raced with in Czech republic earlier this summer.
It was a six day stage race with a time trail the second day and a hilly road race the last day, other then that it was flat road races. It went well, I was racing well and felt very active during the races. The first day I attacked three times and got away alone, I was hoping that a few riders would come with but nothing happened, it was a bunch sprint in the end. The second day was the time trail, I felt good but lost it a bit in the end and was a little bit disappointed with my 34th place. The third day six riders were away and stayed away till the finish, with three kilometers to go I attacked the bunch and got away on my own, I tried to go for that seventh place but the bunch caught me 200 meters from the finish, I got 43 insteadL Well, at least I tried! On the fourth day we had an evening race, we were waiting in the sun the whole day until it started to rain and it was time for the start. It was not such an interesting race and it ended with a bunch sprint. On the fifth day the race was held close to the Red sun´s area and it was an important day for us. It all turned out as we wanted it. Petra from the team was away for the whole day, I had planned to try something but she did the full job instead, the rest of us did our best so that the bunch would not catch them. In the end she got third! Very well done to Petra and I think the best result the team has ever had! The last day was down in Limburg, the hilly area of Holland, my legs felt a bit tired before the start and I was nervous, but it was gone when we started and everything felt good. But I missed the break when the first group went on one of the hills, so I was sitting in the second group, very disappointed with my self because I did not feel tired and think that I could have done a lot better then my 24th place that day. Out of 87 girls I finished 31st, not a very good result but I am happy with the way I raced during the week.
Tour de Ardeche
After Holland ladies tour we only had one rest day and that was a traveling day, we had 12 hours of driving to France for the next stage race, only that the car broke down and we had to wait for 5 hours at a garage in France so the whole trip took us 17 hours instead!
Now it was time for Tour de Ardeche, a five day hilly stage race, I was really looking forward to this since I like hills more then flats. This time I was not the only Swede in the Red Sun team, Emma Johansson, the Olympic silver medalist, also raced with us as a guest rider since her team was not doing this race. The first day started slowly which I thought was good after last week and the long trip the day before. The race really started on the third climb, a break of 11 riders got away, Emma was one of them. I felt strong and was one of the first up in the bunch, unfortunately I punctured on a very narrow and fast downhill 20 kilometers from the finish, I never thought I would get back since the bunch was now going fast to try and catch the break away. Luckily I got back with 10 kilometers to go. With only one kilometer to the finish the bunch caught up with the group and I told Emma in the radio that we were coming, at that moment she attacked and could stay in front of the peleton but two girls passed her on the finish line so she got third. I finished in the bunch as 34th.
On the second day I woke up with a very sore throat and was not sure if I could race or not, but since I really want this I started. It was a double stage with a nine kilometer time trail in the morning, it was hard to push since I was lacking energy but it went alright and I was 38th. In the afternoon I had no strength, my throat was sore and my head felt like a balloon. I finished the race in the second bunch, about 11 minutes after the first.
On the third day I had to realize that the race was over for me, I had a fever that day and stayed in bed the whole day. I was sad about this since I really wanted to finish this race, it was my last for the season.
Emma kept doing really well and with the places of 3, 9, 2, 3, 3, 3 she finished 4th overall!
I wish the season was not over cause I still feel hungry for racing, I see it as a good thing, then I am motivated to start my winter training in a couple of months.
I came back to Holland today and fly back to Sweden tomorrow, I will keep training for a few weeks before I take my rest period. So we will see when I update this next time!