Torey Philip is racing with the 17-18 USA National Team in Italy.
The Giro Della Lunigiana was my first ever big European stage race. There were 172 riders competing for the green leader's jersey. The course for stage 1 was 95 km and had one small climb that we rode up twice. In the first half hour, we averaged about 50kph. A rider from Kazakhstan won solo. I finished in the peloton.
Stage 2 was 101 km and had a steep 2 km climb in the middle and finished on a brutal 4 km climb. After about 20 km, my teammate, Austin Boswell, went down in a crash. I stopped to give him a wheel because he was one of our protected riders but we found out the derailleur hanger was broken so he had to wait for a spare bike. I remounted my bike and worked my way through the caravan to get back into the peloton. After the climb, some teammates and I moved to the front to chase down a breakaway. We caught the break and a couple minutes later, CRASH! A rider a few spots ahead touched wheels and took down me and two of my teammates, Matt Lipscomb and Kristo Jorgenson. Luckily I just landed on bikes and people so I was able to bounce back up quickly. I got back to the lead group right before the finishing climb. I was amazed at how fast these European kids can climb. I can climb pretty well back in the US but over here, I finished 81st about 4 minutes down. After the race, Austin and Kristo took a little trip to the hospital to get their injuries checked out.
Stage 3 was the hardest stage. It was 117 km with 3 climbs out on the course and a 7 km climb to the finish. The pace was fast the whole race. On a descent, an Italian rider ran me off the road and into the grass. Luckily I didn't hit the deck. Matt got into an early break so Kristo and I did some blocking at the front. The break eventually was caught. On the way to the finishing climb, a crash split the peloton and once we hit the climb, I tried to bridge up to the lead peloton but they were just to fast. I finished 69th at 5 minutes down.
Stage 4 was definitely the fastest. It was 100 km and we did 2 circuits with 1 big climb and 1 small climb. Each time up the big climb, I got dropped and had to ride through the caravan on the descent to get back to the peloton. On the second lap, the peloton split in two. I finished in the second group 4 minutes down. Overall, I ended up 71st. This was probably the hardest race I have ever done and probably had the hardest climbs I have ever ascended. I learned a lot and hopefully, I will eventually be able to climb as well as these guys!
posted by Larry for Torey
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