Club la Santa 4 Stage MTB Race, 38-31 Jan 2023

I went into this race unsure of a couple of things so just wanted to take each day as it came, especially since you could enter each stage individually or them all together so there were going to be some fresh legs on the start line each day. 

Stage 1 was a UCI C3 event which meant the top 5 would get UCI points. Getting UCI points is a goal of mine for this year after being rather close on a few occasions, but I didn’t think it would be possible at this event. This stage was 45km where the first 23km were pretty much all uphill. I’d looked at the race profile in the manual and thought if I could make it that far then the run back to the finish would be easier as it was all downhill. However, that was not the case as I made the mistake of not factoring in the wind direction. It was a block head wind all the way back, making the downhill section harder than the uphill! I spent most of the race switching positions with a couple of the other girls and the group of four quickly became two of us. We were battling for 4th place and by this point I knew I had a very good chance of getting the UCI point I was wanting. After doing a turn on the front I lost contact with the other rider and spent the remaining 10km pushing on to hold 5th place, which I managed to do and get 1 UCI point. 

For stage 2 I learned from my mistake with the wind and because the course again was uphill on the way out but a headwind on the way back, I didn’t set off quite as hard and settled into a good pace with the same girls I was in the group with on stage 1. Stage 2 was also a UCI C3 event so more UCI point were up for grabs. Just like stage 1 we all kept swapping positions and getting gaps at the points that suited our individual strengths. This continued happening until roughly half way through where the group completely split, and I found myself in 6th place with 5th place still in sight. I pushed a little too hard trying to catch back on and ending up being caught and passed. I ended up crossing the line in 7th place which moved me to 6th on GC. 

Stage 3 was an uphill TT that began right by the sea and climbed up to 819m. The climb began on a wide gravel road before turning a little bit more technical and rockier. About half way there was a section of slightly downhill single track. I lost a little bit of time on the first part of this as I caught a rider but managed to pass them at the first opportunity and settle back into a good rhythm. After the single-track section, it went back out onto a gravel road that took us to the finish line and, surprise, surprise it was a head wind run into the finish. On finishing the TT, I felt like I had paced it well and didn’t spend too long in the red which I hoped would pay off for the XCM stage. I finished this stage in 6th place and moved up to 5th place on GC and managed to put a good amount of time between me and 6th place in the GC. 

Stage 4 was a UCI C1 marathon event, 85km with a significant climb around the mid-way point. It was significantly less windy for stage 4 than it had been on the previous days which made it feel a lot warmer. I managed to eat and drink enough and was still feeling fairly fresh at the bottom of the main climb. I started the climb in a group and settled into my own pace. Some of the riders rode off ahead and some dropped back off, but I knew I had to ride my own race up the climb because there was still a long way to go after getting to the top. I got to the top in 6th place, but 5th place was the girl behind me on GC and although I had a decent gap over her I knew I couldn’t let the gap get too big so I had to push on a little harder a little sooner than I originally planned too. It all paid off in the end as I crossed the line in 6th place bagging some more UCI points and was close enough to hold onto 5th on GC. 

All in all, it was a really good few days racing with great weather and scenery and some fast technical descents. The results were just the icing on top of the cake though. My biggest win was being able to ride pain free on the MTB 4 days back-to-back, something I haven’t been able to do for a very long time.

Kim Baptista