This weekend saw Caesarean Cycling club riders Jack Rebours and Jay Cracknell riding for CC Plancoët team of six in the Grand Du Jumlage in Vire Normandy.
The sun was out in Vire for the first stage of racing on Saturday with 115km of road ahead of the team of six racing for CC Plancoët
With a very fast paced start and a constant battle for position Jay was able to manage to stay with the main group despite the constant surges. After 110km they arrived back into Vire where we had 3 finishing laps of a hilly circuit. Jay was climbing well and stayed in the top 30 or so riders. On the final accent Jay started to struggle with some cramp but pushed through and down the decent to come across the line in a strong 34thout of 140 place only 24 seconds behind the lead.
Jack unfortunately crashed near the end of the race, but managed to remount and finish 109th.
Stage 2 was a Team Time Trial of 20km, unfortunately the team was down from 6 riders to 5 so Jay, Jack and the rest of the team would need to work hard to ensure they kept their pace! With a fast, descending and technical course Jay was confident navigating the bends on his TT bike with minimal braking required to carry the speed through the course. With his legs were feeling good and with a few long pulls on the front of the group the team crossed the line with a time of 26:02 in joint 6th place.
Stage 3 was only a few hours after the team time trial. With some more fuel onboard it was time to head out on the 40km loop towards 7 finishing circuits in Vire once again. Jay preserved his energy and and General Classification position by sitting in the wheels. The finishing circuit was punchy with multiple climbs in. Lots of people were going hard early on but Jay knew he needed to save my efforts for the final 2 laps. There was a fast bendy descent into the finishing flat and rise. In the final lap he ensured he was pressing on and in a very good position coming into the descent. He then managed to be near the front on the final kms into the finish crossing the line in 10th place and first open 2 rider in stage 3, with the top 2 riders out in a break which just about stuck.
On the general classification Jay finished in a strong position of 26th overall, out of 140 who started, and was happy with his performance over the weekend.
For Jack the effects of the crash on Saturday impacted his Time Trial and road race on Sunday , but he still finished 67th in the Road race and 72th overall.
From CC Plancoët the stand out performance was Benoit Chevalier who was 1st in the points competition for best Sprinter.
In addition, Jay Cracknell won the best placed foreign (non-French) rider Jersey.