Put two Ed in your ride and your average speed will increase by almost 2 km/h.
Amesbury Amble 2019 (https://www.strava.com/activities/2287639549) - 27.9 km/h
Amesbury Amble 2021 (https://www.strava.com/activities/5340745666) - 28.0 km/h
Amesbury Amble 2022 (https://www.strava.com/activities/6955948704) - 29.7 km/h
The Pope acted as The Pope and started to attack each ramp we faced. Ed van der Poel following suit, me happy just hanging in there.
We stopped for lunch at Amesbury and you could tell that didn’t go down well in Ed van del Poel’s body. He started to struggle a little.
Quite the opposite for me. I started to think “Actually, I’m feeling quite well”. What did I do? I started to visit the front. That’s not like me!!! That is more like if I were playing Denis’ role. [I thought about writing that I was playing Dai’s role but that wouldn’t be accurate as I wasn’t at the front all the time].
By the time Ed van der Poel started to recover The Pope started to struggle. To the point that I thought that today he was playing JFW’s role.
The problem was that Ed van der Poel was getting a strong second wind and he started to play Bidders’ role. A moment I decided it would be better for me to play Javier’s role… Except when we hitted any ramp. When we hitted any ramp I started to play The Pope’s role and felt almost compelled to attack then.
The problem with that attitude, no matter how laudable, is that you get tired. Maybe I wasn’t playing The Pope’s role all that well.
So I decided to focus on playing Javier’s role. I know I can play that one quite well and we were approaching the final sprint so that role comes as a second nature to me.
Ed van der Poel played Denis’ role despite we had agreed The Pope was going to play it. I’m not sure what role The Pope played because he disconnected from the sprint. I definitely was playing Javier’s role.
Ed van der Poel didn't play Denis’ role that well. Instead of keeping a constant and steady pace he kept accelerating. He almost dropped me!!! Well, not only that… He almost took the sprint!!! Attacking from the front!!! That’s not a great Denis’ impersonation I have to say.
Luckily I was playing Javier’s role to perfection and managed to take the sprint. I’m pretty sure Ed van der Poel still doesn't know where the line is. No one ever said spriting is a fair game.
I am convinced Ed van der Poel didn’t enjoy his role as Denis’ either because came Coombe Lane and he decided to play Ed van der Poel. Coombe Lane was Santa Caterina in 2021, I played Julian Alaphilippe and you know how that ended.
I was still very happy with my ride (probably happier than Alaphilippe with his at that Strade Bianche). At no moment I struggled. Power decreased in the second half but was still decent. Finished feeling well. A strong sign that endurance is coming. Happy days.
The ride in Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/6955948704/
Take care
Javier Arias González
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