After 10 km, the lead group was down to five riders – SimbazU23 Peter and Kenneth, and three strong senior riders from the Kenyan Riders team. Just after the mid-way point, Peter and Kenneth attacked on a long climb. They both put out good power over four minutes of steep ascent to distance the others. The two couldn’t make the gap stick on the flat section following the climb and were gradually reeled in by the three in pursuit.
The group of five stayed together until the end, with many attacks attempted. It came down to a bunch sprint, which was won by Kenyan Riders, Simon Ketoti, with Peter and Kenneth picking up 2nd and 3rd place, and 1st and 2nd U23.
A good result was not the target for this race, but a good result came by virtue of the aggressive racing against riders who they did not expect beat. Peter and Kenneth took a lot of confidence from this race, and have learned not to fear other strong riders. They now know that if they ride hard and suffer, they’re making other people suffer just as much and maybe more. Of course there’s still much to reflect on and many improvements to make. If they’d worked together better in the last 1km, could one of them have taken first place? How will they race in a few months time with the benefit of focused, specific training and fresh legs?
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