Jacob Rathe Reports from Italy

I can't believe this kid.  He's having some amazing adventures in Italy right now, racing for the US Jr. National team.  Give his account of Giro Di Basilicata a read, and remember he's only 17! 

Bonjourno,

As you probably know, I am in Italy. Enjoy.

Stage 1- Giro Di Basilicata

For the first few days of our Italy adventure, we stayed in the Tuscan city of Lucca. My coach, Butch Martin, named his dog after this city. It is that cool. The mountains sit right behind us and the Mediterranean 25k’s to the west. The town area is surrounded by a wall. Narrow alleys, café’s and elegant shops make up the inside. On the outside crazy drivers fly through the narrow streets. On our rides the cars are not afraid to pass even with oncoming cars. There is almost a head on collision every corner. Every time the car seems to move over just in time. Only one truck has lost a mirror.  On Thursday we drove 6 hours south to the small town of Melfi, in the region of Basilicata. The terrain consists of large rolling hills. Similar to the Walla Walla area.  This time of year the farmers burn their fields. So the air was hazy with smoke, and sometimes a fire would be burning right next to the road. Our first race was Friday, a 107k chant over flat wide open roads, a few short climbs, and one monster 20k climb. The plan for the team was to be active early, and make something happen. I did just that and got into a break 15k into the race. It was just me and a Russian for a very long time. There was a strong head wind, and since it was a point-to-point race, it seemed like we were going into it the whole time.  It was also very hot, in the 90’s. We were working well together and got up to a 90 second advantage. Half way up the long climb, which turned out to have several short downhill sections, two Italians bridged up to us. They were typical Italians and one of them wouldn’t work. So the cooperation went to hell. Our advantage got down to 34 seconds and we could occasionally see the peloton. We started to work together better and regained some time on the flats. The wind was awful, coming in on the left shoulder strong, could barely maintain 35 k’s an hour. The Russian would attack when the Italian wouldn’t work, and he did and got away. Then the problem Italian got away on the next climb and bridged up to him 10 seconds. The other Italian and I worked hard to bring them back but only got within 5 seconds on the finishing climb. I finished 4th on the day. Not able to get by in the final 150 meters of cobbles. The next group was only 10 seconds behind.  I was the leader in the GPM (KOM). I got to put the green jersey on, on the awards stage, 3 bottles of wine, and some flowers. The rest of the team did well, Nate Brown taking 5th, and all but 2 of our riders finished in the main field. It was brutal day, and two more hard days to come.

Stage 2 The Queen stage

The hardest and most technical day of the race. We started off going 5k down fast, narrow, and twisty descents. Then a 5k climb with the first GPM of the day. The team rode tempo on the front keeping me in good position. I saw the orange GPM sign and sprinted for it. It just so happens that that was the 100m to go sign. It looks the same, but says 100 mt. on it. I got that sign but not the real one. Then we descended for 30k’s. Down more narrow roads, big switchbacks, and over bridges. A short flat section later we hit the monster climb. It came 5k’s sooner than my speedometer told me it would come, and I was in the middle of the pack. They were hammering at the front, gaps were opening. I was sitting at the back of the front group of 40. I did get dropped once. But a short and technical downhill came and I got back in. I ended up making it up and over with the front group. I was the only survivor of the US team. We had another terribly long decent, right to the bottom of the last climb of the day. I lost my climbing rhythm and got dropped from the lead group of 15. I ended up loosing 1 minute on the day and moving down to 11th on GC.

Day 3

The final day of  our journey through the Basilicata region of Italy. We all woke up at
5:55 AM sharp groggy and tired after two brutal days.  The start/finish was located in the hilltop town of     ?        . Low clouds looming around.   None of us were looking forward to the 6k climb that climbed 450 meters and started only 5k into the race.  We all made it up and over without much of a problem.  Then the race rolled up and down, for a long time. Through infinite S-turns. 30k into the race it started to sprinkle. 31k into the race it started to pour. 32k into the race it started to rain harder and hail.   The roads were super slick, routinely feeling your tires slide out from under you. But, surprisingly the I saw less that 10 riders crash.  I was Team USA’s ’GC’ guy. I started the day in 11th place, 2 seconds out of 10th . With the next US rider in 24th. The top three rid ers were tied on time. I sat in the first 80k while the rest of Team USA gave the field hell with constant attacks. The rain did stop for a while in the middle of the race, only to return with 30k to go.   On the last major climb none but one of my companions remained in the lead group. The blowing rain continued. I had great legs. The last 20k was rolling through more twisty roads with the Russians and two Italian teams controlling the front, all protecting their race lead. However, with 10ks to go a group of 3 did manage to get away and couldn’t be brought back. The chase was still going strong into the final K’s of the race. I gave it everything and launched a big attack on a steep rise with close to 1200 meters to go. I hammered through the narrow, twisty, slightly uphill streets. The break was right ahead and was blown apart. I flew past the first rider, and then the second rider. The last one was a little out of my grasp. I turned the final bend onto the cobbles to see his arms go up in the air less than 5 seconds ahead of me. I was definitely happy but, as Will Frishkorn said after he got 2nd in stage 3 of the 2008 tour: “I wouldn’t be an athlete if I didn’t want to be one step higherâ€?. It was definitely the biggest result of my 2008 season. I was also proud that I didn’t crash in the 100k’s of dissents on twisty, technical roads, not flatting once with the pot-hole laden roads, and not seeing the back of the pack. Despite gaining 5-10 seconds on the main field, I still sat in 11th place on GC. Next up the Kroz Istru in Croatia. Another 3 day stage race starting on Friday. The field will be much stronger, with all national teams. Including reigning Road Race world champion John Le Bon, and world mt. bike champ Peter Sagan. Along with many more.

Jacob Rathe