Help me race the Denmark World Champs in September

A massive Thank you to everyone who helped me get to compete in Denmark last Sunday (6th September).

The trip got off to a bumpy start with my bike not making the transition in Bangkok to my connecting flight to Copenhagen and the rest of the journey. After arriving on Monday afternoon (local time) I had tense couple of days in Aalborg waiting for it to show up. I was feeling a little anxious as I watched fellow competitors, staying at the same hotel, head out to ride the course and get to know it. The bike finally arrive Wednesday lunchtime. The next few days were spent riding and getting to know the beginning and ending 25-30km sections. The roads were amazingly smooth compared to NZ heavy chip roads. It felt like the hand break had been removed!

The 40-44 age group (my race) had 224 riders. All groups lined up in start boxes, which were then ushered to the start line for each group individual start. It was there where I got to meet the only other New Zealander in my race. Dion is a Kiwi who lives in the UK, but racing for NZ. We briefly chatted, but didn’t plan any race strategy. There was a 10 minute gap between each group. A huge screen at the start line allowed us to see previous groups already racing on the course. It then came to our start time at 9.20am.

We got underway with the first 2km neutralised behind the lead vehicle. We twisted and turned our way through the city streets until the flag dropped. The pace went mad straight away, but the idea was to keep near the front and watch for any breaks. The road curved and headed towards the first mini roundabout, the bunch sticking to the left side of the road. Dion and headed for the right hand side and opened up a sizeable capon the bunch. Not a planned breakaway but we decided to keep it going and see if we could get past the approaching cobbled section and avoid any potential carnage. It was a good move. Looking back I could see lots of fighting for the 1m wide smooth strips either side of the cobbles. I settled my pace and eased back into the main pack, staying near the front 20 riders and the first potential splitting point, a head wind section to the first climb.

Sure enough, a small group eased away but were caught fairly easy within a few k’s. At around the 50km mark, a fas climb split the field again and myself and 12 or so riders got away. We worked well together up to the first feed zone at 65km where the groups slower riders were caught and some vicious cross winds came into play. Just after the feed zone I saw 3 riders crash directly in front of me when the group accelerated. I had to slow and swerve to right hand side of the road. The gap had opened up with the break happening on the left hand side and rapidly pulling away. I couldn’t make it across and found myself with one Danish rider, 2 Slovenians, and 1 USA rider in a chase group. All of which had fellow countrymen in the lead group and weren’t riding hard to catch them. My chance had disappeared and we were joined by the main bunch.

From then on it was a quick pace but in the windy section, nobody wanted to drive the bunch but I did a lot of the work along with a few Swedes and Danes. The course twisted and turned for the remainder of the course, with constant accelerations from each junction and turn. It really felt like a 164km criterium race! The Danish had closed most of the roads and a section of the main highway so we ripped along pretty quickly. I had great legs and felt in great shape, leading up all the climbs and driving the bunch but the lack of co-operation of other riders meant the bunch speed was a bit erratic. We were eventually caught by the leaders of the 45-49 group, which upped the pace and the confusion to the run in along the main highway to the city and the finish line.

The last km zig-zagged through narrow city streets with 4 90 degree turns in close succession and lots of potential for crashes in a bunch. I rounded the first corner at about 20th wheel in the bunch and hit the gas, passing a lot of fading riders before the quick right, left and sprint to the final right-hand bend onto the final straight. It was smooth cobbles, but had lots of holes and manhole covers to watch out for. I passed more riders and finished 26th in the 40-44 age group with my fellow New Zealander in 4h 16 minutes 58 Seconds.

I enjoyed every minute of the race. It was a great experience to ride at this level and proved that I had the ability to be with the leaders. Sometimes you need the fortune to swing your way too!

Thank you for all the support and the messages along the way. I really appreciate everything.

There was live streaming of the race and big screen coverage. There is link to the whole race coverage. You can find some coverage of me at:

Start of my race - 552.36

Bunch coverage from 2h 14.10

Lead Bunch from 2h 21.00, 2h 31.00

Crash 2h 35.22

Chase 2h 36.45

Age group winner 4h 51.40

Bunch finish 5h 04.26