Right place at the right time, just did not hold it...

Well, 2nd race at Milton Keynes and nill points, now comes the excuses, err, sorry, analysis.

Read the race quite well and managed to keep with the lead bunch and conserve energy, even when they tagged on to the CAT1/2 bunch, which subsequently ripped the CAT3/4 field appart. They also reversed the circuit round so we were turning right (clockwise round the circuit), which form the warmup laps I figured that I'd be better waiting until the last lap and joining the sprint on the hill as it was just enough (and with a back wind) to make an outright power (aerodynamics less relevant) based sprint possible, which should have suited me better. The crux of the problem was getting in to the right position and holding it until the last turn before the hill, which I did not manage to do.

For the sprint I maxed out with a HR at 189 (new high), 1083W peak and a 30sec power of 750W, which allowed me to pass around 10 rides, however a very small gap had opened up on the last 2 corners (the difference between those at the front going round corners without braking and the right line and those following...) which I had not noticed until passing through the bunch on the hill. After getting through the back group I continued up and joined the front 12 just before the line, outside the top 10.

Earlier on when the CAT1/2 bunch passed through I kept and eye out as I was expecting them to tag on, however with the first bunch they did not, but the 2nd they did. This subsequently created a couple of difficult laps (HR at 172 avg, 183 max and 378W avg), which in turn dropped over half the field. I held on after bridging some gaps and tagged along, hoping it would last for a few more laps before turning back down again as this would thin the pack out further as it seemed to have reduced to around 15. ,Unfortunately it did not last and they eased off and the following 2 laps were 100W lower, which allowed the chasing bunch to catch up again (alternate strategy out the window).

The chart at the top includes the warm up and cool down. The cadence distribution shows how much time was free wheeling in the bunch (around 10-15min) and the spinning up the hill section (15min)

Duration 1:09:26 - 47km - 1137kJ

TSS 110 IF 0.977 VI 1.25

Norm power : 342W avg 273W

Max 1083W, 10sec 1014W, 1min 503W, 30min 286W, 60min 277W (344norm)

Climb 380m

Things I did differently

- spin up the hill 100+rpm on more occasions

- decide to go for the last lap gallop

- take it easy until I had to put the power on

Mistakes

- Breaking harder than required on the 4th to last corner

- Not staying in a good position when I had the chance on the 3rd lap to go

- Thinking the bunch had a deathwish

What I'd do differently

- Hold the position better towards the last laps

- Try and position for the corners better so I don't have to break or as much