UCI Gravel Series: La Indomable
It is time for my first UCI Gravel World Series race, La Indomable in Berja, Spain. Since my last race in February, I have been counting down the days till my next race. I have been working on my technical skills, spending long hours on the bike, and working on my strength in the gym. The most exciting part of this race is that this will be the first-time racing on my T-LAB X3. I have been training a lot on this bike since it arrived both riding long endurance rides and hard efforts and I can say with full confidence that this is a true race bike. It is fast, light, handles well on both climbs and downhills and is the perfect bike for my gravel season! Racing on the T-LAB X3 this weekend gives me so much more confidence to achieve my goals. With that said, in this blog I wanted to go over the race, my goals, my bike set up, and what I will be wearing. I hope you enjoy!
La Indomable is located on the south side of Sierra Nevada starting in the city center of Berja Spain. This will be a challenging race but will suit my strengths as a rider with more than 2,400m of climbing over 96km of racing. From km 0 to just over 40km I will be going uphill and reaching a peak of 2050 meters above sea level. On Strava, the big climb of the day is 18.22km, averages 6% with gradients of over 20%! I am expecting this climb to take over an hour and will be a perfect spot to really test my legs and see if I can take time away from other riders. Not only will the climb be difficult but also at these elevations will be challenging. It will be harder to push higher power as well as increasing my heart rate. In preparation for this race, I spent over two weeks living at altitude to help my body get acclimatized to racing at altitude. Since returning from altitude, I have felt strong on and off the bike so hopefully the hard work I put in at altitude camp will translate into a strong race result. Going into this race my main goal is to qualify for the World Championships. To qualify I must finish within the top 25% of the elite women’s category. There will be a lot of strong women racing so I know it will be challenging, but I am also confident in my form, equipment and my mentality going into this race. Considering how I am feeling, I believe it is possible to get a top 5 result so that is what I am aiming for and will push HARD to accomplish that. I am arriving 3 days before the race so I will have 2 good training days to ride the course to feel confident, spot the technically challenging areas and see where I can attack. I will also use this time to dial in my tire pressure and bike set up. After my first race, I have learned how important it is to have the right tire type and tire pressure set up when racing gravel.
For this race I will be racing on my custom T-Lab X3 Gravel Bike with:
· Shimao GRX 11sp-2X
· 11-36 cassette
· ENVE cockpit
· ENVE SES AR Road In-Route Handlebar- 38cm
· Shimano PRO Stealth saddle
· Garmin XC Rally power meter pedals
· HUNT 42 Limitless Gravel Aero Disc wheels with 45c tires
I am feeling confident with this set up and I can’t wait to see how I will race with my first proper gravel set up.
Next, I want to highlight my kit, glasses, and helmet for this race. I will be wearing CAPOs SC Signature Women’s Jersey and the SC Race Women’s Drop Tail Cargo Bib Shorts. I am specifically excited to be wearing the cargo bib shorts and utilizing the pockets to carry extra food. I have been training almost every day with these shorts and I have been loving the pockets and I can’t wait to race in them. It is also exciting as this will be my first race as a CAPO athlete! I hope I can do CAPO proud and show off the kit during the race and hopefully on the podium. I will be wearing my favorite POC Ventral MIPS helmet and POC AIM sunglasses to complete the look!
I can’t wait to get out and race again. I have put in a lot of training and work on and off the bike to get ready for the race and I am looking forward to seeing what I can do. Thank you for reading and stay tuned for a race recap!