Margriet Kloppenburg

10.05.12 - Borsele and Gracia-Orlova

Fri, 11 May 2012 07:50:00 +0000

I left you all without any news after the TT in Borsele (NL). No worries, I did not drown, but it was close on both days. The road race on Saturday the 21st of April was not so good for me. Still trying to recover from my cold and sinuses infection, the bad weather (in general) did not help. The start of the race looked promising weather wise, but as soon as we had ridden 10 km heaven opened and the wather came down hard! We all got soaked within minutes. But the rain wasn't actually the worst. With it temperatur had drop to about 5-6 degrees celcius. So it was cold, very cold. I did not want to risk things getting worse and I quitet the wet race after 50 km.

Quiting isn't something I like to do, but I have learned from the passed that you sometimes have to look further than the race your in at the time. With the stage race in Orlova, Czech coming up this was the cleverest solution.

On the 23ed of April I went to the Czech Republic to participate in the stage-race Gracia-Orlova. I'll give you the short version of my week of racing; Her my FB updates and some extra info.

25 of april - 50st place in the prologue today, a few small mistakes - but good race. Tomorrow first stage of 105 km with a few hard/long climbs, looking forward to it!

26 of april - Today I was bad at a really bad moment... From today I can only climb in the classement! Lets keep up the moral! (A really bad day – had hoped to climb better, but I guess the cold and infection is still not fully gone,even though I feel better every day)

27 of april - TT was a hard one today... had a headwind out and home! not fair! average feeling, average result 82. lets hope I find my climbing legs for tomorrow! were going up to 1000 meters, they say there is still snow up there! exciting!

28 of april - Still no mountain legs today... Horse Delay :s (short comment on the worst day – My guess is that I wasn't fully recovered from my sickness, and the body just wasn't totally ready)

No comments on the Sundays stage, as I did not race. (DNF yesterday) I did a 2 hours ride in the morning and then swopped into another costume and handed out bottles to the girls. Even though I am a bit disapointed about my results from Czech I am very happy I went. This because of the great weather we had! Sun all week and temperaturs between 25-30 degrees celcius. This really contributed to me getting totally rid of all the germs in my lungs and sinuses. So now I am back totally healthy and had a good week of training for the upcoming races.

The weekend of the 30st of April and the first of May I had no races - just enjoyed some time of with friends and family. So now I am full on again! Ready to race on Saturday in Snaaskerke, Belgium.

Margriet

22.04.12 - TT Borssele

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 12:30:00 +0000

The last 2 days have been wet. Friday afternoon I went to Borssele (NL) with my teammate Tessa De Moyer. The first timetrail in the Dutch timetrail competition was on the program. Already in our pre ride of the course we got wet and it rained on and of the whole afternoon/evening, mostly on! Luckily the team had arranged a garage we could use to warm up and sit dry and warm, which is so nice to have on days like these.

My start was at 20.11 as one of the last girls. I had hoped it would be dryer in the evening, but the weather forecast was wrong (again). And when I came outside to go to the start, there was not just a little rain, but a lot of rain! So before riding of the ramp, I was already soaked.

Luckily the rain got a bit less during my race, but it never really stopped. My tactics for the race where to go hard but keep it save. So that ment a lot of slow corners. The race was alright, I had a good feeling on the long straight parts. So maybe need to practices a few wet corners on the TT bike, it should not be to hard for a CX rider like me. Overall a okay ride with things to take home with me and work on before the coming timetrails.

Besides the rain it was already getting dark when I did my TT!

Thanks to Wim Hoste for taking this picture

www.cyclephoto.be

16.04.12 - Halle-Buizingen

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 19:10:00 +0000

Yesterday I raced in and around Buizingen, Belgium. I wasn't sure how it was going to go as I had not been feeling well on the bike because of illnes during and after the Energiewacht tour. On my ride on Saturday (day before) I already felt a hole lot better, but of course an easy ride isn't the same as racing.

So a bit unsure, about racing was a good idea yet, I stood on the startline. With only a 400 meter neutral start and the first sprint for the sprint classement after 4.1 km the start was really hectic. The hectic start in town of Buizingen unfortunatly resulted in a crash in the middle of the peloton which I was involved in. So after 800 meters of racing I was on the tarmac. As the first sprint was after 4.1 km it was all hectic and before I was back in the bunch the jury made barage and I never saw the bunch again.

So a very early finish for me. Luckily I did not hurt myself bad in the crash, only a few bruises. 2 crashes in 2 weeks, that must be enough for now! Looking forward to the coming weekend where I will be racing in Borsele, Holland.

Margriet

13.04.12 - last stages Energiewacht Tour

Fri, 13 Apr 2012 17:30:00 +0000

I still owe you an update on the last stages of the Energiewacht Tour. As you can guess the last stages weren't getting easier and my priorities moved away from my computer and into my bed.

On Friday I unfortunately started caughing and my troath was a bit sore. Waking up to the double day on Saturday I had a proper cold. So the last 2 days of the race were quiet a strugle for me.

The race itself:

Friday – stage 3 / The race with start and finish in Midwolda was situated around the Oldamt lake. A lot of wind made it a challenging race. Again the speed was really high and with the wind coming from different directions on the lap it was hard to hang on. A crash in the feeding zone sat me back. I luckily did not hurt my self and did not damage my bike, so i could start chasing straight away. The cars were all held up by the crash, so the first part I had to do it all alone. This wasn't an easy task because of the wind. But as soon as the cars came passed chasing got a little easier. The chase was quiet hard on me and I was happy to finish in the back of the bunch. (nr. 108)

Saturday – stage 4a / First stage of the day a 70 km race around Winsum. As it was close to where I grew up my grandparenths came and surprised me at the start! Really nice to see family but it also ment that I felt a little extra pressure to do good. I had a hard time in the race, again the wind played a huge role in the race and I spend most of the morning in the back of the third group (in the very start of the race the bunch split in a front group of 11, bunch and a third group of about 30 riders). Towards the end of the race the bunch lost speed and we could rejoin the bunch for the finish. I finished just behind the peloton (nr. 120)

Saturday – stage 4b / The Team Time Trail from Veendam to Pekela. As there was nothing to win for us on this stage and 3 of us were with poor health our teammanager decided that we would take an ”easy” ride in the afternoon. So the result on the TTT was not our best shot, but I think the best decision in the situation. I personally felt terrible, lying down on the bars with a headache and a cold isn't my favorit thing to do... (nr. 23)

Sunday – stage 5 / Last stage, with start and finish at the Freylemaborg near Slochteren. To be honest I did not think I was going to make it to the end of this 134 km stage. But the wind had layed down and after 3 km the break of the day got the blessing of the peloton. So what I thought was going to be another DNF in the Energiewacht Tour ended in an 103th place in GC (118th on the stage).

Overall a really nice race which, even though I got a cold, has pushed my formcurve up for the coming races. This week I am still feeling the consequences of the cold, but better everyday. I hope to be ready for my next races on Sunday, Halle-Buizinge.

Enjoy your weekend,

Margriet

05.04.12 - 2. stage Energiewacht Tour

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 17:25:00 +0000

Today was a windy day at the office. The second stage of The Energiewacht Tour was held on the Dutch/German border in Bad Nieuweschans. The race was helt on a flat and twisty course, all small roads. We did 4 laps and already from the first lap it was action in the sidewinds. I got to the front in the neutral zone (see video RTL7), but I was really cold and felt that in the start of the race. So got a bit to the back and got punished for it after 30 minutes of racing. The peloton broke in 3 groups and I was in the second group. We had a gap of 45-55 seconds to the first group for about 1,5 lap. But could not get it closed. I tried to save as much energy as possible after that for the next stages. But that wasn't easy as we kept seeing riders in front of us and the wind did not gave us any rest. So I ended in the third (the first group had splitted in two) group with most of my other team mates. The race was won by Ina Teutenberg in front of Wild and Vos.

Dura Vermeer CT:

87. Amanda Bongaards 09.50 (GC 109)

90. Dunja Ceulemans 09.50 (GC 103)

102. Sofie Verdonck 09.50 (GC 121)

118. Margriet Kloppenburg 09.50 (GC111)

124. Tessa de Moyer 16.07 (GC 124)

130. Suzan Simons 16.07 (GC 131)

More Video's from the race in the Video section.

04.04.12 - Energiewachttour TT

Wed, 04 Apr 2012 17:40:00 +0000

Yesterday I travelled together with the team to Stadskanaal where all the teams stay at Holiday Park Pagedal. We stay her for a week of racing in the region of Groningen(Holland). A bit special for me as I was born her. I will try to update regularly about the racing but can't promise anything, as our internet connection isn't fantastic.

Today the Energiewacht Tour started with an individual timetrail of 15.3 km. The organisation had found a really nice course with road that were really typical for the region. Flat roads trough the fields and along a canal and also very typical for the region; it was very windy!

I have to admit, I have not been training a lot on my TT bike yet. The original plan was for me to do my first TT in Gracia Orlova at the end of April and not be riding her in the Energiewacht tour. But as always plans change and my TT bike had to hit the road a bit earlier. Despite that I felt very comfortable on my bike and I like my new position. The day it self was cold, my polar showed me a temperatur around 6 degrees celcius and it was cloudy and windy.

After my start I got up to a good speed quiet easy (yes, yes, it was a tailwind, I know!) and could keep it up there comfortable trough the first 7-8 km. As the last km's were into a block headwind I new I needed some extra efforts there and I tried not kill myself before even getting there. So when turning into the headwind my speed fell, but I still felt I had some energie left to push it trough to the finnish. After the finnish I was satisfied about my race, keeping my form and the time of the season in mind. My time 23:15:32 on 15,3 km is an average of 39,5 km/h. A race to build on. When now sitting with resultlist I'm not sure I am so happy, I ended nr. 109 out of 151. I guess I had hoped for more...

The winner of the TT was the runner up of Sundays Tour of Flanders, Kristin Armstrong. She rode a fantastic time: 19:42:43 (which means 46,5 km/h!!)

2. Clara Hughes 19:52:04

3. Marianne Vos 19:55:89

My teammates from Dura Vermeer ended as followed:

82. Dunja Ceulemans 22:50:35

84. Tessa de Moyer 22:51:56

105. Amanda Bongaards 23:12:14

130. Suzan Simons 23:57:43

144. Sofie Verdonck 24:34:87

For a few video's of todays TT stage see my Video section!

Gent-Wevelgem

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 19:00:00 +0000

Sunday I rode Gent-Wevelgem. See www.gent-wevelgem.be or www.flandersclassics.be for the complete resultlist. Time for an update from my side as well.

Our start of Gent-Wevelgem was in Middelkerke at noon Sunday. The last week the weather has been beautifull but it was foggy and cold the whole morning and in the beginning of the race. So quiet some discussions about kit going on during our prep. I choose right and was happy I wasn't wearing to much kit when the sun came trough the clouds after the first 25 km of the race.

The race started out fast and before I knew it we were turning landinwards towards the climbs of the day. I knew I had to be in the front part of the peloton when we turned as it would be a sidewind from there til we would hit the hills .Unfortunately I wasn't far enough at the front and ended up in the second group when the peloton broke. But after a 20 km's of good work we got back to the first group just before we hit the first hill. I tried to make my way to the front of the bunch straight away to not be caught in the same position as earlier. Made it over the first 2 climbs with the big bunch but got in trouble just before we came to the Kemmelberg. In the town of Kemmel I almost got to inspect a planter – luckily I just managed to break and did not hit it. But because of that I was quiet far back in the group and that made the Kemmelberg even harder then it already was. On the concrete part of the hill I felt bad, but coming on to the cobbles I revived and rode from one rider to another. Over the top I was in the third group and it was back to chasing. 5 km's before the finish we made it to the second group. I ended in the middle of this group on the line, as number 59.

Finish photo Gent-Wevelgem

I am satisfied about my race, keeping in mind that I only have been back to training for 2,5 weeks. I feel more comfortable in the peloton with every race I have done, so I look forward to the coming races.

About my next races – Plans have changed. I was supposed to race Grand prix de Dottignies the 2. of April. But thats of my calender and I am now off to the north of Holland the 3ed of April to race the Energiewacht Tour from 4-8 of April. Hoping for 5 days with some good races!

Margriet

My Hollywood Debut

Thu, 22 Mar 2012 19:25:00 +0000

Most of my day was spend on the Paddestraat today. I had my debut as a moviestar / TV advert figurant. I've been riding up and down the Paddestraat for like 30-35 times with a group of bikeriders for an advert. It should be telivised from the 4th of April. Had planned to take some pictures during the day, but wasn't aloud to do that (contractual things). I had a fun day, it helped that the sun was out and we got good food! But definitly not something I would do every day! It was a long day!

So I will keep my eyes open and update you when the advert is on TV.

Tomorrow it's back to normal routines –training and studying. On Sunday I will race Gent-Wevelgem. I will update you after on how it went!

Have a nice and sunny weekend!

Margriet

Race day - GP Stad Waregem

Wed, 21 Mar 2012 16:30:00 +0000

So today I ended my 3 day training block with the 1st edition of GP stad Waregem. The female version of Dwars door Vlaanderen. As Waregem is only 14 km away from where I live. We decided to ride to the race and back to get some extra kilometers in. As you might have noticed I've had two Aussies from Dortmund visiting for a few days, Belinda Goss and Emma Mackie. So they are included in the WE. After the Flanders recon yesterday it was nice to get a good easy spin in before the race to loosen up my legs, I must admit they were a bit sore after the last 2 days.

The race started a bit hectic as everybody wanted to be at the front at the first passage of the Holstraat. And for a while I thought my race was over before it even started. 10 minutes into the race a girl crashed behind me and hit my backwheel. Nothing serious luckily, but the crash made my wheel crooked in my frame. So i had to get of the bike and fix it. While doing that the peloton was moving up the road and I could start my chase, which is a lot harder without a peloton of servicecars behind the riders and the Holstraat coming up. After the Holstraat I picked up a few girls that had dropped, but did not really feel I was getting closer and really thought my race was over before it even started.

But a parked truck saved my day! I do not really know what was going on, but there was a truck parked on the middle of the road. So the whole peloton was stopped and I roled back up into the back of the bunch... Not the most fair way of coming back – but I guess it wasn't my fault. Anyway we were helt up for about 8-10 minutes before we could get passed this truck and get on with our race. At first I felt terrible! My legs felt like they were going to explode any time! Luckily it got better every lap. It felt easier to get to the front and I felt more at home in the natural movements and rotations in the peloton in comparison to last Saturday in Strijen. Even the climbing seemed to be going better towards the end. Because of our delay and the guys being very fast today our race was shortend by a lap. The race ended with a 3 person breakaway sprinting for the win. Congrats to Monique van der Ree (Skil 1T4I). I finished in the peloton with about 70 other girls. After the finish a quick change of cloths and quick chear for Michael Mørkøv when we roled out of Waregem we were on the bikes and on our way back home. Now I am tired but satisfied and watching the mens Dward door Vlaanderen(recorded).

Tomorrow was supposed to be an easy day, but something has come up! I was invited by our local mechanic to come along and do some filming with the VRT (flemish television).They are going to simulate some parts of racing on the Tour of Flanders course. So another day with hills and cobbles. Lets hope for a day full of fun!

Margriet

PS. my guest had a good ride today; Belinda got 5th and Emma 14th. I endend In the bunch at 58th.

Tour of Flanders Recon

Tue, 20 Mar 2012 21:35:00 +0000

Her a link to yesterdays ride! Tourguide Jered is a bit of a Garmin nerd – so he sended me the trip we were going to do a day in advance! He designed a great and very hard route including roads I had not seen before! Maybe I should start saving for a Garmin like that! Great opportunities for long rides without getting lost!

Another route dropped in my inbox yesterday evening, this time for the recon ride on the Tour of Flanders course for women! We, we as in Emma Mackie, Belinda Goss, Jered and Asley gruber, Richard Rainville, Stijn Ennekens and I, rode the last 70 km from the race. Great group and a great ride! The sun was out, so we could not have wished for more. The course has changed a lot comparing it to the last couple of years. I must say I like it, it is not so explosive as it once was though. Explosive as in the climbs are some of the longer once you can find her around Oudenaarde. Nevertheless, I think the organisation designed a nice course with plenty of opportunities for the women to make it a great race!

The last 3 years I was a participant in the Tour of Flanders, but this year I will be playing the tourist and chear for my friends going over the cobbles and going up all the climbs. Never seen the Tour of Flanders as a spectator before, so a new experience for me!

Me almost on the top of the Oude Kwaremont - picture by Jered gruber.

So these 2 days have been pretty hard. And it is not over yet! Emma, Belinda and I are racing in Dwars door Vlaanderen in Waregem tomorrow. So I hope I can end this 3 day training block with a good race result! There is a pretty big field so it's going to be hard, but I am looking forward and hope for my a little surprise from my legs!

Good night Margriet