Women's Road Race, Mundus Games 2020 (Sammy Lawson)There weren't many sports that were more intriguing than road cycling, the constant evolution, the circumstantial changes, the myriad of tactical options available to the teams, it was without question a fitting opener to the Mundus Games, tradition was that the men's road race was the only medal event on the opening day and so it had been this year, this time an Aostan had got across the line first and while an Achkaerinese had snagged the bronze it was the women's race where the higher chance of success lay because this was when
Sammy Lawson would hope to open her medal account at the Games, she was the most decorated athlete in the history of the Games with twenty two medals to her name and she was hunting for more, presently she was zipping up her race jacket as she walked her bike to the start line to join the rest of her team, it was a strong team as well Melanie Parker was the stalwart support pillar for Sammy it was Melanie's job to keep Sammy out of trouble and protect her, then there was Maria Cairns the young sprinter in her second games now and while she was still gaining experience she was a vital part of the team, Leia Armitage was next she was the team's climber, Rachel Staff was the fifth member she was the drafter she was the rider who'd be the first engine room if they needed to push, then there was the possible surprise rounding out the team this year was Niamh Fernley, normally associated with the velodrome Niamh was a substitution for the injured Paula Dixon. As the start time approached Sammy did her usual double checks, her gloves, her helmet, her bike, her glasses, her shoes. She climbed onto her bike and planted her left foot on the ground, she looked around identifying the main competition the Vaguzian's were probably in the absence of the Tytorian's the main threat, the Aostan's would be high on morale after their gold on the previous day and you could never discount either home advantage or someone having the courage to have a go, what Sammy did know was that in this field she was the marked target, she was the one who was going to have the hardest time doing what she wanted to do but they had a plan and now they were going to try and execute it.
When the race started it was a fairly sedate pace, the reason was simple enough the first five kilometres were what was known as a parade run, a way of making sure that all the riders were up to speed and avoiding accidents and falls before the race started in earnest, as they cycled Sammy took note as one by one the white and gold jersey's assembled around her, Melanie to one side and Niamh right behind her covering her nicely. A look up ahead told her that perhaps fittingly the early pace was being set by the Seleucid's to the rapturous approval of the home support. There was nice easy going hill before they hit the flat and now the race started in earnest, the pace was upped and now the game faces were on. They had around a hundred and twenty kilometres of the course to cover to get to the finish and it wasn't a flat course by any means, there were a few hills, a few tight turns and so on. Sammy glanced around identifying where the main players in this were the game of cat and mouse was on the question was who was going to make the first move?
At that point the answer was no one, which wasn't really surprising they were on a flat stretch so engineering a breakaway there was going to be difficult. All the while Sammy was looking at the road markers counting off the kilometres they'd covered, remembering the map of the course they'd studied and what the options available were. As they came over a small hill she smiled a little the big climb was coming up next after a few more kilometres on the flat.
"Ok let's take control." Sammy said
"I thought you'd never ask." Rachel said
Now came the movement as Rachel brought the Achkaerinese team to the front of the Peloton alongside the team on the front - in this case the Vaguzian's and raised the pace, the six Achkaerinese knew that to take control of the Peloton meant that they had to get the Vaguzian's to fall back it wasn't going to be easy to accomplish but as Rachel kept pushing eventually the Vaguzian's yielded and dropped behind them, Sammy grinned again now they had control of the peloton it was time for them to fracture it. Rachel upped the pace even more and while most of the peloton stayed with it the effect was being felt a slow dripping of riders out of the back was slowly becoming established as they raced towards the big climb on the course when they got within five kilometres of it Rachel dropped back her energy spent and Maria took up the task with fresher legs it was likely becoming obvious just what the Achkaerinese team was up to, Rachel had set the initial pace and now Maria had one job to do pull at this pace to the foot of the climb. Maria was in an all out sprint as she pulled for the team a glance over the shoulder told Sammy that they were doing well but the challengers were still there. They hit the foot of the climb and Maria pulled to the side and Leia moved up to inject the pace, now they were moving up a climb the gaps were becoming bigger as some riders couldn't stay with it, Leia kicked hard getting every bit of speed she could but even with the success they were having it wasn't quite enough.
"Mel you're up." Sammy said
This was the first change in the pre-race plan, usually Melanie was with Sammy the longest she was the launchpad but here as Leia slowed and dropped back it was Melanie who took up the task of pulling them up the climb which would leave Niamh in the launchpad role, they were coming up on the top of the climb and now came the critical moment, Melanie dropped back and Niamh moved up pulling Sammy over the top of the climb and then she began to attack the descent. They had thinned the field out so much now that they had delivered Sammy a gap of probably a minute to the main group, but the key was going to be on the descent, Niamh was pulling for Sammy now navigating it carefully and taking the quickest line as they swept down the other side they'd broken clear of the rest of the riders who'd been able to hang on and now it was just the two of them as they reached the end of the descent.
"Five more kilometres" Sammy said as Niamh nodded that was how much further Niamh needed to draft for at that point they'd hit another series of hills and that was where Sammy would go alone, the pair cycled onwards and when they hit the hills Sammy kicked on passing Niamh and moving off according to the signs they had a three minute gap and Sammy felt energetic, she just needed to build the gap.
The hard thing about cycling alone in a racing sense was that you lost the shield of a team mate in front of you, the other hard thing was that you had to remember you were in a race and not out for a leisurely ride in the country. Sammy was however experienced though she'd never gone for home from this far out before she usually attacked in the last twenty or thirty kilometres not sixty. She just kept pedaling and it wasn't until she hit the switchback roads of the final descent on the course an hour and a half later that she allowed herself a smile, the banging on the boards from the crowd was as loud as ever as she swept around the last corner and onto the finishing straight, she knew her lead was sizable so she sat up, eased off and enjoyed the moment crossing the line with a punch in the air. She rode to the side of the course and got off the bike before collapsing down to sit on the ground, she took her helmet off and let out a deep breath.
It took a while but over forty five minutes later the entire Achkaerinese team had crossed the line. Niamh had come and sat next to Sammy.
"That was hard work." Sammy said
"Well just think what the relentless pace on water's going to be like." Niamh said
"I don't know whether I'm looking forward to or dreading doing that." Sammy said smiling as she stood up "Time for the medals."
"Don't let me stop you." Niamh said
"By the way Niamh." Sammy said "You should come out on the road more often."