Virtual Joe Martin Stage 3

Stage 3 overview

Stage 3 of the Virtual Joe Martin Stage Race was in Richmond Virginia. More specifically the 2015 UCI world's course where Peter Sagan won his first world championship jersey. This aside, this course is one of two halves, one being totally flat city streets, and the other being Belgium style cobbled climbs. There are 3 notable climbs, Libby Hill, 23rd Street North and Governor Street. This is a course for people who are punchy all rounders, such as Sagan.

The start

This being the last stage and no doubt the hardest I think there were some heavy legs at the start of the stage. We rolled out in the normal fashion, sprinting full gas for the first 30 seconds then settling in at a uncomfortable sub threshold power for the next 10 minutes. Going around the first laps it was very normal, 101 of us all pushing upwards of 5-6w/kg.

The decent down to the water front meant there was a chance to 'super tuck', this being when you stop pedalling and don't slow down of zwift. Coming into the bottom of the 3 climbs around the hairpin, then up Libby Hill. I lead the climb on the first lap, 500+ watts. Over the top there is a section of false flat this is where it really digs in. At this point it was already reduced to a group of 35, which was remarkable.

On the second lap, the second group of the road caught us back, which is really impressive. As some people might know when a gap opens on zwift it's very hard to close it back. This meant our group was now around 45 in size.

Grand finale

This cycle continued from the until we reached the last lap, now a group of 25 riders a massive reduction from where we started. I thought if I can get over the top of Libby Hill okay, I will be fine. Fortunately I got over the top Libby Hill okay, then it was onto 23rd Street, this being essentially a 30 second sprint up a cobbled wall. This one was also good, towards the front with a few riders getting distanced.

Now it was onto the finish, up Governor Street, a climb of 1minute with a false flat of 800meters to the line to finish. The sprint opened up, a sprint of 2minutes or so. My team mate Zac won the sprint which was an awesome ride, along with this we secured the KOM jersey also. I rolled in 16th, job done.

All said and done I finished 19th on GC after a disappointment in the TT. My team mates Zac and 'The Twig' finished in the top 10!

Special thanks to E-Stellas for the opportunity to ride, Eric Hill and everyone at Project Echelon for organising this event.