Sal Scotto update: no rain on the climbs in Spain
By Sal Scotto
Editor’s note: Sal Scotto is a Cat. 1 rider in the US. For the past few years Sal rode for New York–based GS Mengoni. He got an offer to race in Belgium this season with team Revor-Baboco, headed by three-time world cyclocross champion Erwin Vervecken, who’s focusing on the road this year. Sal’s been sending CyclingReporter.com exclusive updates as he lives the dream and spends a season racing in Europe. —DM
THE DAY BEFORE our departure to Spain, I headed to a 120k kermesse along the North Sea. I started out in front and decided to force the pace early so that I could stay in the top 20 through the first 40k. I jumped from the line and quickly set a hard pace with a rotation of about six riders. We stayed in front for about 20k before the race started to get attack-happy. Once that happened, I hovered about 40th position to recover a bit and noticed that we had already lost a huge portion of the field, leaving about 90 riders out of 170.
Through the halfway mark, I started to mix it up in the attacks and jumping to breaks. Stijn Minne, from team Sean Kelly, saw me bridging to the break and sat up at the back to help me make the jump. We had a good gap, but it didn’t stick.
Within the next kilometer another attack went, and I missed the winning move. It was a group of eight, and they were composed of four of the favorites. I ended up in midpack range, and the pace immediately changed. Within a lap, guys just stopped riding and pulled out of the race, creating big gaps in the pack. I ended up in a group of four. I ended up coming in about 50th.
Spain
It was an early flight, departing at 6:30 for the two-hour trip south. Destination: Benidorm. We flew Ryan Air and there was no assigned seating, so people tend to jockey for position at the gate about an hour before departure, just like a race. Later, in Spain, we were notified that our team car with all our equipment had made it safely, and they let us know that we would be receiving massages every two days by one of the best in the business.
The Hotel Mont Park, where we would reside for 10 days, was not spectacular but perfect accommodation for what a rider needed for training, including a big comfy bed and a gorgeous swimming pool. We were on the side of a mountain overlooking a beach. The team consists of Johnny and Ritchie, brothers who are tough riders who live not too far from where I am in Belgium; Jesper, the youngster with great accelerations; Maurice Gil, the Polish national champ; Valintijn, another strong young rider; Christophe and Bart, who are big cyclocross riders; and myself.
Day 1
We headed out for a two-hour spin since we were all a bit tired from the early flight. The ride wasn’t anything other than a quick tour of the city and waterfront. We had our team meeting shortly after to discuss what was planned for training for the week ahead. We went through, individually, what we needed to work on and set our goals. My personal ones were acceleration attacks and leg speed to have my burst from the field, be strong enough and quick enough for no one to respond. This was perfect since I am better known as a gear masher. Dinner was shortly after and buffet-style with healthy foods.
Day 2
Our ride was planned for about four hours over part of a Vuelta stage with lots of climbs. Tim, my director, told me that I should push myself on the climbs with high cadence since that was part of my goal. The ride was on a perfect 85-degree day with light cloud cover.
We took about two hours of the ride heading along the coast over some short, punchy climbs. Every now and then a guy would surge and I would respond and counter with high cadence. What is really good about the team is that everyone is willing to help in some way with your training. Most of the guys are just starting their heavy training and are more focused on cyclocross as their goal. For them, they are getting some interval work in. They are strong riders and helpful in critiquing to help me improve. We saw Liz Hatch from Lotto; she joined our spin in route to her house.
Day 3
I was told it was just gradual hills, then we’d turn around. Tim had me go up the first climb and told me that the top was just around the turn and that I had to attack. Tim lied.
It was after many more turns that I finally made it to the top, and 10km later. The guys on the team would push me pretty well on the climbs. Bart attacked strong, for one of his sprint intervals, and I would try to hold on and not get dropped. After his interval was done I would have to accelerate again. So It was a day of being in the red for me, with race-simulation scenarios. Different riders working on their fitness would be forcing me to my limits.
On the final 20k “hill” of the day, another Vuelta stage finish, Jesper and Maurice put the hurt on me. I was trying to stay with them and managed to do so through to the finish and not pop. Whew.
My accelerations are improving and I am starting to feel more comfortable spinning that high cadence.
Tomorrow is an easy five hours followed by a rest day on Saturday. I have a big race on Sunday.
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Read Sal’s previous updates here. Read CyclingReporter.com’s interview with him here.
