Lincoln Grand Prix, 14 May 2023

I was rather excited for this race as it was the first time I was racing it.  I arrived Saturday afternoon and headed out onto the course for an activation/ recce ride. From the recce ride it was obvious it was going to be fast, as other than the Michaelgate climb it was pretty much all flat or downhill.

The race started under neutralisation and some pretty chilly conditions. The first lap was very twitchy and nervous that worsened the closer we got to the Michaelgate. I didn’t enter the foot of the climb in my favoured position but managed to weave my way past riders to get to the top closer to the front. Already after the first climb the bunch was massively reduced. I luckily found myself on the right side of the split and still riding in the lead group. The race settled down a little bit after the first lap - a couple of attacks tried to go but nothing was sticking. There was the usual jostling for positions on the run into the Michaelgate every lap - sometimes I timed it right, sometimes I didn’t but when I didn’t, I managed to climb past people and make it to the right side of the splits.

The lead group just kept getting smaller and smaller with riders being dropped until a group of 5 got away. All the main teams were represented in the break so the bunch settled down and was riding at a decent pace where the gap never got too big but also didn’t get closed down.

Coming into the last lap the pace picked up again. I was in an okay position coming into the final time up the Michaelgate but as I changed into my little ring my chain dropped right off. Luckily, I got I it back on without having to stop so didn’t lose that many places, just a lot of speed. From there to the finish I just pushed on as much as possible to pass as many riders as I could. I ended up finishing 33rd, which I’m quite happy with. It’s a race I will be doing again.

Kim Baptista