Jack Wilson put in an aggressive ride at the European Championships but paid for his efforts later in the race when the field was whittled down; in action here on a previous international outing.
By Brian Canty
Jack Wilson said he felt he was capable of a top-10 at the European Championships in Nyon, Switzerland yesterday and regretted doing too much too early in the race, which he believes probably cost him in the finale.
The second-year An Post-Chainreaction rider managed to escape in an early break in the 170-kilometre U23 title event. But when that was brought back he opted to sit in the bunch for the day and wait for the selections to be made later on.
It was a wise move as the testing course and the poor weather conditions whittled back the field. Before he knew it, the front group only had around 50 riders.
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Alas, Wilson’s aggression went unrewarded, even though he made it into another little breakaway with three laps to go which contained eventual winner Stefan Kueng from Switzerland.
But when that was brought back, Wilson said he was “in a box and in survival mode”.
“I was happy enough overall,” he said.
“I went out looking to get a better result but you can’t do much about it. I got in the break on the first lap but it got brought back.
“I was in the bunch for the day then and that kept getting smaller and smaller. I nearly felt too good actually; I burnt a few matches early on, panicking and wasting energy where I shouldn’t have been, but hindsight is great.”
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He also hit the deck early too, but remounted.
“There was a really dodgy descent and I crashed coming down that. I became a bit scared after that and was losing time on it every lap.
“After getting to the bottom (of the climb) you came into a 700 metre steepish climb and it was splitting every lap. So I was going like mad up it every time.
“But it always came back together because there was a three kilometre downhill section into a headwind so it was always going to come back. I was panicking stupidly; wasting energy.
“On the last lap it really split. I didn’t realise how much until I crossed the line after. With three laps to go I went across to a move with the guy who won, two Belgians and an Italian.
“I thought that was it, but when that got brought back I was in a complete box and after that it was survival mode.”
He survived to contest the finish but had nothing in his legs when the race-winning move was made.
“I was hoping for a top 10, I had nothing left for the kick at the finish,” he said the charge to the line that saw the depleted peloton catch a three-man escape on the line, but not pass them.
“The form has taken its time but it’s coming, I just need to keep focussed,” Wilson said of his season.
“I’m home until August and then back to Belgium and l’m not sure exactly what I’m doing next. I’ll just take a bit of down-time now as well. I haven’t had a break yet this year so I’ll take a few days off and start building up again.”
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