Recap: William Blackburn was selected to represent Quebec at the Tour de Beauce. His goal was to gain experience and finish the UCI 2.2 stage race with more fitness than which he began.

Stage 1 (Lac-Etchemin 165 km): With 15km to go, Rafael Serrano Fernandez (Heraklio-Murcia) responded to the pressure of the bunch closing in and attacked his two breakaway companions, Will Routely (Team Canada) and Jay Thomson (Fly V Australia). He managed to fend off the fast-charging bunch by 8 seconds after being off the front for 120km of the race. Sergiy Grechyn (Amore & Vita) flashed home for second in front of Quebec’s own Charles Dionne (Fly V Australia). William was dropped on one of the final rollers as the peloton was hammering to catch the break. I was happy with William’s performance. If you’ve ever raced in the Beauce, you know the cumulative fatigue that repeated, long rollers stuff into your legs. UCI stage races also expose you to, not so much faster racing, but much longer durations at speed than many local racers are accustomed. This is especially true of the first race in a stage race where early attacks can be relentless, as the teams of the main contenders try to be vigilant while all the guys trying to establish themselves as contenders or going for stage wins light up the road.

For a variety of reasons, I trained William differently than my other young racers. I restricted the hours and intensity of his training during the spring. In effect, he was not trained to participate in a stage race like the Beauce, and it was not in his calendar though we knew it was a possibility. Ironically, his ability to surpass his racing goals and to constantly get into the right breaks led him onto the Quebec Team and into the race. This is a great accomplishment, but the demands of racing the Beauce can also play havoc with your fitness, exhausting you for the rest of the summer in extreme cases. After Stage 1 I was pleased because being exposed to the long efforts of a pro peloton accelerating over rollers to reel in a break was some of the best training he has done all year. And you can’t underestimate the gains in experience. But the fatigue in his legs was obviously a reason for worry.

Stage 2 (Thetford Mines, 160km): An early break established itself within the first 20km and contained Javier Megias (Team Type 1), Jamie Sparling (Team Canada), Darren Rolfe (Fly V Australia), John Murphy (BMC Racing), Walker Savidge (Holowesko Partners), Francois Parisien (SpiderTech p/b Planet Energy), Jean-Sebastien Perron (Garneau Club Chausseres) and Flavio Pasquino (Restore Cycling Team Holland). Designed as an out-and-back road race, the stage ended with 3 laps on a finishing circuit where it began–Thetford Mines. The break held on until 2 laps to go, with David Tanner (Fly V Australia) winning the bunch sprint over Yuriy Metlushenko (Amore e Vita) and Andrew Pinfold (UnitedHealthcare p/b Maxxis). William’s legs felt much more lively than in Stage 1. He made it over all the considerably longer rollers that characterize the stage (2-4km climbs averaging 3% but with little steep pitches everywhere) but he flatted twice in the last 30 km and was effectively forced to perform a 30km TT at the end. This made me very nervous about his overall fatigue with 4 hard stages to go.

Stage 3 (Saint-Georges – Mont Megantic, 154 km): The race finishing on the 9km ascent up Mont Megantic is the Queen Stage of the Tour de Beauce. An early break containing Valeriy Kobzarenko (Team Type 1), Jeff Louder (BMC Racing), Sergiy Grechyn (Amore e Vita), Darren Rolfe (Fly V Australia), Bjorne Papstein (SC Wledenbruck 2000) and Derrick St John (Garneau Club Chaussures) spread out on Megantic but survived to the finish… almost. Dutch rider, Marc de Maar (UnitedHealthcare p/b Maxxis), leap-frogged through the tired members of the break and caught St John with under 200 metres to go for the win.

It is great to see riders such as St John, who also races locally, able to step up their game when necessary at the Beauce. The quality of racing in this province is very high right now with many Quebec riders on teams such as Spidertech, Fly V and Garneau consistently performing well at all levels. Special kudos as well to Quebec Team members, Raphael Gagné, Arnaud Papillon, Vincent Quirion and André Tremblay, who all finished within less than 5 min of the winner at Megantic.

I asked William to try and get in an early break, with the goal of moving away from a survivor mentality to trying to race the race. Chasing and attacking in races changes the way you ride in a peloton. It makes you more active and more involved. It is often a good way to survive in races because you psychologically come out of your shell, even if your legs feel dead. William asserted his presence early but then the toll of Stage 2′s flats left him with little in his legs. He fell off on the rollers before Megantic and then paced himself up the climb.

Up until this point in the race he had been suffering from mild stomach cramps in the evening. They became more acute after Stage 3. Gastrointestinal cramps are not uncommon in cycling, and are of course very familiar to runners. Usually there are many factors causing GI cramps. The two most obvious causes are the physical/mechanical banging around of your stomach and the sometimes dramatic change in blood flow to your digestive system as it is redirected to your muscles while hammering. It is important to remember that your stomach moves around as you navigate the bumps and potholes of Quebec roads. It also gets shifts as you change riding position. Importantly, it also gets slapped around by your diaphragm when you’re breathing under stress. Proper breathing is about more than just oxygen delivery!! Also, if you are frequently suffering from stomach cramps after hard, sustained efforts, you should have your eating and hydrating habits–if not your entire nutrition regime–evaluated. It is easy, for example, to be more dehydrated than you think. If you experience a >3.5% weight loss during a long, hot ride/race, you are much more likely to suffer stomach problems than if you are hydrating well. How many of us have been concentrating so hard in a race that we barely drink? Well, now imagine you’re bouncing through the rollers of the Beauce, hammering for extended periods above 70% of your lactate threshold, including repeated efforts above threshold… Your digestive system goes out of whack, and then you add the stress of the race, hydrating too late, not eating well… Cramps, or worse–the “d” word–are therefore very common, especially amongst inexperienced riders who do not, for example, have the same level of fitness as others in the peloton, and who don’t know the race courses well, or have a predisposition to expressing stress through their stomachs. They can disrupt sleep and therefore recovery, as the body starts to work in overdrive. These first signs of overtraining are also the first signs of a rider potentially losing, instead of gaining, fitness during a stage race. The goal was for William to get through the next day’s TT and see where he was at…

Stage 4 (Saint René, 20kmTT): Australians went 1-2-3, with Benjamin Day (Fly V Australia) taking top honors from former Beauce winner Nathan O’Neil (Bahati Foundation) and teammate Darren Rolfe (Fly V Australia). Day’s trouncing of the competition by over a minute helped him move into first in the GC, followed by Rolfe, with Kobzarenko’s (Team Type 1) climb up Megantic still holding him on the third step. William “walked” the TT, as he was unable to eat beforehand except for a serving of yogurt. Later, he was able to finally sleep after taking some advils. Sounds rough, but overall he was hanging in and getting valuable experience for next year. Also, the battle wasn’t lost. His goal of increased fitness was still very much in the cards. With proper recovery he could come out of the Beauce flying, and ready for one-day races.

Stage 5 (Quebec City, 127.6km): Stage 5 was a technical circuit race, up and down the historic escarpment shielding Quebec City plus the challenges of winding through the avenues of the old, fortified part of town. Chris Jones (Team Type 1) and Hector Gonzalez (Heraklio-Murcia) mashed their way out of an early break and hovered up the road until Danny Summerhill (Holowesko Partners) joined the slogging task of holding off race leader Benjamin Day’s Fly V Australia-led peloton. On the sixth lap, Lucas Euser (SpiderTech p/b Planet Energy), who had been in the original break, and Chad Beyer (BMC Racing) bridged. Two laps later the always active Jamie Sparling (Team Canada) joined the front runners in giving it a shot. Fly V, however, did their job and closed things down with a lap to go, opening the gates for those with the legs to be opportunistic. Marc De Maar (Unitedhealthcare p/b Maxxis) struck from 800m out, taking his second stage win, while Javier Megias (Team Type 1) and teammate Morgan Schmitt (Unitedhealthcare p/b Maxxis) led the snaking peloton over the line for the shorter steps on the podium. For those with nothing left in their legs, the escarpment hit hard and hit early as riders kicked their way up looking for sprint points and long-shot breaks. William ended up in a chase group, and after he was dropped with a couple laps to go he withdrew from the race.

Now the real test begins. Can we figure out a good recovery strategy so William achieves his goal of gaining fitness? He has already succeeded in gaining the confidence of having worn a Quebec Team jersey. He has already succeeded in gaining crucial experience, including the physiological and emotional experience of racing at the next level. You have to ride with fast guys to get fast. Doing so allows you to take the knowledge of the speed, power, strength and endurance required to succeed and put it into the way you train. You get a better sense of what it means to work on a bike. It all has to do with your frames of reference. You are constantly moving in and out of these frames while riding. They are the frames by which you picture yourself. And you ride through them to get to the next stage of your development, with all the excitement and anxiety of having to reestablish a new framework and thus a new picture of yourself on a bike. The next month should give us a working framework, and a more clear picture of where William’s fitness is at. There are plenty of reasons to be patient because there are so many signs that he is on a fast track.

Robert Ralph (Rio Tinto/Martin Swiss) switched from the Cat 3 peloton to the Cat 1/Master A peloton and came 6th!! Apparently they originally awarded him 5th until Czeslaw pointed out he was left out of the money and had come 3rd. This took the torn envelope from Robert’s clenched hands and gave it to someone else! That’s cruel but at least Robert did well and has something to build on.

Finally, Robert says that he was in a break with a lap and a half to go and Jean-François Houpert (Synergy) chased him down!!! Good work JF!! The youngster has to learn to live with the fact that the old boys are chasing him like zombies and ripping envelopes from his hands. All you have to do is check out Max. He’s got that envelope squirreled away before I can make a move to shake his hand!! That’s a Cat 1 sprint and stash!

More later once the details come in.

"When you lose, don't lose the lesson." --The Dalai Lama

Patrick Russell at the Robert Brisson series in Mercier…

Robert Brisson chubby podium, 10 June 2010: 1. Czeslaw Lucaszewicz (VéloSelect/Prudh'Homme); 2. William Goodfellow (Bikereg.com); 3. Maxime Vives (Powerwatts/Moishes); 4. Hugues Lapointe (Nativo); 5. Patrick Russell (Synergy). ©2010 Martin Brisson

The Robert Brisson series continues tonight. Patrick Russell has regained the Orange Jersey (most points, Masters) and I believe he’s tied for, or is leading, the Green Jersey sprinters competition.

William Blackburn at the Tour de Beauce…

William (red shorts) with the rest of the Quebec Provincial team getting ready to go to work. ©2010 Jerome Lessard/www.jeromelessardphoto.com

William Blackburn is battling at the Tour de Beauce. His goal is to finish with more fitness than he started–not as easy as it sounds. Stage 1: He was dropped with 7km to go on one of the final punches. Stage 2: He got 2 flats in the final 30 km, which meant 30km of time trialing at the end of the stage. He wasn’t frustrated, as he’s not concerned with GC, but overall fatigue is always a concern at the Beauce. He says the Quebec Team is realistic, upbeat, and that teammates are popping in the attacks and breaks.

Today is the Queen Stage up Megantic. William can climb, so his instructions are to take care of positioning positioning positioning, but to also follow his instincts and look for a large, early break if his legs aren’t exhausted from yesterday. Somtimes being more active in a race will keep you in the game more than hiding, so we planned for this stage to be the one in which he shows his nose off the front if the right scenario unfolds. Stay tuned for updates!!

The Other Side of Pont Rouge

—————————-
The wise gasp and rub their eyes
the smoke of victory wafts
on the fumes of sighs
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Rod and I slowly exited the parking lot and drove away from Pont Rouge. The day wasn’t over, but the straw-coloured sun had lost its fire. On the way to the race, we had talked specifically about racing, bikes, coaching and teammates. Now, as the waning sunlight mingled with the breezy treetops, we were talking broadly of work, reading, finance, the oil spill and what happened to Debbie Brown.

Staring at the highway rushing under our speeding vehicle, I couldn’t help but think of all the different lines that lead us in and out of bike races. We can talk about family lines and genetic inheritance. We can talk about sporting history, and the routes by which we came to race bikes. We can talk about social networks, peer groups or the webs from which we draw in order to train. As a coach, I think about these things when planning schedules, putting groups together and interacting with clients, but earlier in the day I needed more specific language. Rod and I arrived at the race and two of my clients had already been dropped from their race. And yet I had seen the peloton go past, with Debbie pushing the pace.

I believe that both dropped riders are both capable of getting on the podium (one has already done so). I believe that both need to get stronger and more experienced to consistently succeed at the level they desire, but this is doable. I believe that racing can provide a sense of fulfillment for them. I believe that they both contribute in important ways to any group with which they train. They have a lot to offer and to gain through racing. But what lines could I offer to express the need to trust in the path they are on? How could I convince them to stay on course–just after they’ve been dropped?

I told one rider that all racers get dropped at some point. I told them that many successful racers spent a couple years getting dropped before building the fitness and skill set to succeed. But most racers know this already. Such comments don’t build commitment; they only momentarily alleviate doubt until the rider starts replaying what happened in their head again. Ultimately, continuity in competitive sports is determined by the lines you learn to tell yourself after your race is over. And those lines will constantly change. People can help you with your lines, but the muttering that goes on in your head is your own, even if you’re hearing the voices of others! The main point I want to make here is that how you deal with setbacks is not simply a measure of character. It is an essential aspect of athleticism. Prospects go through interviews not simply to see if they are nice people. Those running the selection process want to know what you can bring to the table to produce a championship. What is your attitude towards the sport? This is a question related specifically to your athletic ability.

So why do you stay in the sport? This is a question cyclists of all ages and abilities should ask themselves. Many will phrase the question this way: “Considering how much I put into it, what do I get out of bike racing?” This is a question of value and economy. We can measure gains in power, strength, speed, and so forth. Let’s call this quantitative gains in fitness. We can also try to assess how much fun we’re having, or the social benefits of racing. And we can take note of gains in experience and knowledge. These are qualitative aspects of the sport–aspects that I believe are undervalued in relation to performance.

But cycling has another aspect that we cannot properly measure at all. In sports, we call it “grace.” Over the last few years, I have come to appreciate the grace of cycling more and more. It has to do with my role as a coach. I no longer train myself. I don’t set personal racing or riding goals, or create workout schedules for myself. I train others. My stake in cycling is now watching and learning from the performance of others. I spend hours a day watching people move, and many other hours planning ways to make them move differently, or to become more aware of how they cycle. By doing this I’ve come to believe that grace is expressed in a massive variety of ways.

Grace is effortless beauty of movement, form or proportion. That means that what is graceful about cycling does NOT involve all the work it takes to move a bike quickly. Grace is effortless. You might think it is about an economy of movement but grace is more intangible because movement requires work. Have you ever sprinted or whipped around a corner in a way that seemed effortless? Or, have you ever been hammering while having an experience that was “in the zone” or somewhat out of body? Some athletes are able to repeatedly represent the dual experience of bodily power and out of body grace in the way they move. Sprinters carving their way to the line; climbers accelerating up the road; time trialists wrapping their chains through every pedal stroke. Even entire pelotons can move gracefully, and learning to read the flows of pelotons is a good racing skill. There are many reasons why I’m involved in cycling, but witnessing and helping to produce graceful movement is one of them. The problem is that grace is very hard to describe accurately. It’s more poetic than technical.

Sounds corny? Perhaps. But while I was standing in line to register for the Pont Rouge road race, I saw Robert Ralph accelerate his cadence over the final 50 metres–at maximum speed–to win his race. Shortly afterwards I saw a nervous Judith Hayes tighten her core and churn her quads with relentless consistency through the power portion of the pedal stroke to win her race. Two clients winning races within minutes!! But as Judith crossed the line I looked back up the road. Debbie was one of several riders left lying on the road. We all know these things can happen, and what to do in these situations, but there is always something missing, or that can’t quite be articulated in a satisfying way.

While Debra and those who had crashed in front of her were still on the road, Max Joly Smith was on his way to propelling himself over the line in second place. His ability to accelerate a bike is phenomenal–and getting better. Later, Rod Matheson would flat, but Patrick Russell would slip into a late break of four and finish second in his race. And after a great team effort, I was able to win the final race of the day.

On one hand, Toguri Training clients dominated the podium at Pont Rouge. On the other hand, it is hard to know what to say. As Rod and I drove back to Montreal we got a call from Vanessa Cheong updating us on Debbie’s condition. She had, as we suspected, separated her shoulder and fractured a rib. The body will repair its own lines, and there will be time to absorb the impact of the fall. New lines will be drawn. What a strange day. Amidst the highs and lows, the sun seemed stuck in the sky, like the period at the base of a question mark’s hook. The day was hanging on that hook–and it wasn’t over yet.

Shaun McCarthy (Garneau) grabs the sky while Max Joly Smith (right, Rocky Mtn) edges out Jean-Michel Lachance (Navito) for the second step on the podium. Joly Smith: “I’m sooo fast you can barely see me; but my eyes travel with me at the same speed–so I can stare at myself all day while sprinting!” ©2010 Antoine Bécotte

The Cat 1 chubby podium: 1. Shaun McCarthy (Garneau); 2. Max "on the wrong step" Joly Smith (Rocky Mtn); 3. Jean-Michel Lachance (Navito); 4: Pierre-Etienne Boivin (Team Spirit); 5. Pierre Boilard (Team Spirit). "I came SECOND, not third. I'm not going to hold your hand until they check the photo!" ©2010 Antoine Bécotte

Senior 3 Podium (L-R): 3. Maxime Le Pluart (Québec Métro); 1. Robert Ralph (Rio Tinto/Martin Swiss); 2. Carol Migneault (Gaspésien). "In your Facebook!" ©2010 Antoine Bécotte

Maitre A Podium: 1. François Michel Deschamps (Quilicot); 2. Patrick Russell (Synergy); 3. Michel Henri (Iris); 4. Richard Martin (Ind); 5. Dom Picard (Cabosse D'Or). "Ok, François Michel's legs are huge, but you're staring at my tattoos." ©2010 Antoine Bécotte

Maitre B Podium: 1. Scott Toguri McFarlane (Rio Tinto/Martin Swiss); 2. François Nuckle (Espoirs de Laval); 3. Michel Turcotte (Espoirs de Laval); 4. Jose Jorge (Rio Tinto/Martin Swiss); 5. Eric Genest (Québec Métro). "Sometimes, the guy with the most hair wins!" ©2010 Antoine Bécotte

Maitre D Podium: 1. John Phillipson; 2. Herb Nebbs; 3. Jean-Claude Leclerc. "Woohoo! Herb and I know how to celebrate on the podium!! We're already drunk, and we're going to take all our winnings and go to a garage sale to buy more stuff just so we can hear our loved ones complain!!" ©2010 Antoine Bécotte

Ok, I had to throw in the photo of the VCOM boys. They’ve been laughing while winning races since their rims were made out of wood. Congratulations John and Herb!!
MORE PHOTOS WHEN AVAILABLE

The Tour starts on June 15th, so checked back for results.

William on the front of the break in Charlevoix ©2010 Antoine Bécotte

Michelle Paiement and I invited clients and a few other interested parties down to the Seaway to test their metal on the world famous Beaconsfield Cycling Club 15km TT course. I’m posting these results as fast as possible because I don’t want Steve Hoather to have a nervous breakdown–even though everyone was already told how they did. Steve is a numbers guy, and he needs to see all the numbers in front of him before he calms…nah, he never calms down (!). But alot of  TT specialists are like that. They live inside of spreadsheets and micro details. Others are like Michel Brazeau. Once they finely dial in their position, they don’t use a computer or HR monitor or hidden engine. They just duck and go!

Thanks to Michelle for her flawless Swiss Precision Timing, which only Brandon Sant questioned. He thought he was 3 seconds slower. I agreed but Michelle stuck to her guns. Thanks also to Robert Ralph for hanging out with an orange cone and waving a yellow umbrella so that only one of you (ahem) got confused at the turn-around. And a special thanks to Gene Piccoli, who should wear a cape when he does his action photography. I think he lunged, dove into position and paced around for a total of 15 km today–and his moving time was just over 19 mins!!

Ok Steve. Here are the results: (note: all photos ©2010 Gene Piccoli)

Metal Men:

1. James Piccoli 20:15

2. Steve "Saliva" Hoather, 20:45

3. Pierre Lacoste, 20:46

4. Brian Jones, 20:55

5. Patrick Russell, 20:59

6. Jean-François Houpert, 21:16

7. Brandon Sant, 21:20

8. François Beauchemin, 21:52

9. Nick Van Haeften, 22:41

10. Gordon Stovel, 23:18

11. David Cox, 24:15

12. Jarrid Adler, 26:11

Metal Women:

1. Fred Fenneteau, 23:45

2. Debra Brown, 23:53

3. Judith Hayes, 24:23

4. Vanessa Cheong, 24:39

5. Amélie Jeanneau, 25:44

6. France Bordeleau, 26:11

Here are some other shots that Gene took while things were starting/finishing…

"I look exactly the same from either side"

Before the start: crying, praying, and random guy with sunglasses

"Yeah, so I found them just sitting here. Said they were writers, living off the land."

"Cones make me laugh! They are soo funny!"

"Bring it on, Mr YoungStar!"

People with shiny heads tend to be VERY joyful! Always hungry, but very joyful!

Thanks to all of you who dragged your aerodynamic butts out to the seaway under threat of rain. It was a lot of fun and something we might do again in a variety of formats.

As a coach, devising race plans was more tricky for this race than usual. I felt that the Cameron climb would challenge some riders, but would not be a decisive feature of the race, in and of itself. For most, it was going to be the duration of the race that would start to make the climb up Cameron–and a second climb a few kms later–have an impact. Splits could then start happening anywhere. For most of my racers, therefore, I suggested they approach the GP as a race of attrition. The goal was to make the key selections through positioning, and the breaks through smart racing–especially early on and during the last 2-3 laps.

In the Cat 1 race, Max Joly Smith (Rocky Mountain) and William Blackburn (Rio Tinto/Martin Swiss) were able to make the first selection, a group of 15-20 riders that rode off the front early in the race leaving many big names behind–including all members of the SPIDERTECH squad.

William Blackburn driving the first selection ©2010 May Studios

Cooperation is usually difficult to establish in such large groups, and as the laps ticked by splits started to happen–often initiated by members of the Garneau squad.

"Coline! This hurts!" ©2010 May's Studio

As the chasers softened in the gaps, the Garneau team laid down a heavy-handed spanking. In the end, Derrick St-John and Shaun McCarthy would cross the line 1-2, with teammates Hugo Houle and Jean-Sebastien Perron coasting in a minute later. Reigning National Champ, Aaron Fillion, finished after Perron in 5th, while the debris of the shattered break would be rejoined by other groups, forming a larger peloton of 40 tired riders. Blackburn finished 18th, and Joly Smith came 21st.

Max Joly Smith (Rocky Mountain) coasting across the line ©2010 May's Studio

I thought they raced well because they put themselves in the right position to take the next step. They’re getting close.

In the Senior 3 race, two riders rode away on the final lap, with Scott Loong (McGill) powering away from Jean-Roch Marion in the sprint. Toguri Training’s Robert Ralph (Rio Tinto/Martin Swiss) attacked with 8-9 km to go, and came in solo for 3rd.

Ralph crossing the line. "Look: I can try to look cool while taking care of a cramp at the same time!" ©2010 May's Studio

Here’s Robert collecting the hardware and moola:

"Everything is red and white because it is good to be tidy on the podium" ©2010 May's Studio

And just to add to the Robert Ralph show… Here’s a video of Robert on the podium shot by Monika Kin Gagnon… He’s the guy on the right WITHOUT his belly button showing. What’s with these Senior 3 guys?!

In the Women’s Maitre E race, Vanessa Cheong (Rio Tinto/Martin Swiss) hung in there to the bitter end, and finished 4th.

On the far right: Vanessa Cheong (Rio Tinto/Martin Swiss) ©2010 Antoine Bécotte

In the Maitre A race, Patrick Russell (Synergy) was the only survivor of a team exodus partway through the race, and finished a respectable 14th.

Far right: Patrick Russell (Synergy) ©2010 Antoine Bécotte

And finally, in the Maitre B race, David Albert (PowerWatts) attacked halfway into the race, and was later joined by Eric Provost (Trek-Curaprox). Eric is rapidly racing into shape and seemed to do whatever he wanted on the Cameron climb and, well, anywhere else on the course. Albert thanked Provost for the tow by offering an uncontested sprint.

Albert says thanks to Provost ©2010 Antoine Bécotte

A tired and timid bunch let Daniel Grenier (CIBC) walk away with about 10 km to go for third, and after much “encouragement” from teammate Jose Jorge, and a long pull by another loudmouth teammate, David Landry, I did what Jose told me to do and attacked with 2 km to go. I held off the pack for fourth and Jose finished 6th.

"Now I'm going to have to listen to Jose and David take all the credit for this!" ©2010 May's Studio

The GP Cycliste Vaudreuil Soulanges was a well-organized event. It seemed strongly supported by Hudson, and you felt as if you were racing within a community. Finally,  I thought the longer distances made it worthy of being part of the super prestige series in the future.