The London 8 course was on the menu for KISS EU racers on this American Thanksgiving day. The A category saw a huge upset with Jokim Pluijmers (Team X) taking the win over Tim Cartwright (KissRT) and David Allonby (Vision).
As usual on this route, the pack waited until Box Hill to explode into small groups. In the As, Cartwright (KissRT), Williams (KissRT) and Allonby (Vision) tried to anticipate the climb by attacking on the flat inner-city streets. But the trio got caught before heading to the subway station. At the top of the first climb, there were 7 riders in the lead group: Cartwright (KissRT), Portalino, Allonby (Vision), Pluijmers (Team X), Balbi, Barroso (PTz) and Mehl (KissRT).
On the second lap, there were only 6 riders heading to the climb as Balbi got dropped on the flatter sections. Jokim Pluijmers, the Dutch climber from Team X attacked on the climb and only a few were able to follow. Vidar Mehl (KissRT) was the last one to get dropped as the winning trio got to the top of the KoM. Allonby (Vision) attacked in the descent, throwing down his aero powerup, but Cartwright (KissRT) and Pluijmers (Team X) brought him back at the subway entrance. The last climb up the stairs wasn’t enough to break the trio apart, so it came down to a 3-man sprint. After a bit of “track games” to see who would launch first, Pluijmers (Team X) surprised the two favorites and took the win over Cartwright (KissRT) and Allonby (Vision).
Alien Landing in London
Being used to competing in longer races, the Dutchman from Amsterdam was a logical outsider on the London 8 course, as it’s the preferred one for Sunday’s KISS100. Nevertheless, the upset was real as he was the first one to beat the Englishmen in a long time. “This is amazing,” says Pluijmers. “I was feeling really good today. I tried to go in the climb, but I kept some in the tank. The tactic paid of, I’m glad I improved on that last part of the race.” In the B category, Sebastian Sternefalk took the win over “PK” and Steven Melia (BRT).
For his last race in the C category, Timothy Termont (BRT) took his second win within two days. “I love it when the races don’t end in bunch sprint,” says Termont. “I wasn’t expecting to win tonight, but it’s a great way to leave the C category before the upgrade.” A few seconds later, Martin Elzingre took second place, and Karl Knight third. In the D category, Jack Butterfiel took the win over Matt Baker (AlbaRosa CC) and Paul McCombes.
Here is the race commentary from Nathan Guerra.
Check out his Twitch.tv channel >
KISS EU – Nov 22th / provisional results:
A Category:
1- J.Pluijmers (NED-Team X)
2- T.Cartwright (GBR-KissRT)
3- D.Allonby (GBR-Vision)
B Category:
1- S.Stefernalk (NOR-U/A)
2- PK (GBR-U/A)
3- S.Melia (IRL-BRT)
C Category:
1- T.Termont (BEL-BRT)
2- M.Elzingre (USA-U/A)
3- K.Knight (GBR-Team TFC)
D Category:
1- J.Butterfield (GBR-U/A)
2- M.Baker (GBR-ARCC)
3- P.McCombes (GBR-U/A)
See full race results for As including rider power, times, and heartrate on ZwiftPower.com >
See full race results for Bs, Cs and Ds including rider power, times, and heartrate on ZwiftPower.com >
-the q/l report-
