@cheqmtb was quite the change in pace for us @lifetimegrandprix riders, so I thought it might be fun to breakdown the power file a bit. Here are some of the key phases of the race (I’m 68kg): The pros have a new first few miles which feature big rollers in deep, wet grass. For some reason I incorrectly expected call-ups, so ended up buried on row 5. This made for a tricky first ~30 mins. Despite the wide track, moving up from ~50th is tough when everyone is fresh. I did my best to do it slowly and on corners/descents, but was still forced to expend more energy than I would’ve liked. The result was a first 3 mins at 510 watts, first 9 mins at 410, and first 35 mins at 341/378NP before we finally “eased up” for ~15 minutes at 298 watts. The next decisive section came at mile 17 when we turned left off Janet road and dove into a tight trail section. I knew I wanted to be towards the front here period, but especially with the muddy conditions. I put in a 900 watt surge at this point to slot in second behind Keegan. Turned out this section wasn’t just exciting, it had become a total war zone, everyone weaving all over the place hunting for any bit of traction. When Keegan bobbled, I took the lead and decided to push the pace to test the rest of the group. This was a 334/360NP effort for 8:30 sliding and churning our way through the muddy trail. Following another relative lull in the action (20 mins @ 260) the battle for position into Firetower Hill began: 372 for 4 minutes, followed by 427 for 3:15 up the very slippery Firetower climb proper, and another 350 for 1 minute down the backside to solidify our new lead group of 4. Unfortunately, a few minutes later is when I crashed and I was forced into damage control rather than attack mode. Once I found some power again, a final 7 minute push @ 347 across the power-sapping mud rollers brought Alex Howes into view, and last ditch 540 watt surge for 40 seconds to sneak around him before the final corner secured the final step on the podium. All told it 346NP for 2hr 7min. It was a wild battle from start to finish, but massively fun test of higher end sea level power, which I don’t get to enjoy as often these days.