This photo is easy to talk about because it was one of the best days I’ve had this year. It was taken a few km’s into my attack. I attacked on the second to last climb of the third stage of Bira. It was 7km climb then there was a descent and 5km of flat before a 3km uphill. In this photo I was still going full gas to make sure I split off enough from the peloton.
Despite my face, I was feeling pretty good and giving it everything I had to get up over that climb with a good enough gap. I think the biggest gap I got was 30 seconds. It wasn’t like I had a ton of time to sit around and think but I went over the top and the descent was really fast. It wasn’t technical at all so you could go pretty quick. Then on the flat, I just put my head down. I didn’t even turn around.
If you look at some of the other photos, the peloton’s not that far behind. When I got to the final climb, it was really steep. Anything over 7% is generally not my cup of tea but I really want this win.
I had Giorgia in my ear telling me I could do it and the team supported me from behind. It was really good motivation. I also had my wife Olivia in my head, telling me this moment is what I worked so hard for and to never give up. I fought really hard the last climb. It was 3km but it felt like it was 10km and it was so painful but I gave it every ounce of energy until I crossed the line.
Until I crossed the line I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to stay out front because there was Annemiek behind and Amanda Spratt and they’re two of the best climbers in the world. I thought, for sure they would going to come ripping by me but the next person to come by was my teammate after I crossed the line. Elisa was second so it was a pretty perfect day and the biggest win of my career so far.
The most special part about it was afterwards, all the really nice messages I got. Not just my teammates but other girls in the peloton. Even the next day in the race I spent the first 30 minutes having people come up to me and say congratulations.
Photo by Balint Hamvas/velofocus.com
Tags: tayler wiles, trek segafredo Last modified: Jan 17, 2020
