Traka 360 was once again a brutal day in the saddle, but according to Ben Perry, somehow it was a little harder. He also had one of his best results in gravel, finishing an impressive fourth in the 325km race.
Fresh off his wedding and speaking from his honeymoon, St. Catharines, Ont.’s Ben Perry laughed as he tried to piece it all together.
Same but not the same
“This year was a lot harder than last year. The course was harder and the race was raced harder,” he said.
That showed early. Perry made a point of being exactly where he needed to be before things split.
“I went into the first climb right where I wanted to be, second or third, and it split up quite a bit. I managed to always stay with the front five or six guys, and that gave me a lot of confidence.”
The man with a plan
There was a plan, too, one that never quite had to be used.
“I kind of made a plan…if I start really suffering, back it off and hope the next group comes back. But I was able to follow without ever being really uncomfortable,” he said.
That control mattered on a course that, despite moments of calm, never really let up.
“It was kind of funny,” the former WorldTour pro, and reigning national gravel champ said. “At some points we were like six guys, and it never felt that hard. But it’s so technical and twisty that things just snap. Someone ends up in the wrong position, and it splits.”
Even so, the race kept coming back together…at least for a while.
Big group at the end
“With around 25 km before the first feed, we were probably still 50 riders,” Perry said. “I was thinking, ‘Oh, I’ve overdone it… I could’ve ridden easier and still made this group.’”
Then it lit up again.
A move from Dane Mads Würtz Schmidt, who would go on to win solo in under 10 hours , reshaped the race, while Perry found himself bridging into a group featuring Matt Beers, Cameron Jones and former Tour de France star, Romain Bardet.
From there, it turned into something closer to a pact than a fight.
The final climb
“On the last big climb, Bardet just went to his pace right away,” Perry said. “Matt Beers and I could follow, nobody else could. And we were kind of joking around… like, why don’t the three of us just ride? Be honest, keep it hard, don’t attack each other.”
They stuck to it. Even when things got complicated.
“Bardet flatted, so we waited,” Perry said. “Matt could’ve ripped it there, but he didn’t. We waited around two minutes. After that, we just worked super well together.”
The group swelled again, then thinned. Through it all, Perry kept things measured, and this time, dialled.
“Last year I cramped quite a bit. This year, not even the slightest feeling,” he said. “Way more sodium. I’ve learned a lot about nutrition in these longer races.”
By the final hour, he was still pushing.
“I started attacking with about 30k to go. I got some separations, but it would come back. Everything’s just dulled at that point, you’re going hard, but it’s not the same numbers.”
One move nearly stuck.
“With 8k to go, I actually got away for a bit. Had a few seconds going into the final kicker… good position.”
But Beers and Bardet came back, and the race tipped into its most unpredictable phase, the singletrack that favoured handling over horsepower.
“The singletrack was just mayhem,” Perry said. “It basically came down to technical ability… it’s not really designed for a gravel bike. You’re not even breathing that hard, you’re just trying not to hit trees.”
After nearly 10 hours, it was a strange way for it to end.
“It’s kind of weird to lose the battle when you’re not really breathing that hard,” he said. “I prefer when it’s wide open… more of a battle of the wits.”
Still, fourth place, behind Würtz Schmidt, Hugo Drechou and Beers, carried more weight this time.
“Fourth this year feels like a lot more than fourth last year,” Perry said. “It’s a different ball game… and I’m glad I could still get a good result.”
Andrew L’Esperance was also up there, finishing 9th. In the women’s Haley Smith took an impressive fifth. German Rosa Klöser won, with Axelle Dubau-Prévot in second. Lucy Hempstead was 16th.