It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a flyer!

Jacob: Philippe Gilbert, Nikolas Vogondy, Sylvain Chavanel!
Philippe: Ah, Jacob, how nice to see you.
Jacob: What brings ya’ll to Texas?
Slyvain: The GS Tenzing Crit of course.
Nikolas: It seems so ripe for a flyer, we just couldn’t resist.
Jacob: Flyer hmmmm…might be worth my while.
Philippe: Oh, it’s always worth it. It’s ballsy, it looks good, and occasionally it just might work.
Jacob: Hmmm…just might work.
Slyvain: We were planning on one later, perhaps you would like to join?
Jacob: This might be possible.

The race proceeds somewhat uninterestingly, primes are tossed about, but none come Jacob’s way. A water bottle that was tossed takes an awkward bounce and flies back into the peloton, and a minivan got on the course, but other than that it was a pretty relaxing hour, with Slyvain showing photos of his latest vacation to Mont Saint-Michel.

Slyvain: And then, a couple hours later, it was an island again!
Nikolas: Fascinating! And it does this everday?
Slyvain: Yes! It’s the current of the ocean, it makes the place so very defensible.
Philippe: Incredible, Jacob, have you ever heard such things?
Jacob: Indeed I have, but witnessed it, I have not.
Slyvain: Oh, you should be sure to visit sometime.
Jacob: I’m actually going to Hawai’i in a few days.
Philippe: Oh, how interesting!
Jacob: I’ll be biking and swimming and sundry other activities.
Nikolas: Oh, that sounds grand!
Slyvain: He guys, it’s almost time for a flyer.
Philippe: Just a few laps left? I’m more of a 50k flyer type of guy myself, but if everyone’s doing it I guess I might as well…
Nikolas: Oh, join it’ll be fun. Jacob, you coming?

Jacob: Hmm…only two laps left, eh, it just be able to work…
Slyvain: Bonne, off we go!

And like the three musketeers of old, except with an American and a Belgian amidst them, and four instead of three, they attacked.

Slyvain: Quite the gap we’ve got!

Jacob: Yes, but here’s two riders bridging.
Nikolas: Just over one lap to go.
Philippe: We can work with the other two maybe?
Jacob: No good, one dropped off and I can’t quite match the acceleration of the other.
Nikolas: Just this right turn to start the last lap and…
Slyvain: The wind!

Philippe: Ah! It blows us to pieces!
Nikolas: Mon dieu!
Slyvain: C’est terrible!
Philippe: Oh, what catastrophe!
Jacob: Gah! We’ve been overtaken, and can’t accelerate
Nikolas: Waaaaaah!

Philippe: Where’d Nikolas go?
Slyvain: The wind has taken him!
Philippe: Oh, poor soul!

The lamentations continued. Though full of typical Jacobean dash and bravado, ultimately the move was not successful. In hindsight, tactically it just wasn’t too smart.