I love Love love racing in bad weather because I know most of my enemies don’t love it and it takes them off their game. Use bad conditions not as a reason to fret, but rather to your advantage.
Also have warm clothes ready for after the race. Change as quickly as possible before you cool down. When I go to race on rain days I bring waterproof winter clothes for after. Tops and bottoms and boots and gloves and hats. You can never have too much warm clothing after a cold wet race. Finish, change ASAP, then pack the bike and kit and go eat.
If it’s a warm wet race I still bring rain jacket, rain pants, boots and hat. But it’s less dire.
I had the same happen to me last year, I also had rain at my first and second race.
Fundamentally, you already know what to do, anf I recommend you use a combination of faith in yourself with sensible equipment choices. Perhaps you can even use it to your advantage.
I run 28s and have disc brakes. So I lowered the pressure to give me more grip and just believed in myself. The guy next to me at the start line had 22 mm tired that I am sure were pumped up to some ungodly pressure I am sure, rim brakes and expensive carbon wheels. He wasn’t the only one to hold back on the descents. A lot of riders commented after the race that their reduced braking action (plus the fear of destroying ¥¥¥¥¥¥ worth of gear in a crash) made them dread the descents.
I didn’t feel that worry at all. Of course I was slower in some parts than on a dry road. But I never felt scared or was even close to the limit.
PS Veloce rain covers help and glasses are a must.
PPS It really helped me to set a few simple goals. Mine were: (1) Don’t crash. (2) Finish the race. (3) Do an all out sprint at the end.
