Lots of races and Corsica

Zellik-Galmaarden

Starting in the town that I stay when i'm in Belgium, this was one of my major targets of the season, but with being ill the week before, and on anti-biotics, it wasn't ideal preperation. This race is a UCI 1.2, and a top-competitie with 200 starters and the best teams from Belgium, Holland, Bulgaria and a few others, so managing to get a front starting spot was yet again key. The first 20km was all on badly surfaced roads, until 20km when there is a wide, straight road. With 2 climbs of the Muur of Geraadsbergen, 6 of the Bosberg, 2 of the Onkerzelenberg 4 of the Congoberg it would be tough. Setting off from 2nd row I managed to hold my position in the top half of the bunch till the long straight road. On the long straight road, we hit speeds of 80km/h+ and a break managed to form.Getting to the top 30 before the Muur was important, but on the long wide road just before I was stuck in the middle of the group with riders going on the bike path around the outside, so ended up being in the last quarter of the bunch. 1Km before the muur there was a dangerous descent, which ended up causing a pile up of about 30 people, ending up with me getting caught behind. The race kept together up the climb, but as we hit the decent of the Muur, gaps appeared and before I knew it I was inbetween the team cars. Manging to slowly crawl my way from car 15 back to the bunch was hard work but just before the 2nd climb of the Muur I got back on. Just as I got on, i thought it would be smart to go on the outside on the bike path and go away “on my socks”. It worked... for about 500m when the bunch came lined out past me on a drag, which caused me to be near the back of what was left of the bunch, again. On the decent it split and I was yet again inbetween the cars, but this time I couldn't make it back to the bunch and after 110km of the 170km race I was pulled out.

Affligem Classic

A week after Zellik-Galmaarden was another interclub, Affligem classic. With another large field of 200 starters, and top ex-pros and pros-to-be on the start it would be tough, along with the Muur, Bosberg, and another 6 climbs, with a even tougher local lap.The first 20km, I managed to get in 5 different breakaways, and ended up about 50m from the winning break, but with more large open roads up ahead, I knew I had to hold my position well to get to the Muur in the front 50. Just before we hit it, on some small roads, I lost my position and ended up being half way down the bunch. As we approached the climb from a different road from usual, my chain came off, and lost about 20 places before it was back on. But these 20 places ended it as on the decent it split 10 places infront of me. On the Bosberg I managed to jump across a group, but there was another split just infront. After a few climbs and about 70km of chasing, I was pulled out in a group of 70, even though we where just 2minutes behind the bunch.

ECCA

After Affligem I went back to England for the ECCA (Eastern Counties Cycling Association) 2 day races, the Saturday at Hog Hill, and the Sunday a 130km race at High Easter.
Arriving at Hog Hill Cycle Circuit for only the 3rd time ever, and with its hard undulating power circuit, I was hoping for a good result, even with riders such as National Cyclocross Champion Jody Crawforth on the start. But a few laps into the race, my left leg was feeling incredibly weak and useless, like I was racing with 1 leg. A early break got away with Andrew Griffiths and 2 Orbea-FGS riders, and ended up staying away, I managed to get away with a few laps to go and ended up 7th. But the left leg was my main problem.The sunday in High Easter was very wet. The circuit is quite a boring 25km lap on wide main roads, with a few drags, but nothing special, and a finish off the circuit on a small hill.

With the left leg still not feeling very good, I thought I would try and get in a few early breaks and try to take it a bit easier then the stopping and starting of the bunch. Managing to get away, but then getting caught a few km later, a break of 10 counter-attacked and managed to get away. With my left leg struggling to even turn, I couldnt close the gap and with a few from Orbea and 1 rider from Finchley (the 2 largest teams) the bunch wasn't going to help chase. I tried jumping across on multiple occasions but on every attempt I was chased by the Finchley team who just sat in my wheel. With the time checks getting higher, I managed to get a few people turning the remains of the bunch round(not any of the Finchley riders) and the gap didnt increase too much more. In the bunch sprint my leg didn't help at all and I ended up in the middle of the group, in 18th place.

After a few massages I was hoping my leg would be good for the race on the Thursday in Stok.

Kortenaken-Stok

The race in Stok is one of my preferred races, after winning there last year as a 2nd year junior and getting 3rd as a 1st year junior. With a 18:00 start and a distance of 120km, it would be hit and go to see if we finished in the light or darkness. Arriving good on time and getting enough time in for a good warm up, I was hoping my leg would be good enough for a good result, but with 207 starters it would be very very difficult. Averaging 45km/h, breaks were failing to get away, and with the leg not feeling so good, I decided to sit in the middle of the bunch for a bit. With a few laps to go I moved up and managed to get into a break of 16 which ended up staying away. In the sprint the leg still wasnt good but ended up in 9th place.

Regional Championships

A few weeks after Stok, after doing a few races which ended up with me ending up near the front end of the bunch after attacking in the last few laps, it was time for the Regional championships in Saffron Waldon, the same circuit as the year before where I got a 2nd place. With 9 Orbea riders from the 60 rider field it would be very difficult to beat them. From the gun the Orbea riders began attacking and ended up getting 3 riders in a break of 8. Everytime I tried to jump across Orbea chased. I asked Andy Lyons why and he said “your not getting away today”, but this didnt make me stop. In the end I managed to get away with 2 Orbea riders, Andy Lyons and Ben Thompson who ended up working with me to jump across the 1min 30 gap. After about 20km we managed to close the gap to the lead group and kept it turning. With 50km to go, Dan Kogan kept attacking and the a few riders from the other teams ended up getting dropped, with me left with 5 Orbea riders and 2 from 2 other teams (who were just hanging on to the group) a Orbea rider ended up crashing and 10km after Dan Kogan attacked again. I planned to let him go as there was still a while to go on a hard circuit, but when Andy Lyons attacked the rider from Finchley went with him but couldnt hold his wheel, which meant I had to try and close the gap with 2 Orbea guys and 2 people who couldnt take a turn any more. They ended up enlarging there gap leaving us to sprint for 3rd which I won quite easy.

Corsica

After a late decision I managed to get a ride in the Tour of Corsica for the team "Association Corsica Tour" - the team of the organiser of the Tour of Corsica. Looking at the stage profiles before we left, they looked savage with stages from 110km-140km with long mountain climbs and a mountain TT of 10km on the last day.

Arriving a few days before at Figari airport in the south, we got picked up by a representative of the tour, a guy called Dominique who ended up being my director sportif for the stage race. Unloading the bike I found that my right super record shifter was snapped off, just hanging by the brake cable. Luckily I had a spare bike I could ride till we could find a replacement.
When I arrived at the hotel in the small village of Sotta, I went for a short loosen up and noticed
that there was not any flat roads around, every road was up and down and that wasnt even in the mountains. The following day, Dominique took me to a club ride in Porto-Vecchio, where there was a person called Marc who had a chorus shifter, and would fit it. After the ride we drove to his house which was up a 5km mountain with sections of 30%+.. the thought came into my head of how he gets up after a long hard training ride - which I found out later that he sometimes has to phone his wife to pick him up from the bottom.

The first stage of the tour started in Ajaccio - 120km from where i was staying. 120km you would think is not far, but when you have to drive over 4 twisty mountains, and roads with speed limits of no more then 70km/h, it ends up taking a very long time. Leaving at 8 for a 1 o clock start, we thought we would arrive with plenty of time to spare, but with a few stops and stand-still traffic in Ajaccio town center we arrived with 45mins till the start, and still the team presentation to go.

Quickly getting ready, unloading the bikes and getting given the kit with shorts 4 sizes to big, I lined up for the team presentation and then straight on the start line. The start was neutralised for 7km then we had a long mountain climb of the Col de Vizzavona which averages 5% for 30km with the last 6km averaging 10%. After never doing a race in the mountains before, i thought it would be the best to stay in the bunch up the start of the climb to see how i feel. 15 riders ended up going clear after 3km and had 4minutes as we hit the climb, which didnt worry me too much as there was still 137km to go. With the whole of the Col de Vizzavona and the Santo Pietro di Vanaco straight after that.

On the foot of the mountain another 10 riders managed to jump away, and soon got a minute gap. A few km later I managed to jump across by myself and managed to stay on. On the decent of the 2nd mountain, we where still a good 3minutes behind, but when we hit the flat the bunch caught my group, and everyone sat up in the block head wind. After about 20km of failed attacks, I managed to get away with a group of 6 riders with 2 from VC La Pomme and we worked very well, ending up taking 8minutes on the bunch, and I ended up 3rd in the group, 18th on the stage.

Stage 2 was a harder stage than the first, with another long mountain climb (Col de Bavella), but this time about 10-15km averaging 5% with 6km after that averaging 12% then a little decent than 5km at 10%. As we hit the first climb a small break was away, but after 1km of climbing, the trouble with my left leg was back, and I couldnt hold the wheels. After 4km of climbing I was in about 40th position and struggling. But a few km after, and some encouragement from the team car, i got my tempo and ended up catching people and then dropping them, by the top there was a group of 10 then another group of 15 just infront, with me about 30 seconds behind on my own. As we hit the decent the group infront worked well together and I ended up losing another 30 seconds. The group behind me of 10 riders was at about a minute – so I was in no-mans land. With a 15km decent, I tried my hardest to catch the group, but only gained about 15 seconds, not enough for the undulating 40km straight road at the bottom with block head wind. About 3km on this road I saw the group coming close behind me, and a few km closer they came closer, so after a 70km TT, I sat up and waited. We worked together and I won the sprint of the group in the town of Bonifacio for 24th place.

The 3rd stage started in Solenzara, a sea-side town on the east side of Corsica. Keen to get in a early break, I went with early moves to no avail. After about 20km i got away by myself, but forgetting that there was the last green jersey sprint of the tour coming up, the teams had men keeping pace for the bunch. After a few kilometers the bunch caught me and just after the sprint a break of 14 got away. As we hit the first climb the left leg felt useless again, and caused me trouble. The heavens opened and as we hit the top of the first climb I was about a minute behind the bunch. On the decent, riders were crashing all over the place, and some riders even falling down the side of the mountain. On the 2nd climb I was in a group of about 15 riders 2minutes behind the bunch. we worked together until a few kms into it when me and my team mate carlos put some hard turns in and broke free. Carlos decends like a mad man, taking perfect lines and following his wheel was difficult but after a few kilometers of decending I got the confidence to stick closer to his wheel, catching groups and passing them. As we hit the final climb, I left Carlos and ended up coming in 28th.

The final day was a 10km mountain TT on the Col De Teghime in Bastia. But the evening before I had a massage and the person who done it said that I should not force my leg, seeing as I was sitting 22nd in GC and would only gain 1 place if I forced it and could only lose 2 if I done it at tempo, it was not worth to force it. I took it at tempo and ended up 44th, and lost 1 place on GC.

Hooglede

After careful consideration, Hooglede was the chosen destination for todays race; 105km long, 21 laps of 5km, and it was an under 23 race. With only two races in Belgium that I could ride on this sunny, dry day, I was expecting a large field, and it didn't disappoint. 148 starters lined up, with me and team mate Dave Nichols on the first row, but this time no-one went infront of us like they did at the other races! With a lack of warm up from getting stuck in the traffic from people going to the coast, we still knew how important it was to start at the front from previous race experiences.

The circuit had a wide up hill finish, and another 2 hills on different sections. The decent was twisty, and tight with sharp corners – meaning the bunch was constantly lined out (easier to hold my position!) The race in total had 63 climbs, short, but repeatedly sprinting up each one of them.

First lap I went with a few attackees which didn't succeed. After a few laps I was comfortably sitting in the top half of the bunch, but managed to miss a break of 17, who managed to stay away till the end. The whole race I managed to stick in the top 30 of the remains of the bunch, with the back end constantly splitting from riders getting tired and dropped. 3 laps to go, I attacked and the bunch split in two, and I ended up having about 30 riders with me. The legs where feeling the best they have been this season, and we managed to hold off the rest of the bunch, but when it came to the sprint finish I knew I still didn't have it, and ended up rolling in, at 28th place.

Each race seems to be getting better and hopefully it will continue this way with the race in Outer on Monday.

Illness and GP Pino Cerami

After returning from Malta with some good results under my belt from just the base training that i've done, and the next day driving to Belgium, I felt something on my lungs, so I visited the doctor to find out that I had caught a lung infection (probably from being in the airport for 2 days!), so the next few races, which where all kermesses in Belgium, where difficult to ride with constant coughing and anti-biotics in my system.

Monday, in Schepdaal, was the first kermesse that I rode well, it was a circuit with 3 climbs in, and in past years has been a tough race. I managed to hang in, and even get a few attacks in but you could see I was still not fully fit, but still ending in 43rd place from a field of 100+. Before and after the race I managed to get a extra 60km in totalling the day with 180km – good training for Zellik-Galmaarden (my “home” race which is 176km long) on the 18th April.

Pino Cerami “Afwachtingwedstrijd”

Today was my next race and it was in the Walloon. The race is called the “waiting race” as it is before the main race; The GP Pino Cerami (UCI 1.1) for the professionals, who used a similar, but longer circuit. The route was an undulating 71km loop from St-Ghislain to Femeries, with 3 local laps of a 16.8km circuit, including the Tienne Du Dragon (Cobbled, averaging 14% going up to 20%), and another climb averaging 15%, all 4 times each.

Eager to start near the front, on this dull and dingy day, I lined up with 15minutes to go, to find that 30 riders who arrived 5minutes before the start stood infront of me. But on the wide-roaded neutralized section I managed to claw my right to the front, and when the car drove off, the speed was constantly held at above 45km/h, making it difficult for breakaways to stay away, but still managing to hold my position in the top half of the bunch.

After 15km a break of 6 managed to sneak away, but being held at only 10 seconds, until a unmanned point on the circuit meant the bunch took the wrong turning, losing 2 minutes in the process. After 59km we hit the Dragon, and just at the bottom a cyclist snapped his fork causing a few others to fly into him to make a pile of people on the ground, which luckily I managed to avoid. At the top, a split happened and another 15 people got away. The third time up the climb, me and team mate Dave Nichols put the pressure on at the front and got away in a group of 5. But by this time there was a total of 30 people away from other cyclists peeling off the front of the peleton in ones and twos. We managed to catch a group of stragglers, but the groups ahead where out of sight. The final lap Nichols attacked and failed miserably, but the 2km up hill finish meant a tough sprint so the right wheel was important, and I chose the wheel of someone who I had raced frequently against last year, but it was the wrong one as Nichols ended up winning the sprint, ending 26th place and I ended up 2 places behind in 28th place.

All in all i'm happy with the result and how the day went, with some good speed training, climbing and bunch riding and hopefully within a few weeks i'll be getting some form, and getting rid of all the illnesses surrounding me.

Malta - Stage 3, Bike Ride and Flight

The final stage of the Tour ta Malta was on the island next to Malta, Gozo.

A early start was on the program, with the buses leaving to the ferry port picking us up at 6am. Breakfast was served especially for the cyclists at 5am (4am english time!) in the headquarters – this included a selection of bread and jam, which was rather delightful.

At 5:30, with the sun slowly rising, the bikes where loaded onto a truck, luckily covered with lots and lots of blankets. Half a hour later, at the expected leaving time, there was no sign of a bus. We soon got news that the bus was delayed (probably the bus driver still asleep!!), but after a matter of 20minutes they arrived, and we were off for the 50minute bus journey, then a 20minute ferry journey.

After arriving on Gozo, the sun was out shining. After a quick picture or two of everyone together and the boat for the sponsors, the journey continued with a 40 minute ride up hill to the start/finish area.

The circuit was a 4.5km lap with a 2km hill in, which you had to go up, do a lap round a few houses and a windmill then go back down. The corners on the hill where tight, and very slippery with riders sliding off like it was ice, but with temperatures around 27 degrees.

Arriving at the circuit with a hour to spare, I took the time to do a good warm up, and found the legs were feeling good, better then the previous stages. With the decent on the first part of the circuit, the Italians where worried about the slippery chicane corners, and told everyone to have a non-official neutralised start. Soon after, I began going with the attacks, but on the first ascent of the climb my legs weren't feeling as good as they had in the warm up, and everything soon came back together again. The following lap on the climb the leader Pizzo put the pressure on the front like a beast, splitting the peleton into many little groups, luckily I was near the front and managed to stay in the front split, dispite a local rider leaving a gap right infront of me. A few groups came together to make a larger front group.

With a few attacks going then getting caught, riders began getting tired and the front group ended up having 10 riders, including me, the leader and the winner from the previous stage, who was a giant, a Cipollini lookalike and an ex world champion.

6 laps to go, the group sat up and I saw a chance, managing to get a gap of about 30 seconds, soon joined by the eventual stage winner Francesco Guccioni. 2 laps later our attempt had failed and we got caught. With my legs still feeling quite fresh, even after the recent attack, and thinking that the Italians (who had 4 in the lead group) were controlling it well, I thought it was not a good idea to attack, and it would be best to save my self for the last sprint up the “Poggio”. 2 laps to go, Guccioni attacked, and managed to solo to the finish alone.

The last few times up was steady, but a fight for positions. Managing to get the wheel of the Cippolini lookalike was my main aim, seeing as the stage he won was from a sprint from 8, similar to this stage.

Turning the last bend with 300m to go, I got his wheel but was not powerful enough to go past him ending up 4th in the sprint.

After the race, they put down on the results 6th, which is very annoying seeing as I got 5th. Without the use of cameras in Malta, they have to do it all by eye and hand, getting a few minor mistakes but the results got changed soon enough. I also ended up 6th on GC and first under 23.
After the stage, I ended up riding back doing about another 40-50km with a few other riders.

Bike ride

The last day wasn't a stage, it was just a 1 hour bike ride with the locals. The turn out was one of the biggest that the Tour Ta Malta had ever had, with more then 200 riders on the 28km loop. Soon after was the presentations, and then I joined the Chevin Bang & Olufsen team for another 60km loosen up.

Flight Back

The flight back was eventful. With everything packed we loaded it into the “Team Greens” team van for the trip to the airport. Arriving with 2 hours till the flight begins, we got our boarding tickets and took the bikes to the oversize baggage place. 30Minutes later a woman finally came to scan them, not even taking a look at the screen. Walking through the overpriced duty free we saw that our flight was delayed 1 hours 30, this was the least of our problems. When arriving at the gate, and after the 1 hour 30, we got told another hour, then another, then another, till it ended up being 8 hours delay. This was all because of a problem with the hydrolic system on the plane, then we found out that the pilot had run out of flying hours because it took so long! So EasyJet kindly put us in a 5 star hotel for the night with buffet dinner (luckily with loads of pasta!) and breakfast.

The hotel room had a huge kingsize bed with a million pillows, there was 2 bathrooms, a hallway, 2 balcony's and a lounge.

Anyway the flight left with only 30minute delay the following day and a traffic-free journey home even through the Dartford tunnel.

Tomorrow i'm off to Belgium for a lactate test and another weekends racing.

Malta - Stage 2

Today, the second stage of the Tour Ta Malta, was a 100km road race in San Martin. We left the headquarters at 8:30 as a group for the 20km ride towards the start. Not really knowing what the circuit was like, just some rumours from other riders, I was expecting a 10km circuit with a hard 2-3km hill with the finish on top

Arriving on the circuit, it was a area I recognised from my 2 hour loosen which I had done on the first day. The hill that the race was going up 10 times was the one I had named “Windygap”. Not remembering what the decent was, and people telling me to be careful because of the bad surface, I went to check it out before the start and it wasn't as bad as imagined.

At 10 sharp, the race began with half a lap neutralised. When the car accelerated away the attacks begun. Sitting in around 10th place in the group was a prime position for the beginning of the first accent up “Windygap”. In the sharp, roughly surfaced right hand bend to the first part of the climb, I was still holding my position. After about 200 meters, a British rider from the “Chevin Bang & Olufsen” team, who was riding a few places ahead of me came acrop, not being able to swerve to avoid, I went straight into him, therefore taking a tumble. Quickly getting up, I grabbed my bottles and bike and I was off, but the peleton had already taking about 30 seconds.

Chasing as hard as I could, trying to get on as quickly as possible was the mission in hand. Half way up the climb I succeeded, overtaking quite a few riders in the process, but a rider from the head of the bunch attacked the moment I got on, lining out the field. As Ii was at the back, a few riders left some gaps and by the top of the hill, the group was about 15 seconds up the road, and with only one other rider with me. Luckily after a few kilometres on a piece of false flat, I managed to get back on, but with the legs not feeling at their best, I thought it would be the best to try get away before the 2nd accent of the climb.

Looking for the right moment to attack was important, as if I got caught then I would be stuffed for the climb. Luckily, half way down the decent I saw my chance and got away, trying to chase the two escapees 30 seconds up the road. By the time I reached the climb, there was a gap of about 40 seconds from me to the bunch, with about 15 seconds off the two up the road. Feeling the chase from the previous laps crash in my legs was the biggest problem, ending up getting caught by a group of 10, including the Red Leader, Francesco Pizzo, who was sitting on the front chasing the two away. Hanging onto the group was, at first, difficult, but as we hit the decent it turned easier with a short moment to recover. Hitting the climb for the 3rd time, Pizzo was still on the front, but this time putting the pressure on trying to split the group. With me hanging on the back of the group the splits began, which I wasn't able to close. At the top, a group of 6 Italians and a Brit joined me, which I managed to stay with for the rest of the race, all working well together.

With 4 laps to go, the legs started to feel good, and I started to do some big turns, but by this time the 8 riders up the road ended up having 3 minutes on us. With 2 laps to go, on the climb I thought I would give it a go to try and get 9th place and maybe close some time from the leaders. 2 other riders came with me, one a Italian, and the other a local Maltese rider. The Italian sat on the back, so we wouldn't catch time on the break as he had couple of his team mates in it(he had my number on his stem), while the rider from Malta wasn't giving it his best. Half way down the decent the rest of the group came back, and one of the riders from that group started abusing me in Italian. Not knowing a word he was saying I smiled at him, which made him abuse me even more.

Hitting the climb for the final time, but at a steady pace gave me time to recover from the little break. With 400meters to go, sitting in a prime position for the sprint, I saw the other riders change to their big ring, so I thought it would be a good idea to do the same. 200 meters to go the sprint started, but I ended up mistiming it, ending 3rd out of our group, 11th overall on the stage.

Back at the headquarters, the results where up, and surprisingly I was still 7th on GC, 3 minutes off podium and 6 minutes off the lead. At the hotel room, I took off my cycling shoes off and saw that there was only half of my left cleat left, which means that it broke in the crash on the first lap.

Tomorrow, is stage 3, the final stage of the tour, but this time on the island next to Malta, Gozo. With a planned leaving time of 5:30 in the morning to catch the boat, its not something i'm particularly looking forward to, but in the race I will be hoping for a good result and hopefully get onto the podium.

Tour Ta Malta

On Tuesday evening, my dad and I left for Gatwick Airport. The flight was Wednesday Morning at 7:15, meaning another early start, getting up at 4:30am, seeing as we had to be their 2 hours before to ensure we got our bikes on board.

This was the first time I had flown from Gatwick, and the first time I was going to Malta. Likewise for my Dad. From what I had heard, the roads were like ice if it rained, there was no MOT so the cars were all falling to bits and oil was everywhere.

The plane ended up leaving 45 minutes behind schedule, due to a traffic jam of planes on the runway in Gatwick.

After about 3 hours we arrived in Malta on the expected time despite the delay, all thanks to a tail wind. We got out with the sun shining and only a breath of wind. After getting the bags, we were greeted by one of the organisers of the "Tour ta Malta" who loaded our bikes and luggage into his Kia Sportage, loading it to the brim, the organiser got us a taxi to take us to the headquarters (which was also the hotel that we where meant to be staying at) of the race, while he took our bikes.

The Taxi Journey

This was the first time that I would be able to see what Malta was like. The taxi driver, in my opinion, was a madman. On single lane roads he was overtaking and undertaking cars, almost scraping all other cars, and beeping his horn at them to move out the way. Cars were coming out from side roads without looking, not stopping and, of course, he wasn't, which made me think that this was the way that people drive here. Car horns where constantly heard from all the close misses, and red lights or zebra crossing weren't in his or anyone else's dictionary's, going straight through even with pedestrians nearby. We got closer to the hotel and the traffic started to build. The taxi driver, still being "the perfect bunch rider" was still fitting through the smallest gaps and trying to “move up” as much as he can, cutting other people up as a result of his actions. But it seemed everyone was doing the same.

Arriving at the hotel, we got our luggage unloaded to take in, just to find that we had to pack it all back in, this time into a van. We were staying about 500m away in Hotel Sliema Chalet. This time we had a different driver driving the van, he was on the phone, driving one handed, without a seatbelt and cutting up a policewoman (who did nothing except hoot her horn) and lots of other people. We soon arrived to find that the room would not be ready for another 30 minutes. So we went back to the headquarters for some lunch of Pasta and ham.

First ride in Malta

When the room was ready, we quickly unpacked so I would be able to go for a couple of hours loosen up, and to see the Stage 1 time trial circuit. Without a map, I had a brief route to get to the circuit that a manager from another team had told me, and somehow managed to find it without problems. The roads were undulating, filled with traffic and kamikaze drivers. I somehow managed to get abused for riding on a bike path, which is something that doesn't even happen in England, and made me laugh.

The time trial circuit was mostly flat with a few little drags in it, but by the time I had done the circuit I had only done 15km, so I continued riding and went exploring. On my search around, I found some nice hills, the first of them very similar to a local climb near me, Little Baddow, which

I big ringed to get my heart rate up. At the top I saw a nice decent to my left which looked like it ended up going up some nice hills, I went down and came to one, which I named Windygap (Due to its similarity to the climb from the Junior tour of Ireland) and a random really bad surface road which I only managed to go up at 10km/h.

Trying to make a loop back to the hotel, I went down a little road and ended up getting chased by 3 dogs, 2 small and 1 big, so a bit of interval training was included in the ride!

Following my instincts, I went down a few random roads and ended up seeing the sea, so cycled towards it, and then a bit further sign posts to the capital Valetta (the rest of the signs for some

reason looked like they were in Russian) I knew that the hotel was only a matter of kilometers down the coast from Valetta in a town called Sliema. Somehow I found the hotel with no problem at all, taking the same route that the Taxi took just a few hours earlier, dodging the traffic. I

checked my Garmin 500 and saw that I had 750m of climbing, which was quite alot for a 2 hour loosen up, and just to let you know, an average temp of 16.5 degrees.

Stage 1 - The Time Trial

Getting up at 6:30am to eat at 7, made it another early start. We had to be at the headquarters for 8, as everyone had to sign on then cycle together to the start of the time trial.. The organisers managed to get David Miller to come (because he was born on Malta) to cycle with everyone who was racing to the start of the time trial circuit. He soon had to leave, as he had to catch his plane for Milan-San Remo at the weekend.

We arrived with a hour and a half till my planned start, I layed down on a wall, and rested for a good half an hour, till about a hour to go when I thought it would be a good moment to start a good warm up. At a glance, there was a nice hill in a hotel car park nearby, so I rode up and down it till the start.

As it was only a 6km circuit, and a 32km time trial, we had to do 5 laps, and it was our responsibility to make sure we did 5 laps, not 4 laps and not 6 laps (which people had done in the past years). The roads were almost completely closed (except for buses) which I was very happy with after my ride on that road the day before (as it is one of the busiest roads on the island). This would also be the longest time trial that I would have done up to this date.

At 11:10 I was off. After 2km there was a good feeling in my legs and managed to catch my minute man. On the 2nd lap, some person all in black managed to catch me up, and went past me. It was the perfect opportunity to pace myself at his pace, but without drafting. A few laps later, seeing him struggle, I overtook him, to find a kilometre after later he went past me again.

On the following U-Turn, I heard a puncture. Thinking it was me, I pointed to my front wheel in distress to the service marshal (that where I thought the sound came from) and came to a stop.

I had a feel of my tyres and they where still rock solid. I looked up and saw the person all in black who I was pacing myself against had stopped aswell. After a few seconds I realised that I had not punctured, it was infact him. I quickly got back on my bike and tried to catch up the time which was lost, ending up with a time of 48minutes 50 seconds and 6^th place, 5 seconds off 4^th place (Probably from the time I lost from stopping!). The average temp was a warm 21 degrees with sun and clear sky's, alot better then England or Belgium is at the moment!

As i'm not a specialist "tester", and have done no time trials so far this year, and not even riding in the position (just riding for a couple of hours the day before we left) I was not expecting to win it, but was hoping to get the best I could get on GC for the following stage, a hilly 100km road stage.

I ended up 3 minutes 22 behind the leader (Sicilian time trial champion), who did it in 45 minutes 28. The top 3 riders where all Italians and 4^th was Maltese time trial champion. As i'm only 1 minute 30 behind 2^nd place, tomorrow could be a good chance to scrape onto the podium.

Jock Wadley Memorial


Up at 6:30am to prepare for my first British race of the season is something i'm not particularly used to. But with the start time at 10 it was a necessity to give enough time for my breakfast to digest, and to prepare the days race food, kit and myself for the 134km race ahead. The weather forecast was something that I hadn't seen in weeks, even months - Sunny and dry - but the wind was still there which would mean a good race.

Seeing the start list, I knew it would be a tough race with Rapha Condor Sharp (with national champion Kristian House, and Roy Thame winner Darren Lapthorne), the Wilier-Bigmaggys team, and the Orbea-ForGoodnessShakes squad all 6 riders strong. With me on my own, I knew I would have to try my best and have a bit of luck to get a good placing.

Starting from the Alderman Blaxill school, we set off neutralised to the local circuit, escorted by 3 lead cars and 5 accredited motorbike marshals from the NEG (National Escort Group, who have the ability to stop traffic).

As we hit Layer-de-la-Haye, the race, along with the attacks had begun. On the second lap a group of 4 soon got away, with no-one in it from the Rapha Condor team, who soon gave a controlled pace at the front. With every attack that tried to jump across to the breakaway, a rider from Rapha jumped with them and sat in their wheel, doing no work, so soon getting reeled in by the Rapha train.

On lap 4, Jonathan Tiernen-Locke sitting on the wheel of Dan Staite, managed to jump across the 2 minute gap to the lead group of 4, to form a strong group of 6 who soon built upon their lead to make it 3 minutes. With 4 laps to go Rapha put the pressure and increased the speed to create an echelon in the cross wind section just before the finish hill, shattering the race into pieces.

Sitting in about 15th place in the peleton, to my dismay, a gap appeared 2 places ahead of me, which I, or the two riders infront could not close. It split, with the front part getting away with the entire Rapha team without Locke (who was in the first group) and many riders from the Corley team in. They soon took 20 seconds and looked like they were weren't getting caught. Arriving up the hill in Birch a few kilometres later, we could see the Rapha-Corley group had bunched up, which gave a chance for what was the remains of the peleton to get back on, creating a large second group of 40. The 6 riders who were still away only had 2 minutes of there lead remaining.

Soon after, many riders in the peleton continued attacking, including myself, trying to jump the gap and catch the lead group, but did not succeed. Then, in the crosswind section, a group of about 15 managed to peel off the front, and everyone in the remains of the peleton sat up, with myself locked in, not managing to find a gap to get through and catch both groups that were now up the road.

A few attacks started to come from the group I was in, including multiple attacks from myself, but Darren Lapthorne (former australian champion and previous days winner) kept it controlled by chasing them down, with a few other riders, making sure that we didnt close the gap to group 2, which soon had over a minute lead on us. On the hill just before the finish with a lap to go, I saw a opening and tried to do a solo jump to the group ahead, or atleast stay infront of the peleton. I managed to gain a good 30 seconds, but Lapthorne managed to get the group behind me working and with just a few kilometres to go by the second crossing of Abberton reservoir, I was reeled in.

Feeling I still had something in my legs, I stayed at the front of the group to see if I could still get a placing in the bunch sprint, but to no-avail, ending up in the middle of the group. The last lap effort of course had taken its toll on me.

The early break ended up staying away with Jon Tiernen-Locke from Rapha Condor winning, Dan Staite getting 2nd and Orbea rider Andy Lyons in 3rd place.

Riding back to the HQ, I decided I would ride back home aswell for a little loosen up, which was only a short ride from the headquarters but done me a world of good. Ending the day with 150km.

On Tuesday i'm leaving for the Tour of Malta which starts on Thursday. A 3 day stage race which will hopefully bring in some results and some good weather.