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.