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.
