Isle of man Tour and Ilkley 2-day
stage race
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| Prologue |
At the beginning of the month me and my
team of Giant Halifax Race Team travelled across to the Isle of Man for what
will most probably be our final year racing there after a 4-year tradition for
myself. Unfortunately, the course profiles over the long bank holiday weekend weren’t
the most exciting with a short prologue of around 2 minutes in length and then
2 very flat stages on the days after. The prologue went ok for me where I
finished 42nd which wasn’t as high as I had hoped for but also
wasn’t a poor performance either. The next stage I worked hard on the front and
was in a few breaks and making attacks, but ultimately me and the rest of the
team missed the winning break so had to chase very hard in an attempt to bring
them back but couldn’t in the end. This was frustrating as I think me, and the
rest of the team, had the legs to get a good result today but didn’t get it
right tactically. On the final stage however we improved a huge amount as a
team and raced it perfectly tactically with all of us getting in to key breaks
mostly and managing to get team mate Tom Dussek in to the final winning break
where he took 3rd in the sprint to finish 3rd on the
stage and in a top 10 position overall. This was a great result and I was happy
we managed to turn it round after not such a good ride by us the day before and
it was topped off with Max and Jenson being up there in the bunch sprint also.
I finished in the bunch on both stages but had a good weekend and learnt a lot
about how to race flatter races for when I race Acht Van Bladel in Holland
later this month. Overall it was a great weekend for the team!
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| Stage 3 |
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| Team presentation |
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| 2nd climb |
Just a few days after this I travelled to
Belgium with South East cycling and John Barclay for a Belgian National
interclub race which was a fantastic experience. The racing was brutal from the
start with crashes everywhere which I thankfully avoided. I managed to finish
22nd which I was really pleased with as it was a huge improvement
from my previous races in Belgium and a pretty high finishing position also. I
tried to stay towards the front and out of trouble which I did successfully and
got in a few breaks along the way also. After a hectic couple laps of the
finishing circuit to start with, we took in a big loop which went up some bergs
and most notably the Paterberg. I was in a good position for all of these but
after the hard first hour or so of racing, a winning break of 5 slipped away
after the 3rd climb and stayed away to the finish. On the Paterberg
I was in around 15th position when a touch of wheels in front of me
meant I had to double unclip and chase back on after the race split going up
it. After chasing as hard as I could to ensure I stayed on I made it back to
the main group and made sure I was always at the front after that. Just before
we re entered the finishing circuit for the final 2 loops, there was one long
flat section of cobbles which I went in to in 6th position. I hung
on the wheel as best I could and buried myself more than I have ever done
before and was very glad to stay up there and be in the front split as 8 of us
got off the front of the group after this section. We came through in a chain
gang but none of us had the legs to stay away unfortunately so we got caught
and countered. We managed to catch this group with just a couple k’s to go but
then it came to the sprint and I had nothing left so rolled in in the front
split of around 20 in the main group to take 22nd at the finish.
This was an absolutely brilliant experience that I really enjoyed and hope to
do more of so thank you very much to John Barclay for the opportunity. I was
really happy with my legs at this race and looking forward to hopefully doing
more of the same in the future. A well done to Alex Haines and Finley Newmark
also who did great rides also for South East cycling finishing in the front
split of the main group also in 20th and 15th
respectively!
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| Jersey winners |
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| TTT |
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| Yellow before the start |
A couple weeks later me, Max and Josh racing
for Giant Halifax and Jenson racing for British Cycling Yorkshire Juniors raced
at the Ilkley 2-day stage race in Yorkshire. This was a fairly local race for
me and although only a Regional A 2/3/4 race, it was extremely hard and a great
weekend of racing that I hope stays on the racing calendar in the years to
come! Stage 1 started with a short prologue which was mainly downhill so was
always going to be tough on junior gears and I finished a moderate 36th.
I was however fairly pleased with this as I was unsure of my legs and thought I
had done a lot worse than I did. The next stage was on the Saturday afternoon
on the famous Penny Pot circuit which was more of a rolling course. I was
pleased to get 2nd on this stage after not feeling so good early on
so conserving energy where I could, and then breaking away with another Junior
with around half a lap to go to finish ahead of the main bunch by around 30
seconds. I was unfortunately beaten in the uphill sprint to the finish as I
just ultimately didn’t have the legs. This moved me up to 2nd
overall going in to the 2nd day of racing. First up on the Sunday
was a team time trial on again a mainly downhill course but me, Max and Josh
managed to finish 3rd on the stage which was a great ride from us
that we paced and executed really well on a course very much not suited to our
gears. This moved me in to the overall lead and in to the yellow jersey going
in to the final stage. Unfortunately, I couldn’t keep the jersey however and
dropped down to 3rd overall after a 2-man break stayed away and
gained a lead large enough to overhaul me. I had been aggressive early on but
wasn’t 100% comfortable on a spare bike I had to ride as my gear cable snapped
before the stage and was feeling tired after a hard previous 3 stages anyways.
I was still in a good position with the break within a manageable distance when
disaster struck and I punctured with a lap and a half to go. Thankfully I had
my team mate Josh just behind me who selflessly gave me his bike so I didn’t
have to wait for a spare wheel from neutral service and I managed to get back
into the depleted main group. In this time however, the break gained an
unassailable lead which lost me yellow. I still managed to chase a few attacks
and keep a podium position overall but could do no more on the bike with the
saddle height far too low for me. In staying 3rd overall however I
got to win the juniors overall jersey which was great and made me feel a bit
better. I owe a lot to my team mates for this weekend with Max doing a load of
work on the front for me and Josh giving me his bike to try and keep me in
yellow which resulted in him dropping out of the top 10 and us losing the team
prize so it really was a selfless act. A brilliant weekend of racing none the
less where I got to wear my first leaders jersey and giving me a bit of a
confidence boost going in to a big block of junior nationals coming up in June.
The weekend after this there was no racing for me, but I did my first time trial on my TT bike at the Holme Valley wheelers open 25. Me and my dad travelled over to Thirsk where I warmed up well and hit up the TT. I finished the 25 miles with a time of 58:40 which was an alright time that I was fairly happy with but also something that is still to be improved. The TT was a very flat course but had a really bad headwind out and therefore a strong tailwind back in. I pushed as hard as I could but my legs weren’t quite there today, so I didn’t go too well I felt but still achieved a decent time so it wasn’t all bad. I’m looking forward to doing a few more TT’s and some local 10s also to try and improve my time trialing but am pleased with the progress I have made in this area so far.
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| HVW 25 |
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| HVW 25 |
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| Ride on TT bike |
A couple weeks later me, Max and Josh racing
for Giant Halifax and Jenson racing for British Cycling Yorkshire Juniors raced
at the Ilkley 2-day stage race in Yorkshire. This was a fairly local race for
me and although only a Regional A 2/3/4 race, it was extremely hard and a great
weekend of racing that I hope stays on the racing calendar in the years to
come! Stage 1 started with a short prologue which was mainly downhill so was
always going to be tough on junior gears and I finished a moderate 36th.
I was however fairly pleased with this as I was unsure of my legs and thought I
had done a lot worse than I did. The next stage was on the Saturday afternoon
on the famous Penny Pot circuit which was more of a rolling course. I was
pleased to get 2nd on this stage after not feeling so good early on
so conserving energy where I could, and then breaking away with another Junior
with around half a lap to go to finish ahead of the main bunch by around 30
seconds. I was unfortunately beaten in the uphill sprint to the finish as I
just ultimately didn’t have the legs. This moved me up to 2nd
overall going in to the 2nd day of racing. First up on the Sunday
was a team time trial on again a mainly downhill course but me, Max and Josh
managed to finish 3rd on the stage which was a great ride from us
that we paced and executed really well on a course very much not suited to our
gears. This moved me in to the overall lead and in to the yellow jersey going
in to the final stage. Unfortunately, I couldn’t keep the jersey however and
dropped down to 3rd overall after a 2-man break stayed away and
gained a lead large enough to overhaul me. I had been aggressive early on but
wasn’t 100% comfortable on a spare bike I had to ride as my gear cable snapped
before the stage and was feeling tired after a hard previous 3 stages anyways.
I was still in a good position with the break within a manageable distance when
disaster struck and I punctured with a lap and a half to go. Thankfully I had
my team mate Josh just behind me who selflessly gave me his bike so I didn’t
have to wait for a spare wheel from neutral service and I managed to get back
into the depleted main group. In this time however, the break gained an
unassailable lead which lost me yellow. I still managed to chase a few attacks
and keep a podium position overall but could do no more on the bike with the
saddle height far too low for me. In staying 3rd overall however I
got to win the juniors overall jersey which was great and made me feel a bit
better. I owe a lot to my team mates for this weekend with Max doing a load of
work on the front for me and Josh giving me his bike to try and keep me in
yellow which resulted in him dropping out of the top 10 and us losing the team
prize so it really was a selfless act. A brilliant weekend of racing none the
less where I got to wear my first leaders jersey and giving me a bit of a
confidence boost going in to a big block of junior nationals coming up in June.
The weekend after this there was no racing for me, but I did my first time trial on my TT bike at the Holme Valley wheelers open 25. Me and my dad travelled over to Thirsk where I warmed up well and hit up the TT. I finished the 25 miles with a time of 58:40 which was an alright time that I was fairly happy with but also something that is still to be improved. The TT was a very flat course but had a really bad headwind out and therefore a strong tailwind back in. I pushed as hard as I could but my legs weren’t quite there today, so I didn’t go too well I felt but still achieved a decent time so it wasn’t all bad. I’m looking forward to doing a few more TT’s and some local 10s also to try and improve my time trialing but am pleased with the progress I have made in this area so far.
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