Racing in March

The start of the season is now well underway after my first trip abroad and big race in France last weekend. As well as this, I did a local 10 mile TT in March in an attempt to improve this aspect of my cycling ahead of the big stage races that I hope to do later in the season, with these being key for a result there, as well as a local elite crit at the Wakefield closed circuit.

  

     This year I had a quieter March than usual, racing a little less than I have done in previous years, but believe that it will be beneficial to me overall due to my season being heavier towards the end this year, meaning that I will now hopefully be fresher for these races. Having said this, my season does start to ramp up now through April with the local Nat B of Danum trophy coming up on the 7^th before my first Junior British National of the year the week after at the Junior Tour of the Mendips. Both these races were really enjoyable last year and with a really strong elite field at Danum it will be interesting to see how I will perform. The Danum circuit is fairly rolling however last year it was split massively due to the windy conditions which I imagine will be similar this year. The Junior Tour of the Mendips is a two day stage race with a split day to begin with a rolling TT and road race and then a hilly final stage on the second day.

Wakefield Crit

   

Rainy TT

    The races that I did in March went really well and I was pleased with my performances and processes in them, more so than the results. After a strong start to the season at the end of February at the Clayton spring classic, I was confident of my form which I believe did me some good especially in my first UCI race of the season in France at La Bernaudeau. Before this however I first did a local 10 mile TT in some awful conditions as snow started to fall during my effort. I was pleased with this TT doing a time of 23:32, managing to finish in 7^th place overall and 1^st Junior, helped by Verge Sport’s fantastic aero speed suit and Bambino helmet from Kask. This was definitely an improvement on my previous TTs, showing that a focus on this area over winter has paid off which was very pleasing. A couple weeks after this I did a local elite race at a closed circuit in Wakefield, again in some awful rainy conditions, managing to get 4^th after riding to the race and then back again afterwards. Unfortunately on my junior gears I was unable to stick with the front two elites on a flat circuit and then was just edged out by half a wheel for 3^rd in the sprint from the remainder of the six man break that went from the start in this race. I was still very pleased with this as it again showed a significant improvement for me over the winter months but in the area of explosiveness. Both of these races, as well as my performance at Clayton, gave me confidence going in to La Bernaudeau but unfortunately this race just didn’t quite pan out as expected, meaning that it turned in to more of a sprinters race. With the absence of much wind, the race wasn’t split over the tops of a couple climbs that started the day so I decided to go on the attack after this on the flat lands to try and force the break and stay away. I therefore got in to the days main break in a strong working group of ten before being joined by four more later on but we were ultimately caught with 35km to go, leaving me with no legs for the final. This meant that I just rolled in with the main peloton after a frustrating day out. Although frustrating, I was pleased with how my legs felt meaning that I can take some more confidence going forward in the British races coming up.  

In the break in France

    

    Thanks as always to my team of HMT Hospitals Giant and all their staff and sponsors for the continual support as well as Trainsharp and Pedal Potential for helping me throughout the season.

Team presentation fro La Bernaudeau