Success in August

August started with a bang as I managed to get my hands in the air on stage 2 of the Junior Vuelta a Pamplona to give me my biggest win so far. I was really pleased with this ride as I wanted to do something at this race after going so well here last year so to get a stage win before going on to 5^th overall was perfect.

  

  The race was super tough with a stronger field and harder parcours than the 2018 edition. Stage 1 was super hard as due to a huge crash really early on that I was caught up in, I lost a lot of time and had to chase back on to the peloton solo on the first KOM. After some tough riding in the convoy I managed to get back into the very much reduced peloton but didn’t have the legs to make the small winning break that formed due to having to go so deep early on. I managed to rectify this frustration however on stage 2 as this was the stage that I won! The race split on this 2^nd stage after a very hard 1^st category climb in the back end of the race and it was after this as the group crested a much smaller but steeper climb that I attacked and bridged to the solo leader. We maintained our advantage over the next trio of short and steep climbs before being caught in the final kilometre by a group of 4. I however still had the legs for the sprint and managed to win the stage, a result that I was super happy with. The next stage was a summit finish on a 2km climb with gradients of 33% which when combined with two other steep 3^rd category climbs in 38 degree heat, made for a brutal day in the saddle. I finished 7^th on this stage after the 4 man breakaway stayed away meaning that I finished 3^rd from the split that occurred in the peloton. This was a super tough day out on the bike which made the next stage just as brutal. I finished in 10^th on the final stage, moving up to 5^th overall with my teammate winning this stage also to make for a great race for our team. I managed to again get off the front of the peloton in a small split for this stage which resulted in my top 10 placing.

Stage 2 breakaway

Stage 3 Summit finish

     After the warm weather of Pamplona, a complete contrast occurred at La Philippe Gilbert Jrs in Belgium as the peloton faced torrential rain and storms in the wettest race that I have ever done. I managed to finish this race which took in the infamous La Redoute climb in 19^th after some tactical mistakes in the final.

   August finished with the final round of the British Junior Road Series at the Tour of Wales. This race was held over 4 days with 5 stages including 2 summit finishes, an individual TT, a circuit race and a rolling road race. Unfortunately my best result on this race was only a 9^th place on stage 2 after being in the breakaway and 17^th overall after I attempted to race for a stage win.

 

Post Junior Tour of Wales 

  Thanks to Team HMT Hospitals Giant and their sponsors of Kask helmets, Verge sports, Edco wheels, Continental tyres and Giant bikes as well as Pedal Potential and Blu Buzz for all their support throughout the 2019 season. I now have one race left for this season which will hopefully be the Keizer de Juniors UCI Stage Race in Belgium.