Alps Training Week

As of tomorrow until Monday 5th July, I will be in the Alps for a training week in preparation for a stint of upcoming stage races in July and August. I will be joining my brother and the riders of Cambridge University CC, to be based in the small town of La Giettaz. Situated towards the North of the Rhone Alps region, there will be plenty of spectacular cols to take in: the Romme, Columbier, and Aravis to name but a few. Look out for some photos later in the week!

A step closer to professionalism?

No, not a win. But today I took part in my first rider protest – a sure sign of disgruntled professionals at work? Well perhaps not. But how the situation arose is quite exceptional.

Today's race was in Erembodegem, supported by the owner of my teams title sponsor, Van Eyck Sport, and naturally I entered the race among a large contingent of team mates. The course was a 17km circuit, featuring a couple of climbs, a narrow cobbled descent, and many fierce sections of cross wind. Perhaps however, the most distinguishing feature was a railway crossing, which we would be traversing 7 times in the duration of the race. After a short delay to remove parked cars from the circuit, it was not long before a crash mid pack caused devastation to the peloton. Singled out in cross wind, debris on the road caused 6 riders to crash at high speed, including team mate Dom Schils, who walked away with cuts and bruising, the frame taking most the hit cracking in 4 different places! After a brief chase back to the front group, I made sure I sat near the front of the bunch, as splits occurred every lap. With half the race completed, and the peloton vastly depleted, I decided to make my move. With a 30 second deficit to a leading group of 8 riders, I attacked through the finish line and was joined by one other rider. Sharing the workload, and riding flat out we bridged to the break after 10 kilometres.

Working well together, we slowly edged out the lead and with 3 laps to go, the race was as good as won. However, as we approached the railway crossing, almost inevitably, the barriers came down, and the race stopped, - we were forced to sit and wait while the peloton, now over 2 minutes down rejoined us. Normally, given the situation, the break would be given back its time gap as the race restarted. However, with no-one really in control, nothing seemed to happen, and the race simply set off again with the advantage gone. From an all but guaranteed top 10 position, I now found myself in the same situation as the start of the race, all be it with half the peloton now dropped out of the race.

Having restarted, another break group formed, with 15 riders moving clear, myself not one of them. Not disheartened however, I soon found myself attacking again, and was joined by 2 team mates along with 3 other riders. Working together, we closed the gap to the leaders, when on the final lap the railway crossing unbelievably closed again. Still with no-one in control, exactly the same situation occurred, where dropped riders simply rode back up to the stationary break. With total chaos, the so called 'bosses' of the peloton called for everyone to stop. After a long delay, much shouting between officials and self-appointed rider spokesmen, it was agreed that all the riders still present would split the prize money between us, among completion of the race. We set off again at a pedestrian pace to complete the lap. Averaging 20kph, we rolled to the finish, and all stopped just before the finish line – much to the dissatisfaction of the 'booing' crowd. It was then announced that no prize money would be paid.

All in all, the race was a total farce. The idea of hosting a race crossing a train line on 7 occasions at peak time on a Monday evening is inherently ridiculous, and the total lack of authority displayed by race official made a total mockery of the event. With no result to speak of, and knowing what could have been, is somewhat disappointing, but I can take much confidence from the performance – probably the best ride I have had this year!

Lembeek, Ottenburg

Last Sunday I headed to Lembeek for an apparently hilly Kermis and the course didn't disappoint. Having met Dom at his house in Zellik, we rode the 35 kilometres to Lembeek and completed a lap of the course. From the start/finish line, the road wound upwards for 3.5 kilometres, with 3 distinctly steeper sections to negotiate, before dropping down for the remaining 3.5 kilometres through a series of high speed corners.


Staying near the front for the opening laps was crucial as the climb, although not 'mountainous' was clearly going to be enough for wheels to be dropped. The usual flurry of attacks began, and trying my hand on the climb early on, it quickly became apparent that any time gained on the ascent was diminished by the impetus of the peloton, reaching speeds of around 75kph every lap. After a 'super-prime' of 150 Euros, the race settled down, as the climb seemingly became longer and longer and the descent shorter and shorter every lap.


Eventually one of my team mates, Dieter Uyttersprot broke clear of the peloton with 2 laps to go, and accompanied by one other rider made it to the finish to take the win 9 seconds ahead of the bunch. The final half lap was certainly one of the most dangerous situations I have been in. With the chase fully on, the speed on the descent was incredible, often being cut up, and lent on as every rider tried to get to the front for the mass sprint. Approaching the line, I evidently chose the wrong wheels to follow as riders who had gone too early sat up, and blocked my path to the line. I crossed the line in 28th place.


Riding back with Dom, we headed to Geradsbergen, where lies the infamous 'Muur'. Following much of the Tour of Flanders route as we headed back to Zellik, we clocked another 70km which brought the days total to 211km.


With few mid-week races to chose from, my next race was Saturday, in Ottenburg, which again promised to be a hilly affair. The circuit was distinctly more undulating, with one short, but hard climb denoting the mountain primes. With strong winds, I positioned myself towards the front of the peloton, and rightly so, as wheels were constantly being dropped as the field split on numerous occasions. Despite moving into an early break, we were swept up by the peloton on the long gradual descent after the finish line, as the impetus of the peloton allowed for greater speeds to be generated. However, I sat back in and waited for my next opportunity to attack. With 10 riders at 30 seconds to the field mid-race, I decided to try my hand on the main climb of the circuit and jumped into another group of 10 riders, forming a good chase group. After a flat out 2 laps, we finally bridged up to the leaders, leaving the peloton well behind.


Inevitably, on the final lap the group split to pieces, and suffering from the earlier efforts, I found myself sprinting for 11th position, but poor positioning through the final corner saw me slip to 4th in the final dash for the line, finishing in 15th place.

Its another solid result, and a strong performance to go with it. After a slight lull in form in the last few weeks, I feel I am coming back stronger, and the top race form is just around the corner – just in time for the stage racing the team will be riding in a few weeks!


But to end on a slightly disappointing note, despite having enough points to meet the entry criteria, I will not be riding the national road race championships. My points were incorrectly allocated from the regional championships, and therefore I appear to not have enough points on the ranking list. Despite the fault being no fault of my own, the start list will not be altered, with the organiser suggesting a not particularly helpful 'tough luck' attitude. Nevertheless, its still a long season in Belgium, and there are plenty of big races ahead to look forward to.

More Bad Luck

With Bierbeek a total write-off with terrible legs, my attention shifted back towards the 'second-leg' of Hoxem – a repeat of last Sundays race featured at either end of the week long Kermesse. Despite the forecasted rain, the race stayed relatively dry until the final lap of proceedings. After a poor start, I missed an early move, with the 16 riders holding a 30 second deficit to the bunch. Realising the danger of such a move, and with the relatively slim time gap, both myself and team mate Dom, decided to try and bridge the gap. After what seemed an eternity of attacking, often forcing splits on the main climb of the circuit, only to be absorbed back into the peloton on the long descent, we eventually went clear, with 1 other rider tagging along but never willing to do any work. Working in part of a 15 man break, we jostled for position coming into the final corner of the race – a very tight bend, now covered in standing water. As we were caught by the peloton, Dom led into the bend, with me in 5th wheel ready for the hill sprint top the line. However, somewhat inevitably, the rider in 2nd wheel crashed out halting the sprint. Dom got away to win the sprint, and starting from a standstill I managed to hold off the late charge, finishing in 17th position.


Yesterday, I returned to Stok, again for a second race around the fast circuit. However, after just one lap, a spoke failed in the rear wheel. Riding to the car, where my spare wheels were, the only option was to stop, change the wheel and try to chase back onto the rear of the peloton Despite a smooth change, the task was too great, with the circuit delivering average speeds for the bunch around 45kph. However, all was not lost as once I was out of the race I continued riding behind the 'green flag' – a car denoting the rear of the race, and so at least got some speed training in my legs.


Next race is this Sunday in Lembeek, and promises to be a hilly one.

Kester - all 4 kilometres of it...

With just an hour of racing in my legs at Hoxem, I decided to race the following day in Kester. Despite the wet and slippery conditions the race went out hard, as the 7.25km course predominantly featured undulating, tight, twisting lanes – and it was these lanes after just 4km which ended my race. Despite good positioning in the top 10 wheels, the rider in front of me came down on a corner leaving his bike in my direct line. Fortunately the relatively low speed meant I stayed upright, but my front tyre fared a substantially worse fate, taking the hit with a 53 tooth chainring. As with all kermesse racing there is no mechanical back up and for the second time in 2 days a puncture has prematurely ended my race. Of course 'tomorrow is a new day' and I head to Bierbeek for another local race. Third time lucky?