Tour du Maroc 2017

After less than a week at home it was time to head off to Morocco for the Tour du Maroc, a UCI 2.2 over 10 days covering 1538km. The race was focused in the north of the country.
I had to fly in the day before on an afternoon flight landing at 8.30pm, it took 2 hours to get through passport control due to the length of the que. After I got outside the race were meant to pick me up but there was no sign of them after looking for around an 30 minutes I bumped into a staff member from another team and we decided to get a taxi to the hotel in Casablanca. What I thought was going to be a simple travel turn out to be the opposite. I eventually got to the hotel at midnight, not the best time with the race starting that day.
Stage 1 started Tour du Maroc off with a 150km stage. the weather conditions were warm and windy with cross winds in the final 30km. The race was on from the start with moves going for the first 80 or 90km then a move went with my team mate in. Groups tried to get away I tried following some missing the ones the got away and bridged to the break. With United Health Care the main team of the race missing the split I thought that they would pull it back but they tried to late and 30 guys finished 5 minutes up on the peleton.

Stage 2 was 151km mainly head wind with times of cross winds. The team plan was to ride at the front and make sure we didn't miss any splits. The times it split in the cross winds we were in the front group each time and avoided the crashes as well. The day ended in a bunch sprint. I tried going alone with 3km to go but was caught with 1km to go and rolled in with the bunch.

Stage 3 a 153km day with 2 categorized climbs, the race started in fast tail wind the turn into hard cross winds I wasn't concentrating in the tail winds and just before the cross winds started I found myself at the back of the bunch. The bunch split into bits and I was able to work my way up to second group and avoid all the crashes. The group never caught the front group for the rest of the day. it was game over and the group became the groupetto finishing over 10 minutes down on the winner. Now I was well out of GC my DS Sean said to race how I like racing best. Telling me to get in breaks and ride aggressively but smart.

Stage 4 the queen stage of the tour covering 190km with over 3500m of elevation. The whole stage was head wind and very demanding. I was Aggressive from the start getting in a number of moves which failed. Then a move went that looked promising so I attack and bridged across, only for it to be brought back a few km later. After around 35 hard km a group got a way on a gravel descent with most the main teams represented, so on the next up hill I attacked again bridging the gap with a big effort over 5km. When I got to the break I was well in the red and the terrain of the stage wasn't letting up which meant it was hard to recover due to the short hard climbs where the break was riding at over 400 watts up them. It took me around 10km to recover and feel comfortable with the pace. I knew it was going to be a long day in the saddle, the break had no one up there in GC so it looked good for the break to stick but on the main climb of the day 3 rider made it across to the break. One of the riders that bridged what the Moroccan that rides for UAE Emirates World Tour Team. With 2 more classified climbs to go before the flatter final 60km. On the climbs the pace was now much higher with some top quality climbers present. On the 2nd last climb I was distanced by the break with 2 other rider. We kept riding to make it over the final climb before the remainder of the peleton caught us. By this point there were only men ahead of us. The Direct Energy feeder team were controlling the reduced peleton of around 25 riders. They were riding but the gap to the 6 leaders was over 11 minutes with 60km to go. I managed to hang in the this group and was active in the final 5km to try get a top 10 finish. The final 3km was short steep climbs and descents I was unable to get away and finished in the group.

Podium after winning stage 5.

Stage 5 was 158km with 1 classified climb topping out after 48km. My legs for the first 10/15km were dead and took some getting going but with a gravel road section coming at 20km and my legs feeling slightly better I moved to the front just before this section of road. As soon as it started to turn to gravel I attacked taking 5 other riders with me. I rode flat out until the peleton had eased up a bit. The break rode hard for 10km taking the gap to 4 minutes by the bottom of the climb. I was distanced on the climb due to the pace and the previous day in my legs. Instead of going right to my limit to stay with them I used my power meter to limit the loses to them and aimed to catch back on, on the descent or the flats after the descent. I managed to catch back as soon as it flattened out after the descent. Now the break was only 5 riders and 100km to the finish with mainly head winds. We got the gap to 6 minutes 30 seconds but this started to fall rapidly when inside the final 40km. With 25km to go the gap was nearly 1 minute. Sean drove up to me just before 20km to go and said 'this is going to get caught try a long attack if you want. It's better trying something than nothing.' I said back this head wind is strong don't know if attacking this far out will work. There was only me and another rider doing big turns to try keep the gap out and just after Sean had left me, this guy pealed off the front and the speed dropped by 5kph so I decided this is the time to attack as he will be going to recover a bit and wouldn't expect an attack. I got a big gap instantly and just started riding to power as I would in a time trial. I had no idea what was going on behind me I just kept pushing on and suffering. With 5km to go I got a time check and I had 55 seconds and at this point I knew if I kept this up I was in with a good chance of the stage win. As much as I was suffering the rewards were going to be much higher. My legs were burning and I could feel them starting to fade then I saw the 1km to go sign and I looked back and couldn't see the bunch and I just went full till 200m to go then I looked back and the cars were still behind me and then I knew I had the win and with around 100m to go I started celebrating. I was so happy to take my first ever UCI win and by doing it 20km solo after 2 hard days in the break made it even better. It was a great day for the team and I was happy to deliver after all the work that's been put in. A day I will always remember.

Stage 6 a 163km on very tired legs after the previous 2 days. I was active at the front with my team mates to try get in the break myself and to try help them get in the break. Unfortunately none of the moves we got in were success full. Once the break had gone it was a day in the bunch. The break stuck and finish a few minutes ahead of the peleton.

Stage 7 was 183km and what looked to be another day for the break to stick. I tried to get in the breaks once again but wasn't able to get in the one that stuck. Spend a lot of energy in the first 40km I just sat in the bunch and then when the pace settled I was chilling at the back of the bunch enjoying the sun and ticking off another stage. The break stuck again. I showed myself near the front in the closing 5km but wasn't able to make anything of it.

Stage 8 had 2 catigorized climbs in the 150km long stage. I really wanted to get in the break this day due the the climbs and the legs not feeling great. The main reason to be in the break was to have the sliding room and steadier climbs than in the bunch. I tried really hard to be in the break but again failed. Surprisingly I managed to climb in the front group on the main climbs and stayed with the peleton until the finish.

Stage 9 the penultimate day covering 138km. My legs were gone for this stage and I was useless at the start and couldn't help my team try to get in a break. Then on the only climb of the day after 40km I was the first to get dropped, luckily I managed to stay in the convoy and make it back into the bunch after the climb. Once back in the bunch I didn't know how long I would last so I did team duties and went back for bottles and did the feeds for the team. I stayed in the peleton and finished mid bunch in the sprint.

Stage 10 the final day and last 127km of racing here in Morocco. The Moroccans tried to make it a procession until the finishing laps in Casablanca but that didn't happen. The race was full on from start to finish. After 40km I dropped back to call for the team car and then we hit cross winds. The race started to split and I was nearly last man. I managed to get up but the peleton had split and I found myself chasing back on with a group including 2 of my team mates. After a while the group gave up chasing. I sat on the front towing the group along for 5 or more kilometers before the convoy came back into sight. At this point the race commissar pulled the convoy out of the gap so we couldn't use the cars to get back in the peleton. The group started working again as they had hope we would make it back. Then a few kilometers later they stopped working again. So I went back to the front and started setting the pace again after a few kilometers my team mate Yannick started to help, the gap started to come back down and a few more people started helping and we eventually got back into the peleton by the start of the first of 6 finishing laps. I tried to stay near the front on the finishing laps so I could try a late attack, which I managed to do with 12km to go hoping if I went long they might not react as fast in shutting me down. I was wrong and the peleton shut me down fairly quickly, a move went straight after I was brought back so I followed it. This was also shut down and the race was kept as a bunch until the finish and the sprinters contested the win.

After a great 10 days of racing I had a lot to take away from it. I gain a whole lot more experience during the race. I take home a stage win and which is more than I hoped for going into the race.

Also I would like to say a massive thank you to, Sean McNicholl our DS, Peter McBride our mechanic and Leighton Bradgate our masseur and swanny. They all made this race possible and our lives as riders much easier every day.

Now it's time for some rest and an easy couple of week after a hard start to the season. My next trip away will be the start of May for a month in Sweden.
 

Tour De Taiwan

After a very sort visit home I traveled to Taiwan to compete in the UCI 2.1 Tour de Taiwan. I arrived 5 days before the start to meet up with the team and meet sponsors and also visit the Taiwan bike expo. I received my new race bike upon arriving, this meant I could get use to it before the race started. The weather for the first 5 days was a bit hit and miss with rain and clouds, the temperatures were still high which meant it wasn't an issue training.
The team were invited to attend the press conference promoting the event as special guests. This was a great afternoon 2 days before the racing begun.
Stage 1 and the weather was set to be wet all day with cooler temperatures as well. The stage was short and not very technical, it was 8 laps of a 10km circuit passing the city hall and the foot of the Taipei 101 building. The stage was fast from the off, with attackes going and getting brought back quickly from start to finish. I managed to get in a few moves to get the team represented knowing they weren't going to stick. with 2 laps to go it was time to work for our sprinter for the finish. we got him placed in the top 15 for the last km but he unfortunately crashed with 500m to go. lucky he wasn't badly injured.
Stage 2 was 114km with a 2nd cat climb after 80km. I was trying to get in the break again early in the stage but wasn't able to get in one that stuck. Once on the climb it was a lot hard than the profile said, with the last 2km at 10% and steeper. I got over the climb just of the back of the 2nd group but once the road flattened out I was unable to catch the group. So I waited for the 3rd group on the road. during the race I thought the second group were the first group and that I was in the second group not the third. After the stage the teams plan was to get in the breaks for the rest of the stages. As we were all over a minute down on GC and the next 2 stages were mountain stages.
Stage 3 a 118km long day with a 1st cat mountain top finish. The team got a rider in the break so I had a relatively easy day just in  the bunch until the final 2 climbs (25km) where it was flat out till the finish.
Stage 4 was the start of the longer stages at 166km and a mountain top 15km before the finish. Once again I tried to get in the break but was unsuccessful and had another sitting in the bunch, saving myself for the final stage.
The 5th and final stage of Tour de Taiwan was 199km flat day. the team were very active to get in the break for the first hour. I got in a few moves which were brought back but eventually a break stuck and one of my team mates managed to get in to it. The stage was well controlled and the break was brought back with 3km to go. I managed to place myself in 10th wheel by the final kilometer, but once the sprint opened up I had nothing more to give due to spending so much getting into that position.
The race was a great experience and I learnt so much in such a short time. It was my first time racing at that leave and I'm happy with how it went.
With only 4 days at home between traveling home from Taiwan and leaving for Morocco I got as much training and rest in as possible.
The next race in Morocco is a UCI 2.2 over 10 days of racing covering around 1500km. With the longest stage at 191km and this stage includes the most climbs of the race as well. It should be fun and I'm really looking forward to racing it.

Racing officially begins!!!

After a short week at home after winter training in Spain it was time to head to Rhodes, to meet my new team for 2017 and start the racing properly. I arrive in Rhodes 5 days before the first race Rhodes GP UCI 1.2, this gave the team time to get to know each other and get the bikes sorted.
The first 5 days were really good getting to know my new team mates, we were able to do some good rides and also some good beach time in. We even found a great cafe for cakes which is always a massive morale boost.
Rhodes Grand Prix was 191km and was 1 full lap of the island. The weather was perfect for the race with clear skies and 20 degrees (ideal for tanning). The start of the race was flat out until a break eventually formed, well 2 riders so the bunch just sat up and was fairly chilled till the bottom of the main climb of the race. the pace was on up the climb with attacks all the way up and speeds of 50kph getting touched on the easier gradients. I was able to stay in contact with the main bunch of around 70 riders over the top. Once it flattened out the race became constant attacks for the final 50km. With 25km to go I got away in a break of 2 for 10km before a group of 8 came across to us. The group worked well together until 5km to go and riders started to look at each other and the gap started coming down quickly. So I tried a few attacks to try get a smaller group away and working again. Unfortunately that failed and we were caught within 3km to go and that was my race done and it was over to my team mates for the sprint. A bad crash involving 2 police motor bikes took out the teams sprinter, lucky he wasn't badly injured and will be back racing soon.
The next race we did was Tour of Rhodes which was 5 days after Rhodes GP. After an easy day the team rode stage 1's route to get a good training ride in and also to get us familiar with it. Good job we did that as the next few days before the race it just rained and rained.
For stage 1 of tour of Rhodes the weather didn't change with rain forecast for the day. The race started in the dry and had a flat 35km before the first big climb of the day. Luck wasn't on my side this day with 2 punctures in the first 30km and team car 26 it made for a very hard run in to the bottom of the climb. I manage to hold on up the climb and make the second group on the road and finish in that group. This meant out of the general classification and hopefully a chance to make the breaks.
Stage 2 started in heavy rain and had a climb after only 20km so the plan was to get in the break. I tried a few time to get in the break but failed. Also I had started to feel sick during the stage and was sick a few times later in the stage. After a bad stage of just surviving I got back to the hotel where the sickness really started and ended the race for me as much as I wanted to start stage 3 I was too ill to do so.
After Rhodes I had a short stay at home where I raced a national B road race in Scotland. The race was hard with it been short at only 100km. It was mainly attacks from start to finish, I missed the winning 2 man move but was able to get away in a move of 3 and sprint for 3rd. This was good for morale, before heading to Taiwan to compete in the Tour of Taiwan. I leave on 20th to arrive early to meet team sponsors, go to Taiwan bike show and have team press conferences. The race will start 26th March and is 5 stages long.

The joys of winter.

The winter started of well with my month off the bike enjoying normal life. One down side to it was after three months of pain in my left wrist, it was confirmed that I had broke my scaphoid. This meant eight weeks in cast and this changed my plans massively. Instead of going to Australia I was going to hospital for scans and reviews to see if my wrist needed pinning or not.

After a month of not riding I started training indoors. My training only lasted two weeks before getting a bad chest infection, which kept me off the bike for nearly another four weeks. This killed all motivation for a period and I went back to living the normal life of living for the weekend.

As soon as I was better I got straight back to pushing pedals. By this time my cast had been removed and I was able to get back on the roads. My second ride after such a bad winter was a local race, and what an experience that was. The race just showed how unfit I had become, I managed to be at the front of the race for the first hour until lights went out. I hung on and was able to get 6th somehow, I have never tried so hard for so little. As I crossed the finish line I had to stop straight away to be sick and try get my breathe back. This was less than an ideal way to spend new years eve.

I went out two more times in the UK before packing up and going to Spain for as long as possible to get some good weather. Straight way I got a cold so my first week was steady, which probably was a good thing. Then my next two weeks were just steady endurance day to gain fitness back. Once the fitness was back to an acceptable level the hard training began. By the last two weeks I was where I hoped to be for the time of year and above where I was at any point last year. All my power files had improved and I was able to cope with a high training load.

The week before coming home I entered a local race in Spain. My plan was to just have a hard day training and get back into racing. I was aim to ride it aggressively and that's what I did. I attacked at kilometer zero and that was the race solo from start to finish. Taking my first win of the year by 1 minute 48 seconds over the peleton. During the race I was close to my power files from last season at my best. 

The final week in Spain was mainly having a laugh on and off the bike. Also it was great to ride with my old team mates for the week.

Another successful winter ready for the season completed. It was great making new friends and riding with some class groups in Spain. Now I'm home for a week to rest up and catch up with friends and family before heading to Rhodes on 28th February to meet the team then race two UCI races to start the 2017 season off for Memil Pro Cycling.

August not a great one

So I started the month with a crash which I injured my left wrist badly. Two days after my crash I did a road race as it was local to me. I got in the early move which turned out to be the winning move. during the race my wrist was giving me lots of pain but with been in the break I just put up with it and ended up coming 3rd with my team mate winning.

After this race I had a few days off to rest my wrist before going to Guyana, South America. unfortunately in this time of I got a cold and then the Guyana trip didn't go a head.

With this disappointment and with having 9 days off the bike I decided to go to Belgium for a week to race some Kermesses. With my form not so great I wasn't expecting anything in Belgium apart from getting some form back ready for 4 weeks racing in China in September.

The racing went better than I thought it would. With a DNF on the Monday I thought oh no this could be a waste but Tuesday I felt much better and got in the winning move in temperatures over 30 degrees. This race went from good to bad in about 3 laps when I started to get dehydrated due to the heat and lack of fluids. I managed to get some bottles of people helping at the side and even people in the race. I was able to get 20th this day.
Wednesday was a rest day before racing Thursday and Friday. On Thursday the Temperature was at 40 degrees luckily Sarah Hooper was there and was able to feed each lap. I got in the early move again and took 4 primes before a chase group bridged and the attacking nature of Belgium racing started again. With 3 laps to go I got into the chase group riding for 5th. Coming into the final K I attacked hoping to stay away for 5th but was passed with around 200m to go and came in 9th.
Friday was my final race before coming home on the Saturday. My legs were feeling the racing by this point and I missed the early break which ended up been the winning move of the day. Half way through the race the bunch split and I was at the wrong side of the split. After a lap or so of the bunch I was in chasing and not making an impact on the bunch in front I decided to attack and get away with a strong rider to try get across. Only 1 rider was able to come but wasn't able to work after a lap. We were catching the bunch but in the head wind the lad I was with couldn't work any more and was dropped once I was on my own I wasn't able to bridge the gap and was just riding around on my own until the race pulled me out. I got 25th in my final kermes.

Now onto China for 4 weeks.

'A good month' July blog.

So after nationals I went to Gran Canaria for 10 day of training and chilling out away from the UK.
Going abroad was a good change and give some more motivation and morale. The training was more to enjoy riding a bike rather than be structured. I was riding each day and just doing what I wanted which was nice. I did roughly 4 hours a day with 1 rest day. As the island is very hilly it meant I just rode up the climbs at tempo to threshold as I enjoy that type of effort strangely.
With a good block of riding in I came back to the UK 2 days before Ryedale GP. This race is one of the toughest on the UK calendar. A break got away early and no NFTO riders were represented so they controlled the race till the break was pulled back. Unfortunately a lap before the catch was made I dropped my chain at the bottom of the climb through the campus grounds. I chased hard and got back on just as the break was about to be caught, this wasn't an ideal situation as I was near the back for the climb and big splits were happening on the climb. I managed to ride my way on to the second group on the road riding for 18th which was a big ask to gain that much ground to get on to. On the final lap I was able to get away in the campus and take 18th.
Happy with how my legs were I was looking forward to Wales GP the following week. The race started fast and I was well placed in the top 30. Then there was a bad crash involving a car and the bunch lucky no one was badly hurt, the race got stopped for some time then neutralized for some time. Not knowing what was happening I was just talking to mates and then the race kicked off again, it was lined out and I was badly placed. Going into the narrow section near the back wasn't the best as it was very hard to move up. On the climb that was around 8 minutes long the race split to bits I moved past a lot of riders on the climb and was still out the back of the race. I managed to ride myself back onto the peleton over about 15 km. This took a lot of energy but I was the last person top get back on. The race went on to a 7km crit like course, been near the back on a course like this is less than ideal with big kicks out of corners. I managed to keep in contact for 6 of the 10 laps before the elastic snapped and my legs couldn't respond anymore. This was game over for me and not the result I wanted.
I knew my legs were good and on the club 10 on the Thursday after Wales I managed to do an 18.48 on my local course taking 25 seconds out of Chris Newton's Course record and 43 seconds out of my course PB.
The day after I traveled down to Milton Keynes for Corley 3 day.
Stage 1 was around MK Bowl. The race was fast from the start with no breaks sticking. After 40 minutes I got away solo meaning I had 20 minutes plus 5 laps to do. Spirit Bikes had all 10 riders on the front chasing flat out to bring me back and they eventually did with 3 laps to go. I finished 10th after my efforts.
Stage 2 was a 80km road race on a 4km course. the break when after 5 laps I was able to get in this. Pedal Heaven had 3 riders in it but weren't committed and the break came back with 2 laps to go. on the final lap I attacked at the same time as George Atkins with around 1.5km to go we got clear and managed to hold off the bunch to the finish. I was able to out sprint George for the win. The win put me in the lead going into the 9km team time trial.
The team time trial went well with the team giving it their all. The team were 4 seconds behind spirit bikes who took the lead back with that time split.
Going into the final stage I was in second place 2 seconds down. Spirit took the race on attacking from the off. I managed to get in the break with 3 other of my team mates and 4 spirit riders but the spirit riders wouldn't work with us and the break was brought back with 10 miles to go. On the final lap I attacked within the final km I. The race finished about 200m after the top of a short climb. I unfortunately got swept up with 150m to go. Thinking I got 3rd on the GC but there were gaps in the top 5 on the stage and I slipped down to 7th on GC which wasn't great news.
On the 30th I went to Levens 10 mile tt hoping for a fast time but the weather was against me. There was a strong head wind out and the wind dropped slightly on the way back. I ended up with 19.11 and 2nd place to Ryan Perry so not too bad.
The day after I was at The Billy Warnock Memorial Road Race hoping to retain the win from 2015. I attacked from the start and a group came across to me after 10 miles. We worked well together but then a chase group got across and the group was too big to work well together. So me and Charlie Tanfield kept attacking the group until Charlie got a good gap from counter attacking once I was brought back. He was in a 3 man move. The team just shut moves down and the gap to the 3 leaders went to over a minute and the peleton brought us back, with 1 lap to go and the gap to the leader at around 1 minute 30 seconds. Fraser Martin attacked and I followed him after 2 miles we went into the head wind section and I rode away from Fraser and managed to bridge to the 3 leaders with 6 miles to go to the finish. Charlie attacked with about 5 miles to go and I just sat on the other 2 until about 2 mile to go and the gap to Charlie around 40 seconds. I got away on my own and was closing on Charlie but the win was his if I caught him or not. I ended up finishing 9 seconds behind him and took 2nd. A great day out for the team getting a 1,2 in the race and the same result as 2015. The race was a success.
Onto August now and a 9 day stage race at the end of the month. So 2 weeks of good training is planned ready for that.

Sorry no pictures this month, having technical issues!

June a Big Month of Racing

So the first weekend in June saw the Regional Championship Road Race. My region is the North East, I've felt the pressure of this race for some time this season as I won it in 2015. One of my season goals was to defend the title.

Crossing the line for my second regional road race victory.

On the day of the Regional road race, I was feeling in good shape. As the race started it seemed that no one was interested in racing, the neutral had finished and there were no attacks. I decided to try upping the pace to start the race off as I wanted it to be hard from start to finish to wear people down. I looked back after about 300m of upping the pace and had a gap, which I wasn't expecting at all. I decided to keep riding at tempo and I just kept taking the gap out. At one point in the race I had 2 minutes on the bunch, been away meant I took the first kom points. After 50km the bunch finally caught me, I was hoping that a small group would but I still felt good and was able to follow most moves. After the second descent of the Ryals a break went up the road and I missed it, I was able to bridge across on my own. Unfortunately this break was caught shortly after. about 5km later a 3 man move went and they were all strong riders and I knew that was the winning break. I attacked and got across with 2 other riders. We all worked well together until the end, on the penultimate ascent of the Ryals I comfortable took the Kom point and was feeling confident about the win as we had one lap to go and the race finished at the top of the Ryals. Coming into the foot of the Ryals the final time, I attack at the start of the first part of them and soloed to my second Regional road race win, and my team mate Richard Jones got a great 2nd place.

I continued training hard after the regional road race as my main goal of the season is to get a top 5 in the U23 national time trial championships, I was 10th in 2015.
The weekend after the win I did a 25 mile time trial in preparation for nationals. The field was strong with names like Harry Tanfield, Josh Teasdale and Kieth Murray. I was unsure how I would do as it was my first 25 since 2013 and I had never beaten Josh or Harry in a time trial before. The day was a perfect day for a fast time. I knew what numbers I should have been able to do so I just aimed to ride to that and hope that was enough for the win. I did the 25 miles in 47 minutes 12 seconds, this is over 6 minutes of my personal best 3 years ago and it also was fast enough to take the win by around 30 seconds. Later that day I found out this time puts me at the 13th fastest person even in the UK over 25 miles. Also this time and the data gave me a lot of confidence for nationals in 2 weeks.

I took an easy weeks training after the 25 as I had the Beaumont then nationals so wanted to be fresh for these events.

In the break at Beaumont Trophy.

The Beaumont Trophy UCI 1.2, my form had been good so far this month. I got in the early move and was hoping the race would come to us but there wasn't enough big teams in it so after 100km in a 5 man move we were caught. In the process I was only able to manage 2nd in the sprints and kom competitions. I was able to stay with the bunch and for the rest of the race. The result wasn't the one I was hoping but I was happy with my my legs were going into nationals week. It would have been nice to win the kom or sprints competition but that's racing.

With only 4 day till the national time trial champs I aim to recover as well as possible and go into the time trial with fresh legs.

National U23 Time Trial Championship

Taking a corner in the national time trial.

The field for the under 23 time trial was very strong and going of last years results it was going to be a hard goal to achieve a top 5 but I kept positive and just focused on giving it my all and leaving everything on the road. The course have a technical section through Stockton town centre then and out and back dual carriage way section. I planned to try carry as much speed through the corners as possible to try preventing big spikes in my power to help me maintain a higher power for the 22 miles. I was 10th seed and when I finished I was in 2nd place 7 seconds behind 1st, all the favorites were still to come in and it was a nervous wait to find out how far I would get knocked down the results. All was going well and only got knocked down to 4th and just missing out on a podium by 7 seconds while only been 37 seconds off the winner was great. Last year I was around 2 minutes of the winner. I'm really happy with the improvements gained over the last year and hitting my goal for 2 years in a row. Last years goal was to get a top 10 which I achieved 10th and this year was to get a top 5 and I got 4th.

Riding at the front in the national road race gutted to miss the split.

The national road race championships 3 days after the time trial. After the ride in the time trial I was feeling good ready for the road race. The plan was to stay near the front and try making the split. I was well positioned for the first hour, till I had a banana and the pace went on and I slipped out of the top 20 and by the time I got near the front a group had gone off the front. I knew that would be the winning move so tried to get across but got within 5 seconds and couldn't close anymore which was gutting. Once the break was set no one was really riding so a small group of us just started riding on the front until we got pulled out at 170km. This was annoying as there was only 6 u23 riders up the road. The race was a great experience and I learnt a lot in the 4 hours.

Now I'm going to Gran Canaria for 10 days for a mid season training camp/ holiday to get focused and ready for the final few months of the season.

May's Blog. Tour Series!

The month didn't start off that great with my body still feeling the affects of my illness in April. My first race of the month didn't go well in Scotland and it was a DNF. I knew I had to turn my form around so was started training hard and putting some big miles in to get ready for the end of the month. I was training twice a day including local evening races to help get back into some decent shape ready for the North East Regional Championships on the first weekend in June. I have won 2 local races after a decent training session on the morning. I've also been doing local time trials to see how well I'm coming on.
I raced Lincoln GP, it didn't go to plan as was to far back first time up micheal Gate and spent most of the race chasing on. Eventually I got back on and into the bunch before attacking with 4 laps to go. I got into a 7 man group and through we were riding for a top 20 but with been off and out of the back for so long I didn't know 30 plus riders were up the road. I finally finished 39th, not the result I was looking for but was a good hard 4 hours. I raced locally the day before and came 3rd in what was a hard 1 hour 15 minutes.
On to the Tour Series. The team were in for 4 rounds of the series. The rounds I did were Motherwell, Edinburgh and Durham.
Motherwell, didn't go well at all I started back row and couldn't move up and the elastic snapped after 15 minutes. This backed up the fact I'm not good at crits!
Edinburgh a course which suits me better as a road rider who likes grippy races. Unfortunately I started at the bad again and was held up a few time early on due to the bad conditions of heavy rain and cobbles. I managed to ride and pick people up lap by lap and finished 26th. this was my best ever tour series finish out of 5 round over 3 years.
Between the Scottish tour series rounds I had a free weekend with no racing so I did a big week of training. nearly 600 miles in 8 day to gain some condition back ready for the regional champs and a big month ahead in June with the nationals.
Durham another course that suits me, this time I was starting 3rd row. I was still badly place due to the pinch points on the laps. I managed to just keep riding and my own pace and ended up 22nd on the night I didn't sprint as thought I had another lap to go but still my best finish in a Tour Series round.
At the weekend will see me compete in the North East Road Race Champs where I'm defending champ.

April's Blog

The team before stage 1.

To start the month off I had a 10 day UCI 2.2 in Morocco with the team.

Tour du Maroc stage 1 was a hard day with lots of attacks for the first 90kms and then eventually a break of 18 got away with me in it then 5 riders joining with 20km to go. I attacked with 8kms to go but was caught with only 2km till the finish. The last 1km was up hill and my legs went with 300 meters left and I rolled over the line 16th.

Stage 2 I managed to get in the break again after 40km. the break was 5 riders but with only 3 working, we got the gap to 7 minutes at one point but it started to come back in. with 30km to go the gap was 4 minutes 30 seconds and no one from the break would work at this point and I kept riding and unfortunately we got caught with about 4km to go after been away for 110km. I managed to stay in the bunch and finish on the same time. While in the break I was able to pick up a couple of seconds in the sprints to move me up in the GC.

Stage 3 was a tough day with having 2 days of been in the break and there was a first cat climb 15km into the race. I managed to get over the climb and stay in the bunch later in the stage attacks started going with around 20km to go I got into a move with my team mate. This move didn't stick and was caught with 10km to go. I finished in the bunch along with  2 of my team mates.
Stage 4 was a 195km and mainly flat day. A break went from km 0, the team got a rider in the 4 man break and the break lasted until 2km to go. The race was sketchy in the middle with it been an easy day and people were switching off. This cause a few crashes and one of the crashes took down 4 of the team including myself. I was able to get up quickly and sort my bike out myself. I got back in the race within a few kilometers. Unfortunately this crash made 2 of the team lose too much time and started to draft and got disqualified.
Stage 5 is the queen stage of the tour with 4 categorized and 200km. The weather was awful on the start line with high winds and heavy rain, not ideal weather conditions for the up and coming stage. An early break went and I was able to bridge to it with a team mate. The break was around 15 riders and stayed together over the first climb. On the second climb of the day the pressure went on and the break split, I was able to make the front split on the climb. My plan was to get over the last climb before the break was caught as I'm not an out and out climb. The final climb was mainly a dirt road and unlucky for me the break was caught with around 3 km to go to the summit of the final climb. I lost contact with the leaders on the climb and crested the climb in the second group. the descent and run in to the finish was very windy. The descent started with a strong head wind which was nearly stopping us and it did actually cause riders to stop. Then we turned and it was a fast tail wind and we were hitting speeds of 100kph. Once the road flattened off the pace was high with such a strong tail wind, the wind was changing from tail to cross all the way into the finish. With around 25km to go the cross winds were strong and pushed the echelon to far across and put 2 of us in the gutter including myself and we lost contact with the group. It was really hard to get back on due to spinning out the biggest gears we had. I eventually finished 6 minutes 30 seconds behind the race winner, I was 24th on the day and was sitting high up in the KOM competition.

The first cat dirt climb! Very grim!

Stage 6 was the shortest day of the tour at 126km long. I had an easy day this day just following the wheels then sat near the front for the rest of the day.
Stage 7 started with a rolling coast road where the pace was high from the start. The first climb of the day shelled a lot of riders and the race stayed on all day. The break was caught too early with 20km to go then the attacks started and a group of 5 got away and stayed away. I was on the front working to try bring it back for me team mate in the sprint. He ended up getting 4th in the bunch sprint and 9th on the stage. It was a shame we couldn't get them 5 riders back.

Hotel kit washing life!

Stage 8 started with a climb straight from km 0. I was feeling full of cold before the stage and suffered up the climb just holding on to the bunch. Shortly after the summit of the climb I punctured and had to chase back on through the convoy. I was spent most of the day in the back third of the bunch. I got near the front before the final cross wind section but got swamped just before the left hand turn and the race split to bits. I managed to make it up to the second group on the road. This group finished 2 minute behind the winner who won solo.
Stage 9 was another day of survival mode and trying to get round in the bunch which I nearly did until a 1 kilometer to go where I lost the wheels from been too far back.
Finally stage 10 and the race started with lots of atacks with a break going after 30km and then the race was controlled by the yellow jersey team. The break was coming back until the yellow jersey had a mechanical, this caused everyone to neutralize the race and wait for the yellow jersey. While the race easied the break went back out to around 4 minutes, with around 50 km to go. The break was not caugh and I finished in the bunch after a hard day of racing while ill.
The race was a great experience and I learnt a lot from it. I also met lots of new people and made some new friends. This is the great thing about cycling meeting new people and seeing new places.
Overall the race went well getting 22nd on the general classification, 5th in the young rider classification and 5th in the KOM classification.

Illness after Morocco hit me hard with the cold going to my chest and developing into a chest infection. This caused me to have to drop out of the tour of the reservoir unfortunately. I had time off the bike and aimed to be better for Rutland Melton Cicle Classic. I wasnt 100  percent going into it though.
Rutland Melton Cicle Classic UCI 1.2
Four of us traveled down on the Saturday to ride some of the sectors as a race recce.

Attacking at Rutland

On the day of the race the weather was cold but dry. As always the laps around the reservoir were sketchy and there were lots of crashes. On lap one I had an attempt at getting way which came to nothing then shortly after the race was neutralized then stopped due to a bad crash that happened on lap one. While the race was stopped the cold got to my chest and started my cough off and then I couldn't stop for the rest of the race. I was still in the bunch the first time over somerberg but that was the end of my race due to a badly timed puncture. It took me around 5 minutes to get a spare wheel and with that time lost to the race it was game over.

Somerberg sector just before puncturing.

Onward and upward to the next race.
Thanks for reading this months blog.

Back to The UK

After 8 weeks training in Spain it was time to come back to the UK to start the 2016 season. The 8 weeks over there was great, I was able to get a good base ready for the long season a head. In those 8 weeks I was just shy of 200 hours in the saddle.
The week I return, I unfortunately got a cold which set my planned training back. At the end of the first week back I was at Glasgow helping Planet X with some wind tunnel testing for their kit. This was a great day and I found it very interesting, the aero gains off little things can make a massive difference.
Another week of riding and not training due to the cold I was carrying, didn't look good going into Holme Valley 2 Day, luckily the cold had gone by the Wednesday. Not knowing how I would be going at the race, I just gave it my all in the first stage which was a time trial, my power was down from in Spain but was still higher than all of last year which was a positive. I managed to get 2nd in the time trail. Stage 2 on the afternoon went well with the team eventually winning the stage after many attacks, and I also held onto 2nd overall. Finally on stage 3, the team took the race on and we aimed for the win. A move went up the road with my team mate Dan Bigham in it, and the gap was going out with every mile covered, so I eventually got away from the peloton on my own thanks to the help of my team mates in there. My legs felt good and I bridged the 40 second gap in around 4 miles. Once in the break it was only me and Dan working, we still managed to take the gap out to 2 minutes 50 seconds at one point and I was the virtual leader on the road. unfortunately the on form Ryan Perry brought the gap back in 1 lap with help from his team mate. We were swept up with 10 miles to go, at what point Adam Kenway attacked and soloed to a stage win and also taking the overall and knocking me down to 3rd overall. The race was a good indicator to how well I'm going and also to how well the team are doing.
The next week I did an overload week of training with a local circuit race on the weekend which I was 2nd with Harry Tanfield of Pedal Heaven taking the win.
Now on to this week just gone, I took the week rather easy as I had the first big race of the year at the weekend (Chorley GP).  I was feeling good before the start, and after the first time over the climb I was in the front 10 down the decent. At the bottom of the decent I was 3rd wheel and rode hard out of the left had turn and got a gap so I just kept riding and this put me in a breakaway which Ian Wilkinson joined me about 2 miles down the road then Rob Partridge us a few miles later then we continued to work together and did 2 laps before getting caught by the peloton controlled by JLT. While in the break I managed to get 2nd overall in the sprints competition. At the end of the race I managed to get 24th.
Overall happy with how the legs are doing so far. Now I head over to Morocco for Le tour Da Maroc a 10 day UCI 2.2 stage race covering 1540km.