It has been roughly a month since first arriving back in Belgium for the season & personally I couldn't of asked for a better start, considering all of my set backs financially & injury wise.
My first race came only 3 days of arrival in Betekom 1.12B, so it was a little bit of a rush to set the bike up in a position that was correct to eliminate any chances of the knee problem reoccurring. On race day, the feeling of jumping back on the start line was a huge excitement & nervous feeling, one because I was curious how the knee would hold up under so much pressure & two if all the hard work over the winter would pay off. I could tell after the first couple of laps it was going to be a good race for me, all I had to do was box clever and that's exactly what I did. There was quite a large breakaway that had formed where I knew would stay away, so when the peloton hesitated there was my moment to go and bridge the gap, and so I did. It turned to be the winning break of 21 so it was all to play for. On the last corner fighting for the win I cramped up but held on for 7th Place which I was really happy but a little disappointed due to the fact I could have been up for at least a podium without the cramp.
My first Interclub (Handzame Challange) came on the Friday after where high winds were forecast, the forecast was correct. This was the first time I had competed in this event so I was motivated and eager to ride this one so early in the season knowing I had decent form. 40km was the important point as that's where the bigger teams would try and mix things up in the cross winds so it was pretty much a race to that point. I thought I made good position into this section but didn't turn out to be the case as I was 3-4 wheels back from where the split went and once the wheel had gone it was pretty much all over. It would now be a fight for the 15th Place onward. Going into the final few local laps of Handzame Challenge our group had been a decent size & it was hard for me to pick the right move being the only team rider in the second group, I was pretty isolated. In the end I came in 39th Place which I could be fairly happy about but a little disappointed about being so close to making the winning split. That's bike racing & the season has only just begun.
Last weekend has been the most special on the bike to date.
Saturday 25th being Beerzel (Putte) & Sunday 26th Meer (Hoogstraten)
Starting with Beerzel (Putte),
I'm a little bit lost for words on how that went. I can say though, it was one of my happiest days & it has given me a huge confidence boost. Having cutting it fine, managing to attack with 3 or 4 laps to go, a group of about 8 of us caught the break going onto the last lap. Having the finish going into a headwind changed the game a bit, that's what I thought anyways. People were attacking all over the show but I knew I had to be smart and not go too early. I managed to do that but left it maybe a little too late having only been half a bike length off the victory. I am chuffed to bits with how the race went & I am even more motivated to work even harder to try and get my hands up in the air before the end of the season for sure.
(Close but no Cigar) ^
Meer Hoogstraten,
Was tough to start with having yesterdays efforts in the legs but after a few laps they loosened up and I was feeling decent enough to fight for a good position. About half way through there was a large breakaway consisting of myself and also a few team mates. I thought this was definitely going to be the winning move as everyone seemed to have one rider from each team. For some reason the group didn't want to work & soon came back together. With around 5 laps to go another breakaway formed of 10 but I was a little too far back position wise. Going into the last 3 laps one team mate was making a move with another two guys, and a few others were trying to jump across. If I wanted to get a result I had to jump on but not bring the peloton with me. After only a few turns the other guys sat up, so I put all my eggs in one basket and bridged across to my teammate without anyone following me. We worked really hard to catch the break with there only being four of us but digging real deep we managed to get across with only a few kilometres left. At this point I didn't have a great deal left in the tank but having made it this far I gave it absolutely everything leaving me to finish in 10th Place. I was super happy about this ride having left it so late and still managing a top 10.
To top things off I spent two days in the Ardennes training for important goals coming up in the near future which I super motivated for.
(La Redoute)
Results so far:
Betekom 1.12B - 7th (12/3/17)
Handzame Interclub - 39th (17/3/17)
GP Wilfred Pieters Interclub - 62nd (19/3/17)
Beerzel (Putte) - 3rd (25/3/17)
Meer (Hoogstraten) - 10th (26/3/17)
I hope I didn't bore you too much.
Keep you updated,
Thanks : Luvi Air, JamesBerryFund, Patricia Wild Opticians for the continued support which I well & truly appreciate.
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