Racing in France

With the season drawing to a premature close in August in the UK I took the opportunity to spend 6 weeks racing in France. After racing out there in May and riding well I started messaging round to see if anyone had any contacts out there. Eventually, thanks to my coach, the chance to live in Limoux in the south of France came about and it was time to start planning races.

I arrived at the beginning of August and after 3 days settling in I was on the start line of my first race. The race was in Tarascon on a 6km circuit (15laps) with 2 climbs which suited me perfectly. The racing was super aggressive and after 15km a group of 5 went I bridged across with one other. 55km later we had begun to lap some of the field and it was time to start thinking about the win. I attacked on the steep climb at the finish and took 2 riders with me. We worked well and it came down to a sprint which I came 2nd in. It was great to achieve a podium in my first race but I came here wanting more.

Next up, Puy L'Eveque. A very good field turned out thanks to a huge prize fund and the racing was brutal. It was 28 laps of a 3km circuit which had a partially cobbled 1km climb. The amateur French TT champion, world masters champion and several DN1 riders turned up to dish out some pain and after a lot of grovelling I finished 18th. 

The following weekend the racing near us was a little quite so we headed to the Alps. There were two hill climbs taking place, one on the Col du Galibier and the other on the Col du Granon. We raced the Galibier on the Saturday where I rolled in 4th place overall and first espior (under 23). I caught two espiors in the last 3km and was pleased with my efforts.

On Sunday it was a chance to race the Col Du Granon which was a bit of a contrast compared to the Galibier. The 9.3% gradient average for 10km was unforgiving and I suffered, I finished 7th (2nd espior). The weekend in the Alps was a great opportunity to ride/race on some iconic climbs and after stopping off on the way back to ride Mont Ventoux I ticked off a lot of climbs I have always wanted to ride.

After a good block of training the next race came in the form of a pan flat 3km circuit which we covered 30 times. I felt pretty good from the start and after letting a group of 5 get up the rode I bridged across the 30s gap and that was the winning move. I spent a lap recovering then went to start working with the group and touched wheels with a lapped rider who was on the back of the group and came down. I was allowed a lap out which gave me time to straighten my gear lever and make sure I was still in one piece. I jumped back in with the leaders and it was damage limitation for the remaining hour of the race. I lost skin on both knees, my forearm, hand and hip but there was no way I was finishing second again. I made my move with half a lap to go and won comfortably.

I spent the next couple of weeks in a lot of pain when training and have just about healed now. I competed in one more road race which I finished 12th in and on my final weekend I competed in the Pic de Nore hill climb. It was a bunch start with a hundred riders at the bottom of a 17.5km climb. I felt strong on the first 9km and held my place near the front of the group. After this, there was a 2km plateau before the final 7.5km where the race really kicked off. One rider had a 30s lead going into the final 7km of the climb and the bunch responded with several attacks at the to try and close the gap. I found myself in a 3-man chase group which I stuck with until 3km to go. I started to go into the red and dropped the wheel so had to drag myself to the finish alone and had the final kick in the teeth of being caught by a rider on the line. I went very deep and came home in 5th in field of good riders.

Overall I am pleased with my efforts over the last 6 weeks and have loved racing out here. My aggressive riding was rewarded with some good results and I am hoping to get the opportunity to race in France again next year.

The Tour of Martinique

Following my victory at the eastern champs my focus turned to preparation for the Tour of Matinique. The 9-day race is based in the Caribbean and is a French colony which means to things, a hot/humid climate and aggressive racing as soon as the road goes uphill. 

I went into the race relatively blind having not ridden a stage race before (unless you count the 2-day tour of Northumberland) and this inexperience showed in my preparation and eventual outcome in the race. We arrived Thursday night and were greeted by the incredibly humid 30 degree heat getting off the plane.

Friday was spent recceing some of the course for stage 1 and before long we were signing on to the race Saturday morning. 

Sign on for Stage 1

Any preconceptions I had about this being a relatively small race were proven wrong when we were presented to huge crowds at signing on and the convoy of cars left town following the race. The standard of the competition was also an unknown but after averaging 45kph on rolling roads in the first hour I realised it was going to be a bit of a battle. Unfortunately I didn't know the French for 'chill out, there's another 8 days racing left' but I don't think it would have helped seeing as they went ballistic up every hill for all 9 days racing. Stage 1 ended with a group of 12 up the road and a huge ride from my team mate for the race, Josh, finishing 4th. I struggled with the heat a little but was comfortable in the peloton before being greeted by the unwelcome sound of a puncture. Our team car with spares was following Josh and no other car offered to stop until I'd been stood at the side of the road for 10 minutes. This dashed any chances of a good finish overall but meant I could concentrate on individual stage results.

Stage 2 included two category 3 climbs, one at 25km which blew the race to pieces and another after 95km (10km to the finish). I was well placed throughout the stage and with the leaders until the final climb. 500m from the top I suffered with really bad cramp. I managed to haul myself over the top of the climb and use gravity to get me to the finish in 29th place. This wrote off my legs for the afternoon TT but with no ambitions for the overall this wasn't a concern.

Stage 3 had the largest climb of the tour with the summit 25km from the finish. Most of the racing had been done in the run in to the climb with 2000m climbing before hitting the final mountain. This included some 20% plus gradients and the bunch being slowly reduced on every climb. I made it to the foot of the final ascent in a group of 10 riders with 20 or so up the road. I knew the climb was steep near the bottom so attacked in a bid to close the gap to the leaders. One rider came with me and we slowly caught riders being dropped from the break. As we neared the top of the climb I dropped my chain and after getting off and making a mess of putting it back on lost several places. I rode the final 25km solo to finish 28th. I was gutted as yet another avoidable issue had cost me my chance of a strong finish. I still enjoyed the stage though and was happy with my performance despite the issues.

Go Pro in hand, I was a tourist at this point

The profile for stage 4 was uphill or downhill all day and was going to be a real test following a hard first 3 days racing. Unfortunately I only got to experience 5km of it before my chain snapped and with no spare or chain tool in the car and a spare bike which was too big I had no choice but to abandon. I've had a lot of bad experiences whilst riding but this was right up there. I put so much into my training for the event and worked more hours to afford it so to end in this manner was gutting. It took a while to get over it as I knew the next 5 days would be spent watching a race I was meant to be in and I felt confident that, having adapted to the conditions, a podium on one of the stages would be possible. 

Overall I'm incredibly grateful for the experience as it has opened my eyes to what racing should be like and am desperate to get more opportunities like this next season. Thanks to Velo-Schils InterBike for allowing me to guest for them and everyone involved with supporting us in the race. 

My focus now turns to a couple of races in the UK before heading out to the south of France to race whilst the calendar in the UK is non-existent.