2016 Performance Review

"September will be my last month in Belgium for this season. There are still three more team races and I'm planning on cramming in some more kermesses before I head home"

This was the closing statement in my previous blog post... sadly things didn't pan out as I had hoped. Just one day after writing that sentence I crashed in training and dislocated my shoulder. Season over. My form at the time was really good and I was extremely motivated for the last month of the season but luck just wasn't on my side.

Just a quick heads up, if ever you injure yourself in Leuven and they say would you prefer UZ Leuven or Regionaal Ziekenhuis Heilig Hart then whatever you do don't say UZ Leuven. The ambulance service was great but everything after that was a shambles. After going through the all too familiar process of having my X-rays taken I then had my shoulder put back in place. Soon after it suddenly dawned on me that I must have gone out training in my invisibility kit. Not a single doctor acknowledged my existence for the 2 hours that followed, despite the hospital appearing to be completely empty. Eventually, after lots of nagging (thank you Andy), somebody came in, said "ok you can go", then walked off... my cuts hadn't been cleaned and a sling was just laid hopelessly next to me on the bed. Oh and I was still hooked up to the IV drip, although by this time all the painkillers had run dry, much like my patience. When I was finally able to leave I checked the forms at reception and apparently I was an American. I asked for the forms to be corrected and sent to my UK address but obviously they went to my Belgian address. I also left them an insurance form and asked them politely to fill it out, one month on and there's still no sign of it. It's probably in my post box in Belgium.

I got so bored waiting I tried to get my HR as low as possible...

maybe if it flat lined a doctor would have come in. But I doubt it.

The only silver lining to all this was that it came with only one month's racing left to go, and at the end of what has been a largely enjoyable season. As I've said before my team is fantastic, both staff and riders really are a pleasure to work with and race for. I'm very pleased that my team manager; Gerry Vande Pontseele, wanted me back for 2017 and I was able to sign a contact before I left for the UK. Despite not touching my bike in September I still managed to rack up 50 race days in 2016. It was a strange season in terms of results, it started a lot better than I expected with a few top 10's in March but after that I just seemed to perform consistently average. I was rarely outside of the top 20 in kermesses for the majority of the year and performed respectably in team races but never as well as I'd have hoped. You don't work all winter, train in the pouring rain and sacrifice so much for 'average' and 'respectable'. I know what I need to do differently this winter in preparation for next season and I'm confident I can make the necessary changes to be far more successful in 2017 and achieve the goals I've set myself.

Speaking of changes, I'll be living in a different location next year. I love the house I've been living in for the past two seasons but it's definitely time for a change of scene. I'll be moving further up North by roughly 60km to a place called Café Surplace. I've got some friends who have already been living there a few years and the couple that own the accommodation are really friendly. It'll be a big change going from a small house, with one other lad, down a dead end road, where you do a bit of gardening for the old lady across the road and grow tomatoes in your greenhouse, to a huge place that sleeps up to fourteen people, but I'm looking forward to it.

Finally I just want to say a few important thank-you's. Thank you to my family, especially my parents, for allowing me to do what I love while I'm young and still can. You have no idea how grateful I am. When I'm old and can barely get up out of my chair I'll be able to look back and say I spent my late teens and early twenties racing my bicycle round Europe, and that's pretty cool. Thank you to my friends for visiting this year. Thank you to everyone back in the UK and on social media who support me. Thank you to my team staff and team-mates for all your help and belief. Thank you to GripGrab for sponsoring me and also giving me the opportunity to work for you. And finally thank you to The Dave Rayner Fund and PedalPotential. It may sound cliché to anyone reading but I really could not do this without you. I can't work while I'm abroad and every penny I save from working over winter goes towards all the costs that come before the season has even begun, so without your financial backing none of this would be possible.

I hope next year I can repay you all for everything you've done for me.

Tom.

Team training camp way back in January/February.
Thank you Romina for so many great photos throughout the year.

The neighbour's dog, he'd join me outside for breakfast, get scratched, then leave.

Top ploeg.

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August: Not Your Average Month

Adjectives for August:

Busy

This month has passed by in a blur, I only had 8 races but off the bike it's been none stop. I've been up the E314 and down the E411 more times this month than in the past two years combined. I had my parents over during the second week of August and then my mates visited in the fourth week. It was ace having both sets over and being able to take them to races and local cities like Leuven.

Consistent

I've been consistently there or thereabouts in every race I've been in this month. I was 36th in the Beker Van Belgie Interclub in Hotton and 28th in the second Beker Van Belgie of the month in Rummen. I was happy with my ride in Hotton considering the fact it was extremely hilly (over 6,000ft of climbing) and I punctured twice which resulted in a lot of balls out chasing. In my other races this month I was 11th, 16th, 18th, 25th and 26th... like I said, there or thereabouts.

Expensive

A new freehub for my rear race wheel... yeah ok I can deal with that. A new chain... necessary. Puncturing two brand new tubular tyres... that's a bit unfortunate. My Garmin bouncing off in a race... oh heck. The rear stay on my carbon frame deciding to go full-suspension mid race... I'm done. It's like my frame and my mental strength both cracked simultaneously. They say these things are sent to test us, I don't know who's sending them or why but I'd love it if they'd stop.

Fun

Despite constantly haemorrhaging money out of my already wounded bank account I've had a great month. My Mum and Dad finally got to see me race in Belgium which was so much better than taking them to meet my physio last year. I had a quality time with my mates (hands down the best support crew ever to grace a Belgian kermesse) and they got to see me race too.

September will be my last month in Belgium for this season. There are still three more team races and I'm planning on cramming in some more kermesses before I head home for the winter and start preparing for 2017.

Thank you as always for reading,

Tom.

July: Better A Bad Day On The Bike Than A Good Day In The Office

I've always found there are two things that making writing a new blog post difficult; the first is thinking of something interesting to write about. The second is beginning the first sentence, from there on posts tend to write themselves. It's a bit like reading a book, I'm terrible at picking up a new book, even if I know I'll enjoy it, but once I've begun to read it, I cannot stop. I didn't want to write too much about my racing this month, so instead I'll just give a quick summary. My first race was the Beker Van Belgie TTT where we did a strong ride to finish 4th in the Belgian Cup standings. Then I had a stint of kermesse races, 5 in total, where I managed to finish in the prize money in every race but sadly no higher than 11th. This Sunday just gone I was competing in another round of the BVB, the nature of the race and the way teams rode it meant it finished in a mass sprint where I placed 29th. My final race of the month is the Ronde Van Vlaams Brabant, a National 1 Elite 5-day stage race held in the last week of July.

What I really wanted to write about this month is what it's really like to live and race abroad when you stop convincing yourself that the whole world is against you. Cyclists love to constantly remind each other how tough this sport is, I don't know why this is, I think it's because of a feeling of insecurity. If you all talk incessantly about how hard it is to 'make it' in this sport then you can convince yourself everything is alright when things aren't going quite the way you hoped they would be.

Below are the only things which I think justify the claim that chasing a career in cycling difficult:

The Racing - There's no getting away from it, unless you're in the form of your life and dishing out the pain (which is rare) then breathing out of every orifice in your body, staring cross-eyed at the wheel in front as it slowly inches ever so further away from you while your heart beats 200 times a minute is not a fun place to be.

The financial struggle - The pay is crap, even the best racers in the world don't get paid a fraction of what they deserve. So as you can imagine being an amateur is no picnic, and if it were it would be a fairly uninspiring spread.

Injury and illness - I've had my fair share of both, when I talk about the feeling of having the whole world go against you this is what I'm talking about. That said, the majority of injuries/illnesses in cycling (excluding things like broken bones sustained in crashes that you can't avoid) are a result of you being lazy and not working hard enough to prevent them. Cyclists put a ridiculous amount of stress and strain on their body, week in week out and moan when something finally gives. I learnt last year (after years of moaning about things giving way) that prevention is far better than rehabilitation and that preventing little niggles and aches is a choice.

The things you miss - There's a lot you miss out on if you spend your youth chasing a career in professional cycling instead of say going to university or getting a 'normal' job and there's a lot of things you miss from back home. But what I've realised this month is that you only truly miss things if you didn't appreciate them enough in the moment that you had them or if you knew what you had but didn't get enough of it/them.

"Every person that works for you, you have to let it go in the best moment, when he and you are at the happiest moment, when he and you think you are doing your best, they have to go. Because from there on there's only one way, which is down." - Francis Mallmann

There are a lot of things I miss; I miss family holidays and sitting in restaurants, people watching. I miss seeing my friends at lunch every day at school and not having to try and arrange a time when we're all free to hang out. I miss my youthful naivety towards professional cycling, back when I thought it was just about honesty and development, not back-hands and bribes. I miss my housemate from last year, we don't talk anymore and that sucks. I miss the family round the corner from where I live in Belgium, we can't talk anymore and that sucks too. I miss my sister and I hate the fact that when I go back to my home in Lymm she's not there. I miss my Nanny and how infectious her laugh was. I miss not having to stress about money or what I'm going to be doing when I'm 34 because all that mattered was making sure my Geography homework was in on time. I miss all these things because I either didn't appreciate them enough at the time or because I wasn't done enjoying them.

This month has been one of the easiest I've ever had abroad because I've taken the time to step back and appreciate what I have while I have it.

Thank you to those who make it possible for me to be here and thank you for reading,

Tom.

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June 2016: Home Sweet Home

June has been a strange month if I'm honest, normally you can look back and say quite convincingly whether you had a good block of racing or a bad one. I don't know how to label June, one minute I felt great, the next minute awful. Some races I felt strong but couldn't get a decent result and in others I felt shocking and wasn't sure what to put it down to.

I started off with a weekend of kermesses, the first in Halle on the Saturday and the second in Zwijndrecht on the Sunday. Halle (Buizingen) was a great race; a really technical circuit with next to no flat and an uphill finish. A moment's hesitation early on meant I missed the break and was left to contest the finish with the peloton. I finished 2nd in the bunch kick and 13th on the day. The next day I was in Zwijndrecht where the race was completely different; pan flat and windy in places. A break got away early on with 4 guys from the same team in it so it soon disappeared. Late on in the race it began to pour down, despite being baking hot early on. I took a chance and pressed on through a series of corners and managed to get a gap on the bunch with a small group of riders on my wheel. We worked well and caught the break but soon after it split and with a teammate in the front group I had no option but to just watch and follow others, in the end I finished 12th.

Halle 1.12B

Halle 1.12B

Zwijndrecht 1.12B

My next races were rounds of the Beker Van Belgie/Coupe de Belgique (depending on where you're from), basically the Belgian Cup. The first was the Memorial Albert Fauville, it was probably the worst day I've had on the bike this year. After 9km there was a 2.4km cobble section which we tackled 4 times in between some climbs that flattened out into exposed crosswind sections. I suffered all day and had a string of mechanicals and near misses with crashes but to be honest neither of the latter effected my race that much, I felt crap. The group I was in was pulled out with 1 finishing lap to go despite the fact we were well ahead of the front of the race, it didn't make any sense and completely messed up our team result for the day as we only had 2 other guys left in the race. A large part of the Belgian Cup is the team standings; each team starts with 6 guys and your top 3 on the day have their time accumulated and that forms the team standing's for the series. A few days after the Memorial Albert Fauville I developed a cold which explained why I felt so bad in the race. It had all but cleared going into the next weekend's BVB race; the GP Olivier Kaisen. I had bad legs early on but felt better as the race progressed, it was a fairly rolling course with a tough crosswind section which ripped the race apart every lap. Halfway through the race I crossed to the front split with a group but much like in Zwijndrecht it split again as soon as I got there and I had teammates in the front. I punctured with less than 10km to go but got a bike change and finished 38th. On the day the team finished 2nd in the team standings which was a good result. The cold I thought I'd shifted came down on me like I tonne of bricks the next day and I had to miss the next round of the BVB in Romsee but again the team did a great ride and finished 2nd in the team standings.

GP Olivier Kaisen

After screaming "J'ai une crevasion" in my best French accent to the commissaire

Shortly after these races I headed back to the UK for the National Road Race Championships in Stockton. All I could manage in the days running up to the event were short, low intensity rides but even then my heart rate was around 15bpm higher than normal. So obviously I followed the first attack as soon as we came out of the neutral section. It came to nothing, the attacks continued for around an hour until all the big favourites were up the road and in that typical UK style of road racing everyone looked around at each other and said "well that's that". In truth though, that really was that. Every team had at least one rider up the road and even if they didn't there's nothing they could have done about it when every WorldTour and ProConti rider was off the front. After 170km I arrived with the peloton at the ridiculously small finishing laps which have become the norm with the British Road Race Championships and we were pulled from the race. "Oooh yeah lets have a brilliant road race then end it with a crit... nice one BC." said nobody ever. In the end there were only 24 finishers from a 160 man race and 7 U23's. It's no wonder whenever I speak to anyone in Belgium or France or Italy they laugh at me when I say "no we don't have a 'non-contract' national champs or even a separate race for the U23's", it's embarrassing really.

Warming up for Nationals

I'm currently packing my bags and preparing for the long drive back to Ottenburg tomorrow morning. I've loved being back in the UK, seeing family and friends and training on home roads. In truth though I'm hungry to get back to Belgium, I've got some great races coming up with the team, including a couple of 5 day stage races and I am determined to get that elusive victory. I'm certain that if I get in the right move, on my day, with a bit of luck, it will come.

"The race isn't over, because I have not won yet..."

Tom.

May 2016: Le Tour (de la Manche)

May has been an enjoyable month, I've competed in the GP Haute des France, five races in Belgium and a stage race in Normandy. I was 15th in a race in Harshies (Walloon region) the day after the Menen Classic, I made the break but the previous day's efforts took their toll as the race progressed. I finished 19th in Overijse, a really tough race just 10 minutes from where I live. Each lap (11 in total) we went up the Hagaard, a 10% berg used in the finishing circuit of Brabantse Pijl. In Oosterzele I placed 21st, again I made the break but a moments lack of concentration cost me and before I knew it I was in a small group watching the break disappear wondering what the hell just happened. The GP Fietsen D'Hose was organised by my team manager, a race situated in Lierde that passes his front door. We had almost our whole team there and naturally there was a lot of pressure to perform. The weather was apocalyptic but made for a great race, in the closing laps we had 5 riders in a big move. Kevin Van Impe took the win so it was a great day for the team, I finished 17th. In hindsight I should have finished in the top 10 (at least) in all 4 of these races but for one reason or another I didn't. It's frustrating but that's racing, all you can do is learn from it and move forward, op naar de volgende!

There are many reasons to love cycling; the beautiful machines, the thrill of racing, the joy of winning, the people you meet, the feeling of well-being. For me though, one that really stands out is the accessibility. There are few sports, if any, where as an amateur you can experience so much that the pros you idolise experience on a daily basis. Compare it to football for example. If you want to train on roads like Alpe D'Huez or the Passo di Stelvio, you can. If you want to have a kick about at Old Trafford, you can't. If you know the right people and want to train with a World Tour professional, you can. If you want to practice your free kicks at the park with Wayne Rooney, you can't. If you want to race on climbs from Ronde Van Vlaanderen or pavé sections from Paris-Roubaix and your team does races that use these iconic stretches of road, you can. I don't care how much you want to play a match with your mates at Camp Nou (Barcelona), you can't. I was very fortunate this month to be able to race the Tour de la Manche, an elite stage race in the North of France.

May 26th - Stage 1 - Saint Jean de Daye - Briquebec - 170km

We were told that this was the day that normally shapes the GC for the race, a fairly innocuous 115km followed by a tough 28km circuit that we would cover twice. It took a long time for the break to go and almost as soon as it got out of sight the big teams started to real it in. The race blew to pieces as we hit the 15-20% sections on the second climb on the finishing laps. I lost touch with the bunch and finished in a small group. It was a shock to the system to say the least.

May 27th - Stage 2 - CLM a Sottevast - 9km (TT)

A double day on the Friday made for a very early start, as my roommate Stephen said; "I didn't know there were two 5 o'clocks in a day...". The morning stage was a short but technical 9km TT with a climb in the middle. My performance was average at best but with 400km still to race I didn't go too deep on the climb or take any risks on the descents. I jumped in the team car and watched as my teammate Guust did a stormer of a ride and moved from 23rd to 7th on GC.

May 27th - Stage 3 - Briquebec - Marigny - 105km

The pace on stage 3 was frenetic from the off, myself and my teammate Kevin followed a few moves but nothing stuck. Eventually a move did go and the team with the yellow jersey moved to the front of the peloton and shut everything down. I had good legs and it was extremely disappointing to watch the break sail off into the distance while we almost ground to a halt but I was badly positioned when it went and by the time I got to the front they were well beyond bridging distance. The finishing circuits were full gas as CC Etupes and a few other Div 1 French teams worked hard to reel in the break. With 10km to go they still had a minute, we caught them on the line and I finished 37th.

May 28th - Stage 4 - Marigny - Saint Hilaire du Harcouet - 160km

Before stage 4 I tweeted that it looked like a 'lumpy' stage, at least that's what the handbook suggested. It wasn't lumpy, it was bloody savage. 160km and 2,200m of climbing in the baking French sun made for one of the toughest days I've ever had on the bike. Team U Nantes Atlantique hit every climb like men possessed but I knew if made it to the finishing circuits in touch with the bunch I would be ok. Somehow I did and even though the final circuits were grippy I was able to finish with a depleted peloton.

May 29th - Stage 5 - Saint Hilaire du Harcouet - Granville - 145km

The final day, again on paper it didn't look too difficult, I should have known from the previous day this meant nothing. I was active early on and got up the road a few times but as the breaks swelled they lost impetus. We hit the 'petit Tourmalet' and I got over it without any real difficulty but the worst was yet to come. Just after 80km we turned left off the main road and up a steep, narrow climb. I made it over the top in contact (just) but less than 3km later we went up a steeper, longer climb that well and truly killed me off. I was done. It was the strangest feeling, I wasn't out of breath, my lungs weren't burning and my heart didn't feel like it was trying to jump out my chest, I was just empty and my legs felt like they were filled with lead. I arrived at the finishing circuits with my teammate Jan and we rode the last 25km together, in the end I finished 61st in the general classification.

For sure I'd have loved to be more prominent in the finals but given the nature of the course and the guys I was competing against I am in no way disappointed with my result. I'm happy to have completed the race and learnt an enormous amount and am proud of the whole team and the way we rode. I can't thank the staff (Gerry, Bjorn and Chris) enough for all the work they put in and my teammates for everything they did.

Cycling really is a sport of extreme polar opposites. When it's going bad it feels like everything is going against you and all you want to do is take a step away, but when it's going well, it's truly fantastic. I spent last week tearing across the French countryside at 60km under clear blue skies to the sound of gears shifting and chains whirling and it made me realise there really is nothing I'd rather be doing with my life right now,

Tom.

April 2016: A Busy Month

Normally I like to do something a little different when I write a post to try and avoid the stereotypical racing cyclist's blog of 'I raced my bike, it was hard, name drop here, heroically dodged a crash there, 'hitter' this, 'lit' that, I would have won but for... blah blah blah'. This month however I'm sad to report I am that guy. It's been a fairly hectic weekend and I just wanted to give anyone who was interested a quick update on how my races in April panned out before we get too deep into May and it becomes too late to do so.

Ottergem 1.12B
A big bunch and a fast course, myself a few teammates did some bunch-towing late on to bring a large group back so our strongest guys could contest the finish. It came down to a sprint and one of our riders took 4th.
Position: 42nd

Heist Op Den Berg 1.12B
Someone decided to ride into my rear wheel after 5km and take some of my spokes with him. Race over.
Position: DNF

Oost-Vlaanderen U23 Prov Championships - Gijzenzele
The Belgians take Provisional Championships very seriously, they're what we would call regional champs in the UK, only if you win one in Belgium you wear a jersey for the year (and go out on a mad one that evening to celebrate). I crashed hard after around 30km, along with a lot of other guys. After a minute or so of sitting on the floor feeling sorry for myself I was given my spare bike from the roof of the team car and began to chase back to the bunch. I got back on but not long after I blew my doors off.
Position: DNF

Driebergenprijs Stasegem (National 1 IC)
Formerly known as the 2 days of Gaverstreek, a fairly big race with some very strong teams. I can't remember ever finishing a race and being so happy to be in one piece. There were crashes left, right and centre all race up until the finishing circuits. I've never seen riders show so little respect for each other. Nobody pointed out any potential hazards and everyone seemed hell-bent on putting the guy next to them on the deck. On one main road descent at a good 80kph there was a crash in the middle of the peloton and guys were going down like bowling ball pins. I find the best thing to do is just pretend you've not seen it. On the finishing laps I was frozen to the bone from the relentless rain and dropped back to the car for a jacket. Simultaneously the bunch caught the break and all hell broke loose and I spent the rest of the race in the cars. A bloody disaster but an important lesson learnt.
Position: 87th

GP Affligem (National 1 IC)
Having ridden the race last year I knew what to expect. The bunch set off like it had been shot out of a cannon, our strongest rider, Kevin Van Impe, was in more or less every move which made my job very simple. I saved as much energy as possible and planned to be active in the closing stages of the race. I followed a few moves late on and felt good but didn't manage to get clear of the bunch. Team 3M set a furious pace in the final to bring back a break that contained Kevin. It came down to a mass sprint and I finished in the bunch.
Position: 52nd

Herne 1.12B
After three hard races I was looking for a good result at Herne. We set off in a cocktail or wind, rain and hail, the course was testing and the field was strong. After an hour 5 strong riders got clear, I formed a chase group of around 7 with fellow Brit Rob Smail. As is often the way there was little to no cohesion from our fellow escapees, we got agonisingly close to break at one point but didn't make contact. We were later joined by a large group of riders containing all the strongest guys, including Belgian Champ Joeri Stallaert, my teammate Van Impe, The King Mario Willems and the usual mix of Cibel, T-Palm, Veranclassic and Colour-Code riders. The group later splintered and a moments hesitation on my part led to me making a complete cock up of my race.
Position: 18th

Menen Classic (National 1 IC)
My final race of the month and another National 1 Interclub with the team. 3M strung things out from the get go (they have a habit of doing this sort of thing) on what was a fairly flat but extremely exposed course. I found myself in a group distanced by the peloton and at one point we were close to a minute behind the bunch. Unbelievably we all worked together and regained contact 50km later. It turns out most Belgians wont pull if they're up the road and there's the chance of a victory, but they will pull if their pride is on the line and they're afraid of being unceremoniously swept up by the broom wagon. I later punctured and got a wheel from my team car, I've gotten a lot better at using the convoy and after some fairly dicey moves I was back in no time. It came down to yet another bunch gallop and after a hard day of chasing I knew I didn't have the legs to contest the finish.
Position: 80th

Thank you as always to those who sponsor/support me and a massive thank you for reading,

Tom.

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