If I had to choose a period then spring would certainly be my
favourite time of the season both to race and to watch the pros on TV. All
those months of winter training and speculation put to bed in an instant.
Spring now seems like a distant memory and summer has well and truly arrived in
Belgium. Getting ready for training takes all of 30 seconds, getting to sleep
at night is a deeply unpleasant affair and racing is becoming a case of who can
cope with the heat the best.
The last 6 weeks have been very
busy, below is a brief summary of a selection of the races I've done.
7th May - GP Fietsen D'Hose
- 17th
A race I enjoy, it's organised
and sponsored by my team so we're all obliged to be there but it's far from a
chore. The parcour is nice and it's always fun to try and rip up a kermesse
with your team. Many of you will have heard the recent Tom Boonen quote; "Sometimes
you don't need a plan, you just need big balls". Well on this day
I left mine at home. The perfect number of guys had just attacked, the break
was going and I knew it. I attacked in the gutter on the right as the bunch
slowed but just as I did so a rider was drifting towards the edge of the road.
I should have bombed through the gap before it closed but I reached for the
brakes and that was that. In the end I salvaged what I could and had to settle
for a disappointing 17th.
18th-21st May - Tour de la
Manche
I was fortunate enough to race
here last year so I knew what to expect. The level of racing is high as there
are a number of first division French teams present, more so this season than
last season. In 2016 I finished close to last place on GC and I struggled on
almost every stage. This year however I was much more competitive. After 5
stages I finished 32nd in the General Classification. A poor ITT saw me lose
some crucial time and cost me, but all in all it was a great race and there was
lots to be taken from it.
28th May - Wezembeek Oppen
BVB - 23rd
Immediately after the Tour de
la Manche I headed back to the UK for a few days to see my family. Shortly
after I returned to Belgium I headed to Wesembeek for the first round of the
Belgian cup. It was a fairly rolling course but it ended in a bunch sprint. The
last kilometre consisted of a downhill right-hand bend, some traffic furniture,
a right, another right and then a downhill left hand turn 250 meters before the
line. Basically, it was stupid. A combination of luck, anticipation and skill
kept me upright and I finished 23rd. Our team rode strongly and we're currently
sitting in 3rd place in the team classification.
30th May - Booischot
Kermesse
I knew my form was good and
lots of the locals from the cafe where I live were at the race so I was super
motivated to get a good result. Late on in the race I forced a group clear and
we rode to within touching distance of the winning break that had established
itself earlier on. Just as we were about to make contact the rider in front of
me overlapped a wheel coming out of a corner and he hit the deck. I had nowhere
to go and came down too. I was disappointed and extremely angry but I guess
that's racing.
3rd June - Houthalen
Kermesse - 8th
Despite crashing just a few
days earlier I felt very strong. At one point, I was in the third group on the
road, over a minute down on the front group. I kept calm and managed to ride
between groups and eventually make it to the break away. The closing laps were
cagey and I made a few mistakes that cost me and I had to settle for 8th.
5th June - Liedekerkse Pijl
IC1
What a nightmare. I punctured
so hard my wheel cracked just 5km into the race. In any race this is less than
ideal but in a race where the pace is relentless from start to finish it's a
disaster. My teammate had a problem in the first kilometre so my team car was
with him which meant standing at the side of the road with a wheel in my hand
for what felt like an eternity. Eventually I got a spare wheel and after 45
minutes chasing in the convoy I made it back to the peloton but I was a spent
force.
13th June - Waasland Belsele
IC1
For much of the season I've
been quite lucky, so I guess these last few weeks were karma's way of
saying "I've not gone anywhere". While sprinting out of a
corner just 15km into the race my chain jumped between gears and slipped. One
second I was sprinting full gas and the next I was bouncing and sliding down
the road. I figured the best way to stop the pain and uncontrollable shaking
was to jump on the spare bike. Like in Liedekerkse Pijl I came back to the
peloton but the crash took its toll and I had to pull the pin.
After a few days rest I headed
to S'Gravenwezel for a kermesse. My form had definitely taken a knock and I
finished in an unsatisfactory 20th place.
21st June - Tienen kermesse
- 27th
Even at 18:00 it was still 33
degrees celcius, I expected a move to go early so I followed the attacks in the
first laps and then attacked myself when I could tell everyone was a little
tired. Myself and five other riders went clear and were soon out of sight. I
thought a small group would ride across to us and we'd contest the win but
sadly after a handful of laps clear the peloton reeled us in. An attack went
over the top soon after, I didn't respond fast enough and the race was over.
24th June - Gingelom-Jeuk
kermesse - 6th
A strong group of around 12
broke away quite early in the race and established a good gap. The roads were
very exposed and the wind was strong but it was proving difficult to form a
chase group. Eventually I broke clear and bridged over to the break away with 7
other riders with just 15km to go. With just under 10km to go 4 riders attacked
what was now a 20 man lead group and they went on to fight for the win. In the
sprint one rider jumped very early and caught everyone off gaurd, I waited for
the guys around me to respond and then jumped myself and managed to just hold
them off for 6th place.
My friend Stephen Bradbury has
just been to stay with me for 10 days which was a great laugh. We were
teammates here in Belgium last year and now he spends the majority of his
season racing in the UK but it was a good moral boost to have him back over
here. July is packed with Interclubs so I'll be working hard to be in top
condition those races. In particular the next three rounds of the Belgium Cup
(BVB) in Borlo, Wanfercee and Kraainem.
Thank you as always for reading,
Tom.
