Racing on the Continent: In need of an update!

ok, i've been busy, racing, visiting, being visited... lots to talk about!

(Left: Me and clem pulling the break along at G.P Plouay)

First things first... what have i raced since i last blogger... good question, i'm not even too sure myself! It's been a busy august thats for sure. following on from the kreiz breiz elites we headed back into the centre of brittany for the Mi Aout Bretonne, a 4day 2.2 stage race made up of mainly continental pro teams from here there and everywhere, again. One team which i was looking forward to racing against was Rapha Condor who were making the trip across the border with a strong squad who were just coming off the back of the Tour of Quinghai Lake in china which explains why they were all going well. Stage one got off to an alrite start as i slipped into a couple of early moves but missed the small break which slipped away before the peloton sat up for a little breather before kicking off near the finish circuits. The circuit included a 1km climb which easily averaged over 10% with a nasty false flat after and this caused the race to explode. The result was 2 riders, Frederik Wilmann (Joker Bianchi) and Niels Albert (BKCP Powerplus, world cyclocross champ) bridged up to the lead group and behind the peloton split in two with me safely in the first half finishing at 3mins in 33rd and the second half of the peloton at over 10mins.

Stage 2 was a super hard day where again the peloton blew to bits. I finished in 43rd after having bridged up to the front group with several others only to get shelled on the finish circuits. I rolled in at 8mins down with most of the field coming in at 24minutes, a long way behind.

Stage 3, what happened? ah yea that stage... the early break went up the road as usual and then the leaders wound it up towards the final 60/70km. I had a pretty uneventful day saving the legs for the final stage and finished in the peloton, a handful of seconds behind a small group which clipped off late on.

The final stage looked like a beast in the race manual and lived up to its name from the start. There was no neutralised section today and attacks came from the word go. After taking a couple of kms to get to the front i attacked immediately and got away in a small group with clement too. We bridged up to a few infront and gave it full gas holding a small gap. Gradually we started to pull away and built up a lead of a minute after about 40kms. We were still flat out and just to pull through on the front i was pretty much flat out... i didnt miss a turn though unlike a lot of hangers on at the back. The main guys pulling the break were me, clem, the belgian amateur champion who looked the business in his national jersey! chris newton and johann le bon (junior EU/world champ last yr and already turned pro at 18yrs old... a machine). However the gap started to fall as we hit the hills and the group split up and eventually got caught at about 70/80ks in. After my efforts there i was pretty much spent and gave it all i had just to finish as i knew i was on for a top 30 placing on GC, nothing superb but my first top 30 in a UCI 2.2... i wanted it quite bad! There was a short sharp climb on the final circuit and each time i managed to get up to the front as that by the time i got to the top i had dropped back to the rear end of the peloton. With people getting dropped everylap it was just a case of surviving. Survive i did and i rolled in safely to take 27th overall on GC. job done. First long break in a prorace too which was good and will definalety help.

Following on from this stage race i had one day off before i was down to ride a Coupe de France... a series of races for the top amateur clubs in france... basically the hardest amateur races here.

The DS didnt expect much and with 4 out of 6 coming off the back of the Mi Aout we were given the green light to just get stuck in and see how the legs are. The race went well with us getting 2 in the break for the day but the sprinters teams brought it back for a bunch kick where i tried to mix it up but only managed 33rd after exploding at about 50m out! We averaged over 44.5kmh for 180km so was pretty swift and together with the stage race it will help build on what is already some good form.

So that was last monday... since then i had a few days staying with Laurent Le Gac chilling out in Brest and at the beach before heading back to Quimper to meet my parents who were over for the weekend. Was nice to catch up with them and get pampered eating out at restaurants a couple of times!

They had come over to watch me do race the Grand Prix Plouay on saturday which i was pumped for and with them there i was extra motivated for a good result.

so after an early start... very early with the start being at 9am due to the Womens pro race being on in the afternoon, i took the start line under grey clouds along with 170 others. By the end of 3 of 7 laps the peloton was all back together and attacks were flying left right and centre. I clipped off in company of a Vendee U rider round the back and after a hard chase we bridged up to a group of 9 in front, which included Clement, Matthieu and Vincent. Looking good. We hammered it for a lap and had pulled out to 45 seconds however a lap later a large group came across to us and all the attacking started again. The group split in three with 11 riders going away with vinc, and me ending up in the back group and getting swallowed up by the peloton. The race was finished up front with the front group storming up the road, however my race wasnt over as i clipped off early on the final lap with two others and bridged across to the counter attack which was coming in for 15th place. I went from a long way out in the sprint ... trying to pull off a Boassen-Hagen! but ended up getting swamped in the closing metres and finished 24th, nothing special but not a disaster. The winner was the seasons top rider, Laurent Pichon who has mopped up 11 or so victories already with many being elite pro races. He has got his place on Bretagne-Schuller conti team pretty much sown up now. Good news for a really nice guy. O yea forgot to mention... the grey clouds got worse and we got soaked for more than half the race!