Dream Team + FITTY!!!

Here's a photo before the start of the Ronde Mayennaise on sunday where we won the team prize making us Champions of France of Division 1 espoir teams and Division 2 teams. Good stuff. Below, after the podium with the stuffed teddy "Marsupilami" which we took home! Winners!

The weekend just gonee was spent in the rather inhostile region known as La Manche... known for always being windy. And it didn't let us down for our flying visit! Clement, Matthieu, Laurent, Kevin Collin and myself were in the town of Cherbourg for the 3 days of... Cherbourg.

Stage 1 started off at break neck speed as we took off with a fat tail wind only to swing a right at the end of the road = Crosswind! It was at this point i realised that my radio wasn't working and i was getting no info on when and where the wind was. As a result i was very badly positioned and missed the first "echelon" as about 15/20 rode clear. Luckily for us (as all 5 of us missed it!) there were a few other teams who had missed it too and a hard chase back on got us back to square one, minus a fair chunk of the peloton i should note! The day was marked mainly by the wind and a lot of time was spend cursing at how the guy infront was always a lot smaller than me offering little wind resistance... a problem i will always have unfortunately! At about 20km to go on one of the final hills of the stage a small group went clear including Clement and they would hold a small advantage until the line over a chasing group of 40 odd including all but Kevin. Clement took 3rd for the stage at 9 seconds... race on!

Stage 2 was a steady stage until the final 40 odd kms as a break of 4 got away and stretched out to 8 minutes before and real chase was organised. With Clement 3rd we gave a helping hand and come the last 6km all was back together. We had protected clem well all day but i'd also said i was feeling great and i only had to do a small amount of work on the front to save my legs for the final hill 2kms from the finish which would be decisive. In the mad tussle for position at the base of the climb a hand full of riders hit the deck infront of me and i had nowhere to go... the split seconds where your saying to yourself "i'm going to crash... i'm going to crash..." passed and i nearly saved it by some swift breaking and turning however the guys behind obviously weren't as exceptionally skillful as myself ;) and they came flying into the back of me and joined the pile up. Game Over, for the stage at least. I was gutted to say the least. However up the road clement pretty much completed the job and took 2nd on the stage, missing out on yellow by 2 seconds as Arnaud Corteille of UC Nantes Atlantique just nicked it.
Damage report... chainring marks in my forearm and leg... road rash and bruised knee... broken shifter on the bike.

Stage 3 was a short 55km morning stage on a pretty much out and back route with a good wind to keep everyone on their toes. From the gun a small group of 14 got clear with me in and the stage would be spent with my 13 new made pals for the morning up until the finish line, however not without incident. The max advantage we had was 55 seconds but with a few teams missing out and the French champ present and at only 38 seconds on GC, Nantes were forced to ride behind. Everyone pulled through well and come 2 km to go the gap was at 20 seconds and the attacks were starting to kick off. It was around this time when the majority of the break didn't fancy following the course route to the left as the road looked rather nice straight ahead... yes we went the wrong way as the signallers on the corner were caught napping. A quick skid stop and U-turn got us back on track but with the peloton at about 5 seconds behind it was a mad dash to the line for the last km. It turns out one of the fellas in the break happened to take the left turn and he finished ahead with 4seconds to spare. On my part i had missed the 1km to go banner and was confused as to how far the finish was... until we swung a right and the finish was 100m infront. I finished 10th for the stage with the rest of the peloton arriving ontop of us on the line. Frustrating stage as i was feeling great.

Stage 4, the afternoon stage of 100km, was a fight from start to finish. I didnt have a great impact on the stage apart from a fair bit of riding on the front especially in the final 20km where we and Nantes got on the front to try to bring it back together for the finish. I imploded and swung off in the last 2km hoping clem could hold his position in the front and keep 2nd overall... however both himself and the yellow jersey got jumped and lost out to Kevin Lalouette from USSA Pavilly Barentin who took the overall by a slim 2second margin thanks to a final break in the last few kms. A third on GC and top 3 in the team classification plus a top 10 stage for myself rounded off a good weekend away.

I've tried looking for photos of the race but cant find any for the moment.

The following day, Monday, there was a local race which is part of the series Trophée Aven Moros in which i was lying 2nd overall. I was going to go along and watch the race nonetheless but just before we left i decided i would race... turns out even with legs shot to pieces after the weekends efforts i took 5th. Last year i got 2nd here arriving with Salva Vilchez... this year he was up the road and won alone. He's been off form for a few weeks now, however i can say from what i saw on monday that Salva Vilchez is back and he ain't pissing about!

A steady week is on the programme before heading off to the Mayenne region on saturday for the Boucles de la Mayenne on sunday. Another big one day elite race.

Until next time

Movie night.. and day

Since i have been confined to my sick bed, hit by a seriously grave case of Man-Flu... get well soon letters are greatly appreciated... i have een hitting the movies big time. So instead of writing another dull race report commenting on how i didnt do this or didn't win that, i thought i'd give a little report of some cracking films i've caught up on.

First of all, i watched the new Iraq war film 'The Hurt Locker'. The story follows a small group of US soldiers who form an elite Army bomb squad in Iraq where everyone is a potential enemy and every object could be a deadly bomb. The film is full of suspense from the start right to the very end. It makes you realise what some of the guys out there go through day in day out and what a hostile environment it must be out there. I think i'm safer sticking in the saddle for the time being!

After this i caught up on Transformers 2 which i've been meaning to see since it came out. Following on from the first film which although was proper cheeeeesy, was a good watch nonetheless! It's hard to describe the film without giving too much away but it follows the constant battle between the bad transformers (the decepticons) against the band of good ones (the Autobots) led by Optimus Prime. Cought up in this carnage of metal is the Human Sam Witwicky and his "rather pretty!" girl friend.. the original founders of the transformers in the first film. The basic plot is ... the Good robots fight the Bad robots in an effort to save the bad ones from destroying earth! As i said... cheesy but still definately worth seeing! It's actually quite moving at a couple of moments... then i realised what i was watching and "manned up"!

A couple of other classics i've been working my way through are... The Bourne Identity, the second one and the third one! Probably about the 100th time i've done the trilogy but still awesome.

Next on the list, District 9, Ice-Age 3 (still haven't seen it!)... any other recomendations please post!

Also anyone got any ideas on stuff they want me to blog about outside the cycling scene...? Let me know.

Lunch time.

A+

Felt obliged to put up a photo of Megan Fox... Sam's girl in Transformers... enjoy.

this week

This weekends stage race went off without much of a bang on my part, didn't manage to slip into either of the long breaks neither did i have a blistering TT... finishing in the mid-times where everyone bunches up behind the speed demons. However i wasn't just sitting in the peloton following wheels for two days as Clement was on some hot form and took 7th in the TT with 20seconds defecit going into the last stage so we were riding for him. He got away early on in the last stage but got brought back near the end while one rider, Dimitry Samokhvalov (see pic) clipped off on the final 2km hill finish to just nick enough time to take the Overall. Not a bad ride seeing as he took the first stage after clipping off in similar style too!

My final stage finished when i was in a split in the peloton on the final lap and i finished easy and saved a bit for mondays and tuesdays races too.

Monday went well with 3 of us from Bic getting away in a break of about 20. After about 30odd km's together the race was coming back behind us so we attacked together and took 7 others with us and pulled away again. With 55 seconds going into the final lap we knew it was done and we started to attack the break. In the end Ferjeux clipped off with 2 others and ended up taking 3rd... out of three! Not great but a podium none-the-less. Behind i helped Thibault take the sprint for 5th and i came 7th. With a few primes in the pocket too it wasnt a bad day out.

Tuesday started off with a light 45mins spin before breakfast to turn the legs over... this acts a bit like a massage and before breakfast means that the blood isn't in the stomach digesting food but is in the legs to help flush out the toxins from the day before. (apparently!)

It seemed to do some good as the legs felt pretty good for the first few laps of the race however they soon died and i was hanging on till the end of the race. I finished in the counter attack after the front group split and i could go with. We were racing for 11th and i took 14th. A hard day in the saddle!!

Since then things have gone downhill... i have contracted swine/bird/somekind of killer flu and have been feeling proper shite since yesterday evening. Movies in bed and lots of honey is on the cards... feel sorry for me!

Straight from the horses mouth..

I've just been reading David Millars blog, the millar diaries on cyclingnews.com, and found a classic quote which reassures me on the odd rest day out here when time literally crawls by ...

"cyclists saying they're bored, man alive, we're the Jedi Masters of boredom, embracing and wallowing in it to degrees mere mortals can only try to imagine. It's part of the job description: the less one does off the bike, the better one is on the bike. Fact."

Click on the picture above for a link to the full blog. Good stuff.

Anyhow, i've just finished a little piece for Cycle Sport magazine which i'll post up when it comes out. Apart from that little has been done today. A 2hr spin this morning to open up the legs before starting a two-day elite stage race starting tomorrow, L'Agglo Tour de St. Breiuc (previously the Cabri Tour for those that have done it). Its looking like it will be a good race with a quality start list including the US U23 team with Peter Stetina who i have read a fair bit about being pretty shit-hot! US U23 TT champ, two years running. 150km tomorrow, 11km individual tt sunday morning followed by 100km final stage sunday morning. Bring it on.

Got a bit sidetracked there... o yea otherwise today i haven't done much. Coffee in town with some mates chatting about how we are going to rip it up tomorrow, who's going to win which stage, who's going to drop who... the usual! I've also just finished watching The Bourne Identity for the millionth time.

Bag needs packing and sleep needs to be had, thats all that needs doing for the rest of my evening. Hope yours has been a little more productive.

Ciao

Inglourious Basterds!

New Quentin Tarantino film, a must see. Check out the trailer by clicking on the poster above... tried posting a video but it wont let me... so i'm getting smart and making a picture into a link!

I saw the whole film the other night (in french however) but understood the general idea and found it awesome, would be even better in english though.

I wont talk about the plot as not to spoil it, so just get your ass down the cinema and watch it.

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!

Back to normal life this week "sans" the parents and i'm now just getting ready for an elite 2day stage race this weekend, Cabri Tour.