Guesting in France

Ronde des Vallées - 17-18th August

Ronde des Vallées

While on holiday in France having a week off post Junior tour of Assen I got a text message from Craig at Spokes Race Team asking me if I would like to guest ride again , this time at Ronde Des Vallées near Hémonstoir in Brittany. Needless to say I jumped at the opportunity having had such a good time with the team previously when they asked me to guest ride at Kontich, Belgium.

The team picked me up at Ferrybridge services on the M62 on the Thursday and off we went, arriving at our accommodation near Hémonstoir mid afternoon Friday.

The race was a UCI 2.1 race and represents a great opportunity to race against International riders from many countries.

The race was run over 3 stages across 2 days with 2 road stages and an ITT. With the first road stage going well and I finished in the bunch 24 seconds down on the winner.

I dropped some time in the Stage 2 ITT and this is something I know I need to work on and improve for next years racing but overall it was all to play for on Stage 3

It was stage 3 that proved to be decisive for me, and not in a good way! I suffered a hunger flat and bonked badly with 3 laps to go of the circuit losing nine and half minutes! This was a result of not looking after my nutrition properly over the weekend of the race and something I need to improve on for future stage races if I’m going to last the distance and be competitive. It was a shame I wasn't able to make more of a contribution to the overall team performance but the rest of the team did well

Many thanks go to Craig and the team at Spokes Racing Team for inviting me again to race with them and to the lads for making me feel welcome and part of the team.

Thanks also to my team – Team JRC for allowing me to guest ride, my bike sponsors @Giant Sheffield and the team , Andy, Pete and particularly Jacob who help prepare my TT bike which performed perfectly and also to Huw and Craig @Vitfor for their coaching and guidance.