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I had a bit of a rough start to June, after not having raced for so long and the weather being so bad I got a bit over enthusiastic and raced 4 times in 8 days. 2 Professional Kermis’ and 2 Amateur ones. I was pretty screwed after this but thought it was what I needed. After a couple of easy days I was back at a Pro Kermis and feeling ok but still a bit tired, after 10 mins the heavens opened and we endured a thunderstorm and torrential rain for the better part of the race, in Italy the race would have been stopped or everyone would have got off. But Belgium, oh no, the hammer went down and the race was on. I had no aspirations for today really, not feeling great and being up against the cream of Belgian Pros I just tried to get round as good as possible. This I did but it was the next day when it went wrong. I woke up in the morning feeling ill and with a dose of Bronchitis. 9 days later and I was able to ride my bike again! A bit of a blow after just getting going again, but as they say “s*** happens”.

I decided to ease into the racing after this bad spell and took a couple of weeks training again with some longer rides to try to get a bit of fitness back. As you could imagine I was once again raring to go, it was June and I’d only ridden 10 races!

Anyway I headed to Lede Pro Kermis alone, as my team where racing else where. To cut a long story short it wasn’t one of the best days, I had a flat after 3km and for some reason there was no neutral service and was game over for me! 3.5 hrs followed, sat in the car waiting for the finish, (in case of a control). 2 days later I was at yet another Pro Kermis’ at Ruddervorrde, traditionally this is the last race before the Belgian Pro champs so as you can imagine everyone and his dog where there. I got stuck in at the start hoping to get in a soft break to ease me into the day. I didn’t manage to make it and was stuck in the peleton for the remainder of the race. It was grippy all day but a good few ks in the legs, at last picked my morale up a bit. My director was happy and asked me if I wanted to start the following day in Oetingen (1.2). I happily expected the invitation immediately. He informed me that there were a lot of Kassei’ (cobbles) and it was a tough race. “Nothing out of the ordinary there then” I said. He just laughed!

I checked out the course when I got home and realised why my director had laughed.! The number of climbs was in double figures, including a few of the Ronde hills, the Bosberg, Muur etc.. also there where 2 cobbled sections on the finish loop to be covered 4 times! That’s a fair bit of cobbles.

Anyway I didn’t let any of that scare me (honest) I was on put on early doors so had to be active early on. I did a good job and got in the main break of the day. 6 of us battled through the strong winds and over the bergs with a maximum of 4 mins. The Bosberg was tough for me, the Muur a little harder and the next climb was that little bit too much. I cramped and was quickly dropped and riding alone in “no mans land”. I plugged away, got some food in me and 20km later was caught by the main

contenders after the battles over the bergs. If I had any type of form this could have been a good position for me, but. I was finished. Game over for me. I did what I could for my 2 team mates in the front, bottles etc then hung on for as long as I could. This wasn’t long! We had just entered the finish circuit and the first time over the cobbles I was down and out. An early shower for me. I wasn’t disappointed, quite happy really considering my situation. The team where pleased with 2 hrs TV time, and I forgot to mention I won a couple of intermediate sprints for a fair few euros. Stijn Neiriynck from Beveren 2000 was the winner! Look out for this guy in the future, he’s no slouch!

A couple of easy days and I had the racing fever again. A short drive across the border to Holland, an 80km Criterium was on today’s menu. I expected a bit of a kick in today but it wasn’t to be. I had great legs and got in the main split of the day. 70k into the race and the break was coming back and I was still feeling good, I put a little dig in and 2 only 1 guy could follow. We went clear and were sprinting for the win. He was probably stronger than me so I was a bit cautious. I had the feeling he was a local as every one was screaming for him when we came though the line with a lap to go with about 45 seconds. I bided my time and hit out with about 500 to go. I won easily and for the first time after being driven over I had some faith back and was feeling proud of the progress Id made since November 22nd!

Next day and I was racing again in Wolvertem, a small town just west of Brussels. I expected to be a bit rusty today after yesterdays efforts so treated the day as purely training and planned 50km motor pacing before and after the 120km race. The race started fast, a break went after 2km and I had missed it. Damn!! I thought I may as well try a kamikazie attack and see if I could bridge across. I hit it full on and actually felt pretty good. I just about crossed the 45 sec gap before the crosswinds and was there. I felt ok but surely this couldn’t last. The laps counted down and it was nearing the end of the race and my legs were still good. Normally my feeble left leg was starting to moan at me and give me some problems, but good old “lefty” was going strong! There were 2 laps left and the lead group was down from 19 to 15. I attacked though the prime line and 4 of us

pulled clear. I was amazed that I hadn’t cracked yet and started thinking how best to play my cards. There was a guy in the race that wins quite often out here, so I had my eye on him and knew he would attack. I was right and he went, I went with him and “then there were 2”. 1km out and he wanted to do a deal, I wasn’t interested and again hit out early and won

for the 2nd day on the trot. From being dropped on the Muur last week and embarrassed on national TV to winning twice in 2 days! What did I eat!!

As you can imagine I’m pretty happy with myself and have a bit of confidence back at last. However I need to keep it real, these are only small races. I need to be winning bigger and better races if I’m to get to where I want to go. Times starting to run out for me as I’m not getting any younger, there’s a few exciting things starting to happen in British Cycling

at the moment. I think these next 18 month will make or break my carer. So I better get out training and hope the results keep coming!

Just thought id let you all know what I’m up too again. I haven’t written for a while now as I’ve not really been up too much and didn’t want to bore you all.

Well I think it was March the last time I mailed you all. I’ve moved on a bit since then!

After weeks of pumping iron I was starting to become of the regulars at the local meatheads Gym and things were going quite well. From having to lower the weights on nearly every machine I used after the grannies had been on them I got a few funny looks sometimes from the locals. However at last my skinny leg got a bit of meat back on it and I could finally hold my head a bit higher in the gym and throw a few more kilos on the bar! I started leg pressing 5kg with my left leg and I was now on 70kg so quite an improvement there. So slowly but surely I phased out going to the gym and started getting some good hours in on the bike.

I was training a lot on my new Power Cranks and was finding them nearing impossible to ride. My left hip flexor had wasted so much I could barely pedal on them. However after some perseverance I’m now up to 30 min sessions at a time on them which I try to do 2-3 times per week. I could feel a difference in my walking and pedalling after using them for just 2 weeks! So not just an American Gimmick!

A few big weeks of 25 plus hours and I was raring to go, I was soon getting my heart rate up and doing a bit of intensity work and surprisingly feeling pretty good.

I soon got fed up of training and bashing round the lanes with a big red face and entered my 1^st race on the 6^th may. It was just a little Kermess race in a village near by so I thought “what the hell”. I didn’t feel nervous at all but was a bit worried to how I would go. I hoped I wouldn’t be too rubbish. Anyway I started the race and it wasn’t too bad, I probably held back to much as I didn’t know what to expect. I went with a few little moves and did a bit of jumping round and my leg immediately shouted at me to hold back. I got a few little aches and pains and decided to take it steady and just try to get round. If you’ve ever ridden one of these races you know that that’s not really as easy as it sounds. I ended up in the peleton a couple of mins back and unfortunately we were pulled out after 85km. I was fairly happy with that and even happier with how I felt. I was pretty sure that if I used my head in my next race I could get round pretty comfortably.

My next race was a few days later and it went a bit better than my first outing. I made the decision at the start to sit in and take it easy for 80km then take it from there. It was a fairly fast race so nothing went in the first 80km so I moved to the front and started to get stuck in. I felt pretty good and was well and truly part of the race until I felt a soft front tyre with about 15km to go. There was no way I was going to stop so I soldiered on, after a few hairy moments on the corners I managed to get to the last 2km of the race before my tyre finally blew out and I rode in just behind the group! Oh well, this was a finish in my eyes!

Until now I’ve done 10 races including 3 Professional Kermesses. I’ve got round every one apart from the first without any major problems really. My best result is 10^th so far which isn’t bad for someone with one and a half legs!

I’m still not sure on my plans for the next few weeks, I’m still waiting on the green light from my team to be selected for some proper races and get going properly. What I do know is a lot more training, a bit of Physio and a couple of sessions on the Power Cranks a week!

So it’s slowly coming back and I don’t think it will be long before I’m back in the big races and getting some more results on my Palmeres.

Hello again everyone, its been a while since I let you all know what i've been up too, I suppose I

I think the last time I wrote was at the end of September at the end of a pretty good season, 4

wins, 7 Podium places, 2 jerseys and a National Championships to top it off! So not a bad year

on all accounts. I finished the year with another trip to the Bermuda GP. I'm not entirely sure

where I finished in the race, but what can I say, what a beautiful place to finish the season!

After this I had a good break away from training, racing and being a bike rider full stop! 6 weeks

It was nearly half way through November so I thought I better get my arse into gear and get back

into pedalling and get those ribs showing again. After a couple of weeks riding I finally started

to feel like a bike rider again and was keen as ever to put in the kilometres. I had my 2008

contract signed with my team, my bike and kit had all been fitted, sized and ordered and I was

raring to go. My first race was at the 3 days of Vaucluse, a UCI 2.2 3 day race in France starting

Unfortunately on the 22nd November I had a bit of a mishap. I was in the wrong place at the

wrong time when a Guy in a Cement Truck decided to turn left on me without indicating on a

roundabout. The last thing I remember was seeing a 3 foot wheel whizzing past my head and a

loud snap! I tried to stand up but quickly lay back down after what I can only describe as the

worst pain I could ever had imagined times 10. I had fractured my left Femur and my right

After the longest 30 minutes of my life the ambulance arrived the morphine was straight in and I

I was straight into theatre and after a bit of cutting, hammering and screwing they had me all

My Femur was pinned and screwed back together and my right ankle was in a cast so after a few

days in hospital I was well enough to go home and do nothing but sit on the couch and wait for

After a week or so of cash in the attic and Jeremy Kyle a lot of the swelling had gone down, I

had all of my staples and stitches taken out and was ready to get on my feet again. It took me a

My left knee was operated on so I had lost a lot of the movement in it, so this was one of my

priorities. I had to get some movement back into my knee. After a few more days / weeks of

There wasn’t much I could do with the right ankle as it was in a cast but after 4 weeks I was in a

removable boot which I could take off when I was sat down and in bed. My ankle hadn’t moved

at all for 5 weeks to had completely seized up and I couldn’t move it at all. I knew what I was in

So after 4 weeks I was finally starting to sleep right through the night and the pain was starting

to get bearable without pain killers. I was back in the hospital for my first check up and set of X

Rays. The Doctors were really pleased with my recovery and I was well on the way to recovery. I

came out of there with a smile when the Doctors told me that if I could I could get on the turbo

and turn my legs over it would do me good! I`d actually already tried and done a bit of

So I was back on the bike, my left cycling shoe on and my right still in the cast I did what I

could and was managing 20-30 mins a day. I never thought id struggle in the 39x25!

Another few weeks down the line with continuous physio, stretching, pedalling, ice and resting I

am doing even better. My left knee has nearly got its full range of movement back, just a few

The swelling has gone down considerably and its starting too look good. I get the odd bit of pain

every now and then but its not too bad now. Ive lost pretty much all of the muscle in my left leg

I was back at the hospital again for another set of X Rays and a check up after 7 weeks. The right

ankle was looking great and was taken out of the boot. I just have to wear a small brace when im

walking around for extra support. So this leg is probably 2-3 weeks away from being healed and

On the other hand the left leg wasn’t looking too good. It is not healing as fast as we had hoped

and is going to be a while yet before I can walk or ride on it properly. I have another month until

my next appointment and have to take it steady and stay on the crutches until then.

So right now im doing up to an hr a day on the turbo, a core stability session my set of physio

exercises 3 times a day and ice on my leg knee and ankle every night. Apart from that im not up

to much, no football, running or dancing for me just yet. Just a lot of DVDs computer games and

My next check up is at the start of February and ill be hoping for the all clear to get back out on

Until then take it easy, watch out for the cement mixers and keep wearing that helmet!

June has been quite a busy month for me as far as racing goes. A pretty heavy month of 11 races and a few good sessions on the bike in preparation for the race that wasn’t too be. Unfortunately the road nationals in Beverley were cancelled with all this rain we’ve been getting lately.

Well the old weather hasn’t been to kind to us in Belgium but ive still managed to get some good work done and come into a bit of form.

Off the bike I’ve had a pretty steady month. Not really had much chance to get up to anything really, any spare time ive had was spent sleeping or lying in bed!

My first race was a local one for the team in Ruisbroek so good show was necessary. I was given orders to get up the road in the first group. I’d just come back from my break and was unsure of how id feel so it was me who had to go on the kamikaze mission and get the jersey on TV. Anyway, cut a long story short I got myself in the front and was out there for 80ks with 8 others. We were reeled in on the finish circuit and that was my work done for the day and I rolled in in the peleton pretty shattered.

2 days later and I was on the grid again in a Pro Kermess race in Gullegem. This race was by far the hardest ive tried all year. My legs weren’t great and man was it fast. It was a circuit of about 12ks we covered enough times to clock 170ks at 44kph. At sign on I was amazed at the number I was given 260!! There was Just under 300 starters that day including no less than 13 Lotto rider (with McEwen) 16 Quickstep (with boonen, van petegem) and nearly every top Belgie you can think of. I had a bash at the start and tried to get in the move. I followed an attack by a lotto rider and got away in a group of 5, after doing a few turns I was struggling to get past these guys to do a turn, it was then I noticed I was with Boonen, Leif Hoste and Nick Nuyens !! My god those guys are not human. This group wasn’t too being anyway and I suffered in the wheels, dodged the crashes and made it to the finish. A good day in the saddle and time for a rest!

Next came the UCI 1.2 ranked Wavre Rijnem race on a rolling circuit finishing with 4 local laps round a savage finish circuit with a few cobbles thrown in there for good measure. I was pretty up for this race, I was 18^th last year and hoped to go a few better and get on the podium. I rode a pretty bad race, I played my cards too early and tried to force an early break after 60ks. By the time I got to the finish I was nailed and didn’t have the legs on the pave. I finished in the 2^nd group somewhere in the top 30.

My next few races where purely for training so any results where pretty much thrown out of the window after a solid 3 hr rr in the morning before each race. 3 days of 200ks with at least 120ks of racing each day. Each day was pretty hard, feeling good in the races but didn’t have anything at the end of each one. But I soldiered round to finish each one and got the k`s in the race for the big day that never happened on the 1^st July.

The next “course” was the Romsee – Stavalot – Romsee in the Liege area of Belgium. The hills today were pretty savage but my legs were good and I was up for the challenge. The weather today was crazy; we went from 12 degrees and rain to 28 degrees and blistering sun! I was right up at the front as soon as the flag went down determined to be in the front from the off. The tactic was today to follow everything but not touch the front until the finale. 2^nd climb and the peleton were in one line, lucky me snapped a spoke and has to stop for a change. By the time I battered back through the cars a group of 20ish had gone. So I stayed relaxed and waited for the next climb. Made a massive effort on the “berg” and managed to bridge a 1min gap with 2 others up the climb of Stavalot which features in Liege Bastogne Liege. But once again it wasn’t to be when I punctured on the decent at 65kph on a hairpin bend. Nether the less I came out ok when some bushes saved me from a tumble down a mountain. I stayed upright and rejoined the peleton. My chances of getting back to the “kop” were over and the peleton which was now down to about 30 riders were pulled out after 120ks. Bit of a bummer but c` est la vie hey !!

Next was yet another Pro Kermess at Lede. Last year I really struggled in these races and lacked a bit of confidence so I thought it was about time I stuck my neck out and tried to do something. I tried like hell to get in the break and I nearly just made it. 11 guys went away and I was 50 meters behind with one other, I went full gas to get them but failed and ended up suffering in the peleton for another 150ks. Another race another bunch finish!

2 Days later I was on the grid again in The Rudervorde Pro Kermess in western Flanders. For those of you that know how windy it is over there and know how fast Philip Gilbert can ride you can imagine what I was in for. I still wasn’t recovered from my last race at Lede but battered round suffering like hell just thinking of getting some condition for next week. I finished just outside the top 20 and in the money which wasn’t a bad one I suppose.

12 hrs later and I was back pinning my numbers on with bags under my eyes and some sore legs from yesterday. I was at the UCI 1.1 ranked 200km Halle Ingooigem and the pros were there in form ready for there championships on Sunday. I pretty much knew I couldn’t ride a result today with the guys that were there so I tried my best to get in the “kop” at the start. My director told me there was no pressure today and to just enjoy it! He pulled a face and laughed when I told him I didn’t just want to make up the numbers today. I don’t see the point in just riding round and waiting to be shelled at the end. We were having a joke in the neutral zone of the “low standard” of riders in the bunch. Boonen was to my left and Nick Nuyens to the right. Haha. Anyway I thought id try something and attacked as hard as I could after 2ks! Crazy I know but it worked! I was on my own for 5ks then 8 more came across with some big guys like Steph De Jonge of quickstep who has just started the TDF!! We stayed away for 150ks and were on TV for a good 3hrs. When the group caught us there were 9 lotto’s on the front riding far too fast in the crosswinds for me to do anything about getting on. I had a crack and lasted 2ks before I called it a day and got off. My work was done for the day! A pat on the back from the team and a good day at the office for me!

After I finished the race I found out the news of the National being cancelled. Obviously I was really frustrated and disappointed, mainly because id spent a whole month racing tired and forgetting about the end result just thinking about my condition, but what could be done. Half the country was under water so it was to be expected really.

So instead of getting down and getting annoyed I stayed focused and tried to use my form, which was starting to come really good. I headed to Bladel in Holland where I got my Eerst overwinning dit jaar (first win of the year) My legs felt awesome and I knew after 2 laps that I was in with a good chance. There were guys attacking in the wind and I could ride across comfortably. I waited as long as I could help and rode flat out across to a group of 10 that had just broken away. I went straight to the front and drove it hard far a good few k`s to make sure it had a good chance of going. Lucky for me the peleton didn’t react and we quickly gained a minute. I was feeling good so sprinted for a few primes to see who was sprinting well. It turned out to be me as I won every prime by a fair margin. So the last lap came and I was hungry to get my hands in the air for the first time in a long time. So I followed everything and gambled for the sprint. I hit it flat out with 25o to go out of the last corner, took a quick look under my arms and got them up in the air to take my first win this year.

Im told once you win once you win a lot. So im hoping this saying is true! I missed the feeling of winning, but now its back and im hungry as ever!!

Good day everyone,

Well here goes with another tale of the life of Matt Brammeier. May is well and truly over and to be honest I haven’t had the best of months. It all started well with a bit of a result in an amateur kermess in Glabbeek. Id had a bit of a bad day in the Ronde a few days ago so was pretty keen to do something today. Anyway I managed to get my arse into gear and get in the break of 12 riders which split to 6 and then 4 with about 15 ks to go. I was feeling pretty good and didn’t really have to make any big efforts at all so was starting to think about how I was going to try to win my first bike race of 2007. Before I could come up with a plan I was informed by one of the riders that he wanted to win, as the race finished in his home town. So after a bit of talking I had no choice but to let him ride away and take the win. I rolled in to take 2^nd place which was still quite pleasing but I honestly think I had the win in me today.

Next on the cards was a trip to the dentist. As I explained in my last ramble it wasn’t the best of experiences and my legs and form certainly didn’t see any benefits in the following weeks. I struggled round my next race 4 days later in Mal and somehow managed to finish inside the top 10 in 7^th place.

After that was a bit of a dry patch in the way of races with the team, I was given a bit of time to train and recover from my tooth before my next big race at Hasselt Spa Hasselt a Belgian Top Competition race.

Before hand I had a dabble in a couple of kermess races back to back not far from home. The first day of two wasn’t great, the race slit after roughly 500 meters and 6 guys rode away to never be seen again, I worked hard in the 2^nd group trying my up most to get the fuckers back but it wasn’t to be and I finished 9^th about 1 min down on the winner.

I enjoyed the small, concrete, narrow, bumpy and muddy roads of Bornem that much that I decided to return the next day for a 2^nd days of racing on exactly the same course at the same time with near enough the same riders. Today I made sure I was at the front at the start and hit the crosswinds in 2^nd spot. I was pretty determined to get in the “kop” group today so rode flat out for as long as I could into the crosswinds. Luckily enough my plan worked and about 15 of us went away. Unfortunately the legs weren’t too good today at the finish and I struggled in in 10^th place. But a top 10 was good enough for me today, about what I expected so I want feeling too suicidal.

3 days and another illness later I was at the start line in Hasselt unsure on how I would feel. A few of the girls in the house had been sick and I wasn’t feeling 100% so I was taking it as it came. After 80ks my chest felt slightly tight so I made a quick exit and got off at the feed.

After that came 4 days of the bike and 7 days with no serious training with a virus which was pretty hard to take as I was just on my way back after the tooth. A bit too much to soon maybe or maybe just too many germs floating round in the house. Who knows!!

Soon enough I was back on the bike and feeling healthy again, a few days of easy riding and I was ready to race again. I had the option a Pro crit in Keulen Germany to ride so thought I would give it a bash. Didn’t want to push it too hard though so just rode round in the bunch for 100ks and got a pretty good work out with a few of Germanys top renners dishing it out at the front.

At the start of the year I decided on having a mid season break away from the bike to freshen up a bit mentally and have a bit of a chill. Unfortunately it was planned for the end of May, just when I wanted to be riding my bike and getting stuck in. But I know in October when im still pinning my numbers on ill be happy I took these days off. So me and the wife set off too Paris for 3 days for a quick look around the city and a day at Euro Disney. As you can imagine we had a great time and all ran with out disaster. All until I got back and found my car had been towed! 3 hrs later at 1am and 200 euros down I got the thing back. I don’t think Ill Park on a zebra crossing in a town centre for 3 days again hey!!!

Anyway im getting a bit fed up of writing words like unfortunately over and over and telling you all how sick ive been so its time to get the ball rolling and get some form back!

Until then

Chow Chow

Matthew Brammeier

Profel Ziegler Continental Cycling Team

Well another month and 12 races have gone by and as usual I’ve had a few ups and downs along the way. It seems like only a few days ago that I was sat trying to remember what I’d been up too in March. Anyway I`m sat here in quite a bit of pain (ill explain later) so excuse any bad spelling or stupid comments!!

I’m well and truly settled in my new place now, and I`m really taking to this new era of Belgian weather, I haven’t seen one drop of rain or the thermometer drop below 20 degrees for a solid month now!! Is it really April?? It feels good to have somewhere that feels a bit like home with a familiar bed to come home to after a hard day in the saddle. I can really feel the benefit of getting home to a comfortable house and chilling out, with depending on the time a good coffee or glass of wine.

As I said before I’ve had 12 races this month so quite a busy months riding with not much chance for any serious training, just recovery rides and a bit of cruising round really.

My first race of the month was the Trophy Van Haspengouw in Aalst. A pretty big race on the calendar and pretty near to home which made it a bit of an aim for me. The parcours looked good with a few rolling hills and a nice finish circuit with the usual 1 in 4 climb and the mandatory cobbled stretch, not to mention the vicious crosswinds!!

It was a pretty nervous bunch to start of with a few crashes early on to try and dodge. I got through the first 20ks unscathed where I received the warning of a real bad crosswind section on a big open road. For once I used my head and battled to the front out of trouble, sure as hell we turned onto this road, straight in the gutter looking out for the invisible road furniture and the parked cars which are rarely pointed out by the other riders!! It was pretty grim for a few kms here and I had to dig deep a bit to hold the wheel in front, but I was just glad I was in the first 10 and not at the back chewing my stem. Anyway I found myself on the front and didn’t feel too bad, I had a quick look behind at the carnage and thought what the hell! I moved right, got out the saddle and rode as hard as I could for as long as I could. Sure as hell there was a nice little split of about 20 guys and we rode away to about 2 mins, which was nice as I didn’t have to battle for the front all day to stay out the wind. I felt real good all day anyway until the finish circuit where I started to feel it a bit. To cut a long story short I rode like a bit of a D**K in the finish laps and hesitated like a 90 year old women and let nearly the whole break go up the road, I ended up in a pretty disappointing 13^th place.

Next on the cards was a smaller but by no means easy Amateur kermess race at Herne. The conditions were tough but just not tough enough to split the 220 strong field. I didn’t have the best of luck when my cleat came off about ½ way through, I had to stop and do a bit of a bodge job on it screwing it back on with just 2 screws instead of 4 which was a bit dodgy. Being the cheeky scouser that I am, I hid in the bushes and jumped back into the front group after an 8k lap out! The race came down to a mass sprint but with the 2 screws in the back of my mind I didn’t commit 100% and just rolled in the top 20 somewhere.

Next came the epic Tryptique Des Monts Le Chateau a 3 day battle around the border of France and Belgium. I rode this race 3 years ago with the U23 Academy and it was still in my head as the hardest race I had ever ridden so I was looking forward to

seeing how much id moved on. Last time I was here I was literally hanging on from start to finish each day and finished lantern rouge! The first day was a long road stage with no major hills or obstructions which ended in a massive sprint in which I was too far back and without a chance of even a top 20. So not a great start. The next day was an 8km TT which I was pretty excited about as I was 18^th at my last attempt. Unfortunately I had to ride today on a road bike with clip on bars and normal wheels so the chance of a result was out of the question. I still went full gas to try to prove myself to the team and hopefully get a nice bike for my next tt, I rode pretty well and only lost 27 secs on the winner finishing inside the top 30 which I was quite pleased with. A few hours later and I took to the start again for a 121 km road stage. It was a pretty fast race today and was pretty easy in the peleton, it really looked like it was going to stay together for a big group sprint which was gradually up hill and on cobbles which excited me a bit and I was hopeful of a result. It wasn’t to be and a group of 17 slipped away on a small hill and made it to the finish. I finished quite strong in 7^th place in the group sprint. The last day was a bit of a disaster for me, we hit a climb which I can only describe as a cobbled wall after about 120ks and that was game over / grupetto for me for the day. I rolled in quite a way down looking for answers and quite disappointed.

3 days later I was on the grid again in the GP Pino Cerami a UCI 1.1 ranked race in south Belgium. My legs weren’t great from the start but I tried to ride through it and race hard. I found myself in a break of 15 which didn’t get much room from the strong peleton behind and was quickly reeled in. After this the big Pros from T-Mobile and Quickstep decided they were too tired ( a lot of them had just finished gent-wevelgem and had Flanders in 2 days time) they decided to call a time out and neutralise the race and keep the bunch at a steady 30kph for about an hr mid race. My legs totally seized up here we were going that slow and when they decided to start racing again my legs didn’t want to play and I was on my way to the showers early.

A few days later and I rode out to ride a local Kermess race. My legs were really good and I was riding really well, going with every move and not really having to go too deep. The last 5 ks were really fast and I decided I was going to sit in for the last 2 laps and 100% gamble on a group finish. My numbers didn’t come in and a group of 12 went away and was yet another day out without a result!!

Next on the programme was the 2.2 ranked Rhone Alps Isere tour in the south of France. And yes it was as hilly and as hard as it sounds! It was a bit of a trek down there but my legs felt fine in the evening when we went for a bit of a spin. The first day was “flat” according to the locals, but with 2 5 k climbs I chose to ignore that statement. However I got stuck in battled hard and got in the breakaway. I managed to hang on over the hills and get to the finish in the front group of 16 nearly 3 mins up on the peleton. In the finish I felt great but just chose the wrong side of the road, I ended up a respectable 4^th place and in the young rider’s jersey! As per usual I wanted more and could only think what could of happened if I would of gone to the left side of the road not the right. Straight after the race as if by magic I had a massive bout of tooth ache which lasted for the next 3 days, kept me awake till 2 am and close to tears sometimes. My whole body shut down and I was unable to continue racing. A quick trip to the race doctor and I was prescribed with codeine and penicillin. Unfortunately it was a Saturday and all the chemists were closed until Monday !! However I had a bit of good luck when the chef from the hotel noticed I was in pain, asked me how I was. When I told him the story he came back 5 mins later after a quick phone call to his mate ( who was a chemist ) with an address of his chemist. The guy opened up his chemist especially for me and sorted me out with my drugs!!

My next race was a massive goal for me before the tooth pain kicked in but I still decided to make the start for the Espoirs Tour of Flanders. The course looked savage with no less than 12 cobbled bergs including the oude kwaremont, valkenberg and the taienberg. I decided to forget about the tooth and go full gas. To my surprise I felt great and was in the front all day on the hills. A small group of 10 went on the Valkenberg with about 50 k to go which was a bit early to start showing my cards do I chilled out and let it go. 30 k later the gap was 40 seconds and looked bridgeable on the crazy cobbled section coming up. I hit the cobbles with everything I had and made it to the break just before the end of the cobbles, however I think it must have been the last cobble on the stretch that I hit hard and had a massive blow out. It was chaos behind so neutral service were unable to help so I was forced to wait for the team car which was all the way back n position 29 as you can guess this was game over for the day for me and a dull end to an up and down month.

But all isn’t bad, it’s now the 2^nd of May and i`ve a bit of a result to write about in my next months fairytale!

P.s unfortunately though the antibiotics didn’t clear the infection in the tooth so i`ve just had to have my tooth pulled out! I didn’t take it too well and passed out with the pain! Don’t laugh!!

It seems like only yesterday that I landed in sunny Belgium. I’ve been here for over a month now and time is travelling fast. Already I’ve sat on the start line and pinned on my numbers 1