Maxgear – BLOG

Matt Brammeier's BLOG

27 October 2009

I think the last time I wrote something about the weird and wonderful life of myself was a few months back at the Sachsen Tour! So much has happened since then; I’ve had to have a quick scan at my training / racing diary to refresh my memory.

Sachsen tour went ok considering. I can safely say it was the hardest race I have ever ridden! Every day was full gas, no easy days that week! The one day that stands out was one to forget. After a frantic start to the stage a big break of around 15 riders went clear and got over 1 minute on the bunch. Columbia HTC soon started to chase to defend there leaders yellow jersey and brought the break back on the 1st of the days climbs. We caught the majority group at the top at the top but one guy was clear on his own. It took a while to find out who it was. Patrick Sinkweitz! He was on his own so the bunch left him out to dry and gave him a massive gap of 6 mins. After a few ks of easy riding they started to chase full gas. Almost immediately Dave O’loughlin another an-post rider was involved in a serious crash and was hospital bound with serious facial injuries. Anyway the guys from Columbia soon realised what a bad idea it was to let this guy take 6 mins! Those of you who don’t know his past do a quick Google search of him and you will see where im coming from! So after 50ks of the full 9 rider string Columbia team going full gas on the front they had taken only 45 seconds from him. Normally a strong team can take back 1 min per 10ks of a weak breakaway. So one guy on his own against the strongest team in the world should have been no contest. That’s all im going to say about that, but it wasn’t a fun day. A lot of gutter action and chewing my stem! They never caught him and he won by 3mins!

After Sachsen I was straight back to racing in some of the post tour crits. It was great to race with the tour stars and catch up with my old mate Cav! He hasn’t changed a bit, only thing is back then he thought he was good, now he knows hes good!!

In between these crits I rode a kermis race in Perewez, my legs were good and I narrowly missed the win to take my 3rd 2nd place of the year!

After that it was back to serous racing with no less than 10 Professional races in September! It was a good month for the ANPOST team.
First we were at the Memorial Rik Van Steenbergen, a huge race for us and our sponsors as it was live on TV. The pressure was on and we didn’t let anyone down. With 40ks to go there was a breakaway that looked dangerous, we were straight to the front and riding to bring it back together for Niko to finish it off. We did a good job brought the break back, controlled the race and delivered Niko to the final Kilometres; he didn’t let us down and finished off in style with a great win!

A few more races in and Niko was on the top step again. The Pro race in Desselegem was our 2nd win of the month. Niko, Cassidy and Kenny from Anpost were all in the break and rode brilliantly to finish 1st, 5th and 7th! Not a bad day out for us.
It was another hard day for the team who worked hard all day to try to take the flowers home!

There’s too many races to mention this month, the two above where the highlights for us I think but every race was full gas and I think we came away from each one happy with how we performed under the circumstances! So a real positive month!

Yesterday we were racing in Zele Pro Race in the East Flanders region of Belgium. Not a great start for me after a flat tyre on the first lap. A slow wheel change meant a hard chase back on which left bit a bit gassed for a bit. I rode into the race getting better and better until my bike let me down again, my right STI shifter broke and left me in my 11 sprocket for the last 40ks of the race. I didn’t have a spare bike at hand so decided too hang in for as long as I could. I stuck it in my 39x11 and hung in ok until the last lap. A bit of fast pedalling in there I can tell you! Try riding 60kph+ in your little ring!!! Anyway I couldn’t do much in this gear so I just tried to stay as near to the front as possible and try to get my 53x11 going in the finish. The plan worked well, I hit out early in the last 300 m and was 2nd in the bunch sprint! Only thing is 10 riders went away in the last 5ks! So I was 12th, a good result but if only I had gears!!!

3 more races left!

Wish me luck!

Matt

Nicole Cooke's Blog

3 August 2009

I have had an eventful few weeks in July, first of all was a great training camp for Vision 1 on Lago Maggiore where we were able to spend quality time training together and also enjoying other experiences available to us in this popular cycling region. I was very proud setting off on our rides each day and seeing the whole team looking fantastic and turning heads as we rode out to start the day's training.

The camp led on to 2 races and both were very disappointing for me, although for the team there were some great results for the riders who took their opportunities with both hands and also gained alot of valuable experience. I caught a virus which totally knocked me down and my legs went from feeling great and raring to go, to feeling like jelly with no power left anymore. I pulled out of the Thuringen Tour in Germany and knew that it was important to begin recovery straight away. After a very easy week I have begun to feel better and started riding again. It is a very important to make sure I am healthy and ready to start training again as now is the time when my preparation for the World Champs begins. After a few days home in Wales I am now back in Switzerland and looking forward to the next 2 months ahead.

Tonight (1st August) is the National Day of Switzerland and there is a big party in Lugano, with fireworks in the evening and this was my last day 'off' now through to the World Champs and the end of my season at the end of September... Can't wait to start!

Nicole x

Matt Brammeier's Blog

31 July 2009

So I’m sat here in the team camper van, its quarter past 9, were just 2 hours into a 7 hr journey and already Michelle’s ( our trusty mechanic ) music has cracked me. I’m not a good traveller, even though some call me a glorified gypsy and the wild wild west tunes certainly aren’t helping! Anyway I’m on the way to the Sachsen tour which starts tomorrow and I think i'm in pretty good shape.
I raced twice since my break, once in a Pro Kermis in Houtem Vilvoorde and once in an amateur Kermis in Kerniel. The first race didn’t go so well. I hadn’t been sleeping so well in the few days before and was feeling pretty tired. I started the race with good intentions, and was up front going with attacks and the legs were feeling ok. Had a bit of bad luck mid race, I had a flat tyre and had to go right to the back of the bunch which by this time was in one long line, with over 200 starters it was one loooooooong line!
Anyway I got a new wheel and got back going. After a bit of a chase back on I wasn’t feeling the George (Best) and just did my best for the rest of the race. A break had already gone so the race was pretty much over, I just floated round, slid with a few attacks and finished the race mid peloton. Not a great day out, but for my first race back after a week of doing nothing I was happy enough.
Next was back home for a bit of training. I got a real good 4 day block in, and was hitting some good numbers! After a little rest I was back on the grid in my last race before the Sachsen tour.
I was feeling really fresh and good at the start and after a few little digs I was up the road in a small group of 4 and feeling good. It was still early on in the race so I was keeping my powder dry a bit. A few more came across in 1’s and 2’s and it ended up about 15 of us. I rode a bit, attacked a bit, swore at some people, hooked a few people, just did the usual bike riders stuff until it was time to start thinking about how I could win the bike race.
2 laps to go and an attack went, I was feeling good and went with it pretty easy. There were 4 of us away and we were riding “full gas” with about 10k to go. We worked well together and we were coming in for the finish for the win. What no one had told me is that the run in to the finish was different to all of the other laps so I was pretty surprised when we went a different way! The last 2 ks was a straight line and up hill so was pretty tough. I wanted to wait as long as possible before I hit out and was biding my time until I could see the finish line. Lets just say it wasn’t so clear where the finish was and I hit out a little late, I went full gas but missed the win by about ½ a wheel! I was pretty disappointed not to win but pretty happy with how I rode and felt generally!
So yesterday I did a little spin with Nikki and wasn’t feeling too bad considering I had raced. I’m hoping I can get another spin in this afternoon after the drive to loosen my legs off for the start tomorrow!
The race looks pretty tough, looking at the race manual it looks pretty lumpy with some days climbing up to over 1000m! Also some good teams are here like Columbia HTC, Milram and Saxo Bank to name but a few.! A good chance to show myself, let’s just hope the legs are good!
Well, I’m starting to feel a bit travel sick now with all this writing and Michelle’s driving so I better sign off!

Ciao

Matt

Matt Brammeier

13 July 2009

I’m sat at home now looking forward to my next big block of racing. I’ve just got back “home” after some time at “home”. I haven’t quite worked out where home is yet, I think ill just class myself as a glorified gypsy for the time being. That’s all us bike riders are really.

After a busy month of racing in May I had 12 days of racing to do in June. Unfortunately a last minute decision by the UCI stopped my team Anpost starting in the tour of Belgium which as a largely backed Belgian team was a big blow for us all. So for those of us selected to ride we were left twiddling our thumbs with it being too late to get into another tour at such late notice…. Thanks to the guys at the UCI… Fortunately I live in Belgium, and if you didn’t already know there’s a fair amount of races here to ride. Most weeks you can race every day without driving more than an hr and a half. Yes some of these races are Amateur Kermess races, but as they say “a race is a race” and in my eyes better than training. There was also 1 Pro Kermess in Gullegem we could do in the time between tours so that was on the cards for the team for sure.

So a month of Kermis races it was. I was riding well all month, slowly getting better and better. I was in the top ten in every Amateur race and came close to the win a couple of times with a few 2nd and 3rd places. The Professional race in Gullegem also went quite well. It was Tornado Toms first race back after his alleged “black out” so the crowds were out in force and so were the riders. I would say Belgium’s best were all there that day. Boonen, Devolder, Hoste, they were all there. So when I looked around with a lap to go and there were only 30 of us left in the race I was quite pleased. It was a tough day out with a lot of wind to contend with but I was feeling good for the finish. Only myself and Steven Van Vooren were left in the race from the team, Steven was in brilliant form after his Impressive win in Puivelde a few weeks earlier. So it was all hands on deck to get him to the front for the finish. He finished a respectable 6th place and I was a few places back.

The racing started to take its toll on me so I decided to take it easy for a few days and rest up for the next race Boucles Mayenne, a 2.2 ranked 5 day stage race in northern France. The week before the man Steven Van Vooren rode superbly again to win the Ronde De Loise another 2.2 race in France… Well done Steven! So heading into Mayenne the boys were pretty jaded after a hard weeks work for Steven. Mayenne wasn’t the best race for myself and the team. A big break went on the first day with only David O’Loughlin in there representing An Post. He finished a respectable 12th but it looked like a top result wasn’t looking likely on the GC for us. After the first day the race was pretty much controlled with small breakaways dominating the race and no big GC changes from start to finish. I was happy to get the kilometres in with the National Championships coming up.

So it was back to the UK for the Nationals. The form was good but I was feeling a bit tired after all the racing. I had a real easy few days and started to feel a bit better but I was still feeling pretty tired for a few days. The day of the race came and I realised why I was feeling so tired. I had come down with a cold the day of the race! Lucky me. So as you can imagine my day was a wash out. I got to the finish circuit and could only spectate to what was a great championships and a great win by an old friend of mine Kristian House!
The boys in Ireland had a good day out placing 2nd, and 3rd in their championships! After the champs I had a 7 day break planned. Some time to rest up, get healthy and generally freshen up ready for the second phase of the season. With my last race in October I still have a long time to go! I had a good week off the bike, seeing family and friends and just generally doing “normal peoples” things for a week.

After this it was back to work. I did a few days steady riding and then straight into a hard block of training to get me fit and ready again for the up and coming races. So I’m sat here now, back in Belgium feeling refreshed and motivated for my next races. This time of the year is normally where I get my best results, so next time I write I will hopefully have some Podium Photos I can post too!

Until then……. easy on !

Dani King

29 June 2009

Alot has happened since I last wrote my blog, the 2 most exciting things have been winning the national crit champs and coming 3rd in the under 23 cat of the national womens road race on the 27th of June in Abergavenny. I'll tell you a little about my run up to the event.

After I'd finished my A level exams I flew straight to Italy for a 2 day stage race. (Trentino) This was one of the biggest races I'd ever done and so I was both excited and nervous at the same time. The first thing that hit me was the heat.. I saw 27 degrees at 10am when we were out on a spin the morning before the first stage. The first stage was 106k and pretty flat, it came down to a bunch sprint up hill and I came 21st which I was pleased with as I helped the team. The second day was crazy, when I looked at the profile I'd never seen anything like it in my life, up a mountain for 60k back down, then up another to finish. I rode hard until the 2nd GPM to help out a team mate then finished off the main group. Overall iI was really pleased, Nicole won which was great and was looking forward to the national crit champs which were the day after I got home.

My first national jersey. One of the best achivements in my cycling career was winning the national crit champs. The race was good, girls were aggressive and I knew I had to cover moves and wait for the sprint as my legs weren't fresh after Italy. I attacked once but got chased down so I knew from then I had to sit in and think about my finish. On the last lap everyone was waiting for someone to go, I lead it out with 200m to go to cross the line first. It was a great feeling and a good fathers day present for my Dad.

The week after the crit champs was the national road race champs so I had an easy week leading up to it whilst in Wales. The night before I stayed at the Celtic Manor with the team which was lush.. big double beds... slippers... strawberries the lot. The morning of the race came and I was really nervous but raring to go and get stuck in. The pace was steady at the start of the race but as soon as we hit the climbs it was ‘full on’. Emma Pooley attacked and formed a break with Nicole and Lizzie which then took the speed out of the main peloton. Unfortunatly I missed the break with Katie Colclough and Julia Shaw but knew I had to win the bunch sprint to get a medal in the under 23 category. The last km was tight so I made sure I was round the last corner first, then with 200m to go again lead it out and won the bunch sprint. I'm really pleased with the results and my form at the moment and can't wait to race again in Germany.

Now it's time for a little break, I'm off to Barcelona for a quiet 5 days without the bike, then back to the UK for the weekend before leaving for Milan, Italy for a 14 day training camp with the rest of my team mates. I can't wait to see them!


Ciao, Dani x

Vision 1

20 June 2009

After her second place in stage 1 on Thursday Nicola Cooke won the very hard second and final part of the Giro Di Trentino, and with that also the overall, and the Pionts Jersey.

Team Vision 1 showed again an impressive performance and the results from the last 2 weeks show that Nicole Cooke's project has to be taken seriously. Friday's 106 km stage began in the harbour of Riva at the Lake of Garda, and the first long uphill lead the peleton up to 1057m to Andalo. Up until this point Christel Ferrier Bruneau kept all the climbing specialists busy by fighting for the Green Mountain's Jersey stopping other riders attacking. The first serious acceleration was initiated by Judith Arndt with 2km to go before the summit with the result that the bunch was much smaller when the long downhill to Mezzolombardo began. A break away group formed on the down hill and in the following flat 20 km this 5 woman breakaway with Nicole Cooke, her Team Vision 1 team mate Vicki Whitelaw, Carla Ryan (Cervelo), Svetlana Bubenkova (Fenixs) and Kim Anderson (Columbia) established a lead of 1min 30. With Vicki Whitelaw doing strong turns on the front together with Nicole and Bubnenkova and keeping the tempo high while Ryan and Anderson just followed the break's lead grew up to 3min48 at the foot of the final 7km climb to Faedo. Initially Bubnenkova set the tempo up the climb, then with 3km to go Ryan and Cooke took the lead. Entering the final kilometre with a gradient of 14% Ryan attacked, Cooke responded and then with 400m to go put in her bid for victory. Ryan could not stay with Cooke and Nicole crossed the line with 8 seconds advantage to win the Stage and Tour, adding another great win to her palmares.

Vicki, the driving force of the break away said "The decisive break was created on the descent and it was an opportunity to put in some big time to the other GC contenders, I felt Vision 1 was in a powerful position having Nicole and I in this break and although the pressure was on us to take the responsibility for the work we worked really hard and relished the chance to show what team work could achieve!"

Nicole said "This was a really special day because it was our team work which made this possible, Vicki sacrificed herself to give me the chance to go for the victory and worked incredibly in the 20km after the descent before the final climb started. I knew I had 2 seconds advantage over everyone in the break because of the split in the bunch in Stage 1 so the minimum I had to do was cross the line with the others, but this was a great way to win and show how well Team Vision 1 is doing."

Nicole Cooke

11 June 2009

Travelling to our latest races in spain after a two week break from racing after Tour de L'Aude it was greatto be back together again. Wehave a multi-national team and the first days back together mean blowing out the cobwebs from the language department of my brain and getting back into my French which is how I enjoy chatting to Aurore and Christel as I find that peope express themselves naturally in their own language and even when i may not understand absolutely everything I can understand a lot more of the feelings and story if the person is describing it in their native language. for the first few days I am still throwing in the odd Italian or German word but then this fades out and I'm able to swap between French and English without any 'mit' 'con' or 'grazie' thrown in. In a way I feel very lucky that through cycling I have been able to learn three new languages and also experience many different cultures as we travel with our races.

Durango and Emakumeen bira are both held very close to bibao, Spain and it brings back some memories of 2002 when I was riding for deia, a ukrainian-Spanish team Sponsored by the spanish newspaper Deia. I was based in Bilbao for 3 days before the Castilla-y-Leon world Cup and enjoyed riding up and down the climbs in the countryside surrounding the city. Yesterday we raced durango, it was great to see the whole team riding together at the front of the peleton and I was well looked after until the decisive moment of the race on the final finishing circuit.

The race was won by Noemi Cantele (Bila), and I was in the Chasing group a few seconds behind over the top of the last climb but could not make contact in the descent and run in to the finish and finished 5th.

Now Tomorrow begins Emakumeen-Bira with 5 stages over 4 days. The profile looks hilly everyday and we will go into the racing looking forward to being in the thick of the action and picking up some good results.

VISION1 RACING TEAM BLOG - HELEN WYMAN

24 APRIL 2009

The Return of the Wyman

You know how you always have those dreams where you are going so well that your first race is going to be the one where you are invincible and do everything for your team and are still there at the end to lead out your sprinter. Well in reality they are just dreams!!!! Ha ha ha!

However for my first pro-race of the season Fleche Wallone on Wednesday, I was actually really pleased. We worked together well and got a great result at the end with Nicole coming in 6th. It was so exciting to be back at the front of the bunch marking moves, helping move people up the bunch, communicating on the radios to Stef in the team car (not even racing can stop a women talking!!!!! ha ha ha) and just generally being ready for anything to happen. I was on a real high after the race and it felt good.

For the first time in a few years now I have actually had a long break from cyclo-cross to road racing…enforced due to injury…but still a rest and it makes for a real fresh approach to racing again giving me back that real buzz that only good racing can give you. It was great! Plus my Focus bike was amazing; it just feels like it was made especially for me, which obviously makes the racing a little bit easier!

I’m really looking forward to the next World Cup in Bern, Switzerland and the Tour de L’aude, a 10 day stage race in France to complete my start to the season. It can’t get much more exciting at the minute so once I have been removed from the ceiling I’ll send out another update on the progress!

VISION1 RACING TEAM BLOG – DEBBY VAN DEN BERG

21 APRIL 2009

Missing my team mates!

No big races or stage races this weekend so I had time for my First Dutch Criterium of the year!

A bit nervous, I was sitting in the car and I heard there should be a hill in it and that always makes me a bit nervous.

After we arrived and picked up my number it was time to change and to check how the legs are - not too bad is the conclusion! It’s quite windy and the course is nice not like a normal Dutch crit with 10 corners in a 1.5km lap, but a nice almost 4km circuit with a long dreggy hill and an open finish road. So position should be important!

10 minutes before the start it was time for a quick wee and then time to start. The nice and sunny weather makes lots of girls decide to start as well, almost 100 girls in total so position should be even more important.

A quick look at the other girls show me that the complete UCI team from Leontien were there, 3 Flexpoint girls, couple of DSB girls and lots of Dutch club teams. But no time to look anymore it was time for some action!!

First lap already an attack from a DSB girl but nobody is reacting so I jump to her and over her, one girl is coming with me but it has no long life. And already it is clear that that the girls from Leontien and Flexpoint work well as a team and attack one by one. I feel good but miss my teammates!!! (They are preparing for Fleche Wallone)

I try to go with as many attacks as I can but a pity I missed the attack which is staying away… I try to get to them a couple of times but no success. A lot of the girls get dropped by the wind and the hard course but there is still a big group left for the sprint. I get blocked in and there is no space for me to sprint anymore. No result but a good race and definitely good training which will make me stronger for the next races!!!

Can’t wait till the next race - I’m ready for it.

BLOG - MATT BRAMMEIER

16 APRIL 2009

Back to Belgium

The last time I wrote I was sat in the airport waiting to come home. 2 days later and I was back on “the grid” in a pro Kermess in Wanzele. It was a 170km race on a circuit of about 15kms, it was quite an interesting course with a bit of everything, a few hills and a few cobbles just to make it that bit more interesting. From what I can remember it wasn’t the best race for me or the team, a break went after a few laps with none from An Post there; it was only a matter of time before we were on the front riding to bring the break back. It came back after a few kms of hard graft and the fireworks started again. We were determined not to miss the break this time. We didn’t miss one, but unfortunately nothing stuck. Last lap and I was riding to help Nico to the front for the finish. Nico and Kenny were a respectable 7th and 8th. My job was done with 1km to go and I went backwards like a stone and rolled in the middle of the peloton.

Waasland

Next was a UCI 1.2 race in the waasland region of Belgium. A pretty typical Belgian race, cobbles and wind for 100km and then a finish circuit with more of the same. I got stuck in all race, going with a lot of attacks and riding well. After a few laps of the finish circuit a group of 10 went clear with Jef Peters of An Post there. A good situation to be in for us so we sat back and let the others worry about bringing it back. The break stayed away and Jef was a close 2nd, just a few cms off the win. I did my job for Nico again and he sprinted in incredibly strong, catching and passing 4 of the breakaway riders and finishing 6th! A good day out for the boys in green!

Nokere Koerse

Next was Nokere. A semi classic in Belgium and a huge race for the team. We were all full gas for the start making sure we were well and truly in the race. The race was rather uneventful with a bunch sprint looking almost 100% sure. I was feeling good all race and had followed a few attacks and attacked myself numerous times. Nothing worked and we geared up for a bunch sprint. I was sitting ok for the finish, about 20 back with 1km to go and was on for a certain top 15 place when there was a mass pile up in front of me! I managed to stay up after a few meters riding on my front wheel. I scurried across the line, glad to have not lost any skin but gutted to miss out on a result! It was a good day for the Brits as Ben Swift was 2nd! Nico was 10th.

Road Trip

Next was an 8hr road trip to the Loire Valley in France. Without naming any names, one of the team were full of cold and managed to do his best to pass it round the team to wipe half of us out for the race. Unfortunately I was one of the victims and felt like muck in the race. I stopped after 2hrs. 16hrs in the car for nothing! Not happy!

Ronde Van Grone Hart

2 days later and I was pinning my numbers on again in a Dutch 1.1 race. I was still feeling a bit under the weather but felt well enough to race. When I hear these 2 words together “1.1” and “Holland” it makes me cringe. The roads in Holland are designed to be bike friendly, but not our kind of bikes, the kind that only go 10kph with a bag full of shopping on the back. The roads are designed to slow down the cars so are full of speed humps, random bits of road furniture and some strange obstacles placed in the most dangerous positions you could imagine. Add this with a lot of wind and you have, not a lot of fun and a lot of pain. After 30 kms of racing round the local towns dodging plant pots in the road etc. a few crashes had shed 10-20 of the 200 odd starters. We left the town and headed out onto the open roads into the fields. Soon after we hit the wind and the race was split to pieces. I was sitting nicely in the front group of about 30. Bad luck struck early and I was caught behind a crash. I was held up for a few seconds but that was enough. I ended up in the 2nd group. That was me for the day. We rode hard all day for about 150 km non stop, “full gas” After about 150km we caught what was left of the front group. 1 few had gone clear and we were racing for the minor placings. I was stuffed and rolled in mid peloton. It was a hard day out! Some good hard kms in the legs was about the only good thing that came out of it!

Bad Times

Next up was not a good few weeks for me. I won’t go on about it as I don’t want to bore you all with my misery. I picked up yet another virus and had to rest for 6 days with no bike. I missed 2 of the biggest races of the year that I was really looking forward too. Dwaars door Vlaanderen and the Brabantje Pijl. Both huge semi-classic races in Belgium. I was sat on the sofa for both of them and witnessed Nico do an awesome ride in the first of the 2 races. He was in the early breakaway and managed to stay clear over the climbs. The race developed behind him and he was joined by the best of the best. He was racing for the win but was outnumbered by the Belgian Quick Step team including Tom Boonen. He finished an awesome 2nd place after more than 180kms in the breakaway! Well done Nico! After my virus I got back on the bike, keen as ever I squeezed in 18 hrs in 4 days. This, I don’t advise! A few days later I was back in the Doctors and was diagnosed with a dose of tendonitis. Another forced break from the bike and more sofa time. Not good!

Home Race

Yesterday was the Dwaars Door Het Haageland in Aarschot. A race about 10km from my front door. Luckily I’m all fixed up, the knee has recovered and I’m feeling healthy at last. The race went ok considering my last few weeks’ nightmares, I rode well for the team. Helped to get 2 of our boys in the move and got some good racing ks in! It was almost another disaster with just a few meters to go. I hit the final corner after a fast descent; I was going well over 70kph and was full gas in a lead out for Nico. I hit the corner and gambled on not using any brakes, my heart skipped a beat as both my wheels slipped suddenly from underneath me. Somehow I held it up and survived to live another day! I took the boys as far to the line as I could and they were 1st and 2nd in the bunch sprint. It must have been the lead out ! Hmmmm. The guys in the break finished 2nd and 4th! Another good day out but still no win for the team! It can’t be long now before we get one!

I don’t want to get into a habit of saying this but I sure hope I have something a bit more positive to write about in the next few weeks! Keep all your fingers crossed for me and the team!!

Until next time

Matt

Next races for me :

19-04	Beavechain		1.12
20-04	Outer		1.12
28-04 to 02-05	Vuelta Ciclista Asturias		2.1
03-05	Subida al Naranco		1.1
10-05	Omloop Der Kempen		1.2
15-05 to 17-05	Tour De Picardie		2.1

VISION1 RACING TEAM BLOG – DANI KING

14 APRIL 2009

I've just started my first racing season with Vision 1 Racing and so far so good.The first 3 races were in Italy and were the longest and hardest races I've ever ridden, each being over 100k. I didn't start off with the best of luck, just before the first race I went for my last loo visit and decided to drop my race radio down the toilet (not a good idea). Luckily Stef had spare ones. The races went well, the biggest shock was the aggressiveness and importance of positioning - in Britain it's not too hard holding your position at the front of the peleton but in the bigger races I'm now experiencing you can't afford to switch off for one second. After the races it was straight in the van, quick change and back to the hotel. I'd never been so tired in my life, I could hardly keep my eyes open and the girls who I shared a room with (Helen, Aurora and Nicole) said I was sleep talking all night.

After Italy I went back to Wales for the night to see my boyfriend and then back home to Southampton and back to college. I study psychology, P.E and business and I'm counting down the days until my last exam and first day of being a full time bike rider (63 days to go!) I spent a few weeks at home, going to college, training in the rain and riding a local Surrey League RR then the weekend came to the biggest race of my cycling career, my first World Cup.

Tour of Flanders

Flanders was an amazing experience, the day before the race we all went out for an easy hour and rode some cobbles to get a feel of what it was going to be like and to test our bikes out. It all went well and I was ready to race. The race itself was one of the best I've ever ridden despite not finishing because of my chain coming off a number of times on the cobbles. The atmosphere was electric and the race itself was always full on. I was disappointed not to finish but have learnt a lot from the race, including the importance of positioning, knowing where the climbs are, to keep eating and drinking throughout the race, but most importantly not dropping my radio down the toilet 10 minutes before the start!

Wales

Since Flanders I've been staying in Wales at my boyfriend, Matt Rowe’s house where I've been able to go out training with him and other good riders which means I've got to ride that little bit harder than if I was on my own to keep up. I rode the Good Friday circuit race at Castle Combe which was a bit of a disaster, I slipped off in the rain and went flying over my handle bars landing on my face. Luckily I was just left with a few burns and nothing major so I was back training the next day.

It's my rest day today ( Monday 13th), just chilling out for the day and getting ready for a competitive bowling match with a few Welsh cyclists tonight.

VISION1 RACING TEAM BLOG – GABBY DAY

8 APRIL 2009

Tour of Flanders….What a tough experience!!! Cobbles, Tough climbs, crashes and amazing atmosphere.

I finally feel like I have recovered from this race!

The race started in cold overcast conditions, which was not as planned as we had been experiencing amazing Belgian sunshine. Luckily it warmed up and the second part of the race was in beautiful sunshine.

The race was fast especially up to the first main climb and 3km cobble section. I have to admit the cobble section was rather a shock; speeding along, with my whole body being physically shaken up!! The climbs were also really tough, with a new addition of a 19% climb…Nice!!

I was happy with my form and feel that I am getting stronger every week.

The team worked well and we came away with great results. It is really exciting to see that we are all getting stronger as a team in every race we do.

VISION1 RACING TEAM BLOG – HELEN WYMAN

8 APRIL 2009

You would think that being back in Belgium would seem cold and grey compared to the delights of our Vision 1 team training camp in Toscana, Italy. However, for once Belgium was actually warmer and considerably drier than our final 3 days spent at the World Cup race near Lake Lugano.

Crazy as this concept may be it has been absolutely fantastic sunshine here for a week now, where I have been able to test out my new Focus training bike on the concrete roads of my adopted home in Belgium. For anyone who has never experienced the delights of concrete roads with cement joins every 5metres… well you really should! Imagine the du dum, du dum, du dum of a rhythmic sleeper train then add the odd pothole, section of cobbles or sand patches and you are half way there!

Luckily for me the bike feels great on these roads making even the shuddery concrete sections pass peacefully and without hazard. I have new Speedplay pedals too that I have had since my return to Belgium and every thing seems to be heading in the right direction towards my first race of the season (Fleche Wallone) since my injury from Cross Worlds. I’ve even taken the bike down to the hills in the Ardennes in the south of Belgium this week and it feels great, just waiting for the legs to catch up now ha ha ha!!

Note for all visitors to Belgium: the Ardennes has tarmac roads!!!!!!!

VISION1 RACING TEAM BLOG – VICKI WHITELAW

8 APRIL 2009

Let the racing begin- Trofeo Costa Estrusca.

Vision 1’s European racing program has officially begun. Following a week long training camp in the beautiful region of Tuscany, we were excited to get the racing started.

Our first weekend consisted of 3 successive 1-day races in Tuscany, Italy. It certainly was not a tame introduction to the season with significant climbs to test our hearts and legs every day. In addition we had some very cold temperatures to contend with. Whilst our camp had occurred in warm and sunny days, the evening before the first race a massive electrical storm blew freezing temperatures our way. By the morning we were extremely reluctant to get out of the cars after pinning on our race numbers and kitting up. It was definitely an arm and knee warmer race day. Some riders opted for several other layers.

Cervelo test team were very strong and strung it out from the base of the 2nd climb. This put a huge amount of pressure on the rest of us and given the fact that I was also in a poor position near the back of the bunch, I had to gain a lot of ground very quickly. I missed the 8 riders that slipped off the front but found myself in the next group of 10, which included Nicole. Whilst the gap before the mountain crest was only 25 seconds, there was very little interest from other riders in our group so the gap quickly extended to 5 minutes. We were riding with constant gusts of cross wind - I felt that I would surely end up in the paddocks at the side of the road!

After the final major climb it was nice to reach the flat last 5km. I wasn’t sure how many were in the front group but thought I’d test the legs and went for a solo break with 2km to go. The bunch, which had grown to about 30 riders due to our slowing pace, didn’t react and I managed to survive to the finish line. As it turned out, one of the girls in the front group (Regina Bruins) had the misfortune to crash on the descent, breaking her collarbone. Big ouch!! This meant that I finished 8th and inside the UCI points. Very nice!! I have made it a terrible habit in past races to finishing one place out of the points or prize money or off the podium. This time it worked in my favour. Nicole finished 12th and we picked up some prize money which is always a bonus.

We also had an eventful day in the convoy with both our team car and van copping it from other vehicles. Our car bumper was damaged due to a “rear ender” by another team’s car and then our van side mirror was completely shattered by a different team again. Maybe they were welcoming Vision 1 Racing to the peloton? ;-) It certainly is dodgy in the convoy and our director Stefan has to keep his wits about him. Hopefully this is the last of incidents in the convoy. Somehow I reckon that is wishful thinking, given how crazy some directors’ driving can be.

Day 2 saw another freezing day - to the point where it was snowing before the start of our race! I thought I went to Europe during the year to avoid this sort of thing!?! As we sat in our nice cosy heated vehicles, it was very difficult to launch ourselves into the open air and I felt like the Michelin man with the number of layers I was wearing. The start in a tiny piazza was absolutely manic and was constantly being shifted by the organisers.

I was finding it particularly difficult as I’d only recently been set up with my new Speedplay pedal and cleat system and was having difficulty swiftly clipping in. I could do it EVENTUALLY but that wasn’t really fast enough when you have 150 odd girls pushing and shoving behind you. They were hardly going to wait for me to clip into my pedals. I am now getting the hang of it and less stressed than on the weekend. That is probably due to the fact that I went to a quiet car park and practiced clipping in and out about 100 times! Now that I’ve mastered this necessary skill, I must say I am VERY happy with the Speedplay pedals. So different from what I’d previously been riding on but they completely make sense in the number of options available for foot and knee position. No wonder the guy with knee problems designed them. Very clever.

Day 2 consisted of 3 times up a climb that we had managed to recce in training. Whilst it had quite a gentle gradient, it also had some tougher pinches that tested us and (surprisingly!) that was where the attacks took place. Kirsten Wild (Cervelo) went on a solo break at about the 50km mark. Just after that we were all stopped at a railway crossing waiting for a train to pass. This had its pros and cons. Pro: You get to eat and drink safely. Big con: your legs feel like jelly once you get going again. A railway crossing can also work in a breakaway group’s favour as they can extend their time gap. In this instance Kirsten was also stopped behind the gate but allowed once it had opened to set off alone with the time gap she originally had.

The wind again played a huge role in splitting the bunch and it was crucial to stay near the front instead of being strung out in one long line - 100 riders back. I managed to stick with the front group throughout the race and by the final climb was in contention for another top 10. The difficulty however was the very steep pinch to the finish line and I timed my increased pace way too early and then couldn’t match the later accelerations of the other riders. A learning experience. Nicole finished 5th, so a reasonable result for the team. Throughout the last 2 days, the other girls in our team had been playing a fantastic domestique or ‘worker’ role, being present and attentive near the front of the group. At this point in the season we are all at different physical levels hence found the racing on the weekend quite different. We have some very strong and promising young riders in Dani King and Aurore Verhoeven who were taking part in their first “real” senior road race and they did an incredible job. Christel was constantly getting stronger with each race and Gabby and Debby were an awesome presence controlling the peleton in the early stages of the races and contributing to our overall team result.

Day 3 was by far my best performance. I felt strong and able to go with the moves made at the front of the bunch on the climbs. Nicole and I were in a group of 15 riders which achieved a decent 2 minute gap on the peloton. Bigla were aggressive and continued to fire their 3 riders in our group off one after the other, trying for a solo break. Modesta Veniuszkaite finally clinched a break for Bigla and it was then a chasing game for the rest of us. No one managed to bridge or reel her in except Linda Villumsen who attacked on her own to reach Modesta by the base of the last climb of 5km.

I was barely hanging on to my group by the time we began the final climb and was all over the bike, moving it forwards by will power alone. The final pace of this group ramped up in the last 1 km as Nicole attacked in an effort to secure 3rd place. At this point I cracked and started to feel like I was drifting backwards down the climb. Unfortunately the group managed to just catch Nicole at the line and she finished 9th. I ended up 13th, which wasn’t too bad and I felt as though I’d increased fitness and strength with each race.

We are now gearing up for the big one this Sunday - a World Cup in Cittiglio, Italy. It’s a very familiar area to me as I lived around there for 7 months last year. We are looking forward as a team to taking on the World’s best.