With worlds just around the corner its finally time to back off the training, and let the body build up the strength again. I have been training hard these past 3 weeks and also done a few races. Unfortunately both were rainy, and I didn't have great sensations... But that's not a big problem, as long as the legs come back next week! Last weekend I raced on the road in Switzerland. I went there together with Nathan Dalberg (ex pro road rider from NZ) and we both suffered on there short hard climbs. My final build up race is this weekend, with a SwissPowerCup in Bern.. and then its upto the altitude in Livigno, Italy.

I took this weekend off racing, so was able to catch up with some friends again in Annecy. My friends Cedric (right in photo) and Jean-Christoph somehow managed to talk me into going out on a canoe to watch the huge fire work display, called 'La fete de lac'. Normally these shows bore me, but this was a different story.. it was pretty awesome how they managed to get those rockets in time with the music. Good fun, and for once bikes were the last thing on our minds.
But the training continues... I will make 2 swiss cups in preperation for the world champs... La Chaux de Fonds this weekend, and Bern in 3 weeks. Looks like NZL will have a strong team in Livigno, so should be fun!

29-31st July, O-Tour (UCI Cat d2), Sarnen SWI

These days when flying between continents you can almost guarantee that the bikes will be delayed. I arrived into Zurich on Wednesday morning, but my bikes only arrived Friday 4pm... 3hrs before the start of the first stage! How do they do that?! Luckily my friend and swiss team mechanic, leo Windlin helped me to borrow a bike for some training rides, and apart from some stinky clothing all was okay.

This year's O-Tour was clashing with the European Championships, which meant very few top riders. Unfortunately for me, Thomas Frishknect decided to stay, so I still had some tough racing ahead of me. The first day was as always a sprint race... In the end it was more about start position then anything else, as the course was perhaps a little too narrow to allow for much passing. I was quick off the mark and was only passed on the final straight. Still not bad for a terrible sprinter like me!
I was hoping for good legs in the XC, but it was not the case. My body felt tired and I had to let Frishy go on the 2nd lap, and I stuggled through the rest of the race alone to finish 2min down.
Sunday's 80km marathon had two huge climbs, then second with 1200m elevation in one hit. Thomas was clearly better again, although I was feeling okay for the first half. Then on the last climb I completely cracked, and was struggling to keep the bike moving at all. I finished 11min down to Frishy, and 6min down on Frederic Fresh (who had a mechanical in the XC). That was a tough day in the office, but well worth it considering the 2100 swiss francs I picked up in price money :)

Overall 2nd
Day 1 Sprint race 2nd
Day 2 XC 2nd
Day 3 Marathon 4th