11 March - Copa Catalyana #1
Finally I made my first UCI event and for the first time for me a round of the Copa Catalyana series. This race in Banyoles is held most years as the opening event and always attracts a top quality field. This year was no exception with pretty much all the top french and spanish riders there. It was a nice course too, super technical and twisty with hard packed dusty surface. As always, I try not to expect too much from my first race, but in the end I was pretty happy to come in 8th in such a world class field, especially as the sensations in the legs were surpricenly nice. Julian Absalon won the race, which is a series worry to all those interested in world cups this year. I think he's going to be very hard to stop!


08 March - Vredestein tire presentation
For the introduction of the new Vredestein tires, we were invited to a luxury few days in Cannes, France. Set in a 4 star hotel in the center of the city we were made to feel like super stars for 2 days, with over 100 journalists and dealers to talk to about our experiences.The new tires include a mud tire called Bull lock, a slightly larger version of the Tiger Claw, and my favorite, the Black Pantha. This is really the result of our teams efforts and discussions to create the best XC racing tire possible. I think its going to be a huge success.