World Cup - Offenburg (5th)
I've finally managed another podium on the world cup... my first for 3 years!!!
It was perhaps one of the more crazy races I've ridden. 2hrs before the start the rain arrived. It was a little chaotic before the start getting the bikes ready. We all took the new Vredestein Bull Lock, despite having never properly tested the tyre before! But it was certainly the right choice as the conditions got more and more extreme. From the start I had amazing legs, of course starting on the front line helped, but never before could I ride with the first few and it hardly hurt! After 1/2 a lap I was comfortable in 3rd, but the mud was already thick and then my chain-suck started. I had to stop 4-5 times and run, as the chain would just not turn around the middle ring. Finally I just left it in the big ring... which is where it stayed for the rest of the race!

I had lost a lot of time already on the first lap and slipped back to 7th place. But I still felt good and just kept pushing that big gear 'round and ran when it got too steep. There were lots of steep drops, which had become slippery and rough. Many riders crashed hard, including my team mates Fredrik and Jacob. It seemed like all riders started to get gear troubles, some breaking derailleurs too. I didn't hear of a single rider having a problem free race! For a while I was stuck in big-big, but after kicking the rear derailleur got it free.

Most of the race I was alone... with a few laps left I was passed by Jean Christophe Perod and Lukas Flukinar, but I had moved up to 5th because of other riders having trouble as well. The last 2 laps I had Christophe Sauser around 20sec behind me, so I had to fight that big ring all the way home... but it was well worth while. The podium was super, in front of thousands of spectators; now I really feel I am back again.


German Cup - Albstadt (5th)
Marcus Roy arrived from NZ and will be staying with me for the season. Should be nice to have some kiwi company amongst all the Frenchies around here. I made a last minute decision to go and do the German Cup in Albstadt. The organizers convinced me it would be awesome, and that it certainly was! Around 15,000 spectators lined the course, which had some of the steepest climbing I've seen. Once again it was a top field and after the first lap it was Absalon with a 20sec gap to Roel Paullison, Jose Hermida and myself. After half the race I had a big crash after rolling my front tire at the bottom of some stairs. It was my own fault as I was running around 24psi.. too low for a steep course. Afterwards I couldn't regain my rhythm, but held off for 5th, which was okay. Marcus came in 30th, not bad 3 days after the long travel.
I also met up with my dad, who has spent the past month or two around around Egypt and Israel. He's been back packing around for almost 3 years now! Now he will come to see me do a few events, which is always nice.

Swiss Cup - Hasliberg (2nd)
Back to the beautiful Swiss Mountains and some nice views over the Eiger Mountain. We stayed in a funny old hotel together with the Aussie U23 boys. Seems like those guys have always got a great program going on to support there young talent.. I'm sure it will start to show in the results one of these days..

My stomach bug seemed to be a good thing in the end, as those days off seemed to be just what I needed. I did some good long endurance training mid week and still recovered well for the race. It felt like I was just full of energy! During the race I felt great from the start. On the second lap I forced the pace and was away with Julian Absalon and Frerdik Kessikof. Then Julian put it in another gear and we dropped Fredrik. It was the best legs I've felt in ages, but Julian is pretty much invincible these days it seems. I finished 59sec behind him in the end, which is almost a victory all things considering.