Its been a nice week, spending 3 days in Houffalize with my team, then moving on to Offenburg for the 2nd round of the World Cup. I backed off the training to let the body recover and I became quite lethargic, sleeping lots and just feeling wasted most of the time. Spending time on the road is a great way to relax, because there is not really much to do.

The track was almost identical to last year, except without the big rain storm on race day! From the start all 3 of us from CV were on the front and going well. The technical sections were challenging, but not difficult enough to split the field, so while I managed to stay in the top 5 during the first few laps, there were still around 20 riders very close behind. This was the first time for me to have such a good first half of the race and perhaps I got a little carried away. In the end I faded a bit and slipped to 14th at the end.. but still only 2min behind 2nd place.










Now I'm home, which is good because benoit could treat my back after my crash in Houffalize. But its not for long, as Thursday we're off again to Madrid for #3.

Its been a nice week being back with the team and seeing all the guys and gals on the circuit after a long winter. Once again its been a spectacular race here in Houffalize. With rain pouring down all Saturday, the course transformed into one mean monster, which is great for us as we are all on our full suspension Scalpels. But race day turned out much nicer, creating a mixed course with slick roots and greasy ruts under the trees, but then some fast dry climbs as well.













The opening climb was as last year, a near vertical road for 300m. This year it was just 50m too long for me, as I was sitting well until the very end, at which point my motor died and I slipped back from the top 10 into the 30s. Then it was straight into greasy slippery single track, so elbows out and the bitch fight had begun! I struggled for a few laps just holding onto wheels, but then somehow the legs opened up and I started passing riders. I was riding Black Pantha 'tubular' tires for the first time in a big race. The feeling was quite particular, but once I got the confidence, I was able to make a lot of time on the rough sections. I was able to hold this momentum through through till the end passing blown riders rapidly alone the way. That's always a nice way to race, as its always motivating to catch and pass someone, rather then the other way round! Finally I finished 9th, for the second year in a row at Houffalize, last on my team, yet still in the top 10. Jacob was our champion of the day finishing 4th.. his best yet.. but I've no doubt there's still better to come. Up front it was Julian who proved he's better then ever and young Nino Schuter showed his talent to place a solid 2nd.

Unfortunately for Rosara Joseph it was not such a nice weekend. She crashed in training and broke her foot.. i can just imagine how frustrating that must be.










Being in Belgium, of course we had to celebrate the good results with some chimays.. the best beer ever!

Now we are spending a few days in Hoffalize before crossing over the boarder into Germany on Wednesday for the next round. And the town is not the same at all... just a few left over riders out on the roads, but the town is deserted, very strange after the mass crowds yesterday. Its good for me to have nothing to do for a while.. catch up on all the small things, read my book and watch some Six Feet Under and Flight of the Concords... my favourite tv shows i have downloaded on my mac.

Well, this weekend's swiss cup didn't go quite to plan either. The start/finish area was at a stadium with a horse track and we had to do 3 laps before heading out on the first lap. This meant a mass sprint and me being somewhere mid pack. This followed by a flat front tire and a crash, so it wasn't really my day. But I still pushed myself hard and now have to hope my body comes right for this weekend for the first world cup.











On the drive home my right foot got super sore and by the time I arrived I was in agony... so it seems I had pulled a ligament. So I was straight over to Benoit's place and he twisted and pulled it around, which hurt more then I can possibly explain. But the next day it was already a lot better. I also got some acupuncture and now I'm confident it should be fine for the weekend.. phew!

We are now all in Houffalize. They have made a few changes to the course, but basically it remains pretty similar to every year, so should be great as always. Weather forecast is okay too...

This weekend I did the second round of the Italian Cup in Nalles, Sud Tirol. It was also the final weekend of the Cape Epic down in South Africa, so all the rest of my team were there. The boys managed to win the race, so happy for them.. I now how tough that race is !!
Anyway, that meant I had the chance to invite a couple of good friends who live in the area to come and support me. So it was super to catch up with Soren and Camilla and they also helped me heaps with many things, so that worked out great. Here's a little photo of us.. actually sitting in the Bianchi team tent, as we of course didn't have any team setup.










My feelings before the race were super. I am at the end of a really hard period of training and also sleeping at high altitude in my CAT tent. I even had the tent with me, so it was a real test to see how the body would react.

Off the line I had one of my best starts considering the length of the road climb. Its not something I'm very good at, so I was happy to enter the first single track in 6th place. After settling into the pace I tried to bridge the gap to the leaders on the second lap. But it was then that I started to realise I was struggling to breath and I just didn't have the power. So instead of catching the front group, the group behind caught me... then dropped me! I kept on fighting, but I just kept getting worse, eventually getting caught by many more riders. Finally I had to laugh.. it was almost my worst race in many years.. so bad, its nothing I should let bother me..

Camilla was taking lots of great photos... including this funny one, which may not be of me, but it's certainly how I felt during the race... like a big ass ! (but hey, respect to this guy who raced the entire race like this to the entertainment of the crowd :)

Well it seems that I'm finally over my spring flu. Last week was crazy, with a huge amount of snow falling on Sunday-Monday. I took this photo on Tuesday...



But this weekend it became warmer and yesterday I raced one of the nicest road races we have in our area, the Annemasse Belgarde. Its a pretty hilly race and has all the best amature riders from throughout France. I attacked hard after about 40km and was in a nice group of 5 riders... but then after 130km, on the final climb, I hit the wall.. and hard! But it was a perfect race to start bringing on some form.

Every day I am waking up and checking the cape-epic info. Its very exciting to see Roel and Jakob kicking ass down there. Although there is still a long way to go and so much can happen. I really miss not being there.. although I know it was my own choice I made because I felt the stages are too long this year and I am scared to burn out and get health problems as i did last year in July... Olympics are in August, so a long way away still !!!

This weekend I will do one of my favorite races, The Italian Cup in Nalles.