STEVE CUMMINGS
After Romandie I spent five days riding and enjoying being on the bike without any specific work. I did a lot of thinking and that helped me really understand what I wanted and where I needed to go for the rest of this season. I then started to train again and I’ve been enjoying the process.
As you read this I will have raced at the Critérium du Dauphiné and then hope to get selected for the Tour de France. The Tour is my favourite race for many reasons. I have been lucky enough to experience success there. I have also experienced some really bad days, for example when I crashed with three days to go descending Port de Balès in 2012. I lost the back wheel and slid out into a drainage duct. I lost so much skin, damaged my coccyx and was sore and stiff from my neck down to my knee. For the final few days, the doctor brought my dinner to my room because it was so painful to move. I was in bad shape. It’s those days and moments that make any success at the Tour all that bit more special.
To me, there is something very special about France in July; the heat, the noise, the smells of barbecue, picnics, people enjoying and supporting the race as it passes by. Everyone knows the Tour, and somehow it captures the imagination and motivates and inspires people everywhere.
It’s easy to find an extra level of motivation for the Tour; it’s what I grew up watching and where I dreamed of racing. It’s important to find your top gear because if you don’t the level is so high you will be a passenger, unable to show your real worth. The circus that surrounds the Tour takes some getting used to. It’s like a moving theatre. The stakes are massive and no one wants to give an inch. Riders will also risk a lot as the rewards are high.
Despite all of that, when you break it down, it’s the same riders and same roads as normal. It’s no different than what we do at every race, so we shouldn’t try and change for the Tour. It’s the dream for many, so we should try to enjoy it and not get stressed or bogged down with pressure. You can do your 100 per cent. That’s the only real pressure - to plan, prepare, train and eventually race.