Hard times make the good times possible
The racing has come thick and fast since my last entry, with the Volta a Catalunya and the Tour of the Basque Country – two beautiful, brutal races. I’ve been on a nice upward trajectory as well.
I started off Catalunya taking a proper kicking, way off the pace in the two big mountain days. Nothing more than cannon fodder, making up the numbers, someone to make the best guys look good. It was of course pretty frustrating at the time, not exactly how I envisaged my racing unfolding. I had a long, hard word with myself and tried to salvage something from the rest of the race so I wouldn’t be completely miserable. And that’s what I did. A couple of days getting in the break, going for the win.
A seventh place on one of the stages, after battling it out in the front for the last hour of the race, and a bit of bad luck with a puncture while I was in the chase group behind Thomas De Gendt and Matej Mohorič on the final Barcelona circuit. More importantly, I was getting the morale back and feeling the good legs coming.
Fast-forward a week of sitting on the sofa and being as much of a slob as possible, and the legs were even better in Basque. A couple of top 10s – in particular finishing behind the best guys on the summit finish and making the important splits on climbs – was something to be proud of. A bit more skill for being in the right place for Astana to split it on descents, and sniffing out moves from the group of favourites, and the week might have gone even better. We also had a beautiful two-up team victory to celebrate during the week, with Mikkel Honoré and Josef Cerný; it was a special moment to be a part of the team and made the week extra enjoyable.
Nothing I can do now but get back on the sofa and soak this week up too.