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Newton flexes rainbow stripes at North Road Hard Riders

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It isn't often that you get to see a World champion competing in the UK, especially a British World champion but today (Sunday), World Points Champion Chris Newton was competing in the North Road Hard Riders time trial in Hertfordshire. As such, it was an event I wasn't going to miss, and so at 5.30am on a Sunday morning, I drove my new toy down to a little place outside Hatfield (Hertfordshire) to see how Chris would fare in this early season domestic test.

The course was as the name of the event suggests, for hard riders. Over a distance of 22.5 miles, the riders had everything in this from twists and turns on greasy narrow lanes to some tough short sharp climbs. Returning to the scene of his triumph last year was the likeable former professional 'Rambo, Julian Ramsbottom (Race Scene), and even he when quized before the start, felt he was racing for second place.

He did indeed finish second but the gap between the two of them was a lot closer than either he or Chris Newton expected, half a minute separating the two riders after a tough race. And so Chris had his name on the trophy again after his first win in 2000. A trophy that has many great names from the world of racing. Olympic and Tour hero Chris Boardman for example, and Gethin Butler who finished 3rd this year. Other previous winners of this classic that goes back to the 1950's and beyond, include Sean Yates (still a force to be reckoned with), Eddie Atkins, Alf Engers, Bob Downs, Stuart Dangerfield and Daryl Webster to name but a few from this classic event.

After the race I spoke to Chris about the start to his season after a very different winter to previous years. As befits a World Champion, Chris has been in demand for a few of the Six Day indoor races in Europe and then following that, he was on a plane to Moscow to compete for Great Britain in a World Cup there, battling to get Great Britain a place in the Points race at the World Championships in China later this year. Chris of course, as defending champion, already has a place sealed but that is only available to Chris, and so to ensure a GB rider gets a ride if Chris shouldn't be able to compete in it, the only course open to the team is to qualify through gaining points at World Cup events in 2003. So Chris rode his socks off and came away from Moscow with some valuable points for the team.

I first asked Chris about the Hard Riders win (before he actually knew he'd won), and he said of the ride that he didn't feel it went too bad. "It was very hard and I felt it a lot on the little climbs, especially through Essendon. I seemed to be lacking a bit of strength but I haven't spent a lot of time on that in my winter training, because I've been keeping the gears down and getting in some good intensity work."

Getting his strength back is an area of his training though that he is starting to work on at home, while the team he has helped win a lot of road races in Europe, take their preparation to France. His winter as already mentioned, has been very different to the past. In 2000, prior to being asked to ride for Great Britain, it was quite intense because he needed to win to get the prize money (his wages in effect) because he wasn't on the plan and then the year after was more normal. In 2002, with the GB coach Simon Jones wanting to hold the riders back, Chris just eased his way into the 2002 season with a gradual peak climbing all the way up to the Worlds where he had his best ever performances.

The winter for 2002/2003 so far though has been intense in many ways after being contracted to ride the six day races in Europe. As he admits, its all been a little bit of a shock to the system and now its done and dusted, he's looking to get back the 'fight' he had in him for the 2000 Olympics. It wasn't just the different type of preparation he had this winter that was a shock. Taking his Rainbow jersey to the six day circus and competing in front of the sports fanatical supporters Europe, Chris admits when asked whether that was a new expereince -- "big time". "I had never even seen a six day in my life, never mind raced one and all of a sudden, the champions jersey got me into that circus. I'm not sure I will do any more because they are quite hard and I do put in quite a lot of effort in during the season. I like to have a rest in the winter where I still ride my bike every day, but not have to worry about 'switching on' for races I'm not really up for after a long season."

Summing up the Moscow World Cup, Chris said overall it was 'alright'. Unlike when he won his World Championship jersey after a gradual build up with the Commonwealth Games and then the Worlds in October, he admits "I was obviously not as prepared as I was for the worlds. As I've said, the strength is missing and in Points races its something you need in order to do repeated sprints and if you have that now, what are you going to have left for the World Championships in July. It's a funny season because it's not going to stop at the end of this year. It's going to roll through straight to the Olympics... We have the Worlds in July (China) and then the World Cups start again, and then the Worlds 2004 and then the Olympics. So with that in mind, I have to be very careful."

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