by Larry Hickmott with the GB Team

Training day -- Road Race

Left: Emma Pooley gives us a wave as she passes by and Rachel Heal is all smiles as they climb the hill after the start/finish. Right: Mark Cavendish all smiles in the GB camp.

With the Time Trials over and the Road Races to come on the weekend, today,  Friday, was spent training as most of the riders in the Great Britain Cycling Team had some time on the course to prepare for the road races on the weekend.

It was an early start with training starting at 10.30am and first the mechanics made their way to the course and were then followed by the three teams racing on the weekend – Elite Women, Elite Men and Under 23 Men. The only riders missing from the team training on the course were David Millar who went out on a three hour ride with Max Sciandri and Helen Wyman who is enroute to the team hotel.

Once at the course, the mechanics got the bikes ready for the riders who arrived half an hour or so later. With still a bit to go before the police escort was leaving, the GB riders were able to make full use of the team bus to keep warm and chill out with each other away from the chaos outside. Then, at 10.30, the riders assembled on top of the hill that goes through the start/finish area and commenced a lap or two of the course. Unlike previous years, the course was not closed so although they had a police escort, there were other cars and large numbers of club cyclists mixing in with the Worlds riders.

The GB riders make the most of the team bus to relax and chill before going out to ride the course.

The scene did appear quite chaotic which it was round the start/finish area but the riders say that the rest of the ride was fine. There was talk of a protest by club cyclists not wanting certain riders racing at the Worlds holding the group up by 10 minutes at one point but other than that, the ride around the course seemed to go fine for most.

Whilst we waited for the riders to come round, and I was standing with BBC commentator Hugh Porter, Mark Cavendish rode past with Roger Hammond and Cav turned round to come and greet Hugh. I took the opportunity to ask him about the course and he said “I had heard it was hard but it is harder than I thought it would be.”

“That steep hill (said to be 1 in 5 or 1 in 6) kicks  three times. If it was constant, it would be okay and the lead in is not good either. It goes from a wide road and then turns sharp and into a bottle neck. There are going to be crashes at the front there I think. Over the top it turns left and continues to drag up and by the time those at the back turn the left hand corner, the front guys are already going to be doing 40 or 45 k an hour." Mark explained after his Tour of Britain success, he had to go to Majorca for a T-Mobile promotional event and then went to Italy where he had some time off while he waited for his bike.”

BBC's Hugh Porter (Worlds coverage on BBC interactive) and Mark Cavendish catch up during training today.

Once the ride by all the teams was done, it was straight into the team cars for the GB riders and off to the hotel where the BBC were waiting for the riders to do an interview with the Elite Women and also David Millar upon his return from his training ride. There were hugs and handshakes as Millar walked into the hotel to find Sean Yates there with Hugh Porter and much chat and good natured banter followed.

In other parts of the hotel, there was a lot of working going as the carers and mechanics got to work on looking after the riders and their bikes. Post ride there was massage for the Under 23s by Luc de Wilde and for the Elite Women by Tony Carpenter. Meanwhile, the mechanics Ernie Feargrieve and Mark Ingham were busy outside washing and making any necessary repairs to the 15 road bikes needed for the weekend, whilst the BBC did an interview with Performance Manager Shane Sutton a few feet away.

During the day, British Cycling caught up with various riders before and after the ride around the course. We started by asking how it felt for Jonny Bellis who only learnt of his selection at the last minute. “It was a bit of a last minute thing. The UCI originally said we could only have one rider but Rod, Dave B and Shane were adamant we had enough points for three riders. The UCI acknowledged their mistake and we had three places and Ian and I were given a ride.”

“I am very pleased and happy to be here to be honest. I have been pleased with my form after some good results in the Tour of Britain and was happy with how that went. I have also had a couple of races in Italy and felt good but had some bad luck with punctures and so on. It’s been a good year to be selected for the Senior Track Worlds and now here in my first year as a senior.”

“The course is quite tough but I think if I could draw up a course to suit me, I think this would be one so it should be good. The Tour of Britain was an ideal preparation race for this followed by two one dayers – you can’t get much better. After the Tour of Britain, we recovered and then rode two races in Italy to sharpen up.”

“In one of them, on the Saturday, I was in the winning break which had a minute and a half with 20k to go and I was feeling so strong, the best I have ever felt, and then I punctured and some spokes went. Neutral service went straight past me and by the time I got a wheel, I was back in the bunch. I was disappointed yes, very, but looking at the positives, I had great form for the worlds and good morale.”

“It’s great with GB as its so relaxed and everyone gets on, which makes the experience of being here better.”

Above: Jonny Bellis, Ben Swift and Ian Stannard on the course together today.

Ben Swift

The Mountains jersey winner from the Tour of Britain is one of the three GB cyclists riding the Under 23 race. Originally, he was going to be only GB rider in it until the UCI relented and allowed GB three places. “Winning the mountains jersey in the Tour of Britain has given me a lot of confidence. Winning the jersey was something I wanted to achieve off my own back and then I had a race at the weekend in Italy but that didn’t go well as I had a really bad headache.”

“The legs were okay though. The race was up around where I live so I knew all the climbs and it went up this climb nine times and the legs were getting better and better. This will be my first World Championships as an under 23 and being around the senior riders is really great and helps you relax. Now we have three riders in the race, the same as the Europeans, it gives you more confidence knowing you have teammates around you.”

Ben explained that the  course for the Europeans was totally different to the Worlds. “The Euros was flat except for one climb” he told us. Ben arrived on the Wednesday and did an hour on the Thursday calling it a decent ride to help spin their legs around after the flight the night before.”

Talking after his ride on the course, he said “its good, lots of downhills which are fast and to be honest, there is not much flat in it either up or down. Just riding around then, cruising,  we were doing 40k an hour so it will be a fast race. The bit before the steep climb is going to be crucial. I think we’ll get away with normal race gears on the climb, 39x23 because it will be fast racing up there.”

5.30pm and the GB Women are called to a strategy meeting with Julian Winn (and coach Dan Hunt) who outlined the roles of the riders in the race and what he expects to see them do. During the half hour meeting, the riders openly discussed what was expected of them and one of the key riders was Rachel Heal who was able to pass on her experience of many World Championships to give them an idea of what to expect in the race.  

Rachel Heal

One of the most experienced riders in the GB team, certainly amongst the Women, is Rachel Heal who now has so many caps at World Championships she runs out of fingers on the one hand to count them. The Silver medallist from the British Road Race championships was asked what she has been doing since that event.

“Straight after the Nationals, I went to Germany and rode a stage race there with the GB team and then after a break at home in Manchester, I went over to Luxembourg and France to do a series of crits. This was followed by a stage race in Europe for the Rapha Condor team and then off to Switzerland to stay with Emma (Pooley).”

Asked what she thought of the course, Rachel explained “after the race in Germany, we flew up to Stuttgart and did a recce of the course and did a couple of laps and I think it’s the hardest World’s course I have ridden. It is very tough physically and a lot of that is down to how technical is. It is going to be one of those where the field will concertina quite a bit and especially the bit around the short steep hill.”

“It’s a technical descent with a ridiculous corner at the bottom of it so you will get the first few riders driving it up there and its going to be extremely hard for everybody trying to follow.”

On the fact that Nicole Cooke has been unable to ride due to injury, Rachel says “it’s a novel experience for me because I have come to the Worlds for the last five or six years working for her so it feels odd not having her beside us.” Asked about Emma Pooley, Rachel was full of praise for her saying “she is climbing great at the moment. She really is on the long climbs, one of the strongest riders in the world so she should go well here.”

Womens National Performance manager Julian Winn with his riders on the look at the course this morning. Left is Emma Pooley, then Lizzie Armitstead and finally team captain Rachel Heal.

Lizzie Armitstead

The 18 year old Otley young lady has already done very well on the track this year at the Europeans winning a title and then going close to a medal in the road race a few days later. The double British Circuit Race champion who is only 18, is riding her first senior World championships and says being here in Stuttgart is “scary!"

"It is quite nerve racking but will be a good experience for me.”

Her preparation though has not been great with food poisoning four weeks ago just before the German stage race and says "I am hoping that illness has not taken too much out of me. I have been working hard to get the training in for this race and haven’t raced much but felt good at the Warwick crit recently which I won.”
 
Emma Pooley

The young British rider based in Switzerland who finished 8th in the Time Trial is one of the key riders in the British team for the road race. A yellow jersey wearer in a German stage race already this year, she showed she has the ability to compete well at this level and seven laps of this hilly course is said to suit her although she is aware of the pressure on her shoulders now. After the two laps of the course today, we caught up with her and asked for her opinion on the roads she will be racing on Saturday morning.

“It’s a tough course. It’s hard not just because of the climbs but because its technical as well and there are a lot of false flats as well. I like the finish because although it could be steeper, it is up hill and I don’t expect it will be a 70k an hour sprint that we normal have in women's races.”

Emma explained that she felt fine after the Time Trial. “I have had massage, been well fed, had lots of napping and the odd turbo session so its been quite good. I made a couple of efforts on the hills this morning to activate the muscles again after the recovery period and felt okay”.

Was the early morning start, 9am, going to be a problem?  “No, not at all” she replied. “I like early mornings. It’s good because I don’t like to hang around until late in the day because I just get more nervous, impatient and itching to get going. So its going to be good.”

Catherine Hare

Making her second appearance in GB colours at a World Road Championships, Yorkshire’s Catherine Hare, who rides for Rapha Condor, has raced a lot in Europe this year and says it feels good to be back with the girls at a World Championships and in the GB kit.

“I have mainly been racing in Europe this year and in some of the smaller Tours where we have been able to be actively get involved in them. We also did a World Cup in Sweden which was a good race for the team to do because it is a massive learning curve for a new team to go out to Europe and race. Most of us on the team are working and then going out to Europe to race and that suits me better. Its not a job anymore and coming here, the girls are the same as we see in other races and just in different kit.”

Catherine expects to play a team role supporting the key riders on the team. “It will be a case of doing what I can for whoever is going to be leader and going as far as I can. I’m not thinking about the finish and only about doing my job as well as I can.”

Tanya Slater and Lizzie Armitstead are all smiles before going for a ride this morning.

Tanya Slater

“Racing with Raleigh and Nicole has been a big learning curve for me and great racing in her team and learning from within the worlds number 1 team and world number 1 rider. Nicole has helped me a lot and so has the team. I know who the riders are in women’s racing now and so its not so much of an unknown. I know my way round the peloton too and who to stay away from and who to go near and to who sit with.”

“It’s not always about following every person who goes up the road to cover for the team either. It’s certain people, certain teams, and so its been a really good year for me and massive learning curve.” Asked was it strange not being here with her team leader in Nicole Cooke who is injured, she replied "It is hard. I have been racing with her all year and then not having her here feels a bit strange. We have come here though with a strong team and there is a great team spirit to come here and give this race a good go and see what we can do.”