European Road Championships
July 1st sees the European Road Championshipstake place in the heart of the West Flanders where cycling is king of the road. All the GB riders for these events arrived on Monday after a road trip from the UK and straight away work started on preparing for race day.
At the hotel, the riders hand their bikes over to the mechanics John Keegan and Steve Taylor where they are checked to make sure they comply with the new UCI regulations on tri-bars and everything else is checked and washed before the bikes are handed back to the riders for a ride around the course on the Tuesday.
Three of the Olympic Development Programme junior women, Jess Booth, Ella Sadler Andrews and Corrine Hall about to head out on the course with coach Robin Sharman.
Looking after the riders are coaches Simon Cope (Under 23 Women), Darren Tudor (Junior Men), Max Sciandri (Under 23 Men) and Robin Sharman (Junior Women). In each of the events, GB will field three riders.
Each team within the squad has their own coach so there is plenty of time for the riders to get the information they need for their ride in the time trial. For example, prior to leaving the hotel this morning, Robin Sharman sat his Junior girls down in the foyer and gave them a briefing about what they were going to do on the course, where the efforts were going to be made, at what level and so on. Nothing was left to chance -- not even the application of sun cream to prevent sun burn.
From wide main roads like the one left that the riders start on, the competitors will also encounter many single lane roads like the one on the right inter-mixed with lots of twists and turns.
It wouldn't be a race in Belgium without some concrete roads and a cobbled one of course!
At a major championship like this with 24 British riders, there are lots of jobs for the staff to do and with the team having such vast experience in dealing with major championships, everything is going like clockwork. The mechanics have plenty of bikes and wheels to keep them busy all day in the garages, the carers are keeping the riders fed and watered and the coaches feeding information to their riders. Whilst all that goes on, I took a ride over to the finish area with manager Helen Mortimer where we picked up the race numbers and accreditation for the riders and staff.
There, officials carefully check the licence numbers with their documentation and the GB jerseys and shorts are also checked to make sure they comply with UCI regs for the team. In between handshakes and social chit chat as people meet up again for the first time in a while, the business of getting everything the team needs to be on the start line is put into place. Right down to which riders go off first and so on.
Once back at the hotel, it's time for food and relaxing in their rooms for the riders whilst staff carry on working. A few doors down the corridor, the Junior Men are making good use of the computer and Playstation to take their mind off the race. In another room, Luc de Wilde is looking after his riders, the Under 23 men, who need their legs done after a hard day on Sunday and an easy ride today. Each of the two carers, Luc de Wilde and Helanie Perry have two teams of riders too look after as well as other duties like shopping for food and water. Not every rider will ask for a massage but there are certainly plenty that do.
Sitting in the hotel room writing this, it’s very quiet in the hotel and everyone is tucked away either working or relaxing. After lunch, I caught up with the three Junior Men doing the time trial the next day. Newly crowned British Junior Road Race champion who rides in the morning (Wednesday, July 1) George Atkins did the road Euros last year and gave us his verdict on the course.
"The course has two long straights along with quite a few twisty sections through villages or farm tracks where the corners are okay and you can take them fast on the tri bars. There is also quite a long up hill section on the cobbles which may be a pain and overall, the course is quite a different to what we'd do in the UK."
Also riding will be first year Junior from Wales, Sam Harrison. "This is my first major championship” he told me “so I'm looking forward to the experience. Being on the Olympic Development Programme (ODP) along with George, Sam has already ridden a few internationals in GB colours as well as the 'cross worlds, his biggest event to date.
Shortly after the start, the Union Jack is one of many flags that line the course.
Asked for his assessment of the course, Sam explained "the long straights on the course will probably be quite tough spinning along on a 14 (Juniors are restricted to the maximum gear they can ride with 52x14 a popular choice). The cobbled bit is also a bit crazy and will probably be a nightmare with the rear disc but the course overall is certainly interesting."
A rider racing in GB colours for the first time is British rider who has had more than his fair share of success on the road -- Joe Perrett. The Glendene rider has finished 5th and 3rd in the British Junior Road Race championship.
"It's pretty good being here with the team and an honour" he replied after being asked how it felt being back in Belgium where he has also done a lot of racing. Saying that it felt quite local to him, he added "my selection shows that if you're good enough to go, you do get selected which is always a good sign for any of the riders out there."
Joe, who has also done many time trials in the UK admits it is quite different to the ones at home adding that the Euro TT starts out with long straights where it’s going to be hard to hold the concentration and then has a series of flowing fast bends which he is going to enjoy. It’s the cobbled section where he is crossing his fingers that the disc wheel will stand up to the battering it’s going to get.
"Once I arrived, pretty much everything has been done for you which is good and I can concentrate on the race. The only thing I need to worry about now is doing the time trial which is perfect."
And while Joe, and the rest of the riders relax, the mechanics continue getting the bikes ready for the race, getting feedback from coaches and riders on gearing and wheels, while in the hotel, the legs of the riders continued to get the tiredness and aching massaged from them by Luc & Hanlie. Whilst a non-race day is fairly relaxed, everyone knows that come race day, with a start and finish in different places, it is going to be chaotic but hopefully in an organised way after all the planning and the studying of the road book for the races.
After the final meeting of the day, we headed out for one more look at the route (off course) to the start and then down the course to the finish before returning to the hotel and taking care of those final tasks before bed time called.Whatever the outcome of the results, the GB team have certainly done all they can to get the riders to the line in the best shape possible and British Cycling will bring you the results as soon as we have them.
RELATED LINK: GB Team for European Road Champs
