This summer Scottish Cycling has given the opportunity for endurance riders on the performance development and affiliate programmes to head out to Belgium for opportunities to race and train.
Over the course of the six weeks we will be hearing from the riders and their experiences; here is Glasgow Cycle Team and Scottish Cycling Performance Programme rider Andy Brown.
"We have just finished our last week in Belgium which ended with the Tour of East Flanders or Ronde van oost-Vlaanderen. A international stage race for under 23’s, racing as Scotland Development Team.
We had a strong team and had a chance for a good overall position. The team was Mark Stewart, Stuart Balfour, Kieran Brady, Jez McCann, Angus Claxton and me, Andy Brown.
The 5 stage race had mix of flat roads and begs, or steep climbs and most of the stages had cobbles. The stages were all 140km+ and the biggest day being 163km.
The start list was strong with World Tour team development teams like Lotto Soudal U23 and national teams such as Canada. We also had a strong support team from Scottish Cycling, all helping us get through the stage race to get a result.
Stage 1 was a 142km race with 3 big laps of 31km and 4 laps of 10km and with 5 sections of cobble sections lasting 1,3km each.
We went into the stage thinking we need to put a man in every break. We decided that we should ride for one man in stage 1 and when a break goes up the road we need a rider in it.
The roads were mostly narrow so that made being at the front important. The first lap was fast, seeing the circuit, how the other teams are riding and where are the cross wind sections and narrow road were.
The bunch was nervous with 170 riders all trying to get to the front so it could be a bit dangerous but a few bumps into other riders and you get a bit of space.
Every rider was fresh so it was hard to get in a break that stuck with every one trying to get up the road. We attacked and got in a few moves but they were mostly brought back.
Coming into the last cobble section before going into the small laps they was a crash in front of me, in a narrow lane with riders spreading all over the road. There wasn’t much space so I had to aim for a soft landing surface but at the last second I got bumped into by another rider on the floor and flipped over the handle bar and landed on my head with the bike ending up the other side of a tree and in a river.
It took me a wee while to get up with riders everywhere and bikes on top of me but I was fine once I got up, looked for my bike then got back on and chased. Coming through the cobble section behind the car as we came to a left hand turn I looked down at my bike because I though I had a problem and as I looked up the car came to a stop and me and another rider went into the back of it.
I was lucky, just hitting my body not the bike but I crashed hard on the cobbles and it’s not a nice surface to land on. At that point I thought the tour was over as I landed on my head and I was a bit dizzy but I got back on and I made the time cut by 2 minutes.
Stage two 145km with one big circuit and 3 small of 11 km. Again this stage had cobbles with 1800m of cobbles. Bit bruised and feeling horrible I decided to start as I had a job and that was to help Mark and the others, collecting bottles and moving them into good positions.
We had a man in the break with Kieran but it got brought back quickly by Lotto which we thought was strange. They tried to control the day but they weren’t strong enough to it the whole race. Nothing much happened during the stage, I just had to protect Mark when he needed me too and when he decided to go back and speak to the team car I went back with him. We came into the small circuit of 1800m of cobbles which takes a long time to do feeling done and sick I just sat in till I got dropped which I never wanted to do, but I did my job and Mark finished 6th on the stage.
Stage 3 was a tough 4 laps of a big circuit with two cobble sections and most of it in towns so a lot of corners to sprint out of.
With a good plan to make sure we could get into the break we made sure we were at the front with Jez getting into the break we could sit at the front and watch. Coming out of the first cobble section Mark had a mechanical and stopped. Me and Angus stopped with him to chase him back on but we also got dropped by Mark missing the team car as it sped past us.
We got in the convoy and got to the team car but the jury guy on the motorbike saw us drafting behind our team car so the team car had to leave us and we had to chase hard to get back on.
We did and we learned from our mistakes.
I did my job again and got bottles for the team. Mark tried to bridge the gap to the front by himself but Canada and Lotto chased hard and coming through a cobble section Mark punctured.
I learned from my mistake and I drifted back to behind the first team car and waited for Mark to catch me. I then got him back onto the back of the bunch but the bunch was strung out so we had to move up smoothly and quickly and I got him back to the front and that was my day. We all finished in the bunch where .
Stage 4 was the biggest day with big climbs in the middle of it. Feeling not good the first 50km nothing much happened for me, a break got up the road which started to be a bit of a problem so me and Angus started to ride on the front to bring the gap down so Mark and Stuart could bridge across.
I was putting a big effort in because I knew I wasn’t going to keep with the punchier riders up these steep climbs and when we came into the steep climb I just had nothing left and drifted back and out the back.
I tried to stay in the time gap but I got sent in the wrong direction by marshals and left by the police on my own in a 100km loop. I struggled to find my way around and got lost. I was lucky to be spotted by a family coming from one of the climbs who saw me at the side of the road and took me back to the finish but that was my tour over. I was gutted but also happy seeing my work and the team work to get Mark 3rd in the stage and move him into 2nd in GC.
The last stage I spent in the team car which is a nervous experience with cars and riders every where and just seeing the race from a different angle and how nervous it must of been for Ally and Mark being in the car all week supporting us, the riders.
It was another good day for the team, a little mistake letting a break get too much of a gap with strong riders getting away but Mark Stewart had an amazing go at trying to win the overall that made the leader panic. Mark finished in the end with 3rd Overall in GC which is amazing with such a lot of good U23 riders and teams.
I want to say a massive thank you to Scottish Cycling and the staff for a great six weeks of racing and the stage race at the end. With Mark McKay being the head coach giving us the opportunity to race an important stage race and being in the team car giving the tactics. A thanks to Ally the mechanic for cleaning our bike each night having them in the best racing condition and looking shiny with his polish. Xabi for massaging every rider every night after the stage and helping me heal after the crashes I had on the stage 1. And to Lynsey for cooking the food every day from the lunch box with race food and sandwiches to the dinner meal that would make us full at the end of the day.
Andy
