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Following a busy track season and
a training camp in Majorca, Manon switched her focus to the
road lining up with the Great Britain national team for her
first ever spring classics at the end of February.
Lloyd along with track teammates Emily Kay and Abigail Dentus
joined under 23 Cyclo-cross world champion Evie Richards and
Alice Barnes for a week of hard racing in Belgium. Starting
with Omloop Het Nieuwsblad before lining up at Omloop van het
Hageland and Le Samyn des Dames.
I'm writing this blog on a flight to Girona for some warm
weather training with my boyfriend, Ryan Mullen. A really bad
wave of cold weather has just hit Manchester so it's perfect
timing really. Any excuse to ride my bike in the sun.
My week in Girona has gone by quick but I have put some
good road miles in the legs and had a chance to reflect on my
first classics.
I've had a heavy block on road training during the last few
weeks, a lot more road to what I'm use to. My road block
started off in Majorca in January just after the last
Revolution in Manchester. This was my first proper road block
since back in the summer as I've been doing a lot of track
training through the year. I found the camp hard but enjoyed
every minute of it in the sun and the mountains. It's really
important for me to get a good road block like this in several
times throughout the year as it sets me up pretty well for
upcoming events.
One highlight for me was staying in the same hotel as Team Sky
and having the Team Sky chef cook for us. He made the best
porridge! It was pretty cool to see what food he cooks and
what food the likes of Chris Froome eat before he goes
training and what they eat for optimal recovery. I came out of
the camp in good shape. I was going well and the training I
was doing there had shown me that I've made progress in the
last 12 months. After we were allowed a break from training to
go and see family and friends, which is always nice to do.
A few weeks after the Majorca camp it was soon time to head
out to Belgium for the first race of the season and my first
ever classic. I was going with Team GB, there were five of us; myself, Emily Kay, Abbie Dentus, Alice Barnes and recently
crowned under 23 Cyclo-cross world champ Evie Richards. We
were a very young team going out with not one of us ever
having ridden a race at this level, never mind a classic! Our
first of the three races we were doing was Omloop Het
Nieuwsblad, we had no pressure from our coaches and they
pretty much told us that we would do well to finish. Even
though I had no pressure I was still very nervous for my first
race of the year. My biggest fear was having to get off and
walk up the Paterberg!
The race stared outside the Eddy Merckx velodrome in Gent, I
am very familiar with this velodrome, as I've raced there
before. But I was not here to race on a nice warm smooth
track… I was here to race one of the hardest road races I've
ever done. 128km with the strongest women on the road scene in
the world. The race started on wide fast roads where it was
pretty easy to move up the peloton to the front - that's one
of the hardest thing I find on the road is moving up to the
front with 200 women trying to do it at the same time… It can
be a little scary. You have to do everything possible to get
to the front, sometimes it involves some cyclo-cross, jumping
on to curbs, dive bombing it down the out side on the grass or
in the gutter.
For the first 30km I managed to stay at the front away from
any carnage and crashes. I had so much adrenaline at the
beginning of the race, racing fast and being on edge of not
crashing and having to be aware and dodging crashes. It was
pretty cool riding next to the likes of the best road riders
in the world like Lizzie Armitstead and seeing what she wore in the
conditions that we were racing in and what gear she was using.
But soon I was being swamped and I started moving back
quickly, we soon reached 60km in and hit a left-hander where
we turned on to a very narrow road. Before I knew it I was at
the back of the peloton and turning on to the Paterberg, a
famous hard cobbled climb in Belgium, the climb is cobbled
with a gutter down the side which is the easiest way up as its
smooth. But not all 200 riders can fit in the gutter. Luck was
on my side and I made it all the way up in the gutter without
stopping and having to get off. It was a relief getting up the
climb, but this was only half way through the race and I was
just off the back of the peloton and in a group of about 15
girls including Hayley Simmonds, the national time trial
champ. We chased through the convoy hard and hit some more
steep climbs. Soon we no longer had the peloton in our sights.
Another new experience for me was taking a feedbag for the
first time, I felt very pro doing this, swinging the bag
around my neck as if I was in the Tour De France. At this
point in the race I could have done with a café stop and a
coffee and cake, but instead I had a gel and a bar.
With about 25km to go to the finish the broom wagon came past.
The broom wagon is the name for the vehicle that follows a
cycle race picking up stragglers (or sweeping them up) who are
unable to make it to the finish of the race within the time
permitted. As the broom wagon came past it was already jammed
full of riders that had already been picked up. As there was
no room my group had to ride all the way to
the finish, we were only 25km away but it seemed like it took
forever to get back. I was very happy to see the finish even
though I would have a DNF by my name. But it was a good
experience to take forward to the next race.
Our next race was Omloop van het Hageland, this was another
hard race with cobbles. This race didn't start well for me as
I crashed inside the first 10km of the start. First crash of
the year over and done with; don't have much memory of how it
happened but just remember getting up and picking my bike up
from the floor and all the convoy cars around me. The GB car
was there waiting for me. As I
got back onto the bunch we hit a narrow road and I had no way
of moving up the bunch. As soon as we got on to a wide road
again the peloton had split on a very windy road and I was
with the rest of the GB girls and about 80 other riders. We
made it to the finishing circuit and did two laps then we were
all pulled out the race. Another DNF but I was pretty sore
from the crash. I now had two days to recover before my last
race here in Belgium.
My last race was Le Samyn, this was the race I enjoyed the
most. I got to the start line and lined up for the race 30
minutes before the race so I would have a chance of being at
the front. I turned my self inside out for the first 40km and
rode it as if it was an elimination race on the track. If
someone came past I would try and sprint past and get to the
front again. I did this, as I knew if I could stay in the
front group and make it to the finishing circuit I would have
a chance of finishing the race. The race had a finishing
circuit that we had to do 2 laps of. On it, there was 4 cobbled
sections. 23 riders got in a break away off the front whilst I
was in the main bunch where I stayed for the rest of the race.
We were all so happy just to finish a race after the past
disappointment of the last two races. But still, small steps
in the right direction.
I really enjoyed the experience and would like to thank the
coaches and staff in British Cycling for giving us an
opportunity like that to go and compete with the best in the
sport. I learned an awful lot in just three race days, but
I'll use what I learned in all my races in the future. Whether
it be on the road or the track.
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