My first race in May was Gent–Wevelgem UCI 1.1 (now renamed In Flanders Fields). From the start, the pace was relentless as the race opened with two local laps. The bunch was understandably nervous, and that quickly led to several crashes. Thankfully, I managed to stay out of trouble, although I did suffer a puncture. Fortunately, I was able to get back to the team car, change my wheel, and rejoin the peloton without losing too much time.

I started off April with a National B race, the Totnes Vire 2 Day. I was back down in Devon, but this time for some stage racing. Stage 1 was a fast and furious criterium. I raced very offensively and eventually bridged across to the winning break, where I held on for a solid 4th place, just missing out on the bonus seconds. I was happy to be up on GC early on though, which gave me a good advantage. Stage 2 was a short, sharp hill climb where I powered to 2nd place, setting a new 2-minute power PB in the process. This moved me up to 2nd on GC going into the final road race stage. Stage 3 was on a course very similar to the junior national round, so I was familiar with the terrain. I raced well but missed the winning break, which went on to take the overall GC—as expected given how tight things were. I finished 6th overall and was happy with how I raced across the weekend.

Starting the month off strong was the Junior edition of Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne, which turned out to be an extremely hectic race. The sensations weren’t the best on race day, but one thing I’ve learned is that everything is never going to go exactly to plan. After a nervous first 40km on the flat, the peloton tackled the bergs one by one and the bunch gradually thinned out. Fortunately, I managed to stay towards the front of the race right to the finish, although I did find myself in a couple of worrying positions with bunch splits. I took a huge amount away from the race, learned plenty of lessons, and eventually came away with 20th place and top British finisher.  

February started with the Portsdown Classic National B road race. In some questionable conditions, a break slipped away and I failed to follow. Lessons learnt for next time, but I crossed the line in 15th and 5th junior. This result was mediocre but the legs felt good I had good sensations going into the team camp in sunny Spain. 

January started with getting some solid rides in not only on the road bike, but on my brand new Handsling TT bike! I'm still in the process of dialling in the position, but we're fairly close and I can't wait for my first race on it.