Blog 11- 'Back out to Europe and Valle D'Aosta'

It's hard to remember where I'm starting off with this blog..... I've been all over Europe and I can just about remember where this journey began and where I am now!

We started off with a long drive across France with me and Scott taking turns to drive the van down to Samoens in the French Alps. This was an amazing place at the foot of the Col de Joux Plane. We had a few days based here acclimatising and getting used to the longer European style climbs ahead of Valle d'Aosta Stage Race. Being so close to the first stage of the Race, we took the opportunity to recce the Prologue. This was an 8km hill climb starting steep before levelling out. The Prologue started at St Gervais right at the foot of Mont Blanc which was pretty special. It was nice to have these few days to chill and prepare well for the race. This was a change to our usual hectic travel day pre-race. My legs and head were definitely up for the race........

Valle d'Aosta

A bit of background on the race:

Its arguably up there as one of the toughest stage races on the U23 calendar. Riders who perform well here usually go on to professional teams. For instance most of last years top 10 are now professionals. So the level is real high to begin with. Then throw in the terrain which is just bonkers! I mean I'm usually someone who looks forward to a tough parcours but the Queen stage of this race trumped the Tour de France queen stage in elevation!

So back to my race. For me realistically, my goal as a first year U23 was to just get round the race and last as long as I could. I knew I was pretty well prepared for the race so it was just for me to go out and leave my legs on the road. And this is what I did.

Stage 1 (Prologue)
This was a good course for me just an uphill time trial and I was pretty happy with my ride getting 53rd out of 135 riders and 8th young rider (U20).

Stage 2 170km with Scalaro Finish
This stage was mega hot with temperatures recorded at 35degrees. It started with a climb of about 8km which was rode fairly hard to establish the break, then the pace eased off. I don't think Ive ever consumed so much water as I did on this stage; it was just a long zapping day. And then to finish there was a 10km climb averaging 10.7%. I honestly think this was the toughest climb I've ever ridden. To tackle it, I just sat into my own rhythm instead of risking holding onto the heels of the big boys and then blowing up. It seemed to work, as I moved up a few places on GC and ended up 5th in the young riders comp.

Stage 3 138 km 'the Liege Bastogne Liege style stage'
I mean it was titled this but I'm not quite sure if the organiser of the race had ever watched the LBL...... It finished up an 8km climb with a 5km immediately before that! And the stage was just up and down all day with no flat whatsoever. It also started straight into a 3.2km climb which was ridden HARD. To top it off, around mid way through the stage we had a climb which was around 20% and lasted for 1.3km on a road which is usually closed off to cars. Also have I not mentioned that the penultimate climb had a 2km gravel section at the top!!

All in all, I found this the hardest stage for me personally. I got dropped on the penultimate climb and was really feeling it. By the end of the stage I had slipped back to around 60th on GC and 8th in young riders. That was a tough day.

Stage 4 - 170km Queen Stage with 4390 metres elevation
I was very tired the morning of this stage so much so that 50 minutes before the Stage I was still asleep in the team car!

However, when I got on the bike my legs felt pretty good; I was relieved about this. The day was made up of a 15km fast 90+kph descent (sorry Mum...) to start, which was mad. Then a 3rd category climb, a 2nd category climb, then 3 1st category climbs to finish. The end of the Stage was at 2000 metres.

I ended up getting dropped on the penultimate climb with my team mate James but together with a few others we worked together up the long 17km climb to try to close the gap on the Group in front. Then on the descent me and James attacked and gained 1 minute on the group we were in. We then caught the next group on the road in the valley. We stayed with this group to the line. This was one tough old day out - 5hours 50 minutes long but I was happy with my day.

Stage 5 - Final Day only 108km
Don't be fooled as this had a tough penultimate climb and an 18km uphill slog to the line. The race was controlled by the GC leaders, BMC today with a controlled pace all day. But they turned on the gas up the penultimate climb shelling a lot of people. I managed to stick in until the last climb where I ended up getting dropped but the weirdest thing happened on this final climb.... Flavio gave me a gel from the car and I ripped the top off with my teeth. I then realised that it had ripped off my front capped tooth... I couldn't believe it and I was gutted about this. But anyway back to the race. I ended up 53rd on GC and 8th young rider in the race. I am pretty pleased with this result as a first year U23.

Currently I'm at Flavio's old coach Garbelli's house in Bergamo. We are going to be living here for at least 3 weeks now as there isn't a lot of racing. We are training with the notorious Palazzago Team.

This is the team that Fabio Aru rode for when he was an U23. This will be an interesting opportunity and certainly an eye opener to be training with these guys for a few weeks as its incredibly different from how I'm used to training. Currently they have the European champion from Belarus - Ribushenko riding for them. He has won countless Italian UCI races over the last 2 seasons and is real nice.

I'll keep you updated on how it's all going (and whether or not I'd recommend Italian dentists...) in the next few weeks.

Ciao

Blog 10 - Senior Nationals

I have just returned home from my first senior National Championships on the Isle of Man. I had a great week on the Rock. A massive thanks has to go out to my teammate Owen and his Aunts for putting me up in their house. Also another big thanks goes out to my Supporters Pedal Potential and The Tom Maynard Trust. Without their help this trip would not have been possible. So here's my Diary of my week at the Nationals.

Monday (Travel day)
Monday consisted of leaving my house mid morning and driving up to Liverpool to get the evening Ferry. It wasn't the most exciting day; a bit of a slog especially with my car's black box......

Liverpool

Somehow everything fitted in including my two bikes!!!!!

Tuesday
We got settled into our base for the week at Karen's house in Port St Mary. For me personally I had an awesome morning because Owen took me to check out his sponsor's Ferrari collection; this made my jaw drop slightly... After this, we went out on the bikes for a recce of the National Time Trial Course. It was good to get a look at this as it was a very challenging course and definitely suited to my tastes (lumpy). Next we went exploring travelling down to the very picturesque Calf of Man. Evening meal was in Douglas at La Piazza. I've been to this Italian restaurant many times before on my visits to Douglas and it never disappoints!

Calf of Man

Wednesday
We went for a second recce of the Time Trial Course but today, in a bit of anger' to get a feel for how it would ride the following day. I was enjoying the Course a lot with its fast swooping corners but also grippy rises. Definitely more of a road mans course. I spent the rest of the day pretty chilled ahead of the following days Time Trial.

Thursday (Race Day)
I woke up pretty early, had a large bowl of granola and was on the rollers by 7.50am much to the other boys amusement as they were waking up. I always like to spin my legs pre TT. I then got my kit sorted and headed across to the race nice and early to make sure that all my equipment was okay for the race. The UCI bike checks are very strict. Once my bike had been checked I needed to move my handlebars back by 1cm. This wasn't so bad compared to my teammate Paul who had to completely change his setup including having to borrow a stem off Madison to be able to ride! After all this rigmarole, it was time to get warmed up and head to the Start.

Nationals Time Trial

I was really happy with my ride feeling like I was pretty smooth but also able to attack the climbs. I ended up in 24th place which I was pretty pleased with considering the stacked, quality field competing.

Friday
We just headed out on a steady 2 hour spin post TT just to flush the legs out. In the afternoon, I headed over to Douglas to catch up with a few people which was nice. Friday evening was spent at Owen's Aunt Nikki's for 'Fajita Friday' which was a really good laugh. Such a fun bunch of people.

Saturday
First thing in the morning we had a meeting with Flavio Zappi. we then headed out on a recce of the Road Race finishing circuit. This wasn't as testing as I'd imagined but would definitely take it out of the legs. In the afternoon I headed out in my car with Marcus of Spirit Tifosi who has been a friend of mine for years now. We went for a bit of a recce of the big IOM TT loop that the Road Race would be going round twice. Me being obsessed with cars ended up chasing a Lamborghini Aventador SU up the mountain ( well at least trying to keep it in sight!!!) which was pretty cool. Yet again I ended up at La Piazza for a pasta meal ahead of the Road Race. During the evening I found out that at the Team Manager's meeting Flavio had drawn car number 1 in the convoy! Brilliant as Flavio would have a birds eye view of the race.

Sunday (the big one!!)
I woke up pretty nervous of the race ahead, knowing I'd be lining up with such big names as Mark Cavendish, Pete Kennaugh and last years winner, Adam Blythe. The morning felt endless waiting for our race to kick off at 2pm. I spent most of it trying to chill out in Paul's dad Len's campervan, which was a Godsend.

The race started neutralised down Bray Hill which was pretty surreal after watching the televised motorbike TT races for many years.  It must have been cool for the spectators to watch the 165 riders through this area.The race was underway with plenty of attacks from the get go.  Four Zappi boys got in the early moves - Scott, Owen, Ben and James. The boys were in a pretty big group which ended up splitting. Most of the World Tour riders were in my Group and they really lit it up going over the mountain. I managed to make the second split over the mountain which came back going down it. Then on the back of one circuit, some of the world tour riders rode away from us with a real display of power. Going up the mountain again, lots of remnants of the early breakaway were now caught. We descended the mountain as a select Group of 30/40 UK domestic Pro riders with about 12 riders away off the front (including eventual winner, Steve Cummings). The finishing circuit was about 4 miles long and our group completed 6 laps out of the 10. We were black flagged and pulled off the circuit because the leaders were close to catching us. This was a shame as we weren't able to sprint for our final positions. Places were just recorded where we were in the Group when we were 'black flagged'. (I was recorded 42nd overall and 13th U23 out of 165 starters). Only 12 riders actually completed the whole 120 Mile Course.

My Group on one of the finishing circuit laps

However, I was very happy with my ride and how I felt during the race and also compared to other U23 riders. This topped off a good week for me. In the evening, I celebrated with my teammates but also with riders from many other teams which was pretty cool.

In summary, I had an ace week on The Rock and was very happy with how both races went. The Isle of Man certainly knows how to host an Event and the atmosphere was fantastic thanks to the enthusiastic crowds spectating. Next step for me is Val D'aosta - a 5 Stage race in the Italian Alps. This will be gruelling but I'm really looking forward to the experience.

Ciao!

Blog 9

I have just a few days left before I travel to the Isle of Man for my first Senior nationals. I'm excited and nervous in equal measure! I have been making the annual pilgrimage to the IOM for the Youth and then Junior National Series races since 2012 and have always really enjoyed my visits.

(2012 in my first leaders jersey with my now team mate Owen Dudley in 3rd wheel) 

                                          

It's always been one of my favourite destinations on the Calendar due to its lumpy terrain and changeable weather....... I also have a number of good Manx friends including Zappi team mate Owen Dudley.  I've always had a good run of GC races in the IOM:

In 2012 as a 2nd year under 14, I finished second overall to Dan Tulett. I was chuffed in this race to wear my first ever leader's yellow jersey.
In 2013 I rode my first time for Wales and finished 12th on GC in a support role for Joe Holt
In 2014 I narrowly missed out on the win - by just 1 second to Matty Walls who was to become my teammate the following season.
In 2015 I endured some of worst conditions I'd ever raced in and was happy to end up in 4th overall without hypothermia!
In 2016 another tough race but finished in 5th overall

(2016 during y last IOM junior tour)

This Year will be different, racing the likes of Mark Cavendish, Pete Kennaugh, Luke Rowe, Adam Blythe etc..... My aim is to produce a respectable result in the Time Trial and to get stuck in to the road race. Basically I'm looking forward to the whole experience at my first senior Nationals.

During the last couple of weeks leading up the nationals I've been putting the hours in but also had a dabble in a few circuit races and a road race. I've been pretty happy with how the legs have felt riding these races aggressively and trying to make each race.

My next blog will have a run down of how the 2017 Nationals went for me.

Blog 8

So a quick update. Unexpectedly I'm still at home! I should have been on a flight to Bologna, Italy last week - flight booked, online check-in complete. Just 36 hours before I was due to fly, my team informed me that plans had changed. I was asked could I get to Nice from Bologna. This would have meant getting a train from Bologna to Milan. Then a train from Milan to Nice....... Just one problem here - my team bike, shoes and kit, are all in the Team House in Northern Italy and the house is locked! I had two options:

1. Fly to Nice. Race on a team mate's spare bike and borrow some kit.

2. Cancel my Bologna flight and stay at home to concentrate on preparing for the Nationals (Road and TT)

I chose option 2. I was initially pretty disappointed. As I said in my last blog, I was looking forward to getting stuck in to the Italian races. My form has improved a fair bit and I was interested to see how well I went in the these races. However, I'm not one to dwell. Since I've been home I've thoroughly enjoyed getting stuck into some consistent quality training and also doing some TTs. I broke the Course record on my local club 10 and have improved my personal best for a 25 mile TT. My legs are coming along nicely and I hope to build upon this form ahead of the June Nationals.

Aside from the 'on the bike' stuff, the weather on the whole has been fantastic. This had made the hours in the saddle a lot more enjoyable. It has also been nice to take some time to chill and get down to the local beach to make the most of this weather in Wales.

Ciao

Blog 7

I am currently back in Wales for some family time and quality training on Wales' finest roads. It was a bit of whirlwind of a trip home. My race finished at 5:15pm and my flight left at 6:40pm. The airport was a 30minute drive from the race. To say I was a bit stressed about catching this was an understatement... luckily I made the flight with a bit of time to spare!!

I only realised once I'd touched down on home soil, how much I needed some time at home. As fantastic as it is in Italy, I needed to see my family and spend some time away from the Zappi house in order to regain my focus and find some form.

Whilst being home, I've capitalised on the opportunity to see close family and friends which has been really nice. I've also enjoyed jumping back on my Time Trial bike after wayyyyy too long. People that know me well, will know I like to spend plenty of time on my TT bike. Since I've been back I've done a few Time Trials to gauge my form. The first TT was a shock to the system I can tell you, after doing lots of long slow miles in Italy. It was a refreshing change to come from the razzmatazz of Italian UCI races to the humble UK TT scene. In all honesty, it was great to be back doing welsh TTs surrounded by people that have been with me for years. I enjoyed catching up with the long standing officials such as the legend that is - Tudor Thomas "e huh, e huh!"(those in the know will understand...). I've missed hearing the excuses of club riders back at the clubhouse too - explaining why they didn't go so well whilst scoffing slabs of cake! This is such a contrast to the aftermath of an Italian race when I'm left puzzling how some of the top Italian riders are consistently dominant?!

It's been a boost to my morale with a 3rd in an open TT on Saturday and breaking the Course record for the local club TT on Thursday evening. I have to say I've loved every minute of riding at home. The weather has been particularly kind and I've been reminded of how awesome Wales is.

I'll be returning to Italy shortly and I now can't wait to get stuck in to the next Italian UCI and National races on my Race Calendar before returning home ahead of the British National champs at the end of June.

Ciao

Blog 6

It’s hard to know where to start with this... sorry that the updates have been a bit slow.  I have been all over the place recently with racing and travelling. We have been racing twice a week most weeks, all over Italy and even up in eastern Belgium for Liege.

               

Team Presentation

So starting off from where I left the last blog, I have had lots of racing. I have competed in 3 UCI 1.2's and 1 Italian National (U28) race. These races have been incredibly tough and a huge learning curve for me. I haven't had the best luck in these races either. I had a mechanical issue in Collechio and a crash in Liege Bastogne Liege. Most recently I've came down with a cold meaning I missed GP Venderiano and GP Libraziano. This has been a bit frustrating. However, on a positive note I was very happy to get round my first Italian national - Vincenza Bionde. The parcour for this race suited a sprinter and the race was really fast averaging 45kph for 170km! It gives me confidence for the races I have soon.

 

Dressed up for Belgium weather

Aside from the racing, I have gained a ton of new experiences along the way. It's hard for me to even remember all of them which is crazy as it’s less than a month since my last blog! My journey to Liege in the van with Flavio and Owen was certainly a trip I’ll never forget for the tremendous scenery on route. Driving past Lake Como and then through Switzerland was just awesome.

Probably the most memorable event for me would be following my crash in Liege. I was out of the race, riding by myself, in the middle of the Ardennes in the cold, rain and wind. I was following little yellow signs for the finish and questioning my sanity whilst shivering away (it was just 6 degrees and I’d left Italy at 26 degrees!). Anyway, before I could get lost, I was picked up by the guys who were collecting the signs for the race. I flagged them down, used my best French and jumped in to the van with my bike. It certainly made a very entertaining journey back to the Finish. Safe to say I soon forgot about my race with these lads. After some very exuberant driving, a few cans of Jupiter later, we arrived. It was late and I arrived in a very different manner to how I’d planned on the Start Line that morning!

Crash in Liege Bastogne Liege. Note my red Zappi leg in left ditch!!

I feel very accustomed to the Italian culture now and it's felt like I've lived out here for ages. It is very different to the UK. I appreciate each for different reasons. I feel the Italian culture suits me pretty well with everyone seeming to constantly be moving at 200kph. Also it's fair to say I enjoy Italian gelato and coffee a bit too much. The town in which we are staying seems to feel a little more alive each weekend as more and more businesses open up for the season. Only problem is Italian weather has been treating me a bit too well because I was in for a shock with how cold I felt in Belgium. It’s definitely making me soft being out here.

We have enjoyed a few chilled out evenings in Rimini which has been a laugh, be it mostly at Paul’s expense for having a few too many…. Going to each race in a different location lets you explore new areas for a brief period most weekends. We have been to lots of picturesque towns and fabulous cities such as Verona. It's been great to take in some breath-taking scenery as well. My favourite of which was still passing the Italian lakes on our way up into Switzerland on route to Liege.

Stunning Scenery

Ciao for now

Blog 5

First update from Italy! I’m very happy to now be in Italy after a long old trip across from Barcelona to Rome, then a mega drive up to Igea Marina where we are based. It was a long few days of traveling including getting lost in Barcelona IKEA with Jack and a delayed 28 hour ferry crossing. Eventually and thankfully, we reached our base on the North East coast of Italy near Rimini.

The day after we arrived in Italy, we went straight off to our first race which was Montecassiano an U28 National. I was very apprehensive ahead of this race knowing how hard Italian racing is and how big a jump junior racing was to this level. It was a rolling course especially in the second half of the race which switched to a hillier circuit. I was pretty happy with how I did lasting for 149 of 167km (only 35 finished out of 200 starters!). The racing here really is ‘full gas’!

Post-race we had a steady week getting to know the area and exploring Italian roads. Where we are based is a ghost town at the moment. It is a holiday destination and nothing is open until summer; it is quite bizarre walking around the town. Apart from this, the area is ideal for training; always starting on the flat before reaching the hills after 45mins on each ride. Also it was a great experience to visit the Pantani memorial. Surreal experience to pay respects to one of the best climbers that's ever lived! Another highlight of this week was getting to ride a strade bianche recce. It was a lot of fun pulling some shapes and sliding around on the gravel roads. It did make me pretty gutted to be missing this race as it would have been a lot of fun. 

 

Strade Bianchi recce

Strade Bianchi recce

The weekend of the Strade Bianche when the other boys were racing, I was placed in a tough section, with wheels in hand, in case of punctures. Unfortunately, most of the boys suffered punctures. All in all, I think they had a great experience in racing it. It looked as though they had been to war post-finish! After the race, I have to give a big thanks to Owen’s Aunties for inviting me out for the night for my 19^th Birthday. I had an ace evening out in Old Rimini which almost made up for the disappointment of not riding the Strade Bianche. 

The last few days we have just come off a tough block of training. We have had 2 big days out in the mountains. It was great for me being new to the area; exploring the new roads and scenery was ace. It was particularly cool, winding our way up to San Marino. Mind you it was hard to take much in, digging deep up that climb! I am pretty happy with the way my legs are coming along during this block. I am really looking forward to getting stuck into my next Italian race soon. 

Ciao!