Hi there.

Well the first part of my season is now done and dusted. I feel as if I could go on though and it’s crazy to think its already April and the classics are finished. I feel as if i havent had a go though, but alot of positives have come from this part of my season which is only going to help heading into the next years of my career.

Roubaix for me was the most frustrating race ever. I had a set of legs that were truly amazing, legs that you work so hard to get all year. I barely touched them before the first sector at km 100 and everything was going perfectly for me. I felt confident that today was going to be amazing.

Right from the start I felt good, I just hung around the back out of trouble until the first section then I started to fight a bit. I passed the first 5 sectors very comfy and then in the next section of cobbles there was a massive crash taking down 20 guys. I wasn’t initially in this crash, but I ended up riding full gas into it going over my handlebars. With all the jarring I just couldnt get my hands to the brakes in time, so down i went…. I hit the deck hard with a few guys going over me. The Good old kiwi that jack Bauer is saw me on the deck and tried pulling me up but I couldn’t get my shoes unclipped! So frustrating. I had to just lie there. And wait for the guys on top to get off. grrrrr. Had a wee issue with an euskatel rider kicking me in the head while on the ground too…… Safe to say the spaniard backed down when I got up! I was fuming Haha

I finally got up. Changed a wheel and got on my way. But valuable time was lost. From this point on I had no gears so I had to have a bike change and chase some more. The team that was on the front heard the crash through the radio and rode full gas knowing their main guys were safe. This made my day hell!

My team car paced me and the group i was with as much as they could to try get me back to at least a group that could have a chance to come back. But even with their help I never came back. Pacing is generally not allowed, but after so many guys going down the commissaries turned a blind eye. I finally started to see the long line of team cars approaching arenberg, they were all standing still though due to another crash so we started this sector from 0km/hr and not 60km/hr like the front guys. Again. Lost time.

From here I just had to do the best I could. I never died at all. I was super strong. Even though I was out of it, I was super positive that maybe a Favourite would have a problem, his team would all stop and I’d get back. Nope! This didn’t happen!

It was so frustrating. Through the open fields I could see the bunch. See the cars. But it was just too much of an ask to come back. I was angry, i just felt that no matter how hard i went, I couldnt get back! In the end I didn’t even want to win. I just wanted a chance to podium or a top 10 but when you lose so much time due to bad luck it’s very hard.

Normally in roubaix the peloton tends to start and stop. Fast slow etc. this year though it never slowed at all. Toms average was 44k/hr which is super fast considering that 50km of the race is on roads that are barely rideable. He had a huge ride, it was impressive to see from a far.

As frustrated as I was yesterday I still crossed the line with a smile on my face. I didn’t get the result I was after in these two big races but I gained a lot of confidence and hunger for the future. I know I’ve got the goods and I’m motivated beyond belief to be here next year in the thick of it.

This classics season like i said has been one of what ifs? But ive walked away with only positives… Im right there… Yes you need luck and im frustrated but i know that with luck, i can go the whole way.. i may have to wait a year, maybe more.. but i have this goal now in my head.. and excited to feel what its like to race deep into the finale knowing i as so close.

Next up for me is a whole lot of nothing! Claire and I fly back to NZ on Tuesday for a break. It’s going to be great to see all our families again, and most importantly see my boy Moses. Man he has grown up! He just sits in front of computer now on Skype chatting away. Pretty amazing and I can’t wait to have him back in my arms. I’ll be home for 10d, Claire a bit longer. Then I will head back to Europe to do a 2 week altitude block before my first race, bayern rundfhart which starts may 22nd.

After a bit of relax its time to switch the focus towards making the tour de France team. That’s my goal now and as hard as it is in our team, im determined to be there and support our top guys to win this race.

Then I want a crack at the Olympic gold. A dream im yet to fulfill…

Thanks guys for all your support. It’s been great and I really appreciate it.

Ciao
Roly!

Hi there

Well we started today with the hopes of winning the tour of flanders with fabian cancellara..We clearly had the strongest guy in the race and on this course only the strongest would win.. Everything was put into fabian and rightly so. He has been there and done this many times before and also won.. So he was our 1 leader, while the rest of us all had to try and go as far as we could to have numbers when shit hit the fan late in the race..

as it turned out, we did have numbers. the race went 100% how we wanted it too.. at the second feed we had 8 riders in the first group of 80, which is pretty impressive… then fabian crashed and we were down to 5 cause jesse and markel stopped with him, unsure what to do, but if he got back up he would have some support coming back.. he never got back up, and was in agony with 3 breaks to his collarbone.. how disappointing..

from here it was a change of plan… we knew after putting all our eggs in one basket that it would be a hard task to all of a sudden change tact.. we had worked to allow fabian a free ride so we werent exactly fresh.. normally our day would be done and dusted half way up the kwaremont the last time. after riding full gas to blow the front group of 30 up and from there fabian would go… sounds nice but that will have to wait for another year!!!

i was good.. strong and on the cobbles i felt at ease.. i was really floating over them.. i was always in the front the last 40k, that was a nice feeling in itself.. coming into the last lap up the kwaremont i never quite go the position i wanted… guys were tired and dropping wheels and i had to wait for a gap before i could go.. by this time there was already a 50m gap to the 3 leaders.. something which seems like minutes after 250k. i was gutted.. in hindsight i should have fought harder to be in the front.. but think of it like this.. 1k before the kwaremont (a 2.5km long cobbled stretch) you have to go full gas. like as if its a sprint finish.. just to get in the position.. you then turn right onto the climb, relax a little then again go full gas up it.. after 250k this is no easy task mentally.. but when i think about it now i wish i had of. i really feel that if i was on boonens wheel or closer i would have held it to the top.. again, you learn something new everyday..

it was such a weird last 30k. it was like the whole thing was in slow motion.. the crowd was the biggest ive ever seen in any bike race, even bigger than the tour de france.. it was all a blur though, but you could feel their energy.. and smell the beer!

so i was in the second group of 9 riders chasing the 3 leaders.. i tried many times to go solo from this group. i still felt strong and i wasnt tired.. i would have attacked them 10 times i think, just trying to get away and settle into my own rythem.. try go after the leaders knowing that they could stall watching each other.. but it wasnt to be.. boonen had two riders in our group, and they would chase every time.. still i had to try. with 200m to go we got caught by a group of 30 riders. i knew they were coming so i did the last k full gas to try and keep my teammate rast in the front and gunning for 4th.. he run 11th in the end, and i was 21st..

so on one hand im happy.. i proved today ive got the legs to be up there.. i rode a good race, i never died. and all is looking good for this sunday in paris roubaix.

again we have 260kms.. this time though its all flat and we have over 100kms of cobbles.. real cobbles, ones that are so rough its barely possible to ride over them…but we will.. if its raining we honestly look like pigs in mud after the race… its going to be a great race and im really motivated.. this is my big goal. so far this year ive had some very good races, no real success but i havent had the chance either due to playing a support role.. this sunday i want to change all that and with no fabian our team will be a little less watched.. so i have a good shot to be right up there again. im really excited and focused and it would be nice to finish this part of my season with a bang…

although we no longer have fabian, we still have a team that is ambitious. we are strong and we will do all we can do bring home the roubaix winners brick!

im also riding on wednesday in scheldeprijs. its 200kms but its purely a training day for us.. just to get 5hrs done on the bike.. stay out of trouble and then rest up ready for the weekend.. there is no pressure for us to perform.. if its good weather ill finish the race in the bunch.. if its bad ill stop the race and just recover for what is going to be a massive day next sunday…

thanks for reading guys and thanks for all the support.. i heard my name called many times yesterday and im sure i heard a bunch of kiwis up the top of the kwaremont too! awesome to see..

ciao
roly

Hi again!

Well the weekends racing is over which im very very happy about. It was a bloody stressful weekend. 1, due to how I was feeling and 2, just trying to stay up right and safe heading into next week.. I’m now really happy to be home though, with only my health needing to be restored and not trying to heal any wounds like many are right now! We traveled back with Koen de Kort from one of the other teams that raced on friday. He crashed hard on one of the descents that had gravel on it.. Lets just say he would fit right into Halloween or something. He looked like the mommy! Poor guy I tell you..

To be honest, I felt that fridays race I went into it at only 85% of my full health and only 1 day of riding in my legs since the weekend before. Sunday though I was feeling even worse! I felt really bad.. bad stomach, really blocked up and a slight ache all over. I knew I wasn’t required to do much though apart from be there, get some important race kilometers in and get my health back to 100% so I’m ready to rock this sunday in flanders. Still it wasn’t easy trying to put on a happy un affected face feeling like I did!

In sundays race I never really went into the red. I just knew my body was having a hard time recovering from the race on friday, whilst also to trying to recover from whatever bug I had picked up. So I really controlled how deep I went in GW. Why? Basically, if I went to the finish and really pushed hard for the entire 6hrs then I would never recover from the illness and risk getting even worse.

Its probably the smartest move I’ve made in my career and one of the only times I’ve left my ego out of the decision making! lol Cause this morning im up early and I feeling SOOOOOO much better. I feel as if ive recovered now, or very close to it so as you can imagine I am a whole lot happier and excited about what’s coming. So now its time to get all systems up and running for the big week that awaits.

The team were again pretty strong in GW. But we were struck with some bad luck again when benatti was in the front group lining up the sprint, then puncturing with 13k to go.. Gutted! He did make it back though but it would have cost him huge amounts of zap. I think Fabian was 5th, and he run 6th so thats not too bad.. Although this past weekend we have not won like we all wanted, this coming weekend is all that matters and can make a teams year. I reckon the team is going to be very strong and everyone is very focused and hungrier than ever for the victory.

On Friday morning I travel back to Belgium where ill be picked up by the team. Im going to be doing a solo recon of the small loops for flanders seeing I missed the team ride with the team last week. I didnt have to do it, but I want to see it just so I know exactly what is in store. The tour of flanders has traditionally been held over the same 264km parcours for 50 odd years. Going over all the famous climbs. This year though, the organizers have decided to ‘spice’ it up a little and make it harder. Much to the disliking of many riders. Its a touchy subject here in europe right now, and has the whole peleton on edge not really knowing what is coming.. My guess is instead of a group coming to the finish, your probably going to see more ones and twos. Its going to be super hard.. Alot harder than years before. The race is normally about 6.5hrs long but I think this year is going to be over 7hrs. The peleton all know its a harder course, so I’m picking that in the first flat 100k a small break will go and we will be riding easy for some time.
But who really knows! I think for our team the harder it is the better. For me personally too. Its going to be a war though and its times like this i wish i could be wearing a full body superbike kit!!!

The winner will of course be the strongest thats for sure. Thats all that counts really so its going to be an exciting race for those watching from their armchair!

right enough from me… I had yesterday off the bike again, just to give the body one more day of freedom so it could do what it needed to do! Today ill head out for 2hrs easy, then tomorrow if i feel 100% ill get a long ride in over 5hrs with some short efforts.. The rest of the week is all about recovery and freshening up. Its quite a boring week when you go down such a straight line i tell you! sleeping, eating, riding, massage, sleeping and more eating etc etc… I cant knock out any more californication due to finishing the whole series in 2 days up in belg last time (idiot)!! lol

Thanks for reading! Youll hear from me soon!

ciao
roly

Hi there

Well today was a day our team would rather forget.. I reckon we had all the bad luck for the season today.. Fabian crashed twice, and had 4 punctures. I punctured and so did Poppo. In a race like today you need to have luck on your side. We did not! Even though today is a big race, its not the ‘big week’ that the peleton is waiting for in 10d time. so I think its better to get the bad luck done now!

Far out it was stressful in the bunch today. So many crashes, some just on straight pieces of road.. Idiots is what I call them, some have other names but ill leave it there! These races are always intense though, but some guys really need to learn a few things and we will all feel a whole lot better. The reason for the stress is of course the parcours.. Hard racing and the narrow roads just add to it. Whats causing the most stress is that for the upcoming ‘big week’ I talk about, there is only 8 riders in each team.. Each team has a total of 30 riders to choose from, so you get guys wanting to be selected really taking crazy risks to be noticed.. Its cycling though, but that’s what I feel is the main cause anyway..

Right now for my day.. I had a great day. I mean I literally spent all week in bed sick.. I didn’t ride from MSR till the day before the race, but today I found that I was still very strong.. I was a DNF though, but not through choice. I had a puncture in the worst possible moment. Right before the taainberg. Those that know the roads will know that if you puncture there, your chances of getting back are very slim.. up till that point though I was strong.. i did my part for the team, keeping fabian out of the wind whenever we had cross wind.. I wasn’t 100% that’s for sure, i felt a bit weak in the muscles due to the bed rest all week. But I was still at a level much higher than alot. So I was very happy with my feelings. I know that feeling like I did today, after everything means that good things are not far away! I am going to be right where I need to be for the big week, I just know it and feel it..

So all in all a disappointing day for the team. Today Is a day that is important more mentally rather than anything else.. it doesn’t mean anything moving forward. At least we know that without the problems it could have been a totally different race. Fabian impressed me today though.. I mean he finished in the front group with all the troubles he had. Which says to me that he is very very strong. The team was also strong but it just wasn’t our day..

So tomorrow we have an easy day before we do it all over again on Sunday in Gent-Wevelgem. That is a big race going over 230kms. Ill be better again there.. from here ill be on lockdown mode, recovering from a demanding weekend.. then setting my sights firmly on flanders, then Roubaix.. good things are coming for this team I just know it..

Just give us a bit of LUCK please!

Will update after the race on Sunday.. thanks for reading and cheers for all the support.

Ciao, Roly

Hi there.

Sorry for not updating my site earlier! I’ve just been so crook since MSR and have barely moved. So as you can imagine, the thought of writing an update was not high on the ‘to do’ list!
I literally spent monday, tuesday and wednesday in bed… like i said, i was sick!

MSR went as close to perfection as we all could have hoped, Only to be un done in the last meter of the race. Fabian finished a very close 2nd only to lose in the final sprint after showing that he is back to his best with an amazing finale in what was a very tough 300km of racing.

Our team was super all day. Each one of us doing what we had to do so Fabian had a free ride right up till all the action begun on the final climb. The poggio is always where it goes down in Milan San Remo. Everyone knows it and it’s been that way for its entire history. You have to have the form to do anything here and seeing how Fabian rode gives us all strength to believe that the next few weeks here in the northern classics are going to be great.

I really had a bad day. Since tirreno I battled a sore/dry throat. I really tried not to buy into it but on race day with all the adrenalin I just got worse and worse. I knew something wasn’t right the night before. I just felt off. I woke up feeling ok but after 2h of racing I knew that I was not the same guy that felt so good in tirreno. I went from not feeling my pedals to struggling to even keep up on the flat. It was such a weird feeling and I was very disappointed. knowing i had the form to be right up there till the finale, then next minute just fighting to get to the climb some 20mins behind the leaders didnt go down well… guess the positive is that even though i felt so bad, was sick, i still finished.. i mean i had to, i had my girlfriend claire at the finish! lol

On the first major climb of the day le Manie, I felt as if I couldn’t even fight for a good position leading in. Something which is a must to be sure there is no splits in the peloton on the climb. I started right at the back and really thought my day was over with 100kms to go. I don’t know how I got over it. but i did.. Many riders were dropped and I always had the feeling I was the last man. I remember getting to the top feeling very proud that I hung on and thought I could still do a good job for the team despite how I was feeling. We then hit the coast again and there was a few splits and before i knew it that was it. The race was over.

So gutted. I remember looking at my watts going up le Manie thinking its not even hard. What’s wrong. I just was sore all over my body and the only thing keeping me going was knowing Claire had made the trip to San remo to watch the finish. but finishing in this way regardless of any sickness wasnt easy.. but i did it, and again felt somewhat proud in doing so..

so as i said all week ive been off the bike.. i was meant to come to belgium on tuesday night, but i just couldnt. i didnt want to risk other riders catching it.. and i wasnt ready to move myself.. so i flew up today, and this afternoon i rode 90kms.. (was meant to be 50 but i got lost!) lol.. i felt suprisingly good. fresh and excited to be riding again.. i needed those days off and after tirreno my body wont have lost alot if any.. im still not a hungy but the team are right behind me, knowing i was at a super high level.. so for now its about getting back there, staying healthy and getting this big weekend out of the way.. then its full gas concentration for the biggest week all year.. flanders on the 1st of april, and roubaix the 8th..

its going to be an exciting time so keep reading.. ill update tomorrow night with what i hope is a victory by fabian!

ciao
roly

Hi there,

Well we ended up not winning the race with chris… But we did finish 2nd, which of course is better than 3rd right!

I have mixed emotions right now. Just knowing chris came so close to winning this race only to be beaten by a rider having a better day. He also knew how hard we worked and regardless of all our work it came down to one guy to finish the job off, but he just couldn’t quite do it. Thats cycling for you! And at dinner tonight chris joked how atleast fabian saved the day! I do I feel for him but imagine how he must be feeling! We all wanted him to win for sure, it would have been an amazing comeback for him and the team, but we will take 2nd! Everyone here knows he did his absolute best and what more can you ask for. So hats off to the freak, first race back after crashing out of the tour de france 8 months ago… and back with a force.

We did however win today as i mentioned earlier with the super human known to many as Spartacus. Fabian was the red hot favourite going in to today and he didn’t disappoint either. He won by 12s over another team mate, benatti. I was 6th, with only 1s keeping me from the podium.. 1s!!!! grrrrrrrrrrrrrr…

Personally I was wrapped with my ride.. ive worked hard this week, like all of us here in RNT have. I wasn’t fresh but I was really strong today. I had a good ride, I felt smooth BUT I have one regret.. I should have taken a radio so the team could talk to me.. after many years of pro riding, Im still learning. note to myself – always take a radio fool!

Due to being slightly tired, I wasn’t sure how I was travelling and maybe, just maybe if I had of known I was on a goodie, I could have pedalled that little bit harder. Still, im fizzing knowing I was right up there even with tired legs, and who knows, i may have not pedaled faster either lol!

I was really nervous coming into this race, just having so much time off with my injury. But throughout the tour I just got stronger and stronger so as much as I thought I would struggle, I think that forced time off was a blessing in disguise. Now I feel in super shape, and still coming up as I head towards the most important part of the season for any classics rider. I cant wait. The team cant wait.. we all showed we are strong and everyone here is excited for what is coming over the next few weeks in belgium.

Right, yesterday I talked about a few stats from yesterdays ride.. here is a summary of the whole tour. Its pretty interesting if your into all of this, and if your not into it, I reckon burning close to 30,000 kilojoules for the week will even make you feel hungry! That’s just riding, not to mention living, breathing etc etc which for me requires about 1700 calories a day…

So for the week here in tirreno the stats are:
31hrs race time
240 average watts
1075kms raced
15120m of climbing
141 average heart rate
27,300kjs (which as a rider they use this as calories regardless of what you hear!)

When you think about it. I finished 80th or somewhere there abouts.. I was never here to win the race. Purely to build form and help chris try to win. Im 78kgs where as the winner of the race would be somewhere around 65kgs, maybe even less! Big Miguel Indurain won 5 Tour de Frances at around my weight, so imagine what sort of wattages he was cranking out!!!

Now you’ve probably guessed the stage finished early and I was bored! Hence the stats. For me now its time to recover, and focus on what lies ahead. Im right where I need to be and still improving but the work is now done so its more about quality now rather than thrashing my body! Next up for me is Milan San Remo, a nice 300km race and one of the most famous one day races in the world. Then its home to girona for a few days before heading to Belgium for the classics campaign.

Again, cheers for the support.. hope you enjoy reading the site! My race calender will be updated as soon as a certain someone gets time to do it!

Ciao
Roly

Hi guys,

Well with one day to go and after 6 very hard days who would have thought the race would come down to 3 riders all within 6s.. with our man on top!! The freak is still hanging in there… and riding amazingly for someone who 8 months ago crashed out of the tour de france with many questioning if he would ever return.

Today in tirreno was a very hard stage.. we had over 3000m of climbing today and an average speed of 39k/hr.. so for us chch people it means going from the bottom or the kiwi, up and down 6 times! Yip crazy I know. It was full on with a massive group getting dropped directly. I think there was like 50 riders in this group and it took them 50kms to come back to us.. hard I tell you!

But today RNT showed how strong we are as a team.. we are led by Fabian Cancellara who needs no introduction. Of course our race leader Chris Horner is also our leader but Fabian really is the guy that encourages us to do the job, he is also someone that the entire team respects. But the team today was amazing.. I felt amazing, perhaps the strongest ive ever felt, which is a great sign at the end of a very demanding 7 day tour.

So chris now leads by only 6s. there are 3 riders within reach, and on any given day any of them could win.. I hope chris has the legs, as do the rest of us but its going to be tough.. He is up for it though and we are all right behind him.. Fabian is naturally the favourite for tomorrows time trial due to his palmares having quite a few world titles to his name.. But I think even he would agree what we really want is the overall… but hey why not chuck in the last stage for good measure.. im feeling good, and right now fresh enough to give it a good go too. its only 9km long. Everyone is tired so ill give it my best and see where that takes me..

Heres some stats from todays race for you techno geeks out there.. im one also so don’t worry!
Dist- 180kms
Time – 4h 45m
Av watts – 286w (with zeros)
Altitude – 3300m
Av speed – 39.2
So as you can see it was a ridiculously hard race today.. hence why my French room mate is about to get a pillow launched at him due to his snoring… which reminds me that I should also be in bed asleep!

Anyway, will update tomorrow… one last stage.. hope the freak of nature wins this thing. He deserves it, and so does our team.. its been a great week but its not quite over yet..

Thanks for the support and ill update tomorrow..

Ciao
Roly ?