Hey guys,

Well the Tour de France team has been named as you probably all know, and there was no real suprises in there… I never made the team, something which i did expect due to my up and down season ive had to date. To go to the Tour de France you not only have be in super form, but you also have to be consistant right the way through the season…

Unfortunately for myself, you all know ive had far from an ideal season… till now that is… so looking at the team selected i can say that all the guys deserve their spot, and its going to be a great race for those guys.. So a big congrats to all of them…. For some there are first time tour riders, and for the lucky one like cavendish, he is going for his 16th stage win.. 16th!!!!! how unreal is that!

Am i disappointed? a touch of me is, Yes.. But not for being left of the tdf team, more so for the season ive had.. the ups and downs etc.. Its just how it goes though, and there are many more races to come in which i will have a shot to reclaim the form i know im capable of, to put me back on that podium..

Already in my first race back i was really flying. super strong, so now with some real focus i am going to come back firing.. Its going to take some strong mental work, but i want to do this for myself, more than anyone else.. i think to finish a season on a strong note will leave a nicer feeling in my mouth than the other way around..

im just back from a few days with the track team in suisse.. Lets just say its slightly different to the road, lol…. but it was great to be back… i did a few track sessions, but i logged some impressive metres of climbing in and around aigle.. it was beautiful up there, and if anyone wants somewhere to ride you got to go there.. the climbs are just breath taking, and you realise how lucky you are to be able to do this sport..

righto. some predicitions…. Contador will win the tour hands down… I think youll see radioshack on the podium with horner or levi.. Andy schleck will also be there… Wiggans will be strong, but was he good too early? For sure he is ready though, we all seen that… For the sprinters i think that when cav gets his first win, it will then become the cav show.. But that may take time.. Cav is the fastest, and with the team going they are really going for one goal and one goal only… to win stages.. the K.O.M, well everyone forgets about this competition. its still highly chased, but it has nothing on the green jersey comp.. anyone could win this, from a breakaway rider to contador… Moncoutie will go close in this comp…

Thats it for me.. i have the next month all lined up and ready to go… with a short trip to see my wee boy. then back to spain for an altitude camp, then ive got 3 one day pro kermesses lined up in belgium, then on to san sebastian where i aim to be in top condition..

again, mental strength is what i need. but im motivated, happy and ready for the last half of the season with my team HTC..

see ya guys,
roly

hi guys and girls,

just made it home to girona, and its soooo nice to know that its my own bed… plus when i wake the sun will be shining and the birds will be singing… oh and ive also got an easy day… sweet life huh!

But man we were treated with everything going today in the final stage.. It was blowing a gale right from the start, which made everyone nervous like you wouldnt believe…

no real breaks went till the yellow jersey stopped for a pee break… then a few floated off up the road to try their luck… they had over 3m at one stage, but with a very exposed cross wind section at km 90, it would soon come back..

its one thing have x winds in southland knowing there are only about 20 odd guys that can do damage there. today we were greeted with 100 riders all of the same strength fighting for the front.. it was madness, but great for those watching… the wind was so strong though, and guys were going out the back door all the time.. HTC all did a great job here looking afte each other, and we were all in the front group of 40 after it split… it did come back together though to about 100 riders and it was then tail wind all the way into the finishing circuits..

we seen the best part of the circuit coming in to the 3 to go bell… and it was obvious the race would blow to bits again, so i rallied the troops, and we all stayed right on the front… Lars Bak, Brammier, Gretsch, Fairley, all rode full gas to the line from here with the group getting smaller and smaller all the time…

It was a great feeling and makes me feel quite proud to be in such a strong team.. we had our sprinters tucked in behind us, with rasmussen keeping them safe.. it sounds so easy, but when the whole peleton knows that at the next corner its going to split everyone wants to be in the front… we held our cool and power all the way to the line, then lars bak, rasmussen and myself all did what we could to bring renshaw and howard as close to the line as possible..

when i swung off it was 500m to go, and then when howard started his sprint it was a sure thing he would win.. and he did, which is fantastic for him.. he is young, and super talented, and i claim most of that win cause i roomed with him all week. lol

i felt great again, and its such a nice feeling.. i dont know how im so good already considering the time ive had away from racing.. but ive said it before that freshness will go along way moving forward.. i was strong, but lacking a few percentage to be super. but that will come..

anyway, im very happy and excited for what lies ahead.. ill update should there be any exciting news re the tour.. i wont be waiting for a call, i know ive missed alot of racing, but i am fit enough, fresh enough to go thats for sure… but the best men now have to go, so i will probably miss the tour..

out of this though, new goals will form, and like i said in an earlier post. im focused and committed on getting onto that podium.. when and where is yet to be determined.. but the old me is back, and that is already a huge thing..

anyway, ill leave it here and let you know whats happeneing as i know.. thanks for all the support and the messages.. i really appreciate everthing that is said..

thanks guys..
hope all my chch friends are coping ok too.. just read there has been 7500 quakes since september.. man alive, thats ridiculous!

talk soon..
ciao
roly

Hi again

Today we were lucky… The sun acutally popped its head out every now and again! but man we had some serious rainfall here in ster electro tour which made the stage very tough..

It was 185kms long.. 2500m of climbing, which along with the weather made it a hell of a day for most of the peleton.. Lotto did the riding today as they had everything to gain having the worlds number 1 cyclist in their team, philip gilbert.. And he didnt disappoint.

I was super today.. The legs finally arrived and I let them loose! I am still missing the racing power to follow the best on the climbs, i have to first settle, then power over them.. Its frustrating cause i am actually strong enough to be in the front, but i dont have the real punch required to make that first split…. But still, im real happy with how this tour has gone, i knew that every day i would get better and today i felt like the old me had finally slipped back into my body!

With 60kms to go the peleton finally split due to a real hard tempo by lotto.. we then hit a really steep climb and the attacks started.. a group of 10 went away, i was in the second group and they quickly went out to 3mins.. Which was real suprising due to the speed we were travelling at! We were sort of in a place of not knowing what to do.. Do we chase, or do we wait? The reason being if we all chased full gas then who would go with the move at the end.. certainly not myself as im only just coming back.. Gretsch was in yellow, but tired, in fact everyone is tired due to how demanding this tour has been…

I ended up pulling with sebastian langeveld from Rabobank.. This is where i really committed and felt super.. We brought the gap down to under 1 minute when i swung off.. It was a pity we didnt have another couple of riders fresh enough to pull full gas, but we did the best we could..

I crossed the line and felt like i was back.. For the first time in ages, i had the feeling of real power and although i didnt achieve a result, i felt as if i had.. I have mentioned before that its gonna take small steps to get back to where i want to be, and i reckon i just leap frogged one step so thats great news…

Tomorrow we have another rainy day forcast.. That doesnt really concern me to be honest though, but still what is wrong with a bit of sunshine holland!!

So one last stage of 190kms.. Everyone is already complaining of the length of this stage seeing its the last.. its funny hearing the peleton moan! I want to be good again tomorrow, its going to be windy too and the race is far from over so lets see what can happen..

Ill update when i get a chance tomorrow after the stage…

Hope your enjoying the blogs again… Onwards and Upwards I PROMISE!

Hey!

Man did today scar me or what… Who ever said holland was flat is totally wrong! Ok so there is no 10km climbs, but there is alot of climbs from 500m-1500m long, which tend to bloody hurt when youve just done 2000m of climbing!

We were blessed with blue sky today, which was very lucky.. Honestly we would have made about 500 turns to encounter.. It was basically a mini amstel gold race, brutal! But good

The break went early and we actually had a pretty easy first hour, but the last 4hrs were far from easy.. It takes alot of power and good recovery to be strong on a day like today.. As you probably know, with it being my first race back im just missing a few % required to do something here… But i am improving and improving fast! i know my body and every night i feel better, stronger and if only this tour went for like a month, i reckon id be up for something at some stage!! But we only have 2 more stages.. still, i hope to do something one day.. well im going to try anyway!

HTC keep Gretsch in yellow today, which was great due to a very dangerous break on the last lap of the finishing circuit.. Gilbert caused it, and boy did he let rip.. Its amazing to see him at the mo.. he basically wins whatever he wants, hence why his next contract will be one I could only dream of.. Phil is a great guy too, always smiling.. Its nice to see such a big ‘hitter’ with respect for everyone on a bike. Regardless of who you are.. You dont see that too often over here, but there are some great champions.

Right thats enough from me.. Its californication time right now.. Man do i love that show.. If you dont know of it, you gotta download it.. Its not for everyone though, lol..

Will update tomorrow, once ive dried out

ciao ciao
roly

Tomorrows the day where the race will be won… It finishes at the top of a nasty climb.. we have circuits and i think we do this climb 3 times.. Rain, well torrential rain is forecast for tomorrow so thats gonna make things interesting! Its 180kms

Hey there,

We kicked off today in a massive down pour of rain.. Like it was so bad, so heavy that when the 10s countdown started no rider was on the start line…. Everyone was taking cover, it was unreal! The organiser must have been stressing a bit, he basically gave us about 10 different countdowns to get everyone up and moving.. Funny to us, not to that poor chap!

We had heaps of rain all day, but i wasnt cold ;-0 brief spells of sunshine would soon turn to rain again denting everyones morale… But and a big BUT it was nice to be out there chatting to friends who i havent seen in a long time.. We did have a touch of luck in the last 30kms and the sun came out…

Team HTC all controlled the first part of the race making sure the right break went up the road… And it did… Then we put two guys on the front who basically kept the break at a good distance and then with the help of a few other teams it was brought back right in time for the sprint.. Brammier and Fairley rode really strong though, just powering along with only two of them was nice to see.

We had a dirty climb with about 10kms to go.. It wasnt hard, in fact you wouldnt call it a climb normally, but when youve been rolling along in the bunch all day @ 200-250w and are then required to punch out 600w for a selected amount of time, it actually tickled quite a bit.. Alot of guys went backwards… Luckily i was ok, just rolled with the group, with no stress and tried to help coming into the sprint..

I felt ok today, nothing super, it was like the muscles were not working 100%.. but im sure they will be soon… I had a bit of a catch up with julz, then had to go round the poor buggar lying on the deck up the climb.. yes up the climb, you read right! It was still wet, and i guess his front wheel just disappeared.. He looked pretty good before hand too, so i was sad to see him lying on the ground.. He finished though which is good for him with july on everyones mind…

Tomorrow we have the first of the up and down days.. its going to be a test for me i guess, but with the uphill comes the downhill.. you beauty! i know each day ill get better and better, so fingers crossed…

Thanks for reading and hope those of you in chch are all ok.. Man its so hard reading the news, watching the online clips… My heart goes out to everyone affected.. Hang in there!

Thanks for reading again..

ciao
roly

Hi there

Well im back racing.. yipeeee! I felt like a virgin out there to be honest, experiencing something new for the first time! But its great to be back, and with just about 4 months of no racing, I was pretty pleased with how I rode today considering….

It was a 7km prologue, I had a solid ride, nothing super special but I started and finished with a big smile on my face. That for me is a victory in itself.

This tour to me is the start of my new season, and I want to be back on a podium sooner rather than later. To be honest, I dont care where that podium is, it can be the veteran womans for all i care, but the goal is to be back on a podium!

Our team was super today.. Patrick Gretsch won the race, and the big dane Alex Rasmussen was 2nd which is fantastic. Both these guys have just come off the giro, which means they have strength to burn… So that means from tomorrow on we will be controlling the race, aiming to keep the lead all the way to finish.. we have a sprint day tomorrow (normally!) and then a few hard hilly days.. so its going to be a great tour..

Im a few kilo overweight, which you really notice, but racing is the best way to trim up a bit.. Im not overly stressed about it, i call it a ‘work in progress’ lol…. it will come off, and that will help considerably moving forward..

Righto, ill update daily so stay tuned.. you never know, these extra fat stores may just be the extra energy i need for the bad weather that probably will come seeing we are north of france! haha..

Im happy.. Im focused… Im strong, now its about moving upwards in every way, but not on the scales!

thanks for reading… will write more tomorrow!

ciao
roly

Hi guys..

Everything is going just the way i want it and i feel im back on track and I really feel great. Im pedalling better than i have in a long time, and now with my first race approaching fast its full gas ahead..

I am racing in Holland in the Ster Electro tour, which is a race ive done before.. Normally it starts with a prologue time trial, followed by 4 road stages so will be a good race to come back.

Ive been really training well with some great sensations too so im pretty happy with where things are at.. I feel super actually and i know when my body is starting to fire…. ive just been focusing on getting my power back up and although at first it was killing me, its now right where it needs to be.

I aim to hit the ground running here. Im not going there in the hope of using the race as preparation for later.. Im going there at a good level hoping to do something.. I know alot of guys need racing, but ive shown many times before that without racing alot i can still be competitive…

As for my next race im not really too sure.. We will see.. The tour de france is in july as we all know. Will i be racing? Probably not due to the lack of racing… BUT you just never know.. Maybe now im not focusing on it something amazing could happen? who knows… all i know is that i am happy riding again with a real purpose.. Getting back to my best, focusing on the small things, and knowing that im probably the freshest in the peleton is going to go a long way in the 2nd half of the season..

Thanks for reading, ill be updating throughout the tour..

seeyou
roly