Season Wrap Up

As the 2015 season draws to close I thought it would be a good time to look back through the year, picking out the highs and the lows. For me the season got off on a different start as I went to Algeria for a month of racing the UCI Africa Tour. It could not have got off to a worse start however as I crashed on the opening day injuring my knee. This meant that I had to have nearly a week off the bike effectively ruining any hopes I had of picking up some early season results.

 On return to Belgium I resumed the normal racing diet of kermis races for the first couple of weeks, before the bigger Interclubs began such as Tweedaagse van de Gaverstreek, races like these were a great experience and ones I look forward to racing next year with the aim of getting a result at the end. My first block of racing ended with a 6^th place in a kermis, not a massive result but a confidence booster going into the next block of racing. After a weeks rest followed by some hard training I felt the form start to pick up at the end of May, this was proved as I placed 5^th out of 130 starters in a big kermis. I was then into some of the bigger races of the season such as Triptyque Ardennais and Menen Classic. Every week I found myself racing big Interclubs, if I compared myself to last season I was miles ahead, this year I have been able to get involved in the racing rather than just making up the numbers.

Photo: Martine Verfaillie

Photo: Bart Devriese 2015

I returned home at the end of June in need of some rest, the heavy early season racing had taken a toll on me. After a weeks rest I jumped straight into racing a road race in the UK for the first time in a couple of years, the week of rest must have served me well as I went on to win. The following week I raced the Stafford GP, although I didn’t pick up any result at the end I was happy to make the front group and be involved in the racing. On my return to Belgium my next big aim was the Ronde van Namen, first I had to race the Belgium Cup TTT, my first proper TTT resulted in a lot of suffering and grimacing at the wheel in front of me but I was pleased to still be there at the end. In the build up to Namen I raced a kermis in Lichtervelde, I managed to pick up my best results in Belgium to date, 4th. I was in the winning break of 4 including two An Post pro riders for half the race, I just ran out of legs with a few laps to go though. Unfortunately my Ronde van Namen ended on day 2 due to some of the hottest racing conditions I had ever experienced. Looking back it was clear I didn’t drink enough throughout the stage so that is something I will learn from for the future.

Photo: Jean Bollaerts

The final part of the season kicked off with Liedkerkse Pijl, a race I had been looking forward to riding, coming into the final it was down to a bunch sprint, I was well placed going for a top twenty when with 500m to go I got brought down in a big pile up. I had quite a lot of pain in my lower back and unfortunately I would have to go into the 5 day Ronde van Oost Vlaanderen with the injury. Due to this the first three days I was really suffering to even get out of the saddle so it was just a case of getting round. To kick off the final month of racing I started with a Belgium cup round in Adinkerke, a race renowned for its crosswinds. I tried to stay well placed throughout, after around 40kms the decisive split was formed, at the time I was just 5 places to far back and unfortunately I never saw the front again.

Photo: Wierlerfoto's Manou Ramboer

Photo: Joeri De Coninck

Looking back on the year I can see I have made a lot of progress. I have seen this in the results I have got and the way I have been able to race. I am looking forward to working harder than ever before to make next season even better. A big thanks has to go to everyone who has helped me along the way especially the Dave Rayner Fund, Brotherton Cycles and Mamil Cycling.

Check out the CT 2020 website - www.ct-2020.com/

My results page for the year - cyclingdatabase.com

Here's to an even bigger 2016!

Adam