Published on 24th April 2017 | By Chris Walker

Finally ended a string of disappointing results with a promising ride in the town of Ardooie, West Flanders. The race was 112km’s in length and consisted of 28 laps, enough to make anyone dizzy!

An early move was made which I was able to follow for 15 minutes before the peloton began closing in. The bunch reformed and I remained within the front 10 wheels for a long time. I conserved a lot of energy by doing so as I was able to hit the corners a lot faster, therefore reducing the amount of power needed to kick out of them. This is something I mentioned in my previous post and that I’d been working on. It was great to finally put it into action and feel the benefits!

The race calmed after about 1.5 hours of racing and picked up again with 4/5 laps to go. Legs were strong and riders were constantly attacking. A group of eight got away and with two laps to go, I was able to follow an attack. Six of us rode hard and gained a significant gap on the chasing peloton. I knew I was in good company and was certain we’d stay away. With just half a lap remaining the riders in my group began looking around, playing games with one another and our speed dropped considerably. As a result the peloton brought us back with less than a kilometer remaining. My chances of a top ten finish were now massively reduced, as it would destined to come to a bunch sprint.

I was happy with the power I was able to produce in the finale, however I was boxed in and crossed the line in 40th. Still, positives to take from my performance and definitely starting to feel better on the bike again after a few weeks of disappointment. I will now go into my next race in Herne on Wednesday with much more confidence!