Tour of Gizpuzkoa

We had the first stage race of our trip to Basque at the weekend, the tour of Gizpuzkoa. It consisted of a prologue and 3 road races with around 130 starters. We arrived at the prologue venue on the Friday night to find a 2km very tricky course, by very tricky I mean speed bumps, cobbles, kerbs and lots of hay bales. It was a lap round the town and had two 15% climbs in it which would make it more of a challenge. We all warmed up and soon off I went to the start and got the bike check done and waited for the off. The race went well for me except dropping my chain on a rough section but luckily got it back on for the final climb to the finish. I ended up finishing the stage in 3rd spot which was a nice surprise as usually prologues and TT’s are not so good for me.
So the next day I was up for it and it was a hilly road race. On the way to the start we drove the final climb which was 3km with the finish at the top, looked good. We sorted our stuff then headed to the sign on as a team before lining up for the start. It was neutralised for the first decent then the race was on, I soon found myself marked by the other teams which was a problem but the first split of the day happened on the decent which was a first for me. It was nuts, seen two crashes and I was off the road twice more just trying to keep up with the front group round the twisty corners. At the bottom we had a 20man group with about 30 seconds but it was short lived and the race soon came back together. The race continued along and as we approached the final climb I had made it into the front group off about 8 people without the yellow jersey and with a couple of solo attacks up the road. The climb wasn’t too steep so I waited for an attack to come and it was from a lad in a pink team, I followed along with the green jersey and off we went. He paced the whole climb but we couldn’t catch one of the boys who were still up the road and he went on to win the stage by 12 seconds and I finished third spot behind him and the green jersey. This kept me in third overall 10 seconds down. We then went back to our accommodation which was with the other teams and right next to the beach and got some munch before the next day.

The third stage was another road race and just as hilly as the day before but there was also the heat which was going to be a big problem, it was 42 degrees the whole stage! It was the hottest I had ever raced in and it felt like I was in a sauna all day! Lucky for me I don’t mind the heat but it meant drinking about two litres every hour. Stu however hated the heat and therefore decided that since he was suffering so bad he would do the trips to the following car to get water which was quality and we were able to chill out in the bunch. There was a plan for the day and that was to make it to the final day without doing much work and then trying to gain at least 10 seconds on the final climb. The race panned out that there was a split on the main decent and me and Taylor got in it after dodging some hefty crashes and a group formed of about 15 going into the last climb. I attacked early in the climb and caused some damage but the yellow jersey was stuck to my wheel. I attacked a couple more times throughout the climb but couldn’t shift him and over the top we created a group of roughly 7 which worked until the finish which was uphill.  I went early in the sprint but got over taken by the yellow jersey in the last 100m and got 2nd place losing a further 2 seconds. So going into the final day I was 2nd in general classification 12 seconds behind.

The final stage was relatively flat start with one main climb 5km from the finish which we drove it on the way to the start, it looked steep and long enough to get some time. It was a good start to the day as I got to wear the green jersey as I was second in the stage points classification to the yellow which was the first time I had worn a jersey in a stage race which I was pleased about, on the downside I got a puncture on the way to the start which meant a wheel change and a bit of rushing about. Soon enough we were at the start with a plan: this consisted of Stu and Jack covering the early moves and Taylor staying with me all day. I just had to watch the yellow jersey and a couple of other numbers to make sure there were no sly moves up the road and keep hidden and save the legs for the final climb and then go flat out and try and get the 12 seconds needed. The plan worked with Stu getting in the early move of the day which took the pressure of us to chase as we had a man up the road but unfortunately it was eventually brought back. Then 3km from the bottom of the final climb we came out to play, I was sitting about 10th wheel in the bunch and I look across the road to see, Alain, Jack and Taylor lining it out, perfect! I slotted in behind Taylor and off we went ripping it along the coast and lining out the whole bunch. Alain then swung off with jack up next putting in a big turn and then finally Taylor doing his turn as we arrived at the bottom of the climb, spot on. I then attacked right from the bottom with the only one person able to follow, the yellow jersey. I ramped up the pace and started to put some attacks in to try and crack him and get a gap but I couldn’t shake him. I kept on the front with the pace as high as I could in the hope he couldn’t hold the wheel but every time I went he seemed to hold on. As I approached the top of the climb I knew it was getting harder to get the 12 seconds I needed but he was very strong and in the end he held me wheel. As we went over the top it was 5km of downhill to the finish and we had pulled out a lead of 40 seconds to 3rd wheel so it was going to be another sprint for the stage win. As we approached the final km we were keeping an eye on each other then with about 400m to go I went flat out in the hope I could go for longer move but he was much stronger and in the last 50m he came over the top of me to take the win in the stage. So at the end of the stage race I finished 2nd in GC, 2nd in stage points and 3rd in the mountains with the team also taking 2nd spot. So in the end it was a very good stage race for me and some top rides by all the lads to help me get there! Cheers for reading, Grant

I arrived in the Basque country and spent the first week doing some training rides and enjoying the weather. This weekend I had my first race in the Basque country; it started with a long lie as we weren’t racing until the afternoon. We arranged to meet in the afternoon at the club house and give our bags to the team before peddling to the start which was about 5 miles away. The route was about 85km so quite short compared to my usual race length and it was flat for the first half with some longish climbs in the second half. We lined up about ten minutes before the start with about 90 other Basque Junior cyclists and just chilled out with fellow team mates Disco Stu and the Baby Face. The race started neutralised out of the town then soon enough we had started, the first 30min was okay with nothing interesting happening except some small attempts at a break. Then after about 10miles I followed a boy attacking and we were joined by Stu and about 5 others which created a group of 8. It was an exciting time as nobody in the bunch was willing to chase so we soon started to create a gap, and it was looking promising! The main man in the break was the Argentina national champ who is over racing in Basque and he is in the strongest team so I was in the right place. The gap continued to grow to a min when we were joined by the team cars and then 1.30 and 2min where it stayed until the long climb. Me and Stu where feeling rather good and had been putting in some decent turns on the front to make sure we kept the gap. We finally arrived at the main climb of the race, which was about 6/7 mile long with a steady gradient. The group was now getting nervous with people wondering who was going to attack. Me and Stu where patient though and eventually the Argentina Champ attacked and I was right on his wheel with one other boy which now created a group of three. It was then a bit of a game with neither of them wanting to work and forcing me to the front which I didn’t like so I decided to put in a small attack which got rid of one of the boys so it was just me and the Argentinean left. I thought this is good and asked if he wanted to work so we could get a good lead but he kept shaking his head and saying that he didn’t work. Well I wasn’t planning on towing him to the finish, so with him sitting on my wheel I put in an attack as hard as I could and I looked back after about a min to see a nice gap. The boss in his team car was going nuts at him to chase but he couldn’t so that was good, although I was fairly worried though as I still had 10miles to the finish on my own and most of it was flat or with small drags. I got on with it and started ripping into it all the way to the finish with the lads in the team car going crazy at me, I thought I was bound to get caught so kept going hard as I could, then on the final climb towards the finish they came up next to me and told me I had 3min, yaa beautyyyyy!  First place can’t complain for my first race here, job done! We also won first team and I also won the mountains competition which I didn’t realise until the end.

Wasing BMBS

I had the third round of the national mtb series at the weekend at Wasing park near London. We travelled down on friday which was a long journey and then stayed nearby so we could have a long lie on the Saturday morning. On the Saturday I pre rode three laps of the course which I had never rode before and it was relativly flat and non technical, I didnt mind this though as it was a change compared to the hilly races. Then after a good nights sleep on saturday we arrived at the race early so that my sister could race in the junior female, she also did very well and finished 1st junior which is awesomee! The course had changed a lot overnight due to heavy rain and it was now very slippy. The race started and was not too fast for the first couple of laps with a group forming of about 4 of us, I crashed first lap due to some silly mistakes in the mud but I caught back up. After three laps I attacked on a slight climb and managed to get a small gap over the rest of the group which eventully split up and I held off to the finish and joined my sister on the top step of the podium. So a very good day for the Ferguson family. I was also recently awarded athlete of the month from the youth commenwealth games which I was very pleased about and I have attached the report on that, aswel as some pics of Wasing. I am now in the basque country for the next month to race some road.

.http://www.cgcs.org.uk/news-and-media/latest-news/2011/youth-games-athlete-of-the-month-ferguson-on-the-road-to-success/

Dalby and Offenburg World Cup

After racing some road early season it was time to get back on my Mountain bike for the second and third rounds of the world cup series being held in Dalby Forest, Yorkshire and Offenburg, Germany. First up was Dalby forest and having raced the national round there earlier in the year I knew the track rather well so just had to make sure I was well prepared for the race. I was excited for the race as it was the home world cup round which meant there would be a lot of people cheering which is always good. We arrived on the Thursday before and went for a small spin on the road and then on the Friday we got on the course for some pre laps. It was similar to the national course with a few changes to make the lap shorter and adding in of Dixons hollow which was the final set of jumps. The event village was massive with lots of different stands and teams and the finish straight looked quality. We were up early on race day as our race was the first of the day and arrived at the race with plenty of time to sort out turbo's for warm up and bottles etc. Gridding started 15min before the race and we had to sort ourselves into pens depending on our gridding, I was gridded 6th due to our nation ranking from 2010 which meant I would be on the front row, a rather nice surprise! I knew that the start would be very important so as soon as the gun went I was flat out to follow the wheels and managed to go into the first single track fifth wheel which meant that I avoided the carnage behind. Now that I was in a good place I chased after the wheels and managed to join the front group of two people, after about three quarters of a lap we started looking at each other and therefore the two people behind chasing joined our group to make it 5. We stayed together as a group for the next two laps then on the third lap the main attacks started coming, every time we entered the single-track it was almost a fight to get in there first or second so if it split on the decent there would be an advantage, I had managed to do this first couple of laps but on the third lap went into the long decent forth wheel and with limited place to overtake I came out of the decent to look ahead and see some big gaps, I chased hard but didn’t have the legs to ride across to the other boys who were attacking each other so ended up cramping a bit and trying to make it to the finish. I eventually finished in 5th place which I was pleased with as it was my first world cup of the year.

Dalby Forest World Cup

Next up was Offenburg World Cup in Germany, Originally we were going to be flying from Edinburgh there but unfortunately the ash cloud meant we changed the flights to Manchester. So after waking up at half five to drive to Manchester and then getting the flight, we made it to Germany. We arrived Wednesday night and got to bed then up on Thursday to blast a couple of laps in. The course was really dry and dusty which meant it was going to be fast, it also involved a lot off roots and technical sections which were good fun and was rather hilly. On the Friday we decided to roll down from out accommodation and do one more lap before heading back, then resting and making sure the bikes were ready to go. The race was 12.00 on Saturday, so we sorted some stuff out and headed to the race about 2hours before so we could set up turbo’s and get ready. The field was one of the biggest I’ve raced on the mountain bike with over 130 riders which meant it was going to be nuts. The gridding system worked differently this time as there is now a junior world ranking on the mountain bike and people are gridded of that, so I got some points from Dalby which meant i would be gridded 6th again and on the front row. There was a start loop in this race to help spread people out before the first single-track. The start was again with a gun and went straight into a grassy slope; the French boy next to me used some sly tactics and put his bars into me which meant a bad start for me and dropping back into the twenties. I soon started to find my way and moved through the field to the top ten then as we were approaching the first single-track all the folk at the front looked at each other to see who would lead it into the single track, perfect for me and I as smashed past and lead into the single-track, this meant that I would avoid the pile ups behind and the fighting for position. After about half a lap on the front I started to suffer and 2/3 folk got past then I used their wheels to stay with them for the first lap. A group formed on the front with 7 of us in it, I was last wheel though so when we hit the techy sections I was losing time on the boys on the front and having to try and bring it back on the climbs, then about third lap the front group split and we were all spread out, I was still 7th wheel but I felt good going into the last lap and started to reel people in an ended up finishing in 6th place just over a min of the winner. I was rather pleased at the end with the result and especially because I felt good throughout the race which had been a problem early season and now I have got myself some mtb form.



Offenburg World Cup (picture from Gert Van Horebeek)



Cheers for Reading

G