British Championships 2013

The British Championships this year were being held at the new Commonwealth Games course at Cathkin Braes in Glasgow. I had been excited and nervous about this race since I heard the champs would be taking place in Scotland for 2013. I raced on the course earlier in the year for the SXC round so I had an idea of what the course would be like, the only difference this time was I tuned up to race in 20degrees which was a nice change from the rain and sleet from last time. Scotland had provided us with a fast and dusty course. My preparation had gone well leading into the event and I was excited to race although I was still nervous. One of the main reasons I was nervous for the race was because I had made the decision to race in the Elite category compared to racing in the under 23 category which would provide a big challenge for me. There was a couple of reasons for doing this but the main one was that I thought I had a chance so I took the risk to step up and have a go. We headed to Glasgow on Friday then on Saturday we arrived at the course and put together 4/5 laps to get used to it before Sunday’s race.

I lined up front row for my race on Sunday to complete 7 laps of the course. It wasn’t long before the race was underway and I took a relaxed start and kept myself towards the front of the race and tried to stay out of trouble. It was a narrow course with minimal chance for overtaking so I had to keep aware of my position throughout the first part of the race. The race stayed together early on with a big group forming of all the main contenders, after about 3 laps the race started to kick off with some small moves from Oli Beckingsale, Gareth Montgomery and David Fletcher. This split the group and me Gareth and Oli opened up a gap on the rest of the race. I stayed here for the following lap before deciding to have a go on a couple of the descents on the course and try to give myself a little gap into the two harder sections of the course. My plan worked well and I opened a small gap on Oli who was very strong and from there I had to chew my stem and hold onto the gap throughout the final laps of the race. I felt good on my bike and I managed to do this well and came round into the finish of the race very happy to win my first Elite British championships! I was very pleased to win and it was great to do it on a course in Scotland.

The rest of the podium was filled up with Oli in second and David in third place. Thanks to the people that cheered me round and thanks to the people off the bike that support me and allow me to perform to my best, it’s much appreciated. Next up I have the World Championships in South Africa in couple of weeks where my main target will be the Under 23 cross country race.
Thanks for reading, Grant.

2013 World Cup season so far.

Albstadt, Germany World Cup round 1 (may)
The opening round of the world cup this year was in Germany, Albstadt which is a new world cup course, so I was looking forward to what it would have in store for us. We arrived at the venue a couple of days before my Under 23 race and got to have a look around. I joined a new team in the winter called Superior-Brentjens racing team and they have some of the coolest pits around so it was exciting to get setup and ready to race. It was a late start to the World cup series so we had done plenty of national racing and there was some excitement to start World Cups. The course was steep and technical which was nice and then it rained which added another challenge into the mix. I lined up for the race on the third row and had a reasonable start into the first lap inside the top 20. I worked my way through the field during the first couple of laps and spent a lot of the race in the top 10 which was of my goals for the race. Then in the final laps I dropped slightly off the pace and finished in 14th place which I was still very pleased about as it was the first world cup of the year.

Nove Mesto, Czech World Cup Round 2 (may)
A week after the opening round of the world cup in Albstadt I headed to the Czech Republic for round two. I had raced the course before and it is a twisty loop based around a biathlon complex, they had added a couple of new rock features that livened up some of the wood sections in the course. I was still gridded on the third row and I had a good start and moved myself towards the front group of the race, the first couple of laps of the race went well and I was able to make time on the technical section’s which is always nice. I then struggled later in the race and dropped from the top 10 to finish in 16th place. I felt okay but not my best and since I was still working towards a top 10 I went away to try and make some small improvements before the next round.

Val Di Sole, Italy World Cup Round 3 (June)
The third round of the world cup this year was being held in Val Di Sole, Italy. It was a course that I had raced before a couple of times and featured lots of climbs and some dusty descents, not to mention it was going to be hot race of around 30 degrees. We had done a good amount of prep running into this race and I was confident that I could race for a top 10 place. I had an okay start, it was a fast and scary start as everyone was trying to move up and get in position befor the single track. I rolled round there trying to stay out of trouble around 30th place before settling into the race and trying to move up. I was feeling good and was able to keep moving through the field all the way until I settled in 4th place, I raced here for a couple of laps before breaking away on the final lap and chasing after third place to try and reach the podium. It was close in the end but I finished in 4th 20seconds down but very pleased to have made my goal of top 10 and very happy to be racing at the front end of world cups! 
A week later I raced the European championships in Switzerland and finished in 6th place! 

Vallnord, Andorra World Cup Round 4 (July)

The 4th round of the world cup this year was held in Vallnord, Andorra. The race was at the top of a mountain around 2000m high and it was a new experience for me to race at this level of altitude. We arrived and got some course practice in and found it to be an old style of track with grass climbs and long rough descents. It was going to be a hot race and we raced at 5 o’clock in the afternoon so it meant there was a lot of sitting around before we could take to the start. I was gridded on the second row and ready to go. I made a small mistake in the start and missed my pedal which allowed a lot of people to come around me and before I could get going I found myself outside the top 40. It is always hard in the first couple of laps when you are in this position because the first sections of single track block up and people have to walk and you lose a lot of time to the boys racing at the front. So once I made it through this I settled down and managed to move my way through the field and eventually finished in 16th place.

Next up I have World Championships in South Africa at the end of August.
Thanks for reading, Grant.