It’s been a while since the Tour De Yorkshire but I want to reflect on my experience with being back home and racing on home soil.
We arrived a few days before the race. A beautiful hotel in the middle of York. A city, which I would love to explore in my off-season. It looked amazing!
I wasn’t actually feeling well at all so I arrived and had a room on my own. It’s only normal that when you are a professional athlete and not feeling 100% that you room on your own to recover and most importantly not spread germs onto your fellow team mates!!
Two days before the race and Wiggle High5 were planning on doing the whole recon of the course ahead of Saturday. We drove for a while before stopping in a local village to meet some of the children from local schools who had been waiting out in the cold for us to arrive. The amount of support was crazy, and that just on a training ride. It really gave us all goose bumps.
Because I still wasn’t feeling 100% I decided to remain in the car for the rest of the recon. It was decision discussed with my sports director and coach but we both agreed it was best, especially as it had started to rain.
I watched the girls get soaked through and felt rather guilty but they were as hard as nails and did a great recon. I guess us British are used to the rain right? Haha.
We had a few media requests the day before and me and Dani King went to the press conference. It was great for me and Dani to discuss how important it is to have such a race in the UK for women cyclist.
The night before the race I had an amazing sleep. Although we had to be awake very early, I was feeling good and ready to get to the start line. The day before I did an easy hour on the bike and few sprints to wake the legs up.
We arrived at the start and whilst on the start line I had to just look around me for a while and appreciate all the people that had turned up to support us. It was very very early start but the crowds were so supportive and it was packed.
I honestly didn’t feel amazing in the race. I kept going to our team captain Audrey and telling her I wasnt feeling well and didn’t know if I would be up for the sprint. She always remained calm and positive and said she believed in me. Audrey really gave me the confidence.
The Wiggle High5 girls did an amazing job!! They brought back a group that were away for nearly 30km. I couldn’t not sprint after the amazing work they did for me!! I was positioned well and at the front. It was slightly up hill which I like. I gave it everything but couldn’t come around Kirsten Wild but I was more than satisfied with 2nd. The team were amazing and we all shared this 2nd place. We really came together as a team and we showed it!
