The Second Half Starts Now!

The second half of the race season is about to begin, and I couldn't be more excited! As I write this I'm sat at Geneva Airport on my way to Switzerland for Majestics, another round of the UCI Gravel World Series, before heading straight to Germany next week for Winterberg. After everything that's happened over the past few months, I'm buzzing to pin a number on again.

It's been a while since I've written a blog or filmed one of my intro outro videos, but there's certainly been no shortage of stories!

The season started brilliantly. At Santa Vall I felt strong from the gun, just missing that final bit of punch needed to fight for a top 10. A week later at Castellón, the long, hot climbs suited me perfectly and I was right in the mix for a top five until the final metres, eventually finishing 8th. Then came 114 Gravel where I crossed the line in 5th, just seconds away from second place, proving I could be competitive whether the course is flat, rolling or mountainous. Meanwhile my Ribble Outlier teammates Jenson and Sophie were on an absolute roll collecting podium after podium.

Then the luck ran out!

Gravel Desert became one of the strangest races I've ever ridden when our group of 10–15 riders accidentally followed a camera motorbike off course. We accidentally took a shortcut one corner and were all disqualified. Not exactly the race result I'd planned! To make matters worse, I came home ill and barely touched the bike for two weeks. I lined up at The Traka with virtually no fitness and had to climb off with a DNF.

A couple of weeks later I was healthy again but still nowhere near my best. Even so I was able to help teammate Jenson make the decisive early break before he stormed to second place. I was riding towards a podium myself until a puncture on the penultimate descent ended those hopes. Watching Jenson, teammate and coaching client, stand on the podium definitely softened the blow.

That's bike racing. The highs are incredible, and the lows make the highs even sweeter.

Since then, I've hit the reset button. A proper mid season break, followed by some fantastic training, plenty of sunshine, and most importantly, riding purely because it's fun.

June was all about adventure. I swapped race mode for exploration, fitting the RockShox Rudy suspension fork and chunky Schwalbe tyres before heading out for Oxduro. Over seven hours of incredible riding on some of my favourite local gravel roads reminded me exactly why I love this sport. These grassroots events always have the best atmosphere and they're quickly becoming a big highlight of the year.

A couple of weeks later I showed teammate Metheven around my local trails (with plenty of water stops thanks to the heat!), before we tackled Stonecircle together. 220 kilometres, endless smiles and another unforgettable day on the bike. Huge thanks to Wahoo for the support that weekend.

Now the batteries are fully recharged, confidence is back, and after a brilliant block of training I'm excited for what's coming next.

Switzerland this week. Germany next week.

There aren't many gravel races that head properly into the mountains, but that's exactly where I always loved racing during my mountain bike years. Some of my best performances have come on long alpine climbs so the thought of spending an hour grinding uphill before ripping back down on gravel roads has me absolutely buzzing.

Let's get the second half of the season started!