Spring update - Racing and travel with the Outliers

It’s already March and the 2026 race season is in full swing, so much has happened already, and it feels like we’re only just getting started!

End of January the Ribble Outliers team launch took place at a glitzy get together in London. New sponsors, new athletes, new event calendar. The support levels are being stepped up, everyone involved keen to build on the success of last year. This is my second year on the team, after being super consistent in 2025 I'm determined to achieve those arms in the air moments this year. It won't be easy with the competition levels going stratospheric but with the right training and support we can do something great. 

Alongside the teams support I also continue my direct relationship with Schwalbe and Restrap, working closely with them to create content and develop product. I've been riding the new 55mm G One RX Pro tyre over winter and at a few races end of last year, the amount of confidence that tyre inspires is amusing, you can chuck the bike into the corners and come out the other side with a huge grin on your face. Look out for some more cool new products coming soon. 

Back in February the team travelled out to Spain for 2.5 weeks. The trip started with the team camp in Girona where we spent some time training together, tuning this year's team bikes, doing lots of marketing activations with sponsors and collecting images to use through the year. It was nice to spend some quality time with new teammates Josie and Abi. We had a great laugh and there was a lot of positive energy going into the first races of the year.

After the team camp we pinned on the first number boards of the year at what’s become the unofficial world champs! Santa Vall has grown from a little event with about 500 participants two years ago to this huge event attracting the biggest riders from around the world. It was most people's first event of the year but with it being round one of the Gravel Earth Series there was a lot at stake. This wasn't some little warm up race, people were arriving in tip top shape. 

After a good winter I was excited to see what was possible. The base was strong, my aerobic power as good as it’s ever been but I lacked that anaerobic capacity to hang on when the pace was super punchy up the short climbs. Both stages were pretty short for my diesel engine, 3.5 hours on day 1, 2.5 hours on day 2. The gravel and trails around Girona are so much fun, it was a great couple of days.

Jenson and I had a really good day 1, finishing in the group sprinting for 12^th. Then on day 2 Jenson finished in the lead group, ending up just outside the top 10 overall classification. Sophie stormed to 3rd on day 1, 2nd on day 2, and 2nd overall. A sensational start for these two in what I'm sure will be an incredible year for both. 

Day 2 I was a little too slow off the start and my position at the top of the first climb was basically where I ended up at the end of the day. With the high speeds it was near impossible to move up from one group to the next.

After the race we had a couple of days to reset but took the opportunity to recon the first part of the Traka course which we'll be racing start of May. The ladies half of the team are racing the 200, and the men are doing the 360. It's a scary thought doing a 12 hour bike race but it's also fun to do something different. 

A few days later we were back on the race track, this time a few hours further south in Llucena, just inland from Valencia. The course here was very different, less technical but with four or five long 20 to 30 minute climbs. This would be better suited to my diesel engine, I could churn away at threshold and repeat that climb after climb using my strong fatigue resistance. Castellon was the first European round of this years UCI World Gravel Series so the competition was again strong. Romain Bardet was the strong favourite on this course but had competition from the likes of European champ Mads Wurt Smidt. 

From the start I was able to stay well positioned at the front of the race as we sped towards the first climb. There was a little scare where I overcooked a corner and almost went off the side of the hill. After that the race settled down and quickly warmed up. Both pace and temperature. I felt good though, able to follow the group. A couple of the favourites dropped the rest of the lead group on one of the middle climbs, this helped us keep a more consistent pace which I was happy with. Jenson was with me until this point but sadly dropped off having burnt a few too many matches early on maintaining this high sustained power on the climbs. 

As the race went on our group shrunk as people got dropped off the back. The pace remained high and temperatures soared. On the penultimate climb we were out of the forest and in the direct sunlight at the hottest point of the day. All my heat training on the Wahoo KICKR was paying off. I didn't attack the group on this climb but opened a small gap as I aimed to ride at 400 watts whenever the climb allowed. We were racing for 5th at this point, but I had no idea this was the case, I thought maybe we were scrapping for a top 10. 

On the last descent I rode too cautiously, being overtaken and then slightly gapped by the riders who'd caught me on the undulating terrain at the top of the penultimate hill. I felt pretty uncomfortable on this steep concrete descent, my mountain bike skills not helping me. 

The last 3 minute climb to the finish line wasn't long enough for me to catch and overtake the riders ahead. I would finish 8th just 27 seconds off 5th and a further 1 and a half minutes off the podium.

I was disappointed at the time but now looking back at how strong I raced and how I did against the world class competition I'm happy. It was one of my strongest races for a long time. Other riders in the top 10 included Bardet, Smidt, Paul Voss, Hans Becking and Alessandro Valverde! 

I'm writing this all a few weeks later, sat on the plane, heading to Lisbon, Portugal for the next event. We are racing 114 Gravel this weekend, then Gravel Desert in Spain in two weeks.