Hi all, last time I checked in I was down in Spain at the Vuelta Castille Y Leon, with Alberto in Yellow, which he wore from the start after doing a fantastic ride in the prologue TT. Well, the rest of the race went to plan, with Alberto extending his lead with a win on the mountain top finish stage to take the final GC. The team did a sterling job in controlling the race from start to finish. It was slightly strange having to tell Andreas Kloden to pull with the rest of the guys, I don't think he was used to that type of team order, but credit to him, he did his job with not a word of complaint.

So, next stop was Vuelta Pais Vasco, a big objective for the team and Alberto, we knew he was flying, but this was a Pro Tour race, i.e., harder course, better field. And of course, with Alberto winning
Castille Y Leon a week or so previously, everybody knew that he was the man to watch, which meant the whole team knew what to expect.

And Alberto once again did not disappoint. The first stage was run in foul conditions, and anybody who is familiar with this part of Spain will know that there is hardly a meter of flat anywhere. To cut a long story short, it is bloody hard, but I think somebody forgot to tell Alberto that. Because he made it look otherwise with a blistering attack with 10 kms to go on that first stage, leaving the worlds best floundering in his wake. With me and Faustino in the following car screaming in his ear he went solo to the finish, winning with ease, this meant once again he took the yellow jersey on stage one, something the rest of the team were dreading, because they all knew what that meant, we were once again in the line of fire. But, with a leader like Alberto in your team, its a strange kind of pleasure for the boys, the Spanish ones that is, because
the Kazak riders did not see the funny side.

Anyhow, it was the same procedure as last time, control. We did that, but Albert still had to do the business in the final day TT, which was rather a vicious affair, requiring a gear of 39-25, for Alberto, I think I would have needed a 29.
One word, stunning, summed up his ride, I have never ever seen a guy go up hill like him, amazing, flying, 90 rpm out the saddle in the 25 on a 20% grade, astonishing, and this was despite having an tooth infection, not a tooth ache, an infection which you could plainly see, his jaw was swollen.

He is quite a character, shades of Lance in him, def more to him than meets the eye, very determined young man.
So it was another win for AC and the team, the morale was good.

The next day Gregory Rast won in Turkey.

Last weekend saw me in Holland at the Amstel Gold race, were Cunego came up trumps, Sergie Ivanov did a great ride for us to take home 7th place. The rest of the team did well, this enabled us to hold onto our 3rd spot in the Pro Tour team rankings.

Normally we would still be out there doing Fleche Wallone and Liege Bastoigne Liege, but thet are ASO run events.
Next stop for me is the 4 Days of Dunkerque, I first rode that 26 years ago, that makes me fool old I tell you.

Last night I had a ride on the track down in Brighton, Preston Park, great fun, there was a really good turn out, it got a bit nippy in between rides,
but I imagine in the summer months it must be great, it was nice to
see loads of youngsters out as well. I look forward to getting a bit fitter and having some fun.

Hopefully the sun will turn up on a regular basis soon so everybody can get out more.

Ok, until next time.

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Professional cyclist for 15 years
12 Tours de France
Tour de France yellow jersey
Tour de France stage winner
Fifth in Paris-Roubaix
Tour of Belgium winner
UK pro road race champion
UK 25 and 50-mile TT champion