All week I have been really nervous about the prospect of my first cross race of the year. Having made a lot of sacrifices to try and step up a level on the international cross stage a lot was riding on that first outing of the season, even though I am planning on not being at my best until October.

With all the big names represented - bar Sven Nys and a couple of Italians and French - but including the vast number of talented Belgian U23's who didn't have a separate race to do, I was unsure about the result I could achieve.

After a number of laps of the course I felt comfortable with my lines and where I needed to get my effort out etc. Normal warm up, keep drinking, focus, and remain calm were the few thoughts running through my head. Being parked next to Reigning World Champion Neils Alberts HUGE camper van I was far from tucked away to think about my race.

I was relieved to go to the start line because that means it's nearly race time, once the race is under way you don't have time to think about other factors; just do what comes naturally and race your bike, trying to make it go as fast as possible around the tricky wooded and open parkland course.

First lap was a disaster, after a reasonable third row call up I just seemed to be loosing places constantly, not due to bad legs but because of the twisty nature of the course and not being able to hold my position. However once I got the first lap out the way I pressed on and was pleased to be overtaking a lot of riders when the pedalling counted more.

45mins in and my pit crew shouted 19th and I could see I was faster than the guys around me. The last part of the race flew by with me slightly fading on the last couple of laps to finish 15th around 3mins 30 off the winner Neils Alberts. Happy, job done.

My back hurt from the continuous bumps, my hands had blood blisters on the palms and my legs hurt a lot. It was all worth it, to achieve one of my best results at international level ever.

Hopefully I can build upon this result and move forward again at the next race, I was only 6 secs off 13th which is a tiny margin over an hours racing.

Next up is Round one of the National Trophy series in Exeter, the racing is so different it's hard to know what will happen but I will give it my all as always.

Ian Field

Thanks to my sponsors:

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For Goodness Shakes
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