Well a lot has happened since I last wrote! Ive been sick as a dog. I questioned my form over and over again. I questioned if id even ride the tour of flanders let alone play a role. we also won the tour of flanders with Fabian as most of you will all know by now.. its been a stellar last week, and with one big race to go I thought I would update you all on whats been happening.

I was really struggling after Milan san remo a few weeks back.. I started to get a bad head cold after tirreno, and going from cold to arctic conditions never allowed for me to fully recover. I left tirreno sitting on some great feelings and some super form and was really excited to race Milan san remo.. this race was unbelievable. Ive never raced in conditions so bad. it wasn’t overly cold when we started in Milan, but as we got closer to the turchino pass it was 0 degrees, snowing and windy so the temperature felt like it was -10! I actually had good legs at this point of the race but my core temperature had dropped so much that I felt like I was pushing on the pedals with only the bones of my legs. It was unreal… I couldn’t even undress myself in the bus, couldn’t take my helmet off.. I was that cold.. it took about 30mins for me to feel somewhat normal, and after a 2hr break we were back on the bike again to race the last half. We started in 9 degrees and rain, which is no biggie. But I was hopeless.. on the outside I felt warm. But my core was far from warm. I stopped this race cause I had too, I was a danger to other cyclists! I ended up getting in the vaconsoliel car for the drive to the finish. My helmet stayed on, my glasses too. I didn’t even know till I got out of the car and hit my helmet on the roof! Yes, that’s how cold I was. It was the worst day of my life! Fabian was 3rd in what was another super effort from the big Suisse!

From here I flew to Belgium to race 3 days later.. in hindsight I should have just flagged it and went home but I never. I was crook as.. that real groggy feeling in the head and chest. I started waregem and stopped the race after 30kms. I just had nothing and needed to get out of there or risk losing a week due to going too deep when I wasn’t 100%. I was meant to ride e3 also, but we decided I go home and rest, coming back only for flanders. Im glad I did that, although at the time I really wanted to race e3. Fabian won again. Not just won but he killed them. It was great for the team, and great to see.

So I had 10 days to get healthy, and get some good quality training in. I ummed and arghed about what my body needed to be ready for flanders. So instead of doing the traditional 6-7hr rides, I decided to do short power efforts, double sessions on the ergo to be ready. Cycling is so traditional in regards to the classics and going against the grain is never easy for the head, but I decided I had nothing to lose. I had dan healey map a couple of key sessions for me, and although I hated every single effort im happy I had his help.

So I arrived back up to Belgium not really knowing how I was going. I knew I had trained well but I still wasn’t 100% healthy. Its always hard trying to recover from being sick then fighting against time to be ready to race. I felt like as soon as my body ‘felt’ better I was doing 5x5m full gas efforts on the erg. I had no choice though and I just did as much as my body allowed me too.

Flanders was an amazing race. The atmosphere is something that you only really get to experience at the tour de france. its so action packed and everyone knows it and you can feel the tension in the bunch and the nerves of the riders on the start line even before the gun goes. this years race was the same as recent years. It took a good 90-100kms for the break to form. So after 2hrs of big roads, small roads, towns, corners we had an average of 46km/hr. super fast. I felt ok, but nothing special. I even questioned if I was going to be able to contribute at all to be honest! In the first part of the climbs I was nowhere near the front. I was caught behind a crash through oudenaarde and it took 5kms to come back, right before the first climb started. There was one point when I felt something good in my legs though, and that’s all I needed to give me the confidence to do the job I had to do later in the race. I had the power back, I felt bloody super. From this point in the race our team took control.. each one of us played a part during the race as if the script was taped to our handle bars. Yes we talked about how we wanted the race to go, but when you have 200 riders racing up and down hills, over cobbles and on roads that are about 2m wide, the tactics very rarely play out the way we talked about.. today though it did.. not 100%, but pretty close to it.

I started my work about the 170k mark.. by this stage the 200 odd riders was down to 160 and we were just about to start the infamous oude kwaremont. It’s a brutal climb and it’s the ‘real’ start of the race. Everyone in the peleton knows this too so it’s a real shit fight for position. my job was to make sure we hit the climb in the front.. what was left of the team all did. Over the top we had myself, popo, rasty, devolder and fabian in the front group of about 100 guys. I never left the front from this point on. We made one big loop where me and popo controlled the race before my day was done coming up the kwaremont the second time. I think I pulled off the front at the 220km mark and I was cooked! There was no way I was going to ride to the finish, the thought of another cobble was making me feel sick! So I rode back to the bus to watch the finale, and what a finale it was!

So as you know fabian won. He forced a selection on the final time up the kwaremont. Everyone thought that he wasn’t strong but when I saw him on this section I knew he wasn’t going full gas. The last time up the patersberg he went full gas. The rest is history.

It was amazing to be a part of today. I felt like I played a huge role in fabians victory and to actually be in the front of the worlds hardest bike race for so long has given me so much confidence its unreal.. last year I was super here too, but with my build up this year I was never really sure if I had the goods. Im happy I did though, and as for the team, we all rode super. It was a really hard day. For the 6hrs I had an average of 291w and normalized power of 345w. 6400kjs too, hence why as soon as my job was over, I gunned it to the finish!

Being in the bus seeing fabian win was special.. the whole bus was going crazy. Naturally the champagne came out. First round was 4 bottles. Then another 3. Then again 4 more. By the time fabian got on the bus 2hrs had passed. You can imagine the state we were all in. its something ill never forget and I don’t think hell forget either!

So now I have one last race to go for this part of the season. its my favourite race. Paris – Roubaix. 260kms. 18 odd sections of the worst cobbles you could ever imagine, and we finish on a velodrome. Its going to be an epic day.. I feel great, the team is in good spirits too. id love to finish the classics off in great style. We want fabian to win again and he has a very good chance. I want to play a big role too so in a few days we will know how this story ends!

Thanks for reading.. it’s a novel I know, but there was a lot to say! Cheers for all the support, its so great to know you guys care!

Ciao
Roly ?

Well before there is too much to catch up on, its time for a long overdue update! To be honest I haven’t felt the urge to update the site. Not too sure why, maybe ive been watching too much californication and am suffering writers block! ?

As I sit here right now ive already had over 20 days of racing this season, 6 of those days were done in Qatar, 6 in Oman, Strade Bianche and now ive just finished a really tough 7 days in Tirreno. Ive had a really good block of racing with good and bad feelings since leaving NZ, some testing times too, but I got through all the races fine except for Strade Bianche where I was caught up in a crash.

Im not really going to go into Qatar too much, just the thought of that race fills me with nothing but regret for even going. it’s a race for the guys who have the biggest balls, who are prepared to risk their last 3 months of training for one stretch of road. It was carnage, and after seeing it on day 1 the plan was simple. Leave the race turning the pedals and with my body in one piece! Goal complete! They say its great for the condition though and that was repeated to me every day as if I was deaf or something!

Oman was a great race and I loved every minute of it. We were treated like kings for the week staying in what seemed like a 6 star hotel. It had a private beach, a restaurant on the beach and we had the majority of the classics team together so it was fun times throughout. The racing itself was different to what it was the last time I was there and with all the big Tour de France guns present it was always going to be a tough race. After Qatar I wasn’t worried! Each day here I just got better and better. We had tony who was flying and the team supported him trying to get our first win. He went very close a few times only to be beaten by sagan, who seems to be winning whatever he wants these days. I tested myself a few days here, and really felt great on these days. The team all left oman with good sensations and all of us ready for the start of the season in Europe.

It took a while to settle into Europe as per the norm. it didn’t help arriving into an apartment hungry and cold to find out I had no power! Trust me it aint easy doing everything with only your cell phone as the light! Turns out it was a fuse in the mains box that had gone. Im surprised you didnt hear me swearing from NZ! I was so pissed off! Laughing now though thinking about it but I was a happy man the next day when power was restored. It was freezing on arrival into Europe, so a 3hr ride wasn’t easy. I remember 2 weeks ago now doing back to back 5hr rides in 2 degrees. Crazy weather! I started to find the legs again and my next race was strade.

Strade is an amazing race which takes place in one of the best areas in the world, Tuscany. It has 50km on white gravel roads and over a really testing course. I was super in strade, the team was also great too, well, right up till the 130km mark when we lost 3 guys in the space of 10k. it was right before the toughest section where the race always blows apart. I was caught up in a crash, busche too, then popo punctured. I also had to change the bike after already changing the wheel so it was over for me. I was gutted. I really felt good and wanted some sort of confirmation as to where my form was at. I had been feeling super in training and walked away from strade feeling frustrated. Fabian had a good ride, but was alone up front. It doesn’t matter how strong you are with the pros, or who you are. If numbers are against you, you don’t have a chance.

From here it was on to tirreno. Pretty much the same field from oman and we all knew that it was going to be a tough race. I don’t think anyone expected 3 full days of rain to begin with though, then a really brutal 2nd last day with more rain to finish. It made life tough. I went into this race a little run down, and suffering from an ear infection and I had to fight the first few days. Mentally it was very challenging. In the TTT I was dropped after 10k! each day though I got better and better and walked away from the race with a very good last 3 days. The brutal day I talk about was something the peleton will never forget. It was insane. For 6hrs I averaged 290w, over 6000kjs and I lost 4mins! It was crazy and finishing that stage felt as if I had won. We had chris horner with us in tirreno. He flew in 2 days before from the states as he always does (freak!), hung on in the ttt, then was mixing it with the best right up till the last day. He was so close to podium on that tough day but got dropped on the wet descent. We supported him every day as if he was the leader of the race. None of us complained cause working with chris is always fun. Some of you back home may know him from southland a few years ago and he is super funny and great to have on the dinner table when morale isnt high! That guy can tell a story, and he should be able to too, he is 42! I finished the tour with a 7th in the tt. I was real happy with this and could have done nothing better on the day.

im battling a small cold right now after a really tough week. Sore throat and feeling really tired so ive been smashing a heap of garlic, vit c and hope to be back 100% asap. This Sunday we have the first of the monuments which is Milan san Remo. 300kms and right now they give rain all day, possibly snow. It will be a spectacle for those of you watching that’s for sure! For us it will be yet another day of whinging about the weather! then its on to Belgium for the first of the classics.

My race program is a nice one. I do Milan San Remo, Waregem, E3, Flanders, Scheldeprijs and then Roubaix. Then im home to NZ for a few weeks before I head back for the Tour of Italy and then Tour of Luxembourg. Its going to be a big month and im really excited about kicking off the classics season.

Again, thanks for all the support. I really appreciate it. Ill update the site as per usual from now on!

Ciao ciao
Roly ?

Well I did it! I won the NZ national title again and im really pleased to have achieved this first goal of my 2013 season. It was an amazing day and im really proud to have ticked this goal off the list!

I didn’t just win the race though, I won a huge mental battle against the demons inside of me, that I feel have always held me back my entire career. That’s what im proudest about, the fact that I beat them this time.

In the lead up to the race I was absolutely flying. My body was ready, the training over the last 3 weeks had been perfect and on the Saturday I had the best legs of my life. I did nelson tour heavily fatigued, and I trained right through the race hard too. directly after nelson though I had a look at all my srm data and discovered the last time I was ‘race fresh’ was back in the middle of November.. so I really had to take it easy and recover from all the miles. Sure enough the body bounced back, and then I really focused on delivering the power I would need to win nationals 3 weeks later. The day before the race I felt the best ive ever felt on a bike, and my confidence went right up there too. I was ready!

But! I was given an amazing slice the day before the race, and good old sweet tooth me decided to not have just one bit, but demolish the whole bloody lot! Man did I pay a heavy price for this on the Sunday! During the whole race I had only 2 power bars and about 6 gels. I couldn’t drink, and I just felt full the entire day. I spewed twice during the race, and I never actually felt like I had the legs to win. I suffered hugely. At one point I really was going to stop, but I didn’t and im so happy I didn’t cause with 10k to go, I found the turbo!

The race was a funny one this year! It was even a weird feeling before the start. All the pros were all close to each other getting ready to race. You had coaches walking around beating their chest like some American rapper about their riders current form, about how they could ride 550w up the climb each lap! (my highest was 529w, and overall I was 25w less than when I won in 2011!!!). it was hot and humid, and straight off the start line there was a group of 30 odd guys who after only a few laps had 4mins lead. A few in the peleton were nervous as, but I was relatively calm. I knew from the years earlier that the race was so bloody hard, and lets be honest. Even if I wanted to, my body was not going to come to the party to do anything anyway!!!

I had help from my good mate Marc Ryan. He did a stellar job on the front for as long as he could with sometimes riding solo for 5k. Benchmark were all there to help Julz in his final race so they also started to ride, and in one lap I think we took back 90s without any real dramas.. after this I had help from another good mate Sam Bewley, he wasn’t in the form to win, and knew it early on and although we never talked about anything, he decided to give it a hot one and that clawed back some more time too. Jesse was in the front group too and when I got to him I asked him how he was. He was good, not great so he pulled also and then went on to finish a great 4th. From this point, I knew it wouldn’t be long till the front of the race was in sight, and I guess the rest is history!

My European team mate George Bennett was flying on the hill on Sunday, and so he should.. he weighs about 25kg all up, bike included. He was chomping at the bit to go so coming into the last time up the climb I told him to go and not look back. Off he went, full gas and he was gone. I think he went out to about 1m and I was happy to see him go. I still wasn’t good here, i really just couldn’t recover from any effort. I was happy to see let him win. It was at this point with George well clear that I decided to help James Oram. He had done a stellar ride up till this point, he wanted the U23 jersey bad, so I rolled with him. With 5k to go George still had a big gap, he was at about 30-40s, but its here that my legs come back to me. I decided I had to go across and off I went. I was flying, I felt like I had done the day before and in the space of 2kms I had closed the gap to George.

We crossed the line together, hand in hand. It was a huge moment for both him and I. For George I think it signalled that he has all the ingredients required to be a world beater on the international stage. For myself, it was a race ill never forget. Like I said before, I could have easily stopped. I didn’t, I won the psychological battle which has troubled me so many times in my career. It was the best day of my life on the bike, just for that reason alone.

Julz finished 3rd, only 1m back. What a great way to go out. Although quietly spoken, Julz is the guy that has shown the way for many of us current pros. He was one of the first to be pro. We’ve all watched him rip the TDF, the Vuelta and the Worlds apart. He has been one of the best leadout guys from the last 10y. Not only all that, but he has had way more downs than ups, but has always fought back. Its sad to see Julz go, but what a great career he has had. I shared a few drinks with him on Sunday night and found out what he has planned. he has his next chapter of his life ready to go. I wish him all the best!

I was lucky enough on Sunday to have my son and my family all there at the finish line. It was a real special moment getting to take Moses up on the stage. It was huge. I could feel the wee guys heart racing as we walked up. He covered his face, but then put his arm in the air. I wonder what he was thinking when everyone started cheering! Ill never forget that moment, it was priceless.

I want to say a huge thank you to everyone that supported me on Sunday. Yet again, the crowd was electric up on the climb. It was huge. That’s what I come back for and you guys didn’t disappoint! Im not sure ill be back next year, if I do though I wont be indulging in any slice!!!

Thanks guys! Now its on to the next set of goals and if I can tick those off im going to be one very happy man!

Ciao
Roly ?

This update has been in the making for a very long time. Well at least the thought was there any way! Its been way too long since I last wrote so here goes!

My season ended fairly well with the tour of Beijing being my last pro race of 2012. I was really good in china this year, and enjoyed my time with the team both on and off the bike. I crashed twice during the race though, which didn’t help things, but I still came away from it happy. I really banged up my hand in a high speed crash on the last descent of the race. I just lost the bike in a corner and slammed hard into the concrete barrier. I was lucky the barrier was there though, otherwise I would still be down that cliff I reckon! I fractured a bone in my hand and even now its still not 100%. I was lucky, lets just leave it there!

From here I went home for a week off the bike before getting back on it for southland.. when I started riding again I just couldn’t bare the shock that was going through the hand so I was forced to take more time off in the lead up to southland. I arrived into Invercargill relaxed and with no real ambitions. Our team consisted of, Marc Ryan, Jason Allen, Jason Christie, Michael Vink and the young Hayden McCormick. Basically it was the OLD with the YOUNG. The 3 young guys are all massive talents and will be the guys to watch in the future as NZ now heads towards Rio. We had a great week and a lot of laughs. My goal down at southland was really to show these young guys how its done professionally, so they all take away something that I hope will help them in years to come. Our sponsor Calder-Stewart cuts no corners in supporting us down there and it’s the closest thing NZ will get to a pro team in terms of set up and support.

Right, the race! We started the tour well but then it just felt like we were surfing that filthy wave of bad luck from the get go! It basically stayed with us right through till the last day of the race before we got a chance to turn the race on its head. It was bloody hard for me to look my teammates in the eye and tell them the race wasn’t over, even though I knew it was now a big ask. I didn’t think we could claw back much time knowing how strong the rest of the field was going, but then the weather turned and we ripped the race apart. Finally after a week of ‘what ifs’ we finally delivered. We didn’t win the race, but we came 2nd and 3rd overall. We won the U23 jersey with Michael and we also won the final 2 stages. Coming into the last day we had zero to show for the week. I was 4mins back, vink was 6mins back and everyone had basically written us off.. My team did an amazing job on the final day, it was so cool to see, and knowing we totally changed the predicted outcome of the race with a day to go was very satisfying. In the end the winner was Mike Northey. He was super consistent all week and thoroughly deserved the win. As for my team I honestly couldn’t be prouder. Each and every one of us contributed and our never say die attitude paid off. Thank god!

Directly after the race it was time to start my off season with 3 weeks off the bike. I’m not a big fan of just doing nothing though, so I went straight into my off season training setting up a home gym and focusing on the little things that I hope will carry me through into the 2013 season in Europe. Little things I have neglected throughout my career took focus and sitting here right now I’ve never felt better. I feel so much stronger on the bike and just turning the pedals with ease. I’ve been busy being a father too, and man is my boy FULL GAS. If Moses doesn’t want to go to the park, he wants to ride his bike. If not that its playing swing ball. If not that it’s the truck smash game on the ground! He is growing up way too fast, but it’s so fun to see him develop. No longer is he a baby, he is a ‘big boy!’ as he tells me!

Right now im on my way home from our team camp. I’ve been in Spain for the last 10d with my team and it was great. This year’s team is very similar to last years, with just a few new additions. We have lost Johan Bruyneel which obviously needs no explanation as we all know why but his role has been replaced with one of our directors from last year. The team feels great though, it’s a different feeling to last year and it really feels as if we are one team now, not two separate teams. Training in spain for the classics group was fairly easy. Its important for us to be riding easy at the moment as we don’t need our best form till march/april. We did two 3 day blocks. 3h-4h-4.5h. the next block was 4h-4.5h-5h. we were split into 3 groups whilst over there. The tour down under group, the classics group and the tour group. The tour down under group were training super hard though as they begin their season mid-January. It was funny to see them coming home from training all wrecked though. we must have looked like we had been on the beach sun bathing all day! The joys of not riding tour down under!

My program for the coming year is similar to last year. This year though I wont be riding the tour down under as my best mate, Marc Ryan is getting married. Im the best man and was never going to miss that wedding so my team allowed me to start my season later. I start my season in Qatar this year. Following that I do tour of Oman. I then have a short break before a very busy and important part to my year. I head to Italy for Strade Bianche, then Tirreno and Milan San Remo. Then its up to Belgium for GP Waregem, E3 Harelbeke and then the big week of Tour of Flanders, Scheldeprijs and finally Paris Roubaix. It’s a great program and I cant wait for it all to begin.

Right, this is now no longer an update, it’s a novel! I’ll start updating more regularly now so keep following me please!

Thanks for reading, and cheers for all the support! I hope you all have a great Xmas!

Roly

Well I haven’t updated my site in a very long time.. Sorry!

In light of the recent developments though I thought I would share my thoughts with anyone who is interested in reading them. Before I fire away, just remember these are my personal thoughts, this is my website and this is my sport!

Our sport is on the brink of what some would call a massive meltdown. Some feel the sport will never recover, and some thought that this was always going to happen, it was just a matter of when. I feel that our sport is on the brink of something special, but we are not there yet. As much as I would love to bring out a big gun, and line up everyone that has a past, I cant. Like I said in my ‘update re lance’ on my website a while back, we have to draw the line somewhere. But where exactly do we draw this line? who decides where this line is drawn? this is what needs to be decided and fast.

So lance has now been stripped of all his titles as the evidence was so great that it only pointed to one thing. That he doped. So now he will pay the price. Only time will tell how much of a price he will pay. Many of you will probably feel cheated also knowing you followed and supported him, encouraged your children to do the same, only now to feel like he is the biggest scam in the history of sport.

Am I saddened by these developments? Yes of course. Why? Cause he is my idol. I was u19 when lance won his first tour, and ive been a massive fan since that day. Who wouldn’t be? He beat cancer, then won the tour. He then went on to set up one of the biggest foundations in the world, fighting cancer and inspiring many. He then went on to win a further 6 tour de France’s. Now with all the evidence that is out there, knowing that his whole comeback was based on a lie I ask myself this. ‘is lance Armstrong still my idol?’. my answer is very simple. Yes.

That era, was different.. although now I wouldn’t say its 100% clean as cheats are still being caught. But it is better and all this mess is going to clear it up once and for all. Back then though the testing wasn’t like it is today, and Lance was not the only guy that doped. Lance also wasn’t the first guy to lie. But lance is the last guy to tell the truth. Or is he? For me though, lance was the best at everything back then.. Racing, Training, Nutrition, Mental Prep, Focus and now as we have found out, doping. I don’t know if he was the most talented, but he won those tours and some with ease while all the rest of the big guys were probably doing the same stuff. I think based on what Landis has said, Hamilton too, the other top riders were all on the same stuff, some maybe on more. But Lance won.. He didn’t pay anyone to let him win the Tour de France. He won them fair and square as a doper, among dopers.

So what to do now? If it was up to me, I would honestly ban any manager/rider/staff member that has been involved in doping, or has tested positive in the past. This cull would be huge and devastating, and some stars would be lost, but its the true way to start fresh if that’s what everybody wants come the start of the 2013 season. If however a line needs to be drawn in the sand, where do you draw it? If you don’t take such a measure like this, what will happen ‘if’ michelle Ferraris documents are released in a year or two or maybe sooner? It will be bigger than the current mess we have now, and could very well involve a shit load more people. Is the UCI prepared to risk this kind of thing again? Ferrari, for those that don’t know was the guy who masterminded the doping programs for many top pros and athletes from many different sports. Including Lance. He is now under investigation for a heap of different crimes and rumour has it that there is enough evidence to sink riders in just about every team in pro cycling that exists RIGHT NOW.

Initially I said we need to draw a line ‘now’ and move forward to the future. That was in September during the vuelta. I along with every pro rider knew that Lance wasn’t what the public were all led to believe, but we all knew that digging up the graves was only going to cause damage to our sport and I questioned whether anything would even change. At the time I didn’t think that it would help knowing what really went on, but now I feel that it is only going to help us in the future. We actually thanked lance once upon a time for putting cycling on the map, changing the sport from a 6m sport to a 12m sport where the off season was just as important as the season itself. He transformed cycling into the machine it is today. One day in the future we will all thank lance yet again. Not personally of course. But we will thank him for doing what he did, then being found out because it is going to transform cycling into something you want your children to do. It is going to be the best sport on the planet eventually, but its going to take time.

One thing lance did do right was beating cancer, that wasn’t a lie. He may lose everything he has now, material wise, but he wont lose what he overcame, or what he set up. He wont lose his role as a father, nor will he lose his family. He did a lot for cancer, and that will never be forgotten. Yes I wish there was a fairy-tale ending for all of this, i wish he hadn’t cheated, I really do.. But he did.

This is how im choosing to look at what he have in front of us. For some time now cycling has had a massive gash on the leg. Its been covered up, then uncovered, then covered again. Now cycling has the first real chance to fully let the gash heal from the bottom up.. I really hope Lance tells the world the way it was. I hope he names all the names no matter how big or small that helped him. If he does, its going to be ‘bigger than texas’. He will probably go to jail, but that’s just the way it is. I hope that he also uncovers Ferraris doping program, cause it is still active in todays peleton. If not, this gash that has started to heal will only get another bloody bandage, which is something we do not want!!

Again, this is just my views on whats going on.. I want nothing more than a clean peleton.. the best rider truly wins.. that would be a dream for all of us left, and for the new pros that are coming.. it would be fair and from an athletic perspective it would be awesome. I hope it happens!

Thanks for reading!
Ciao
Roly

Heres a quick update on whats been happening in my world.

Ive just got back from 2 one day races, both 200km long, and both bloody hard races! I loved being back in belgium though, the temperature is ‘more me’ with it being a lot cooler, and belgium just always has a really special atmosphere no matter what the race.. These 2 races gave me exactly what i needed. 5hrs of hard racing both days, which is going to go a long way come next sunday when i line up in the road world championships.

Ive been actually really struggling with this really weird pain in the side of my legs.. its like lactate that just doesnt go away, and a feeling like the blood wasnt getting to any of my quads.. its been so frustrating. Ive had it for a while now and the first time i really felt it was track camp last year. I brushed it off thinking it was just the lack of lactate training that i had done, but its been with me all year.. after talking with a soigneur on our team, he thought it was all coming from the feet. all year ive ridden with speedplay wedges due to having really flat feet.. all this did was make me feel as if i was only pushing down with the outsides of my feet.. but as soon as he suggested it was coming from my feet, everything clicked.. the next day i went to our sponsors HQ in cologne, and got fitted with some new insoles. SoleStar’s. what a difference.. the pain that i had been getting has totally gone, and now i actually feel like a bike rider again.. Im so happy!

so the first race was with my old set up.. i was super strong, but again that pain would come on after only 50kms.. but as you do, you push through it.. i did my job here in what was a very tough race.. for the 5hrs, i had an average of 305w.. with the neutral and the roll down the hill to the bus it was still at 290 odd.. it was brutal.. the break never went for 80kms, and that break had 25 guys in it, which was way too many so the peleton started chasing.. it was basically on all day.. coming into the finish climb a break was up the road at 30s.. so jesse and i pulled full gas, knowing our job was to close the gap to give our guys a chance in the 2k uphill finish.. bakelandts finished 5th which was a good result for him, but with the legs he had he should have been higher up.. he is super strong at the moment, but sometimes you have to use your head, regardless of how good your legs are feeling! all good though, the team was happy..

todays race i rode with the new insoles.. normally this would be a big no no, as they need 5-10d to wear in.. but i dont have time on my side right now, so i rode them.. the difference was amazing.. that pain was no more, and i felt like i was getting full power down on the pedals.. its amazing what such a little change can do to your pedal stroke… it was another hard day, not as hard, but it was constantly up and down which meant there was never any real coasting. gone are the customary pee stops that we are accustomed too! we were all following the early moves in case a big group went away. Typically at this time of the year you have 3 types of riders.. ones that are just there cause they have to be. ones that are there to prepare for worlds and the finish of the season. and the other riders are there to try and get a contract for the year after.. so covering all the moves is a must, otherwise a group of 20 riders will go away and the race will be over. we were in everything, but nothing stuck. then 3 went clear. the sprinters teams started controlling things and everything came back together with 15k to go.. i just kept our sprinter out of the wind until the finale, and then let them go at it.. he punctured with 3k to go though, which was a shame cause he would have gone close thats for sure.. cycling huh!

so now ive just got back to girona, for one last week.. ill take a few days to recover, and then 2 big days on the bike to get ready for next sunday. ill be banging out one 7hr ride this week, which is a lot, but im very motivated to do so.. the worlds is going to be an awesome event this year. its a hard course, and the crowd is going to be unreal.. i saw the finish and the VIP set up there and lets just say the dutch have gone all out..

right its bed time for me, then a chilled day relaxing on the couch watching the teams time trial.. its a new event at worlds this year, and its going to be a great race to see. both jesse and sam are riding for their teams, and they are both geeeeed up to the max.. its going to be good..

thanks for reading guys, and thanks for the support… 1 more race to go before im home to nz. then i have a week with the wee man, that i just cant wait to see before heading to china, and then home for a break..

ciao ciao
roly

Well a lot of you would have saw the news re my withdrawal from the Tour of Spain. The crash i had there, was just too much. I hit my head hard and it really knocked me round that night, and more so the days following. It was a huge disappointment to myself, and i felt so bad having to stop the Tour of Spain.

Ive gone over and over the video footage of the crash and Im sitting here right now knowing that i was very lucky not to break something. It was a weird crash, one that no one saw coming. It happened with 30k to go, as the speed was starting to ramp up. We were coming through a small town, and just came around a blind corner. You basically just follow the guy in front of you in this situation and this is what i did. I didnt see the first guy go down, as i was still cornering, but i heard it. This just sent panic through the front of the bunch with guys going everywhere. The first guy hit a traffic island with a sign on it. the sign was padded which was lucky for him. By the time the next few guys hit it the padding had come off, and when i hit it there was no padding..

i dont remember too much of what went down next, but i remember going down hard, and just not really knowing where i was. i thought i was facing one way, when in fact i was facing the other. it was a horrible feeling. it took me a while to realize what had happened, and while i sat there on the island holding my head i soon realized things werent good.. but as you do you get back up.. then i was paced back to the peleton, before getting dropped and finished the stage.. i guess adrenalin took over here, and got me to the finish.

i slept terribly that night, and the next day i was so bloody sore.. thats pretty normal with the crash.. i felt worse though, just my balance, any noise and a groggy feeling was all affecting me.. still, i had breaky as per the norm, and went to the start with the team. at this stage i was still wanting to race, i had to.. nobody wants to stop a grand tour. i went and signed on by bike, but just riding there i was not good.. i just felt my co-ordination was totally out. it was like i was in a trance or something!

so i talked again with the directors and we decided it was best i didnt start.. it hurt. but i knew deep down i actually couldnt. my head felt like it was going to explode, and even with the helmet loose as it could go, the pressure on it felt immense..

so now im home.. ive had all the cat scans, and xrays and there is no damage. but just the strain my neck and head took was what was causing the pain.. only this morning do i feel somewhat normal. so this afternoon im going to head back out on the bike with an eye on the world championships.

so all is not lost. and as hard as it was stopping i actually had no choice. Now my focus is on the world championships. I think i have one or two races in the buildup to this race, before heading home…. Im on the list for the TTT worlds too, but at this stage none of us have heard who is riding.. Ill try my best to be ready should i be required to ride that which would be pretty cool i must say..

ill update later when i know my schedule.. thanks for reading and of course, thanks for the support you guys give!

ciao
roly

Well after a relatively calm stage yesterday, most of the peleton would have been very fresh for todays tt, and we needed to be because it was super hard! yesterdays stage was not overly difficult at all, apart from the last 30kms where it was crazy, but it was a super nice race.. the region we are in right now is actually amazing.. im quite blown away.. im not sure if its cause of the water or what, but it really is nice.. the amount of people that were on the course yesterday was unreal and it could have easily been mistaken for milan-san remo…. pretty cool to see..

After some good work by the team yesterday, benna ran 3rd.. we needed one more man up front in the last kilometer. i tried so hard to be there, but just got checked hugely with about 3k to go.. i lost all my momentum, and at this stage of the race we were traveling at 60 per hour so it was hard to get back. still, the team were great.. benna has the legs, and im sure he will win here when we get it 100% right.. its never easy when the peleton arrive fresh for the last 20k though!

Todays TT was an awesome course.. it was very demanding though, but i enjoyed every pedal stroke.. again we were blessed with a heap of people on the road, which made that unpleasant pain we all love to hate, feel just a bit better.. it was up and down at the start, with a lot of false flat, and then we hit the climb. it was 10k up, on a nice big road, then we hooked right and were on a goat track all the way down to the finish.. it was pretty cool. i was happy with my ride.. i just wanted a consistent ride, just focusing on having full control throughout.. i did and i finished pretty happy… naturally i got my butt kicked, but thats just the way it goes when you see how fast the likes of contador and froome climb, its not so bad!

right.. now after the comments i made on ‘my own personal website’ re the lance debacle, i received some nasty attacks via twitter.. daniel benson kicked it off.. he is a reporter for cyclingnews.com and he tweeted something which really led to a whole heap of abuse.. i dont even know this guy, and happy i dont! some of the things that have been said to me have been disgusting! i was so shocked and disappointed.. naturally though, 75% of the people are running names that arent really theirs, but still… to read some of the things that people said made me quite sad.. i did however have a whole lot of positive feedback..

my website was only set up to let my supporters know how the season is going. thoughts from inside the peleton, and just things i know id love to hear about if someone was doing something that i had a real passion for.. ive only ever had great feedback, and people appreciate that i ‘tell it like it is’.. its an honest view on everything.. if im good, you get the truth. if im bad, you also get the truth! i dont need to write a blog, but i enjoy it!

now.. i just wanna thank that cowboy, daniel benson.. he has definitely increased my website numbers, and twitter too to all the people that understood my blog, and who messaged in support.. thanks.. to those that thought it was negative, it wasnt meant to be and im sorry if you thought that it was.. i want more than anything for cycling to have a good reputation.. i dont want things from the past, making the current pros look bad.. do you know how sad it is riding up a mountain, seeing drawings on the road of a syringe.. or someone holding a sign re doping.. its not nice..

now, please, a big deep breath everyone.. the vuelta has really just started and we have 10d of tough riding coming up. you also will have about 10d of my blogs

cheers
roly

ps – to that guy that commented on my grammar and lack of education… your right.. im not well educated.. i was asked to leave school because of the lack of interest i showed. i never went to uni, i chose to take a very tough path and try and become a pro.. before this though i spent 2 full seasons at the freezing works.. yip, where they turn sheep, into meat! which was great by the way! ive learnt a lot over the years, from some great people, and i hope to inspire some of the younger generation to follow their own dreams too! ciao!

Well where do i start! The last few days have been somewhat difficult and i wont be forgetting them in a hurry! Even yesterday when i was in the cars coming back from a pee stop i thought ‘oh no, here i am again’! i survived the most horrible day to andorra though, and now im sitting here relaxing on our rest day thanking god i am here!

so the crash i had a few days ago really banged up my right hip and my shoulder. i got through that stage without too many troubles, but never felt the best as i told you guys… i thought then ‘it couldnt get much worse’, but man how wrong was i!!!

the day after we went from Leida – Andorra. 185km stage, and one that ive done before many times. Its always a tough stage just due to the rolling hills, and the fact that andorra is up at 1500m, and we started at 200m. so its constantly uphill.. the stage started as per usual, but from the gun though i knew i wasnt good.. well at least thats the way it felt. i tried to cover a few moves but just felt so sluggish. turns out i started with a slow flat, and that sluggish feeling that i had was cause i was trying to keep up with only 4 bar in my tires.. i stopped and changed the wheel, and normally would just come back in the cars no trouble at all.. with my body still not firing at 100% though, it hurt.. plus the race was going so fast that it was unreal. so from the 10k mark i was in the cars, going from car to car moving up gradually. i was constantly at 400-500w and it took me till about the 40k mark to make it back to the group, right when the peleton exploded.. i was already in the red from my effort, and i exploded too! quite a few guys were struggling, so we started riding together, but the peleton didnt let the break go.. the gap from us to the peleton grew and grew.. then the commassaires made barrage. which means they let no team cars pass us until the gap went out to 1m, then let them past 1 by 1.. this was bad news!!!

at one stage we couldnt see the peleton nor the cars and i honestly thought my tour was over.. i was not happy at all.. especially knowing that had i not punctured, i would have been tucked away in the peleton, suffering with everyone else instead of chasing back on with riders that were dropped.. the peleton finally let go of the days break, at km 80. by this stage the race averaged 52k/hr, all uphill! we came back soon after, we were lucky, and i was a very happy man.. soon after the race began again, and i started to find my legs… the day wasnt over though, as i punctured again with 40k to go.. again i was in the cars, and had to fight back to a group before the last climb started.. after a tough day, this just topped it off. i got back again before the 2nd last climb, and settled into a group to ride the last 20k a bit easier..

i felt i broke through some huge mental barrier today.. it was so tough.. the frustration just about got the better of me but i hung in there.. its just one of those days that you dont forget.. hence the feeling i had yesterday after my pee stop!

i felt better yesterday, but there aint too much to report.. it was an easy stage with a super fast finale.. still amazes me how fast the peleton travels at times, scary actually!

right so the rest day is just about over, and its been a good one…. i slept till 10am. small breakfast, then we went out on the bikes for 90m and had a coffee in town.. then a quick sauna, massage, and osteo and then its dinner.. tomorrows stage doesnt look hard on paper, but its the whole day on the coast. no big climbs, but a lot of ups and downs.. its been windy here today, so tomorrow could be a hard one..

i reckon my body is back on the up now, and everyday ill get the feelings back that i need in this race.. i have to, cause the parcours that awaits us is brutal!

thanks for reading,
ciao,
roly

well today did not start good for me at all! before the flag dropped today i had hit the deck.. with a full somersault and a terrible landing! i was right at the front, not even talking when out the corner of my eye i saw some dude hit a pot hole the size of auz. he lost grip of his bars, and it just looked as if he bounced 3 times over towards me.. he was honestly that far away from me that i didnt even panic! sure enough though, he arrived at my front wheel and down i went… grrrrrrrrr. bike was broken, but i was ok, so i thanked my lucky stars! i had a quick change of bike, and rejoined the race to just before the start.

i felt terrible after this though, just felt like i had no power and as a result i suffered today.. it wasnt even a hard day, but i was in the box.. i guess the fall knocked me round a bit, and really put me on edge for the entire race.. ive now just got back from our osteopath and sure enough im tight everywhere, which actually makes me feel good.. i dont want to have another day like i had today!

about 15k in i was riding next to cunego at the back of the bunch after just swapping my bike.. then i heard the brakes going off, the smell of burning rubber and before you knew it cunego and one other were on the deck.. eeeeeeeeeek.. he was literally right next to me.. man, like i needed that to happen to scare the shite out of me yet again..

a break went up the road early and the sprinters teams just controlled the race as per usual.. it was another hot one again today.. my body feels like its been fried! now i have white hands, red arms, a super white body and a few itchy bites too boot.. haha.. not cool i tell you!! the break never really got more than 5mins though and were always going to come back so we were just able to ride in the bunch and save some energy.. at 10k to go there was a massive crash.. this was scary.. i had just made it half way up the bunch behind my teammate linus before he went down. he went down that hard that i was sure he would have broken something.. it was unreal and terrible to see. i was so close yet again, but luckily i never got caught up in the crash.. i was behind it though and lost contact with the bunch due to the speed the race was travelling. the way i was feeling though i would have been dropped anyway so i wasnt overly concerned.. but still, not being able to help benna was a bit disappointing..

rasty did a good job today in the sprint, and benna had to come from way back after a near miss with 300m to go.. i think he ran 5th in the end. the finish was perfect for him today and he was pretty gutted not to deliver.. more opportunities await though, so all is not lost..

tomorrow we have our first real mountain top finish.. we finish up in andorra. its basically uphill the whole way there, with a cat 2 climb with 25k to go, then the finish climb is 8k. it will be a big fight yet again between the favourites and its tomorrow where we will all see who really has the goods to win this tour..

froome looks very good and alberto is going to just get better as this tour goes on.. max is the only guy left for us with a shot at a top 10 so we will do what we can to help him before waving goodbye on the climb! it will be a hard day tomorrow and for me it cant be any worse than today! i hope not anyway!

again.. thanks for all the messages.. the support i get is unreal.

will update when i can,
cheers
roly