After months of hard work and placing second in the Para Road World Cup in Ostend back in May, I was selected for my first Road World Championships, held in Emmen. I got my head down and worked hard, particularly on the Road Race, spending long hours out of the road and hard efforts on the turbo trainer.
September soon came around and we went out to the Netherlands to race. My first race was the Time Trial, where I placed 5th. I’m happy with this position, this is an area that I know I need to work more on and I was happy with my place. On Saturday was the road race, a 60km lap course with a lot of sharp corners. The course didn’t suit me very well but I knew I had to give it everything. Unfortunately, on lap three, I came around the corner into a crash and went over my handlebars and into the barriers. The rest of the bunch had a chance to ride off at the this point. I managed to get back onto my bike with a very tough ‘time trial’ three laps to get back to the bunch. Once I was back with them, I could sit in the bunch and rest, but knowing that I’d have my best chance of being in the sprint finish at the end.
With just a few laps to go, before we knew it, we had a sprint finish where I came Second, just less than a wheel behind the World Champion. I was so close, but also very happy with my achievement.
I’d like to say a big thank you to everyone that has supported me on my journey. Including The Wigley Group, Legacy Education Alliance, Core Clinics and Thin Air Sports.
Up next for me is the Track season. I’ll be working hard over the Autumn and Winter to be selected for the Track World Championships in January. Performing well here will give me the best chance of being selected for the Paralympics next year!
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