"Win OR Lose, You made me proud."

This weekend saw some of the first big heat waves hit Portugal and Spain. For cyclists this means not only will the terrain play a big part but more so the heat. The thing is that some cyclist go well in the heat others not. I prefer cooler temperatures. Probably just because I'm not a 3% body fat type of guy.

This weekend we had the 51st edition of Volta Cyclista ó Ribeiro. With temperatures going above 40C it was always going to be a tough race. It also ment feeding would be open from the start. Except for the last 10km. Well you could still feed but you would probably ending up paying a hefty fine. The race had quite some climbing near the end so I think many riders where gambling to make their moves in the last 30km. With the extreme weather it also ment making huge efforts was limited.

In the first thirty kilometers of the race the roads where twisty which caused a lot of unexpected splits. This meant sitting at the back playing lotto was no option at all. You needed to hustle. I preferred this as it ment a lot of the punchy riders had to spend some pennies riding in the wind and making it a much harder race in general.

Raul pushing really hard to make sure we keep the gap.

Twenty Kilometer into the race a moved went clear and I had two teammates with me. At a point it seemed as if it wasn't going to work as the gap only stayed at 20seconds for quite some time. But the elastic eventually snapped and we where gone. When we got to the hillier sections of the course my teammates emptied themselves to set me up for an attack to try and splinter the break.

Surprisingly no one followed as they probably thought it was way to early or perhaps didn't have the legs. To be honest I also thought it was quite stupid. But it gave me the opportunity to go really deep into the red to prepare myself for the Tours coming up, It was the hardest 40km in quite some time but it was worth every drop of sweat. Marcos my director Sportive told me with 20 kilometers to go with the gap coming down to 1 minute "win or lose it doesn't matter, it was a good ride." Im sure as a rider hearing those word from your Director will bring you loads of comfort. But it brought a even bigger desire deep down to impress him with a victory. Sometimes winning means a lot. But sometimes it means much more if you can bring a smile to another by doing so.

I Want to thank everyone in the team for the sacrifice they have made in assisting me with this victory. As a foreigner coming from so far away and immediately getting the full support of the team behind you is something words can not describe.