Worlds ITT , BERGEN 2017
Hi everyone this is just a very short update on how it went on the individual time trial Championships in Bergen. The season has been quite long. But it is not something myself and John has regret. We had to keep on pushing finding results here and there in the hope that a door would open and it did.
I came to Norway after some testing in Spain and straight out of a five day Tour. By now my form has gone down considerably compared to the start of the year and my weight up which is quite normal for an amateur cyclist which pays for a lot of things out of his own pocket and the stress that comes with it. Not complaining at all. But it has been one hell of a journey.
Coming into the ITT against the best in the world at their best was a privilege . Because I knew whatever happens at the end of the day I would have a benchmark to how fast I really need to be able to go in the future. To my surprise there is a lot of positives one can take out of this event and a lot of factors I could do nothing about. All you can do is control the controllable.
So lets sum this up: A few places I could have safe quite a lot of time
- Windtunnel Testing
- Skinsuite
- Booties
- Perhaps some ceramic speed equipment
- Actually training to peak for such an event and not pitch up fatigued
- And find someone to give me a specific setup on the Time trial bike
- Actually ride my Time Trial bike more than 3 times in the 3 month leading up to the event
- Much lighter equipment
- Oh yes and as some of my friends have pointed out, pedaling faster ;) (Thanks Piet & Hanco)
-Take into account it was my first World Tour event ever
So don't get me wrong. Im not complaining. These are just variables that I could not have done anything about due to my circumstances, timing and goals. Taking all these factors into account there are huge grounds for improvement. On a very tough course like this I lost under 4 minutes to Chris Froome and Tony Martin which certainly gives me hope for the future.
Thank to all the South Africans for the incredible support.
@williesmurfy
