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Last Updated: 2 Apr 2018 - 8:45:17 PM |
Hi All,
This week will not go down as the most successful of my career due to a chest infection I picked up following Liege-Bastogne-Liege. I was suffering with my breathing on the climbs in LBL, more than usual, so I was not surprised to wake up on Monday with a barking cough. Went directly to the doctor who prescribed a course of antibiotics. Still had to race this week nonetheless but had the comfort of the team not expecting too much from me and Gerard (Bulens) telling me to come back to the car at the first sign of problems.
16April Grote Scheldeprijs / GP de l'Escaut (Belgium) 1.1 210kms
This race normally comes down to a bunch sprint from about 50 riders and has been won in the past by the likes of Zabel, Blijlevens, et al. Each year there is an amateur race run in conjunction to the Pro. event and for the last two years I finished third so I have a certain affinity to the Scheldeprijs. start was extra cool today with the announcer giving me a good mention as I signed on at the podium and mentioning my placings in the amateur events, but also because a man came to me before the start and asked me to sign some photo's (nothing unusual normally as the team hand out photo's of the riders before the start). However this guy had photo's of me in Ireland gear, Champions jersey, DCM gear, Last years Tonissteiner kit from my trial period, and this years kit. I was gob smacked and asked him where he got them all. He just said he was a supporter and wished me luck, it really made me feel good though. We start in the square in Antwerp and head out at a brisk tempo to the first section of cobbles at Polderboss I reach the cobbles in the first 20 and know that I will be in the first break as this section is 3kms of the worst cobbles possible and always splits the field. Sure enough we come out the other side and there is a group of 40 away I am having serious problems breathing and start coughing and spluttering like a smoker of twenty years. This is not good and I summon the team car Willie (Assistant Director) tells me to jack it, I object for a few more kms but he almost gets angry with me and comes up again so I oblige. I get onto the bus and a few kms later Frank Hoj (La Francaise des Jeux) gets on. He stands at the top of the bus and points to me " You are sick, You are sick " he exclaims in his nutty Danish accent, "You finished Veenendaal, me too, and I am sick also, is it true, am I correct ??" I confirm his opinion as the cobble hating Italians (Ballerini and Taffi excluded) in the bus look on. He turns out to be one of the nicest guy's I have spoken to since I turned Pro., what a funny guy !! The race comes down to the usual sprint with an average speed for the day of 47kph for the 210kms, incredible, Endrio Leoni (Allesio) thunders past Blijlevens (Polti) with Leon Van Bon (Rabobank) in third and so ends the Belgian Classic season. Time for foreign shores.
24April Paris - Camembert (France) 1.2 210kms
Drove down to Paris last night with the team and we stayed in a suburb called "Plaisir". I am still not over my chest infection and feeling a little down. Breakfast 6:30am as we have a 10am start today, change into our race gear at the hotel and then travel to the start. Meet Ciaran, didn't expect to see him as I had heard he was on a break until the Giro. He said he was a little tired and I told him of my illness and we had a good moan. His teammates and management are really friendly and as I was chatting away I missed my team going up on the podium. I arrived on the summons of the speaker fashionably late and a little red faced. The winner of this race receives on top of his cash prize his own bodyweight in Camembert cheese so I guess it was a relief to the organizers that Ullrich didn't show up. Race starts at lunatic speed and we are buffeted by a cross wind for most of the race. It is quite hilly also and I am panting like a dog as every time I take a deep breath I start to cough. I ride quite strongly in the opening 100 kms getting in the moves and chasing with the team but when it explodes I find myself in the same group as Ciaran and we ride to the finish "piiiiiaaaaannnnooooo". Get back to the team car and one of our guys is holding what is left of his Colnago C40. He was chasing back on after a flat when the Farm Frites team car jammed on and he slammed into the back of it smashing his frame into two pieces, it was a sorry sight but luckily the frame took the brunt of the damage and not him. I say "Au revoir" to Ciaran as he starts his 7 hour trek to Toulouse and I journey 5 hours to Antwerp. Aahh, !! life on the road. 1st Didier Rous (Bonjour), 2nd Lance Armstrong (US Postal) He's back!!!, 3rd Igor Flores (Euskatel).
Back to the team Doctor tomorrow for a load of tests but I am feeling a lot better, I shall keep you all informed and thanks for all the e-mails everyone, they kept my spirits up this week.
Morgan
Program for the months ahead,
April
Saturday 29 Cologne-Bonn 1.4 (Germany)
May
Monday 1 GP Frankfurt 1.1 (Germany)
Sunday 7 Classico Alcobendas 1.4 (Spain)
Tuesday 9-14 Vuelta a Asturias 2.2 (Spain)
Friday 21- Friday 28 2.4 Tour of Japan
June
Tues. 4 -Sun 10 June 2.3 Tour of Austria
Mon. 11 - Sun 18 Team Training camp Morzine (Switzerland)
Sun 25 National championships
Tues. 27 GP Van Steenbergen 1.2 (Belgium)
IrishCycling.Com: Would like to thank Morgan for allowing us to share his diary
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