Team GB made a difficult decision last night. As Andrew Windrum was the only elite man to qualify for the long final, he gallantly gave his place in the relay to me. The deal was that Andy Conn, Ben and myself would not race the Long B final and keep ourselves fresh for the relay to give the team the best possible chance of a good result.
As a result, I spent the day of the long final supporting and taking photographs (see updated gallery). The finish area was again in the centre of a village centre with an exciting downhill spectator loop before a final climb back up to the finish. After watching all the British riders competing come in I
settled down to photograph the culmination of the men’s and women’s elite races, which were close considering the near 2 hour winning times. There was a great atmosphere with Maria commentating to a background track of traditional mountain music.
So I am under pressure tomorrow: Andrew has given me the A team ride but will be starting alongside me in the mass start leading out for the B team. Lets hope I can ride like I did in Poland last month and reward the decision to put me off first.