On Sunday night after the race in Les Gets I came down with a bad fever which progressed into Monday and Tuesday. I had a blood test on Wednesday and the results showed I was battling a virus that was going to take plenty of rest to get over. I was told I probably wouldn’t be able to race in Val di Sole but after a week off the bike and another week easy riding my follow up blood test was much improved and I was cleared to race.
I was still feeling quite tired early in the week of the race with good days and bad days. I decided to start the short track anyway and if I felt good I would try and make it into a top 3 start position. It poured down before the start of the race and the track turned into a proper mud-fest which made it a lot of fun! I got held up at the start by another rider missing their pedal in front of me and found myself near the back of the field from the get go. I stayed calm and rode consistently, being particularly cautious not to push too hard early on in the race. After all, it was only my second time pushing my HR over 150bpm in the last 3 weeks. I managed to pick off a couple of positions with a strong last lap to finish 24th and take the last spot on the 3rd row for the call up on Sunday.
I came into the XCO thinking a top 30 would be satisfying and a top 20 would be a great result. I had a strong start and made up some positions early on. I focused on pacing myself well and was able to finish in 13th position which was a massive surprise for me. I felt like I needed a result like this especially with World Champs so close and it gives me a good confidence boost before the last races of the season.
