I always enjoy being in Val di Sole, Italy and I had high hopes of a top 30 finish. Although I now had enough points to be in the short track I really suffered on the flat, grassy track, starting 38th and barely able to see or breathe in the dust. I moved up to 32nd but wasn’t able to make any further inroads, blowing up a bit on the last 2 laps which meant I would only be starting 5th row for the XCO.
I was confident I could move forward but by Sunday my legs had deserted me. I felt extremely flat, and after 5 races in just 15 days it was no real surprise. I’ve been able to show signs of my past form in training and occasional races this year, such as Nationals and at Leogang. However, I’m definitely still quite limited by toxoplasmosis and the long road to recovery it poses.
My numbers are certainly up from last year, but still down across the board when compared to my numbers in 2017 – 2023 but I’m told by the doctors that it can take some years for it to feel like it’s truly behind me. The fatigue creeps up on me easier than it used to and I have to be particularly careful with high training and race load. Sometimes you need to be reminded of this the hard way! Definitely frustrating when you’re doing all you can in training and leaving no stone unturned, but being held back by something out of your control.
I now head to Andorra to prepare for the next World Cup up at 2,000m before there is a bit of a summer break which I’m looking forward to!