The past couple of months have been made very challenging due to illness but I can now finally say that I am healthy once more! A week after Albstadt I also came down with a bad chest infection and took 2 weeks complete rest and then started up again with some easy 1hr rides. I had the feeling that I was well enough to race again and started an Italian National series race in Vermiglio but had to pull out early in the race as I realised I was still far from 100%. I still hoped I would be able to return to World Cup racing the next weekend but early into the week I realised that it would not be wise to race and I could potentially end up doing more harm them good, especially not really knowing what was wrong with my body.

I talked with my Personal Manager and my Team Manager and came to the agreement that it was best I headed home to New Zealand a few days earlier than planned for a range of tests and to try return to full health. Early blood tests suggested I had initially caught a viral infection, most likely gastroenteritis which was then followed by a chest infection and as I was returning to health a head cold which knocked me back once again. About 7 weeks after I first fell ill, my blood results have finally all returned to normal and I am able to resume training once again. I will fly to Spain on the 13^th of July for a week’s training before heading to Andorra for the 4^th round of the World Cup series which will be used mainly for training. Enjoying being back on the MTB!