Joe Brookes journal #01: a beginner again

Second-year under-23 Joe Brookes rides for the French AVC Aix-en-Provence team, and is supported by the Rayner Foundation. In his first journal post Joe discusses embracing new challenges and learning to adapt to the differences in racing in France.

I have definitely settled into life in France.

It doesn’t seem that long ago that I was packing my bags to leave the home I have lived in all my life, setting off to a strange place that is to be my new home for the coming year – a much sunnier and warmer home in Aix-en-Provence.

It doesn’t seem that long ago that I was packing my bags to leave the home I have lived in all my life, setting off to a strange place that is to be my new home for the coming year

After wrapping up my final turbo session after a long wet winter, we were all set to take the long journey through France to the south. My first introduction to French culture comes within an hour of leaving Calais, when a surprisingly quiet motorway suddenly became a queue of stationary traffic, stopped by farmers barricading the way in protest at increasing costs. We remain stuck for an hour and a half until we were turned around and escorted back up the motorway on the wrong side of the road. It’s an odd but familiar feeling to be back driving on the left.

An already long journey is made much longer by more protests, motorway closures and negotiating narrow back roads to avoid traffic jams – an experience anyone using Waze knows only too well. Eventually we arrive at the team house in Aix and I begin the next chapter of my journey.

My first thought is wow, this is now real!

Several weeks on and I’m yet to have a training ride that feels mundane. I still find myself gazing at the stunning scenery I pass or simply enjoying the blue sky and warm sunshine as I tick over the training kilometres. In these moments, it’s as if I’ve already reached the pinnacle of the sport — I’m living in the south of France, racing for a team that gives excellent support to its riders. That, and all the infrastructure that comes with the team, is quite cool and is certainly a big step up from my previous racing experience. However, there is also now the added pressure of achieving results, be they personal targets or riding for the team in support of their overall goals – but the reward of being here easily outweighs the pressure.

Several races in and I have experienced the significant differences between French racing and racing back home. Whilst I had a small taste of this last summer, it was just that – a small taste. Much larger pelotons and teams that are far more tactical and coordinated in their approach stand out, as does the depth of quality of the riders in each team. The races I have competed in so far are by far the toughest I have experienced.

I quickly learn that what worked for me in the UK doesn’t necessarily work here and I am learning and developing new skills in each race

I quickly learn that what worked for me in the UK doesn’t necessarily work here and I am learning and developing new skills in each race. Things like holding my position in the peloton, timing my attacks and working to the DS’s instruction have all been lessons quickly learnt.

One area that I am definitely seeing improvement in is maintaining my position when tackling technical descents at fast speed with a large group of riders. Having limited experience of racing or riding abroad, I have rarely encountered mountainous terrain with long twisty descents. This is a vital skill I need to rapidly learn as to spend so much energy fighting for places on the flat and the climbs only to lose those places on the descent isn’t smart racing. Fortunately there are a few good roads local to our team house on which I can hone this skill and develop my confidence.

Racing in February and early March saw me competing in a series of open category races before then progressing to Elite Nationale races. Whilst I do not get any results of note I am satisfied with my progress, having been both active in making breaks or helping to pull back breaks for the team.

The scale of the race certainly exceeded my expectations. Large crowds on the start line, a large media presence, camera crews and requests for interviews – all this felt special

With my race calendar for March given to me by our DS at the start of the month, I always knew I was a reserve rider for Extremadura, and when I learned this was a hilly stage race in Spain, I hoped to secure a spot on the team. As we got closer to the race my hopes of selection were fading, until a week before the race I had a message informing me that a rider had dropped out and I was in the team. Having started to get into the flow of French racing, I was uncertain about how I would do but was also excited about the opportunity. The journey to the race was long and spending two days cramped in the back of the team van wasn’t an optimal way of preparing for the race but was worthwhile as the scale of the race certainly exceeded my expectations. Large crowds on the start line, a large media presence, camera crews and requests for interviews – all this felt special.

Much to the relief of my travel-fatigued legs, the first stage was flat and favoured a bunch sprint. The plan was to try and help my team by following large moves and being present for the sprint lead out. The final two stages were hilly and I knew would play to my strengths. The second stage ended with a brutally steep and roughly surfaced summit finish. My goal was to be well positioned ahead of the climb to minimise any losses in the last kilometre – this was successfully achieved with me finishing in 20th place!

The final day suited me most, with two long climbs at the back end of the 150km stage, up hills that featured in stage 18 of the 2022 Vuelta. It was just a case of hoping the race stayed together in the first half then putting it all on the line at the end. The team didn’t get off to the best of starts, missing an early move that contained riders from most of the major teams, but the guys worked hard to bring back the gap before the final climb started. On the climb we soon whittled down to a small group with attacks regularly being made. My teammate managed to make a jump off the front of our group with two others, chasing down the lone leader. I was conscious not to attack and drag those remaining with me and covered attacks where I could. I crossed the finish line content with 13th place on the stage and a very satisfying 14th on GC, my best result to date.

I’m embracing this new challenge. I understand that I still have much to learn, as a rider and as a person and I remain confident in my ability to do so

While my transition to racing in Europe may sometimes feel like being thrown into the deep end, I’m embracing this new challenge. I understand that I still have much to learn, as a rider and as a person and I remain confident in my ability to do so. It’s fantastic to be in an environment where there is space to learn and to be around great teammates that are all willing to offer guidance and help.

With my calendar for April due imminently I cannot wait to see what opportunity the coming weeks will bring.