Joe Brookes journal #03: mid-season reflection

Second-year under-23 Joe Brookes rides for the French AVC Aix-en-Provence team, and is supported by the Rayner Foundation. In his third journal post, Joe reflects on a successful start to French racing life.

I would certainly say that the first half of the season has been a qualified success. It feels like only yesterday I was at the team’s January pre-season training camp receiving my calendar for the first half of the season.  I remember scrolling through the Training Peaks calendar all the way to the end of June, and adding in the National Road Championships, uncertain of how my season would look once it rolled round. 

As I write these words, the National Road Championship weekend has just concluded and this does feel like a milestone point in time. To record a finish on such a tough course and in such a strong field was something I would have taken at the start of the race.

I always said that the key importance of the season was to learn and to gain as much experience of different racing styles as I could

Returning to my year-to-date reflection, I always said that the key importance of the season was to learn and to gain as much experience of different racing styles as I could.  I have certainly had a wide variety of racing experiences, from both pan flat and lumpy French Elite Nationale’s to hilly Spanish stage races – they have all been races to enjoy and take something from, even when the legs have not quite been there. 

Some people hit the ground running at the start of the season and instantly pick up results, but this year it has taken me time to reach last year’s level.  I have found this challenging when I see others flying so early. However, recently I have started to show some form.

The past two months have seen me racing in Spain a lot, so often actually that it is easy to forget I am on a French team!  I find the Spanish races great for young riders like me. The races feel more controlled with well-coordinated teams.  The racing is not quite as full on from the off as it is in France, which means I can try to escape in a break and be at the sharp end of the racing, competing for the win, especially now I have come into some form.

The Vuelta Bidasoa marked the beginning of me finding that form after what felt like months of racing without quite reaching my best level. I would say that I am an all-round rider that is decent on a climb, but in Spain when the races hit the uphill, the gradients can be insane. I know that I’m not strong enough or light enough to win a race by riding people off my wheel on the climb, so I know I need to play my cards right, although too often I have found myself getting carried away with the excitement of feeling good early on by following too many attacks.

Showing patience and judging what is likely to be the right move is something that I still need to work on if I want to have better chance of winning races

My teammates have always joked about me being great at joining the “suicidal breakaway” and as fun as it may be, showing patience and judging what is likely to be the right move is something that I still need to work on if I want to have better chance of winning races. So going into the final day at Bidasoa 7th on GC was good, but I felt I could do much more and found I rolled the dice too many times, trying to get into a decisive break – meaning I had burned too many matches when it came to the last climb, dropping back to 14th overall. Still not bad, but not quite what I had planned that morning.

So, just as things were looking up, fate looked unkindly on me and straight after Bidasoa I was hit with a chest infection.  Feeling sorry for myself, coupled with having a scheduled three-week break from racing, I booked a last-minute flight home to rest and reset. Being back at home was great, not having to cook my own food or do my own washing, plus the familiar surroundings of my own room, catching up with friends and appreciating the small things like simply having a working shower that pumps out hot water!

I presumed I would quickly bounce back to from illness soon after returning home, so I threw in a late entry to the BEC CC’s Nat B Road race.  In hindsight, this probably wasn’t the smartest thing to do as my recovery was not fully complete, but nonetheless I really wanted to compete in a Nat B after not doing one for so long.

I was surprised at how foreign it felt to be racing in the UK, restricted to one side of the road and with oncoming traffic

I found it strange to be back racing in the UK and started the race in good spirits until I hit my first pothole – the bane of UK roads – causing my handlebars to slip downward.  As the race progressed, I was surprised at how foreign it felt to be racing in the UK, restricted to one side of the road and with oncoming traffic. I have taken for granted how fortunate it is to race on the continent under a rolling road closure.  Despite my issues, I tried a couple of attacks but given I was not fully recovered from illness I was probably a bit over-keen and ended up with tired legs on the final lap, not a great feeling when riding against some strong UK riders.

Returning to France, the plan leading into National Road Championship was to do two back-to-back four-day Spanish stages races, Castello and Circuito Montanes. 

Castello was a tough race, featuring two stages with over 3000 metres of elevation gain. The team executed the first stage perfectly: I joined the breakaway, and my teammate bridged up to me on the final climb, allowing me to lead him out for a stage win. It was a great start, but our team, was weakened by illness on the next stage so faced a difficult task defending the yellow jersey which ultimately, we didn’t retain.

At Montanes whilst the team names were familiar from the previous race, the rider rosters were not, with different names listed on start sheets for most teams except for those in the colours of AVC. I didn’t let this faze me as I had finished Castello strongly and began the race well motivated. 

Stage 1 was chaotic and I was eager to force a breakaway but remained patient, waiting for the right moment to come. That came about 130 km from the finish when the peloton was easing up. I managed to break away with another rider. Feeling strong, I rode hard, despite knowing it was risky to push so early.  I could hear my teammates warning me about the “suicidal breakaway,” but I ignored these thoughts and pressed on. We were soon caught by a small chasing group, which was perfect. With a good mix of teams, we worked well together until, with 30 km to go, coordination broke down, turns were skipped, and our substantial lead dwindled.

I unintentionally carried too much speed and found myself off the front solo. With no others able to bridge, I decided to roll the dice and go for it with 27 km to go

As expected, riders in the breakaway started to attack off the front as the peloton closed us down and when I went to follow one of them, I unintentionally carried too much speed and found myself off the front solo. With no others able to bridge, I decided to roll the dice and go for it with 27 km to go. It was looking good when I reached the final climb holding just over a minute advantage and comfortably got over the climb hoping that any chasing group would hesitate, allowing me chance to time trial the final few km to the finish line.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t, to be as two teams were working together, pushing hard to close me down. I was caught a few km to the line but nonetheless I kept my belief that a stage win was possible. Playing it tactically, I sat at the back of the small chase group to allow me some time to recover and then launched a surprise sprint from the rear, which almost came off as I crossed the line in second, just behind the winner.

While slightly disappointed to miss the stage win, I didn’t dwell on it. Riding in the breakaway for 120 km and then nearly winning the sprint was a huge confidence boost.  It validated my form and gave me optimism for future races. I was pleased to race with fantastic legs, where it felt effortless to push the pedals and this in some ways felt just as good as crossing the line with my hands in the air.

So now I am onto the second half of the year and looking forward to where that takes me.