Going from a small but hungry Continental team up all the way to Cervélo TestTeam and racing with, and against, the biggest cyclists in the world in their own arena was one of my biggest dreams, and that is my motto: Follow your dreams. I believe that is very important to keep going and keep improving!
When I was up there and my first race was getting closer, I got nervous. However, instead of being wound up too much, I was getting more and more focused. I just wanted to race and show who I was.
My first race in the black jersey was Tour of Denmark (2.HC). I did a hard job for the team to help out as best I could. Going from my old team with a “free” spot to doing structured work in Cervélo was a different thing but the guys and DS helped me out and they pushed me in the right direction. I really liked it! I had good legs, maybe better than in a long time. And I felt pretty fresh every stage to do something good for the team and most important, to show my strength to get a contract proposal.
I tried to go in a few breaks but nothing lasted. However I got a good opportunity in the fifth stage, the 20km TT. Jean-Paul van Poppel helped me out well over the radio and pushed me to the limit and I managed to get the seventh-quickest place of the day. It almost felt like a win to do that, and it was great to hear from a Tour de France DS and the rest
of the team that I had done something good! I finished off the Tour of Denmark in 25th overall, more then I had in my mind when I got there.
After Denmark, more and more races filled my calendar. I did 1.HC races like Tour de Vendée, Paris-Bruxelles, Paris-Bourges in France, and Giro del Emilia and Beghelli in Italy before I did my last race of the season - and the last ride in Cervélo´s jersey - when I did Chrono des Nations outside Nantes, France.
I really enjoyed my trial even if I knew by then it wouldn’t continue with a full pro contract as the team was stopping. I did get to meet almost the entire squad. I raced with almost every rider, together with coaching from every DS…they took me under their wings and helped me out.
My best performances after Tour of Denmark was my 12th at Chrono des Nations, 25th at Paris-Bourges and a 130km breakaway in Tour de Vendée - that was a tough day at work!
I got a lot of valuable experience from this trial. The only thing I want now is to get back up there, and I’ve got a good team now to back me up!
So that was the last lookback at the 2010 season. Now, I´m already looking forward to 2011. I have started training again but the weather has not been helping out. We had some early snow that disappeared pretty fast but the last two weeks have been insane for November in Sweden. It has been snowing and snowing and has been very slippery.
We´ve got almost 35cm of snow and the last week has been very cold, hitting the roof at -22.5 yesterday morning!
We have done a few sessions outside anyway, me and my mates Gunnar Grönlund (Twenty3c – Orbea) and Matthias Wengelin (Team Kalas CK). But most of the sessions are done inside at ergometer…that’s good for the form, but maybe not for the head in the long term!
Another bad thing with the early winter was that my first meetings with Endura Racing were due to take place in Edinburgh over the weekend. But when I arrived at the airport the flight was cancelled because of the bad weather situation at Edinburgh airport. I drove home again…I’ll have to see the guys next time.
Anyway, I’ve a new session tomorrow…I’ll try to make it outside if the temperature allows it…!
Cheers,
Alexander