Well, I have to say that the big races this year were not really that fulfilling for me.  In fact, I was pretty disappointed with my performances overall.  I also feel that I've had a fair bit of bad luck.  But there's no doubt about it - I didn't go into the Spring Classics with the condition that I needed to be in.  There were a varying amount of reasons for this - most of which were a matter of circumstance and most of which were, frustratingly, out of my control.

The team, as most of you may already know, had a very hard time with a lot of illnesses and injuries to some really important riders for our Classics campaign.  This had somewhat of a snowball effect on those of us who were fit and healthy - we were required to race more than we normally would.  So in my case, I felt that I didn't get the chance to do the preparation for the big races that I would've liked.  Normally, I like to train my way into good form by structuring my training into blocks endurance, strength and speed, with a bit of racing to give me that edge.  Unfortunately, due to all of the goings on and bad luck our team had, I was only left the option to race and rest which, for me, is not the way to get to my peak.

I find this all really disappointing as I worked hard the whole winter toward the Classics and it never came off how I had hoped.  It's a difficult thing to deal with when you prepare so long for something and it doesn't work out.

In terms of how I was in the team though, I wasn't too bad.  On a whole however, our team wasn't too good.  I was one of only two finishers in the Three Days of De Panne for our team.  I punctured and crashed on the first day so lost 10 minutes.  Although I finished well down on G.C, I don't think it reflected how I was feeling.