Rabobank Bikecenter van Tuyl Paasbike - Holland

Racing against windmills & rain..

With the prospect of racing in the Netherlands this season, the team were excited to say the least. With a heritage in the sport of mountain biking as strong as the Dutch, racing was always going to be tough & super fast!

Alex was to race first for Orange Monkey-Cannondale in the Junior category, with a less than positive grid position of last, he moved his way through the large field of riders quickly. Settling into 17th by the end of the first lap. At motorbike pace the Junior's weaved their way through the tight twisty circuit at incredible speed. At the half way stage of lap 2, Alex had moved into a group fighting for the top 10 & looking strong. As the exciting race was reaching its final stages the group of four, containing Alex, had split in two. Alex found himself having a flat out road race style sprint to the line. A great race & showing good form moving into World Cup week.

With Alex racing in the morning, the focus turned to a talent packed Elite race in the afternoon. The weather was looking like it would be playing a major role in the results. As the 70+ athletes lined up on the grid, the anticipation was high for the spectators. The start was intense & super fast, both Rourke & Dave found themselves in the top 20, Paul had made his way up to the top 40. At the mid way point, through lap two as the lead group approached their was a group of four riders away, the group contained a yellow Mavic helmet, It was Rourke, looking comfortable in the mix.

Group two had Dave working hard on the front. In search of that top five place. On lap 4 Dutchman Michiel Van Der Heijden, attacked hard & made a gap of 10 seconds, the only rider to try to close the gap was Rourke, moving at what seemed an impossible pace on a mountain bike. Dave had now secured himself in the group following. Paul was riding strong & in search of the top 40 finish.

With one lap remaining the race had split, Rourke was embattled with Van De Hiejden's fellow countryman Henk Jaap Moorlag for 3rd position, the former under 23 star managed to find a 7 second gap by the checked flag. Rourke finished 4th, a great result. Dave created an opportunity to get away from two following riders, although a small mistake on a muddy off camber climb was to cost the British star, the result was still strong 8th place in a tough pre World Cup European race. Paul had pushed himself to new limits finishing on the same lap as the leaders. He later commented "that was the best race of my life" 

A great Easter weekend for Orange Monkey-Cannondale, next up they'll be reporting back from round 2 of the World Cup in the iconic Belgium town of Houffalize. 

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