Professional Cycle Coaching for London

It has been a long time coming but finally it was announced that Maxifuel were to be the Official Nutrition sponsor to the Halfords Tour Series and The Tour of Britain. We have been working with Maxifuel since the start and watching it grow has been a great experience. The added potential in that GlaxoSmithKline purchased the company has meant growth and sponsorship into events and teams such as  UK Youth Professional Cycling team. It was brilliant news this week when we were asked to represent Maxinutrition at the full Tour series and the Tour of Britain and apart from the Torquay and Colchester rounds we will be present. Unfortunately our Alpine camp in France means us missing these 2 rounds but there will still be plenty of specialists to answer your questions. If you have always wondered about what nutrition you should be using before, during and after rides or need some training and racing advice then please come over and meet the Team.

We start the series on the 15th May in Kirkcaldy in Scotland and the rounds we will be attending are as follows:

Halfords Tour series

Tuesday 15 May 2012 - Kirkcaldy, Fife

Thursday 17 May 2012 - Durham, County Durham

Tuesday 22 May 2012 - Oxford, Oxfordshire

Thursday 24 May 2012 - Redditch, Worcestershire

Friday 25 May 2012 - Aberystwyth, Wales

Tuesday 29 May 2012 - Peterborough, Cambridgeshire

Thursday 31 May 2012 - Canary Wharf, London

Tuesday 12 June 2012 - Woking, Surrey

Thursday 14 June 2012 - Stoke-on-Trent

The Tour of Britain

Tour of Britain 2012: Stages

Stage two, Monday September 10 - Nottingham-Knowsley Safari Park, 178km

Stage three, Tuesday September 11 - Jeburgh-Dumfries, 161.4km

Stage four, Wednesday September 12 - Carlisle-Blackpool, 156km

Stage five, Thursday September 13 - Stoke-on-Trent, 146.9km

Stage six, Friday September 14 - Welshpool-Caerphilly, 189.8km

Stage seven, Saturday September 15 - Barnstaple-Dartmouth, 170.7km

Stage eight, Sunday September 16 - Reigate-Guildford, 147.7km

 The Route Map:

 

After spending the Bank holiday Monday with none other than reigning Olympic Champion Kristin Armstrong we arranged to also take the rest of the squad around the Boxhill loop of the Olympic Road race course. The Team had just returned from the Tour Of Flanders where Kristin had a suberb result gaining second place. Two of the other girls were not so fortunate though and  Tayler Wiles and Kristin Mcgrath had accidents. This meant that the ride was very controlled with the main emphasis on my local knowledge and experience of the roads in that area. We rode 3 laps and the girls were tapping along very nicely on the climb. After the climb there are some downhill and flat sectios so we took advantage to do some race simulation practice at a slightly slower speed. This meant we could look at achieving the correct lines on the descent and also to see where the girls should place themselves within the bunch to get the easiest route through the two rondabouts before hitting Mickleham village.  After we had ridden we then took the team for lunchat Crystal Palace so that we could take the advantage to get Tayler and Kristin looked at by our physiotherapists at the Sports Injury Centre. George and Kerry fully assesed the injurys and potential for further injury if they returned to racing too soon. They were both given the all clear to race a minor race that weekend in Belgium before embarking on their final race in Europe Fleche Wallone before returning back to their US program.

On a wet and blustery Bank Holiday Monday we met up with our good friend Simon Cope now the DS of USA Ladies team Exergy 2012 and reigning Olympic time trial Champion Kristin Armstrong. The plan for the day was to drive around the course first making notes and measurements of potential hazards, check wind direction and try and get a feel of the lines to take into the corners on route. It was quite apparent that the moment we climbed in the car that Kristin was excited. She had that look that only Great Champions have in that you know they are nervous like we all are when taking part in a race reconnaissance but the difference is that they use this nervous energy to enhance their performance. I asked Kristin on a slight drag what she was thinking and she smiled and said "Great i can really put the pressure on here". After we had driven the route it was time to get on the bikes and ride it. It was cold, wet and windy but there was not any indication that Kristin wasn't 100% focussed. We discussed a number of things regarding the road infrastructure, traffic islands and also general road conditions. We took a few of the corners at good speed and also opened up slightly whilst Simon was stuck in traffic around Kingston. Believe me i have spent a lot of time travelling around Europe with Simon and he is not happy when he gets stuck in traffic. We finished the ride and Kristin was very upbeat and positive about the course and her chances of defending the title.  It was great to be involved with such a Great Champion and such a lovely lady and I hope that our advice can play a small part towards her result at the Games. We are planning to do some more work together in the run upto the Games with Kristin and the USA team in the run upto the event, so watch this space.