Next stop - Commonwealth Games, India!

First of all the big news of late is that yesterday I was officially named in the 2010 Commonwealth Games team in Delhi, India, early October. It has been a bit unexpected to be honest, with injuries to other riders in the squad my chances for the team slowly got better. I had a pretty big track season, picking up some good results and was very consistent which I think was a major contributor to my selection for the Games. But all and all, I have worked hard over the last 12 months, and already have gone to the next level in my training! I am going to make the most of this opportunity, as for me it is huge.

The plan is to stay in Belgium until end of August, where we will be doing a bit of a camp in Gent at the end of August, and then onto a 4 day road tour in the Provence region in France. After the tour the whole team will head to Bordeaux for 2-3 weeks before finally heading to Delhi.

Already the naming of the team has been a huge motivation to my training, which showed today when I picked up my first podium in Europe this year, coming in solo for 2nd place, about 4-5seconds behind the winner, and the same time gap to the chasing bunch. It was a fast kermesse, 15laps of a 7.3km circuit - 110km. The bunch wasn't letting anything get away. In the last lap I moved up the bunch, got in a little move with 3 other riders with about 4km to go, rolled for a bit then they looked at each other so I attacked them and no one chased, I had my gap. I was chasing down one solo Davo rider, and I was getting closer and closer as I got closer to the finish. With about 500m there was a very technical round about, followed by a 90degree right hand corner, and it was raining so I couldn't take any risks to try and make the 5seconds or so he had on me. I rolled in just behind him, and just ahead of the bunch for my first podium in Europe this summer, things are on the up... Next step is to go one better!

For me now my focus is on India, there are some very experienced riders in the team, so will be a good chance to once again learn off them.

I would like to say a quick thanks to the people who have helped me out this year and in the past to make this possible. Mum and the family, Don and Linda Malcolm, Peter Alexander, BikeNZ, Greg Halliday and the team at Mainstream, Del and AvantiPlus Waipuna, Mark Little and the guys at Colorado Traders, Brett Lornie, all the SKC past and present cyclists and families, Chris Whitley, and I am sure there are many more! You all know who you are, so thanks very much.

Time to really knuckle down.