The Motorpoint Pro Cycling Team Blog

So, having gone on record in 2009 when I declared I’d ridden my last Tour of Britain, I stuck to my word in 2010. Still wishing to be involved though, I offered up my services for this year’s race. This involved driving the second team car, and helping Bill with mechanics duties.

This race is, together with the Tour Series, the most important event of the season. And as for our team, I believe they came away with performances to be extremely proud of. As already reported, Motorpoint-Marshalls Pasta were the top British-based team on GC, and highest placed UK rider on any stage. Lets also remember just how young these guys still are, and that they are all actually home grown!

Amongst the British teams, approaches to specific pre-race preparation for the Tour differed somewhat. It is difficult to know for sure if you’re on the right track, but the final results proved they got it right. Under the circumstances, with the UK calendar being as Criterium heavy and Stage race light as it is, our guys did as well as could be expected.

Highlights of the race were Ian Bibby’s second place on the pivotal stage 3 to Swansea, and the Team’s efforts of Stage 4, where we placed three guys in the front split on the epic day to Teignmouth. On Stage 3 only eventual GC winner Albasini got the better of Bibbs, and I believe our man could have beaten him, if he’d had a 27 sprocket for Constitution Hill, like Albasini.

The spectator turnout was massive this year, and although I suspect some of this was due to the Team Sky/Bradley Wiggins effect, they were especially enthusiastic around our riders, both at the starts and finishes. 

Everyone can now have a well-deserved rest. I can vouch that being behind the wheel, rather than in the saddle, is equally tiring though admittedly less painful…..

Malcolm Elliott

The past few weeks have been a bit of a high for me personally and I really seem to have got my cycling legs back. I was third place in Colne and then won at Beverley and Blackburn. I didn’t expect to win to be honest. In some ways it was about being in the right place at the right time and taking the initiative.

The win at Blackburn was pretty special. It was quite a technical course – in some ways it would be better for superbikes! There were torrential downpours and whilst they stopped halfway through the race, the rain made the paving slabs treacherous. As we entered the final section, I heard a huge crash behind me with the sound of metal hitting concrete. It’s horrible when that happens but I knew it was my chance, so I broke away.

Coming out of the Tour Series was a bit of a relief to tell you the truth, as my legs were feeling pretty fatigued. I was disappointed not to win a stage, but for the team it was an immense achievement to win. It did seem touch and go for us, but we came out on top. I wasn’t on top form for most of it so to come away with a trophy in hand was incredible.

It is tough for the team because we have only a small squad unlike the big continental teams, so everyone has to dig in. Racing four times a week can really take it out of you. For the likes of Steve Burke and me, who are trained for crits it gets really tough on your legs to be doing that much. It’s requires completely different stamina from a 90 mile race.

The next few weeks are looking quiet for the first time since May, with a few remaining crits and possibly a trip to France. Then early September we’ve got the Tour of Britain. I’d like to win the first stage but we’ll see. For the likes of Bibby and Jonny McEvoy it’s their natural ground – for me it’s more about getting through it as it’s not my natural speciality. But it’s great for training for overall fitness so I shouldn’t complain!!

Ed Clancy

So, after a long, eventful and sometimes stressful five weeks criss-crossing the country the Halfords Tour Series is finally over….FANTASTIC!!!

This was the stated major target of the Motorpoint Marshalls Pasta team and to have now accomplished this feels hugely satisfying.

Throughout the series there have been quite a few fortunes and misfortunes, not just for ourselves, but for our opposition too. We always knew our main rivals would be Rapha Condor Sharp and Endura, and so it proved.

Trying to recall Round 1 at Canary Wharf seems such a long time ago now, but that’s where we opened our account with a third place to Rapha, followed by a great personal moment for me at Round 2 in Durham. On unquestionably the most challenging course of the series I was able to take individual victory, and we also took team honours on the night.

Round 3 went to Portsmouth where I was taken out in a crash around one third distance. However, the boys rallied to the cause and set up a great win for our Ian Bibby and close packing of our guys behind meant team victory on the night, which put us into the overall leader’s jerseys.

Moving to Round 4 in Exeter, it seemed that wearing the leader’s jerseys was much more difficult than it appeared. On an admittedly lacklustre evening for us we ended up fourth on the night. This began a run of below par performances for us, in which our once healthy six point lead was gradually whittled away by both Rapha and Endura through Rounds 5 in Southport and Round 6 in Kettering.

Then, after Round 7 at Peterborough the lead became no more, and Rapha overhauled us by the narrowest margin. By this time we had truly come to believe that those leaders’ jerseys were jinxed, as all our best performances had been when we were wearing own our Motorpoint kit. So, when I shouted out with a smile to the guys at Rapha as I left the car park at Peterborough, “Good luck with those cursed jerseys of DOOM!”…they thought I was joking!

So, on to Round 8 in Stoke-on-Trent, our ‘home’ round as it were, and back into our own familiar kit. Things couldn’t have been more different. Back came our legs, whilst Rapha’s legs fell off somewhere. Hmmm, that’s the curse at work there. Anyway, to cut a long story short, Bibbs in the break, delivered like a trooper and crossed the line first, followed by a Motorpoint blanket in the chasing group, and with four of us in the top eight put us winners on the night…and right back into the leaders jerseys, oh the irony!! Meanwhile Endura were second on the night, whilst Rapha had a shocker coming fourth. This left Rapha and Endura both equal second overall just three points back.

On to Round 9 in Chester and my nerves were jangling. Once again the lead was a weighty burden, and Endura finally came good, mullering everyone with an unprecedented 1-2-3 on the line, giving them the first team on the night. During the group sprint for second place, the Australian desperadoes of Rapha tried to demolish everyone. Thankfully we got through almost unscathed to salvage second from the wreckage. This left us just two points clear of a burgeoning Endura, whilst Rapha’s overall challenge had now virtually disappeared due to their first place on the night.

So, to Woking, where it would all end in a result very soon…but in who’s favour.

It would have been very foolish to underestimate Endura, having seen their display in Chester 72 hours earlier. Many of those intervening hours were spent weighing up various potential scenarios, and pondering possibilities. Should Endura win, we absolutely had to finish right behind them, those risks were enormous, having seen how crashes and punctures had affected our results previously in the series.

One difference in Woking was we’d had special one piece skinsuits made at the last minute, instead of the usual jerseys. This gave a boost to the guys, somehow a feeling of the curse being lifted.

Anyway, as soon as the flag dropped I felt a sense of calm, and that things were going to our way, not against us. I had better legs than in quite a while. It felt like we were always in control…Soon, the pace picked up and the bunch split behind me, and ahead in the break we had the necessary three riders, whereas Endura had just two. This boded well, for even though Rapha also had three riders, they were no longer an immediate threat to us.

That group worked particularly well, apart from two obvious Endura ‘non fare paying passengers’…understandable.

Into the last few laps the inevitable attacks kicked off, Rapha being prominent and it was always going to be one of their riders who would capitalise on the Motorpoint/Endura rivalry. But to us it didn’t matter, we had bigger fish to fry. At the end it was Dean Windsor of Rapha doing the last two laps solo to win, whilst I won the kick behind from Ian Wilkinson of Endura.

We’d done it………..

Then followed a feeling of a huge weight lifting from me. A pressure which had been building for months was gone. It had been the sole focus for me for so long. Having come so close in 2009′s Tour Series, especially losing out by a tyre’s width on the last sprint in the last race I knew what it meant.

But with that pressure gone, I’m still not quite sure what’s going to replace it though.

What I can say is that it has been a pleasure, an absolute pleasure to be a part of this team. Superbly supported from every angle, I am a happy man, and I thank you all.

Malcolm Elliott

The RAS is the longest eight day race of the season and with five men limited per team, not to mention the terrain, it can become unpredictable and at times, quite aggressive. You need to pace yourself during the tour, which is what the guys did, building momentum throughout the week. My ultimate aim was for a podium but with the Swedes in top form, and a top field, including a number of continental teams, I was delighted to finish the RAS in 2^nd.

By this point in the season, your fitness should be at its peak having basically been preparing since the start of the year. Early on, the Cintron in Majorca was a struggle for me but after a number of wins and a good Tour of Brittany and now the RAS, I am feeling on top form for what is a very busy June.

It can be tough, with so many races packed into the month, what with the Premier Calendar and the Tour Series. Fatigue is an issue so the strength and depth needs to be there but the team is riding high at the minute, so we feed off each other. Plus, when it comes to the Tour Series, Keith tends to rotate us all so no-one “over rides”.

I’m particularly looking forward to Southport. It’s my home town, it’s my local club and all my mates are coming along so there should be plenty of support. I can’t wait for it!

Pete Williams

 I was reasonably happy with how the Lincoln GP race went. It certainly sounded like a good race from what people told me, and now I’ve watched the video on the website. Unfortunately, being in the team car I didn’t get to see that much of it. Getting two riders in the Top 10 was certainly good for team morale and bodes well for the forthcoming RAS Tour in Ireland. I was disappointed that the guys let two lots of two get away but I am sure we’ll address that in future Premier events. Both Ian and Jonny have enjoyed a great start to the season and Lincoln saw them continue their rich form of vein. I was particularly pleased with Andy’s performance, especially with him having being ill since finishing the Tour of Brittany.

 The Lincoln GP is always a bit of a lottery because of the size of the field. Although as a spectacle, it’s right up there for the public, for a team manager it’s a bit of a nightmare, especially when there are 200 riders, many of whom were simply not of the right calibre for the quality of that race. This showed early on with riders being pushed further and further back all the time, resulting in myself so far off the pace in the team race that I could barely pick up the race organisers radio. It was only when the field was cut after the half way point that you could really understand what was happening in the race. Prior to that there were so many bottlenecks, it was a bit of a joke.

Keith Lambert