London Wrap by pc

At the moment while sitting in the lobby of the hotel having one last coffee I thought you would be interested about the race yesterday.

The great thing about being a rider/manager is that I get to experience all the emotions of those two roles wrapped up into one. I had already pre-packed all the equipment the evening before and even though I felt really organized I still went and rechecked it all! I headed to the track with all the equipment and our new camera crew while Adrien rested up in the hotel for a bit until taking a warm up spin over to the venue.

everyone represented in the feed zone

I setup the indoor trainer and went and filled the bottles and put them in the ice bucket as today the sun had come out and was perfect for a hard day of racing. I spent some time watching the woman's race before returning to our pit area, setting up Adrien on the trainer and ran through the course with him one last time so I was convinced we were ready.

Film crew never missing a moment

The press were all over the place; pictures, videos, BBC radio and the PA system were all excited about Rwanda's first Olympic MTB'er. It was then go time and as the riders fed into the warm up area I dragged all the equipment down to the feed zone with the help of Greg one of the movie crew who I recruited as pack mule for the day!

All organised!

Each rider was then introduced to the crowd individually and brought up to the line. They gave the 15sec to go call and you could feel the tension. Being a racer it felt as though I was on that line with Adrien and when the gun went off the crowd erupted into cheers! The pace of the start loop was frantic as the front contenders tested each other heading up to the first climb.

Now as hard as you prepare for a race, as good as your equipment is when it comes down to race day there is such thing as needing some luck. Adrien unfortunately got caught behind a couple riders who bobbled and spun out on the first climb allowing for the other side of the pack to slide on past.

This put him off but was quickly back in the fight and powering it up all the climbs! There was so much support out on course and it brought chills as people were encouraging Adrien by name (I was even cheered as his support - quite humbling). From the feed zone I could see the action in four different places around the course. Adrien's lap times were consistent and he was slowly reeling in riders on the climbs and holding his own on the tricky downs. This was all going well but his biggest problem of the day was that of Julien Absalon who was out to make a statement. Julien was on fire and as he ripped into the field it became just a question of how many riders he would catch on the 80% rule.

Julien ripp'n the legs off the start loop!

Adrien was pulled after 5 of 7 laps and in 35th position which is his best finish in an international so far. Good effort from him and one could see his confidence improving every lap. I am sure that with a good plan Adrien's dreams of Olympics - not just being a participant but finishing will become a reality!

New Team Rwanda kit

After a cool down and hordes of interviews we headed back to the hotel feeling quite satisfied. It has been a great week here in the UK and we have learnt a lot, met some new fiends, learnt some new skills and now in a couple hours heading home.

Quick chat with BBC Radio!

See you in 2012 London and thanks for a great event!