Well, it’s been a while since I last checked in. I’m not being lazy, I just haven’t been up to much since Austria. I had a bit of an eventful trip home with a cancelled flight and lost bike. I had a break planned afterwards anyway so I wasn’t too stressed about losing my bike. My team however were surely sweating a little as I think you would have a hard time getting an airline to fork out for a Specialized SL3 with full Di2, HED Stinger 6 wheels and SRM cranks!

“Is there anything of value in your bike bag sir?” they asked me. “Hmm, yeah. My bike!” It was a pretty funny sight watching her face when I told her the cost of the thing. Anyway, my bike arrived unscathed just in time for me to start back training.

I had a few pretty tough blocks of training planned leading up to my next big race at San Sebastian so I was glad to be looked after by my girlfriend and her family for a few days back in the UK. As always I went too hard on my first day back and put myself in a hole for the next few days. The first block of training after a break is always kind of strange, you get that ‘fresh’ feeling that we don’t come across very often and in my case always end up riding harder than I should and all of a sudden hit the wall. I guess I’ll never learn!

With the first few days over I was feeling pretty puffed and ready for an easy day. I was looking forward to a nice day on the sofa watching my team mates rip it up on TV when I got the dreaded question from Nikki. “You fancy going shopping?” Great! A day of walking around a shopping centre, just what I wanted! I’m not a very good shopper at the best of times, every other shop, I have to sit down and recover for a bit.

So ‘rest day’ over and I was back on it. My trainer was getting excited again with his intervals and I was back with my notes in my back pocket so I could keep track. I’m not complaining… I can’t say I overly enjoy ripping my muscles to pieces and starving myself but I enjoy winning races so such is life.

So I suppose I should write a little something about the Tour de France? The boys did fantastic once again. From the start to the finish they were well and truly stamping there authority on the race. Cav was unreal, but the other guys where even better. I’m sure your all familiar with Mr Lars Bak by now? One hundred and seven days of racing so far this year – more than anyone in the peloton – and most days more than 150kms riding on the front. Now that’s an engine!

Six stage wins, the polka dot jersey for a day, the green jersey (at last) and all nine guys finishing in Paris – I guess you can say they had a pretty successful Tour! They seem to be getting into the swing of doing this year-in-year-out now. We have to remember that this is the biggest annual sporting event in the world, so to do what they do over and over again is pretty special. Everybody we don’t get to see on TV – our soigneurs, mechanics, doctors, directors, sponsors – they all continue to surpass expectations. Well done guys, I’m proud of you all!

As you know, the future of HTC–Highroad is pretty uncertain for next year. I’ve had a million and one questions about what I know so let’s get that out of the way. I’m pretty open in saying we are all starting to feel nervous about what’s going to happen. I know everybody behind the scenes has been working hard on this for a long time now and I have my faith in them pulling something out of the bag and the team once again continuing to be a major player in world cycling. We have all heard so many rumours about possible sponsors, who’s in, who’s out and possible links with other teams. All I can say is I have been assured that everything will become clear. I really hope that things work out and we can keep this team together. I have really enjoyed the last few months on my bike – more than ever – so let’s all keep our fingers crossed for the next few days.

The last few days for me have been pretty hectic. I was over in Kristiansand on Wednesday for a post-Tour criterium, which was an awesome event. It was my first time in Norway and I had a great time in a beautiful country with a great bunch of guys and great hospitality from the race organisation and the public in general. Thanks Norway, hopefully see you again next year!

After a late night and early morning I was on the way back to Belgium and feeling pretty puffed out. A small training ride in the afternoon, quick power nap and I was on the way to my local criterium in Herentals. It’s just 15kms from my home in Belgium so it was pretty cool to be racing in front of a few familiar faces. The race was fast and furious and was once again won by an inform Philip Gilbert. I thought I had a busy few days but Gilbert has put me to shame. He’s raced every day since the Tour de France.

He told me he chartered a plane to Spain for Clasica San Sebastian and got to his bed at about 2am. He also told me he wants to win, so when you saw him kicking our heads in, remember he hasn’t had a day off his bike for almost a month! He’s a special guy and is slowly becoming what I think is one of the best and most complete bike riders of all time.

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