Hi all,

It’s been a pretty full gas couple of weeks since arriving in France.  We arrived to our new apartment in Roquebrune Cap Martin all set up and ready to go, which was a real comfort and peace of mind instead of bunking down on friend’s couches for the first couple of weeks.  We made the move down to the coast near Monaco at the end of last year, but it was short lived when I realised I had a broken elbow and it was on the plane home.

The team called the day I arrived first to say hi, and second to explain they needed me for the race in the weekend as another rider was injured, leaving the team only five riders for GP Laiguelia and needed 6 to start.  So as our new home away home was only an hour away and on route to the race I was asked to pin a number on.

So this meant full medical testing the next day to apply for my french racing licence, I was half asleep by the time I got on the SRM bike for the Vo2 max test but never the less proved myself fit to race.

Friday we awoke to see from our balcony the Mediterranean sea raging in anger as the waves crashed onto road, and in true french style caused a massive traffic jam for no reason.  So while I was more tempted to go find a surfboard and get amongst it, I duly packed my suitcase and waited for the Director to pick me.  The next morning the storm had passed and we were greeted with a clear crisp day, though it would not be a long one for me.  The race hit the first climb at a furious pace and I was cautious not to push myself too hard too early, and was told by the director to turn round and go rest.  So I took his advise as it’s not often they say that to you.

Anyway training camp was to follow the next week and I knew that was where I would start my real build up for the season.  The team gathered over the following days as some riders were still racing the Tour du Haut Var, which was won in great style by Christophe LeMevel continuing the team’s great early season run and starting the camp off on a high.

Training camp for me was time to get my bikes and other equipment sorted for the year, and time to speak with the coach about my training and race program for the next couple of months.  The camp was based in Draguingan, which is the base of the French Military.  We did some good rides up into hills where snow still lined the roads after the very cold winter that has passed through here.

Though camp wasn’t long I was eager to get back home and get settled into our new home by the sea.  I have over two weeks until my first real race and then more time after that to continue trying to get my body back into race shape.  There is a really good group of guys around here so I am looking forward to some long rides in the hills over the coming weeks.

Today we replaced the car battery which was a bit of fun in the pouring rain, and tomorrow its time to get the scooter up and running too.  Then we’ll be down to Italy for some cheap supermarket shopping, always making time for a coffee stop as you don’t really get it better anywhere else.

Thanks to you all for your comments great to hear from you.

Cheers

Tim

Checking the heart and lungs

Testing begins

The view from our balcony on a stormy day

The usual calm Med sea, looking back to our bay

Hello and welcome back…

It was hot day on the 3rd of May 2008, deep in the Swiss Alps I was about to start the 5th stage of the Tour de Romandie.  A brutal 130km stage with 4 mountain passes lay ahead, though my day would soon become even harder as my left leg filled with pins and needles on the second climb of the day.  I couldn’t feel my foot and my hamstring felt like it was tearing every pedal stoke.  That day I could have never imagined that 18months later I would still be dealing with problem.

Now today I write to you two days before departing for my base in southern France with a new motivation, knowledge and belief I can race to my full potential.  It has been a road of many ups and downs (mainly downs) but with the support of my wonderful girlfriend, family, friends and support team the end is much brighter.

I would especially like to thank, Duncan Reid, and Brendan O’neil for heading my support team over the past months here in NZ.  Their knowledge and the time they have all spent with me  has been invaluable.  Also too Criss Strange, Dan Smart, Lisa Hansen, Shaun Stuart-Jones, Seah Martin, Matt Brick, Sarah Ulmer,  Brendan Cameron, and Mark Holland thank you all for your emails, text messages, late night phone calls and rehab sessions.

A couple of weeks ago I had a crack at my first race in 4 months.  I wasn’t quite on top of things at that point but the Takapuna Criterium was a perfect place for me to test where I was at, and help out a good mate Scott Guyton riding on his Kiwivelo team.  It was a great feeling to race in front of friends and family again along with the rest of the big crowd on the night, and to finish leading out my good mate Pete Latham for the victory was a nice personal victory for me.

I will leave it there as my suitcase needs some attention, but will be sure to drop you all a line once settled in Europe, and ready to report on a great year of racing in the pro peloton.

Look forward to hearing from you guys too.

Cheers

Tim

Hello all

Well I don’t really know where to start on this post.  It has been a while since I have written and there are good reasons for this.  Straight frustration is probably the nicest way to put it.

I’ll bullet point it from here on in:

* Vuelta finale, a very tough mountain stage in terrible conditions, a lumpy wee time trial that went to plan, and a parade ride into Madrid to end a gruelling three weeks.  Satisfaction all over, self belief pretty damn high, looking forward to end of season races and going into the off season on a positive note.

* 6 days before the World Championships in Mendrisio, it flashed by but the recovery was good and the mental boost of catching up with the kiwis and pulling on a black jersey lifting things again.

* A buzzing atmosphere, very high tension in the peloton, a relentless and super tough course, race on!  All going well, felt comfortable in bunch.  Then boof down, an unknown rider crashes in front of me at the feed-station, get up chase for 2 laps, too late! race over.

* Back home, annoyed but still ok knowing I had recovered well from Vuelta and I had some good races coming up.  Loaded car to head to our new home in Cap Martin on the Cote d’Azur, fizzing on new pad and sea veiw!

* Wednesday.  3 days after Worlds, elbow still a little sore, head into clinic for a check up. Walk out with arm in cast, broken elbow!!!

* Still in disbelief days later, as I prepare to return home with my arm plaster, just like I arrived 8 months ago.

* 2009. Wiped from the cards.  4weeks off. Bring on a better 2010.

* Thanks for all the support this year, I’ll report back with race results next season….

Tim

Hi everyone,

It’s Sarah here again, I’ve just been talking to a very tired Tim. He had a really tough day today, with the guys riding pretty fast, much cooler temperatures and fatigue definitely starting to set in. He was saying he expected to do 10 days of this tour, he has now finished 18 days and it all seems to have caught up with him today.

He has one more “hard” day which is tomorrow’s stage of 179.8km with more mountains thrown in for a bit of fun, before the time trial in Toledo on Saturday and the final stage into Madrid on Sunday, and he is determined to finish his first Vuelta a Espana.

FDJ have had a great couple of days with Anthony Roux winning the stage yesterday and two more riders, Mikael Cherel and Remy Di Gregorio staying away in the break today.

I’m off to Spain tomorrow to watch him ride the last couple of stages and I will take plenty of photos to post on here for you all!

Thanks for all your support and comments, Tim really appreciates it!

Sarah

http://www.veloresults.co.uk/2009/09/tim-gudsell-taking-time-to-re-connect/

Hi all

Well since I last wrote to you, I have had one relaxing rest day followed by 3 days of very testing mountain stages.  Thats the reason it has taken me until now to write again.  I have been arriving at my hotel each night completely sapped of energy, craving some junk food and a good sleep.

The size of the peloton is a good sign of how difficult it has been, we are now down to 155 riders, after over 25 guys have called it quits in 3 days.  FDJ was also effected by this as we lost Seb Chavenal and Sandy Casar for different reasons, it hasn’t been a great time for us.

From the rest day in Almeria we climbed into what is known as the Sierra Nevada Mountains.  These mountains have a very airy feeling about them, often not as steep as you find in the Alps or Pyrenees but damn they are long.  On stage 13, it took the non climbers (commonly known as the ‘grupetto’) over 1h40min to climb the final climb.  That’s a long time going up hill I tell you.

So we are now two weeks through the Vuelta, it seems like a whole world away from the stages in Holland at the start of the race.  Now for the riders that are left Madrid is really in sight.  Hopefully we will be in for a couple of slightly easier days now, though for me it will be my chance to race a day for myself with an attempt at a breakaway.  I have been really happy with my form in the mountains, seeing a lot of other riders in difficulty before me has given me a big boost.

Though there have been some very testing times, as was the start of stage 13, when we went uphill for the first 43kms.  We all knew it would hurt like hell, I even warmed up for the stage, had a gel on the start line and got ready to suffer for the first 2hrs of the race.  A group of 30 split of the front and Caisse d’Epargne set an increadible tempo not to let them go too far.  While us flat landers just chewed our handlebars hoping not to get dropped.  These starts are a real mental test, your legs feel like they are going to explode as you go 110% just to hold the wheel, and you don’t even want to think about the 5hrs of racing you have left.

Ok it’s that time again, I hope to write again soon from a days racing at the front of the pack.

Cheers

Tim

Hey Folks,

Well I finally found the time and energy to get onto another post.  Its been a very very gruelling few days here at the Vuelta for different reasons.

Stage 7’s time trial was greeted with the most horrible conditions, the rain was coming in sideways and the slick surface of the Valencia formula one track and town streets made for a treacherous course.  Like I said, for me it was just an A – B exercise complete the course and get back to bed as quick as possible to start recovering before hitting the mountains.

My highlight of the day though, was seeing the Team NZ base at the America’s Cup village.  Our bus was parked up just outside their base and I got a moment to have a chat to a few fellow kiwis before the start which was really cool.

Though before long we were back on the start line ready to attack the mountains for the first time.  Stage 8 was a real test, with small roads, hardly a meter of them being flat, the peloton spent most of the day in single file just praying the elastic wouldn’t break.  Though for me and 30 odd others who don’t enjoy climbing that much we decided enough was enough on the second to last climb and rolled in about 30minutes down on the days winner Damiano Cunego.  Don’t get me wrong though this was no joy ride, we still had to climb the 21km col to the finish.  It was quite a surreal scene at the finish, after riding up heavy clouds all day we broke through them with 3km to go into clear sunshine and a very warm finish.

Yesterday was much the same though a little more controlled and the peloton profited from normal sized roads which made a huge difference.  Though we were hit with the most incredible wall at the finish, I was running 39/27 and virtually at a stand still.  In just 5km the days break away lost over 4minutes, and the lone leader Rein Taaramae went from having a Vuelta stage win in sight to finishing 111th over 8min down!  Just brutal.

I was kept busy though as the sun shone we all felt the heat on our backs so hydration was super important.  I must have been back to the car no less than 15 times to get biddons, at 8 biddons a time I sure got some extra power training in lugging them up the climbs.

Hopefully today will be a little more relaxed with rolling roads and likely a small bunch kick.

Back soon, my photos have been pretty limited so far but here a few of different things I have snapped during the tour.

1.  My team mate Remi Di Gregorio, relaxing after a stage with the l’equipe newspaper and compression boots on.

2. My new rig for the race, felt like I was 12 again so excited to ride the thing.  Electric gears, and wheels so deep you just scare the rest of the peloton off.  Don’t recommend them for under 70kg riders though…

3. My room mate Wes and I planned our stage in the bus.  Assuming the break would go on the first climb, the leaders team would take control, and then the GC riders would light it up with 2climbs to go.  We did over estimate them a little though, as we made it to the last climb without too much trouble.

Back soon,

Tim

Just quickly folks, bed is calling my name tonight.
Well the Vuelta most know of with high temperatures and late start times has kicked off.

And damn is it ever hot, with 40+ degrees we have had a couple of energy sapping days. The so called flat stages, were actually very lumpy and didn’t make for easy going.

Today my legs felt completely empty as we arrived at the finish circuit, though I was quite happy there were a few others feeling the same, so we took a quiet ride into the finish. That didn’t stop the sun from continuing to bake us though, as I consumed what would have been at least my 20th biddon for the day.

Tomorrow we are back on the TT bikes for a lap around the Valencia water front, though don’t expect anything from this young kiwi. I’ll be rolling through the stage just to keep inside the time cut an try and recover before we hit the first of many mountain stages the following day.

Back soon

Yours

Tim

Hi Folks,

Well today what we the riders class as the real Vuelta starts here in Tarragona.  It’s been an interesting start to a Grand Tour to say the least.  Passing all the obstacles on the road and the treacherous conditions have been the biggest task, so I was very happy to arrive here in Spain unscathed after our sweep through Holland and Belgium.

I’ll start with the ugly, STAGE 4!  You may or may not have seen it on TV, though it surely wasn’t for the lighthearted.  It rained consistently for the last 200 of the 225km stage, as we looped around the Cauberg, made famous by the spring classic, the Amstel Gold road race. The carnage started as riders fought for position and soon found themselves sliding on and off the road all over the place.  As we descended toward the finish town of Liege, crashes were taking place on a regular basis; then the first biggy as we raced towards the finish line for the first time before doing a circuit of Saint Nichola.  I was fortunate enough to miss it! but got caught right behind it instead, however the effort to get back on the bunch put me right into the red zone just as we started to climb up to towards Saint Nichola.  Decision taken; time to pull the rip cord and roll quietly into the finish with all the others who were doing the same. However we were soon confronted by a scene of total carnage following a very very ugly crash with 3km to go.  It was not a nice sight, and lets just say everyone was happy to get on the aeroplane that night and forget it even happened.

The Bad.  The continued return of convicted dopers to our sport.  Obviously it is a very hot and touchy subject to talk about, as so many continue to claim innocence even though they’ve been confirmed guilty.  At the start of the Vuelta in Assen it really sparked some fire and anger with me, as I was sitting calmly in the team bus just before getting on the trainer to start my warm up for the prologue.  I looked out the window, to see masses of people crowding around an Astana rider, yes you know who I’m talking about Alexander Vinokourov.  It doesn’t even seem like he left the sport, two years is just not long enough, and I just cannot understand why people don’t ostracise these convicted dopers.  I know it is easy to become a little blase about who to forgive and who not, as there have been so many in this sport over past years, but for these returning riders it just seems too easy.

Ok lets get onto the good! First of all the rest day, what a treat that was after 3 very stressful days in Holland and a transfer to Spain, a sleep in was very welcome. We woke to a typical September Spanish day, warm and a little overcast though when the sun broke though you sure knew about it.  After a light breaky, we rolled out for an 1.5hour ride down the coast to loosen up the legs and try to get rid of  the toxins we had created in our legs from the last stage.  After a small siesta and a massage it was time to just relax, catch up with the girlfriend on the phone before eating again and getting some shut eye in preparation for kicking off again today.

There’s a 99% chance of a bunch sprint again today so we will be doing our best to get Seb Chavenal up there, though I must repeat Sarah’s words and the great result of Hendy two days ago.  It was so awesome to see a Kiwi finally crack a big stage win.

Will drop you all a line again soon, though I would like to say a big thanks to those who have sent emails, txts and comments with well wishes it is much appreciated.  Sorry I haven’t had time to reply personally, I will do my best to reply though maybe with a good result instead……….

And in reply to a question left about how much I drink in a 200km race, it really depends on the course and conditions.  On stage one I didn’t even get through 3 biddons as my hands were glued to my brakes most of the time, though when we hit the mountains here in Spain and the temperature rises into the high 30’s I could easily consume 15 or more biddons.

Thanks for reading,

Tim

Hi everyone,

It’s Sarah here, Tim asked me to write a quick update for him as he has no internet in the hotel tonight…

He’s still hanging in there, the last couple of days have been pretty full on with plenty of roundabouts, traffic islands, bike paths and narrow roads to navigate on top of the full on racing, but he is feeling pretty good considering. Today was even more exciting as Greg Henderson  (a fellow kiwi) won the stage!

Tomorrow is the last stage in Holland before everyone is flown to Barcelona  just in time for the first rest day in Spain on Wednesday.

Tim will definitely get back on here in the next day or so.

Thanks for reading, keep the comments coming…….

Sarah