Abingdon Crit, 10 Jul 2021

It was a bit of a soggy crit! I have previously had anxiety about riding in wet conditions but I put my big girl pants on today and gave it a shot. Having completed quite a few races this year I can feel that the anxiety at the start of the races is a lot better than what it used to be.

I positioned myself at the front on the inside of the track as this is a good position to be in. We started and I quickly positioned myself in the bunch. I kept telling myself to save as much energy as I could and stay on the wheels. I always tried to stay in the 2nd or 3rd wheel and let the bunch carry me along.

When there was an attack I tried not to panic and follow too much - it was a flat course and it was unlikely that the attacks would stick - and they didn't! I did try and follow a couple of attacks in the hope that they would stick and we would form a breakaway but that didn't happen and we were caught quite quickly.

On the last lap the pace upped a bit so I got my head down and got in the best position that I could. Coming round the last corner I was in 4th or 5th and I sprinted out and quickly realised I went too early! I sat down and tried to wind it up again a bit closer to the finish but I was overtaken by a few people. However, I still managed to finish in 10th place.

I have spent a lot of the season being just outside of the top ten with the exception of a few races and now I'm starting to work my way into the top ten and building up not only the points but confidence too. This was a really successful race for me - I was positioned really well all the way round, saved as much energy as I could, was able to react to attacks quickly, overcame my fear of riding in the rain and managed a top ten finish. Still a long way to go but it's going in the right direction.

Laura Powell