UCI World Cup Round 1 - Dalby Forest, England

After weeks of preperation the UCI World Cup came to Dalby Forest in England and for the Orange Monkey team it was to be their very first World Cup experience. The team set off on Friday morning with Chris, our featuring rider and support from Paul, Will and Alex. As a team we have waited a long time to get into this position so there were nerves all round but none more so for Chris who had worked incredibly hard over the past 18 months with the team to get to the level required to race a World Cup. Friday morning was perfect, the sun was out, the traffic reasonable and the team in bouyant mood looking forward to a great weekend of racing.

On arrival we went to pick up our passes from the accreditation centre and then it was straight onto course. Chris took in two practice laps of the dry dusty course, which he already knew back to front after practicing some weeks ago in the pouring rain. Once practice had finished we made our way into Pickering, where Paul was set to race the Pro Sprint Eliminator. Once the rest of the team had watched Paul race around the streets against the worlds best riders it was time to head back to the Hotel for some food and rest ahead of another big day tommorrow.

Saturday morning was early practice so breakfast and a ride over to the venue for Chris followed by one more lap of the course and he was as ready as he would ever be. The afternoon saw Steve James take an incredible 3rd place in the Junior race which had us all optimistic of what could be achieved. The day flew by and soon we were back at the hotel setting Chris up for one final spin on the turbo trainer and some last tweaking of his Cannondale Taurine race machine and it was off to bed early.

Breakfast sunday morning was a touch quieter than usual with the tension mounting. The team made there way to the race venue leaving Chris at the hotel with his bike to stay relaxed until it was time for him to start the short ride up to the race venue. Once there, he would complete an intense warm up and make some last minute preperations before being called to the staging area for the race of his life. Will took his position amongst the melee in the main feed zone up in the arena while Paul and Alex took the long journey to the back of the course to the second technical area at the bottom of Medusa's Drop.

Finally the race was underway and it was now down to Chris. He did well to avoid an early pile up as 180 riders hurtled around the short start loop before entering the course proper. Chris held his position well enetering Medusa's Drop in a good position and maintaining a steady pace around 4 laps before being stopped as the 80% rule kicked in. After a heavy cold two weeks ago it has been a tough time getting him fit for the race so it was a very positive performance and a magnificent experience for both Chris and the team.

The team now head to Houffalize in Belguim next weekend to do it all over again as they look to gain vital experience ahead of next year.

Orange Monkey would like to thank both Simon Burney and Martyn Salt for their help and support in our first world cup and for organising a fantastic return to World Cup racing in the UK.

Picture right courtesy of Joolze Dymond Photography