1# World Tour - Racing down the River Thames
Updated: May 27, 2019
After a long winter of training, I was excited to get back racing with all the best in the world. I had already been competing at 3 smaller events over the winter where I was able to come out on top, so I felt pretty confident going into this event.
Saturday / Long Distance
We started early Saturday morning, packed the boards and all the athletes got the opportunity to drive in a classic double-decker London bus, awesome driving through the city and seeing all the cool places in London.
The start went off at Tower Bridge of London and 14 km. Down to Putney, the really iconic race down the Thames was amazing (from what I could see when i didnt keep my head down and grinding;). I felt all the pre-race butterflies in my stomach before the race, love that feeling, means I am ready, did some deep breaths to keep focused and of to the start line. I had a really good start and was in the front pack, but got some problems with my shoulder after 3 km. And couldn't give a 100% percent, I did my best on the day, but definitely not the result I was looking for.
“Either you win or you learn”
Sunday / Sprint Racing
Going into Sunday for the sprints, I felt like I had nothing to lose from yesterday and was ready to give it my all. The course did change a couple of times before we started, but finally, the course was set and most of the athletes were happy. My first heat didn't go too well and had to go through repechage, lack of warm-up and not eating for a long time because the start got pushed back 2.5 hours. But after my repechage, I started to feel strong and got into race mode. Already at round 3 the heats started to get super fast, I made it through to Quarters. All the heats were stacked, I was up again World Champion Connor Baxter, second place finisher Claudio Nika and teammate Tom Auber from France. I started on the same side as Connor. I felt prepared and when the horn blew I had a perfect start and was sprinting side by side with Connor, he got the inside to the bouy and I got on Connors draft, I finished third and unfortunately not enough to qualify for semis. 9th place for me so I was pretty happy, but still, more to come for sure.
Want to give a huge thank you to my brother and Casper for supporting me with Tinder, Political knowledge and drinking beer, Tom for letting me borrow his board, the APP World Tour for making it all possible and of course all my sponsors for supporting me in everything I do.
Next - San Sebastian and Bilbao for the Euro Tour