@Shonak He was miles better than the other two in the pre-race training camp, so their support was well deserved.

@Sutty That'd be great, but he's still not a hundred percent fit yet, so we'll have to see.

The race went well enough for us, with a lot of African riders trying to get a bit of TV time on “home soil�, but in the end it was always going to come down to a reduced bunch sprint or maybe a late attack. I mean, i'm not one to sit in the Peleton all day and do nothing, if there's a chance to attack i'll always try to use it, but in a long race like this, it's sometimes just best to take it easy in the Peleton, and then use your sprint. I had no real clue though as to how I compared to my opposition, after all this was my very first race outside of Ireland. Paddy and Shane did a great job to keep me protected all through the Race, and then Shane put in a monster pull at the very end of the last climb and over a good bit of the flat, and suddenly I was sitting behind a French Jersey, who was behind a French Jersey, who was behind another French Jersey. Beside me I could see a Belgian train, and an Aussie rider hanging behind them. The rest of the twenty or so strong group were all trying to be on somebodys wheel.

@welker I hope so!

@Shonak I think it's much f a muchness really, but we'll see.

@Ian He'll have to win first though.

@Sutty Nah, just sprint hard.

I can't fully remember what I thought in that moment, it was all so much. The hurt in the legs, the crowds on the side, the sheer speed of the riders ahead of me. I could see the three hundred metre sign beside me, and started to panick, moving out of the wheel in front of me, in to the wind, and pushing as hard as I could. I was ahead, at the very front, leading the race, going flat out, seeing stars, pushing further, seeing the 150 metre banner, pushing harder, then suddenly I got passed by an Australian, then by a Belgian, then by a French, then by a Spaniard, and then by a few more, until the line came. I had gone to early. In the end I finished eighth, the race was won by Jay McCarthy ahead of Jasper Stuyven, so the Aussie on the Belgians wheel had actually beaten said Belgian in the end. I was devastated. All the time after the race, at the doping test, at the medal ceremony, on the trip back to the Hostel, I heard only one thing in my head: Too early, too early.

@Shonak Yes, it's definitely best making these sort of mistakes in young years rather than as pro.

@Sutty I hope he does, but since this was one of his first real sprints, i think it had to come at some point.

@Ian It is, especially in such an important race.

A few days later, to end the event, the organizers thought it would be nice to have a special dinner or something in some big hall in the middle of town, where all the medal winners got honored again. As every rider had to be there, I went along anyway, still feeling miserable about fucking up so badly. The mood at the Irish table was still good however, as Sam Bennet had just narrowly missed out on a medal himself, finishing 5th in the Junior race, and Ryan Mullen, who is a year younger than me, took silver in the U-16's time trial, which I didn't take part in, because I'm no good at time trialling. The evening it self went fine, until an important looking man tapped me on the back.

“Jack, can I have a quick talk with you?�
“Yeah, sure.�
“In private.�

@Shonak There seems to be a pattern there.

@Sutty You'll find out in a second.

So I followed him to a small court out on the back of the building.

“Yes, what do you want?�
“I'll get right to it: You've tested positive for Ephedrine. We haven't opened the B-Sample yet, but the amounts that we found make us quite certain that it's no mistake.�
“What? No, that can't be right. Never.�
“So you're saying you didn't use it?�
“Well, I did for my Bronchitis, but I thought it was legal.�
“Well, tough luck. You should've checked that beforehand.�