the_hoyle wrote:
@HuDCC: Thanks! In my head, I am already a year ahead with Martijn, so I know where the story is going The rest just falls into place

I arrived in Paris expecting to sit down with Jean-René face-to-face, but it turned out I would meet with the full Management Team to go over what had to been released in the press. Quickly, I began to realise that this was more serious than 'not believing what you read in the papers'. Also, turns out that I was not the only rider to be called in.

So here I was, sat in a room with 7 major players in the Europcar Management Team, Rohan Dennis and Yukiya Arashiro, who had also expressed their displeasure at the article in L'Equipe, and some of its 'choice wording'. The three of us wanted the Management Team to get start an investigation into who had given the interview, and also the group of other riders who were 'too scared to speak out'.

Sadly it seemed, however, that whilst they accepted that an investigation needed to take place, there was a worry from the main bosses about the number of non-French riders on the team. In the latest transfer window, 5 French riders left the team, with 8 new riders joining for 2015. Of those 8 new riders, only 3 were French. Over 35% of the current squad were non-French riders, they didn't like the direction the team was going.

Actions had already been taken to change things within the team behind the scenes. The Team Europcar South Africa Development Team had been pulled at the beginning of the season, citing funding issues and a lack of interest. Apart from Chisiza and Nkumbula, there was a lack of riders who would be able to perform at the highest level. Added with the success of MTN-Qhubeka, the Development Squad was a failure waiting to happen.

My jaw dropped as the news was broken to us. My sole reason for joining the team, and choosing Europcar over MTN, was the Development Squad and the prospect of more South African riders a WorldTour Squad excited me. All that hope was destroyed in 1 second.

I left the meeting feeling dejected, and wondering where my future lay. My contract was up at the end of year, just like some other non-French riders on the team, and with a priority towards 'local' talent acquisition, I was beginning to wonder whether I should open myself a new team already.

After what was a pretty turbulent two or three weeks, I was back racing in France, and leading the team in the Classic Sud-Ardèche. I wanted to put the difficulties since Dubai behind me, and by the sound of it, I needed to put myself in the shop window as I look for pastures new.

I will admit that I was a little shocked when I was still given the Leader Role for the race. Maybe it was Jean-René's way of sticking two fingers up at the press and the still unknown disgruntled rider.

The profile suited me nicely, but how would my legs be after no racing all month. I supposed I would just have to find out.

Whether there were questions from others, the team at Sud-Ardèche certainly had my back. From the flag drop at the start, the whole squad was dedicated to working of me and looking after my every need. At least I didn't have to worry about any spies in the pack, who were working against me.

The stage was very standard, as the early breakaway gained a maximum of 4'31" before it was pulled back with 22km to go. On the final lap of the finishing circuit, I wanted to test my legs, and see if any others were also struggling for some early season form. Hoogerland (Giant) attacked first after my increase in pace, and I followed along with Taaramäe (Cofidis) and Slagter (Garmin).

The descent to the line was fast, and Hoogerland was in sight, but when we approached the final 3km, Taaramäe suddenly stopped chasing. He wasn't wanting to lead out neither Slagter nor I, and I saw my chance of victory dying. Most still, a chase group behind was closing past. I sprinted to finish in 4th place on the line, but felt like I should have done better.

1	Johnny Hoogerland	Giant-Shimano	4h58'54
2	Tom Jelte Slagter	Garmin-Sharp	+ 47
3	Julien Simon	Cofidis Solutions Crédits	s.t.
4	Martijn North	Team Europcar	s.t.
5	Arthur Vichot	FDJ.fr	s.t.
6	Luis Angel Mate Mardones	Cofidis Solutions Crédits	s.t.
7	Ivan Santaromita	Orica - GreenEDGE	s.t.
8	Romain Bardet	Ag2r - La Mondiale	s.t.
9	Christophe Riblon	Ag2r - La Mondiale	s.t.
10	Arnold Jeannesson	Ag2r - La Mondiale	s.t.

The National Championships was a good place to try and escape the French Press and news stories I am reading in Europe. 12 months ago, I won the Double Title on my first attempt, and I am back this year to retain my titles and proudly wear the Rainbow Flag Jersey in the WorldTour for another year.

First up is the Time Trial, and the course doesn't exactly work in my favour. Last year, it was a rolling route, and I was able to use my skills on the hills to gain the necessary winning advantage. This year's course is a flat out-and-back type route, and could favour riders like Impey (MTN) and Janse Van Rensburg (Giant).

As defending champion, I was the last out the standing house, which was to my advantage. Last year, I was able to gauge my effort on the times of my rivals, and I hoped to do the same again. A strong wind was blowing across the course, so the loop back to the finish could really hurt the legs.

Around the top of the course, I approached the route's only time checkpoint. I was worried that I had underestimated the wind strength, and gone off too slow. My time showed it. I was 15" down on Impey in 4th. It was going to be hard to make up this time.


I needed to keep calm on my ride to finish. If I panicked and went to hard, I could empty the tank before I reach the finish, and any time made up could be lost instantly. I was riding within my limits, and just had to believe that the others had gone off to hard, and would struggle heading back along the route.

The DS was giving me constant updates in my ear, and the more I rode on, the irritating it became. I pulled out my earpiece and rode to where I was on the edge of breaking. Impey's time was shown on the finishing gantry, and I pressed on harder. I crossed the line in a time of 45'01, but had no idea what Impey's time was. Collapsing of exhaustion and laying on the floor, I heard the Race Announcer say I was 17" quicker... I was the National TT Champion for the second year running!

1	Martijn North	Team Europcar	45'01
2	Daryl Impey	MTN - Qhubeka	+ 17
3	Jay Robert Thomson	Terengganu Cycling Team	+ 36
4	Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg	Giant-Shimano	+ 45
5	Martin Wesemann	MTN - Qhubeka	+ 1'46
6	Mudada Masaku	MTN - Qhubeka	+ 1'47
7	Devan Dunn	Jelly Belly p/b Kenda	+ 1'51
8	Bradley Potgieter	MTN - Qhubeka	+ 1'54