@sutty: He is not from the East though...

the_hoyle wrote:
@sutty: It's fine

@joe: Thanks a lot


Sorry for the pause again. Over the Christmas and New Year period, the pace of the story is going to really drop off. Too much work, family and friends stuff going on

the_hoyle wrote:
@OZ #2: As there was only KoM Sprints on stage 3, Martijn took the win thanks to his winning attack. However, as they don't exist in real life in Dubai, I just missed them off

After my fine start in Dubai, I headed to Europe to build on my form, and get myself properly prepared for the National Championships. The Volta ao Algarve would be the next race in my schedule, and I had high hopes for a strong finish.

With two flat stages to start the race, I would look to target the Hillier Stage 3. With his short, steep climb to the finish, it could be the perfect launch pad for a stage win.

With no real sprinter on the team in Portugal, I decided to put myself forward and test my legs at the same time. On Stage 1, I was a little off the pace, but managed to finish 8th. On Stage 2, I got myself in a better position, and sprinted to 5th. Going into the hilly, and possibly GC deciding, Stage 3 I was sat 16" down on Race Leader Matt Goss (Sky), with the U25 Jersey on my shoulders.

On Stage 3, I was put under full control of the team on the road. This was almost the opposite of my time at Europcar. My style was simple - Organise the guys to what they are best at, and the rest will fall into place. Alex Howes was my right hand man for main part of the stage, before the Panzerwagon, Tony Martin took over the closing stages. The German had a simple instruction - hit the front hard, and I will follow. Almost instantly, the peleton was in pieces.

The climb was just a formality for me. At the base, the gap was 45" to the remnants of the day's break, with the GC favourites in a panicky mood a further 22" behind them. I attacked the climb, and crossed the line a clear winner. Further more, the gap to the GC rivals behind was 1'24". I had Yellow on my shoulders, and the pressure of an ITT to come.

I knew that only Michel Kwiatkowski (OmegaPharma) could threaten me in bid for the GC win going into the ITT. The Pole was the stronger Time-Trialist, but I had to believe that I couldn't lose more than 1'18" over the 35km course. The feedback from Martin and Lawson Craddock was going to be critical, so they rode the route as my scouts. The feedback simple - go easy over the first half and then attack the final part. At the halfway checkpoint, I was 6" up on Kwiatkowski.

Approaching the finish, I received the news that the Pole had gone the fastest, and his finish was very strong. I just stayed calm, and crossing the line, looked back at the time. I had lost just 35 seconds, finishing 6th. Yellow was mine, all mine!

1	Martijn North	Team HTC-Highroad	15h38'50
2	Michal Kwiatkowski	OmegaPharma - Quick Step	+ 43
3	Peter Velits	BMC Racing Team	+ 1'41
4	Lieuwe Westra	Sky ProCycling	+ 1'43
5	Philippe Gilbert	OmegaPharma - Quick Step	+ 1'57

1	Michal Kwiatkowski	OmegaPharma - Quick Step	69
2	Martijn North	Team HTC-Highroad	55
3	Matthew Goss	Sky ProCycling	51
4	Moreno Moser	Cannondale Pro Cycling	46
5	Peter Velits	BMC Racing Team	41

1	Nathan Van Hooydonck	Team HTC-Highroad	16
2	Omar Fraile Matarranz	Caja Rural - Seguros RGA	14
3	Serge Pauwels	OmegaPharma - Quick Step	10
4	Bruno Anteiro Moreira Lima	Banco Bic - Carmim	10
5	Mikael Chérel	Team La Pomme Marseille 13	8

1	Martijn North	Team HTC-Highroad	15h38'50
2	Sandro Agurto	Colombia	+ 3'47
3	Lawson Craddock	Team HTC-Highroad	+ 6'00
4	Yonder Eduardo Godoy	Androni Giocattoli-Venezuela	+ 6'39
5	Lino Pissarra	Meo	+ 6'49

1	OmegaPharma - Quick Step	47h01'41
2	Team HTC-Highroad	+ 3'31
3	Sky ProCycling	+ 3'44
4	BMC Racing Team	+ 6'23
5	Giant-Shimano	+ 7'11

The beginning of March sees the National Championships take precedence on my calendar, as I look to come away with the Rainbow Flag jersey on my shoulders yet again.

First up is the Time Trial Championships, where I am going for my third title in a row. For 2016, the route returns to Knysna, the scene of my 2014 success. The course is hilly, and favours me over the rest. Yes, there is criticism from some that I have no competition in the ITT, but that will not take away my pride of wearing the jersey for another season.

It is amazing what a positive start to a season can make. Usually, I sit nervously on the start ramp of a Time Trial, but today, I felt different. My legs were feeling good, I was going strong and my TT performance in Portugal had even shocked myself.

I was out the blocks like a greyhound, and stormed over the opening stages of the course. My DS was shouting my ears to slow, thinking that I was going too hard too early. I was going so quick, that I had caught Jense van Rensberg (Giant) just after the first checkpoint.

My legs should have been burning, but I felt like I was riding on air. Over the climb, and up the false flat to the next checkpoint, I pulled away from Jense van Rensberg, and set my sights on my 4-minute man. I was in a zone, and even resorted to pulling out my earpiece to remove the distractions of the angry DS in the car behind. The second checkpoint said it all - my gap to the others had almost tripled!



Thinking ahead to the Road Race, and also the possible health risks to my DS if I carried on, I eased off on the descent and drop down to the finish. My gap was comfortably, and as long as I could keep up with Jense van Rensberg, I knew that I was never going to be threatened. I was getting reports that Impey was struggling to up his pace, so the victory was all but confirmed with that.

Question now was by what margin would I win? The answer - over 1'00! My biggest winning margin at the National Championships to date!

1	Martijn North	Team HTC-Highroad	1h18'26
2	Daryl Impey	MTN - Qhubeka	+ 1'10
3	Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg	Giant-Shimano	+ 1'36
4	Jaco Venter	MTN - Qhubeka	+ 1'48
5	Goredema Chisiza	MTN - Qhubeka	+ 2'01
6	Arran Brown	MTN - Qhubeka	+ 2'36
7	Christiaan Kriek	MTN - Qhubeka	+ 2'39
8	Mudada Masaku	MTN - Qhubeka	+ 2'52
9	Bradley Potgieter	MTN - Qhubeka	+ 2'56

the_hoyle wrote:
@Ian: Welcome back to the site You have been missed during your absence. Martijn is still alive and kicking. This is one of my favourite stories to write, so motivation is sky high. He has grown nicely, picking up some big wins recently. Hoping he will develop nicely at HTC

Twelve months ago, I relinquished my National Champions Crown to Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (Giant) after a hard fought battle over the gruelling Road Race course. This year, we return to the scene of my first National triumph in 2014, and a course where I should excel.

The hills will be the deciding factor in the end, but talk of bad weather could still cause an upset in the results. With only Nkumbula by my side as assistance, I will be drastically outnumbered, but when has that worried me in the past? I want my National Crown back.

I was very upbeat before the start of the race, but the number of riders on the start line really put a downer on things. Only 11 riders, from 3 different teams, took to the start in Knysna, which was a very poor turn out considering what was at stake.

Given the size of the peleton, only 1 rider attacked to form the day's break. To be fair, it was Bradley Potgieter (MTN), a Bronze medalist from last year, but I was not threatened at all.

Potgieter's gap grew towards the 5 minute mark very quickly, so Nkumbula was set to work on the front. In the ideal world, he would have been back-up should I have any issues, but this year, he had to work as Domestique instead. The destruction behind was incredible!

Only halfway through the stage, and one of the favourites was in trouble... The defending champion Jense van Rensberg (Giant) is blown out the back of the peleton. It seems his disappointing TT performance was down to a lack of fitness after all.

Two-thirds of the race done, and 5 remained in the peleton. Mashama was doing a great job, as Daryl Impey, Louis Meintjes and Mudada Masaku (all MTN) tried to hang on.

Masaku was dropped on the next descent, whilst Impey lasted just one more lap after that. Potgieter was also caught, and the MTN pair couldn't keep up the pace much longer.

All that remained was Meintjes, but on one of the fast descents, I pushed my limits. I knew from my time as a team-mate at Europcar that descending wasn't his strong-point, and he cracked. The gap opened, and soon, it was just Nkumbula and I off the front of the race.

My HTC sidekick, and right-hand man for the race, was on his last legs as we entered the last lap. With his permission, I was allowed to attack. It seemed weird to ask if I go for the win, but after all his help today, I had contemplated giving the win to him if he could make it to the end. I kicked and opened a healthy gap, before settling into a nice comfortable rhythm.

I have never been in the situation, especially in the National Championships, where I could really look around and take in what had just happened. Today, I was different, and it was amazing to see the support from the fans. They had stood in the pouring rain for nearly 7 hours, just to watch 11 riders battle out for the National Title. With the line in sight, the jersey was zipped up and my celebration had so much more pride in it than normal.

In my heart, I knew that I was going to be wearing the Rainbow Flag jersey for everyone of those fans who had come to watch the race.

1	Martijn North	Team HTC-Highroad	6h49'22
2	Mashama Nkumbula	Team HTC-Highroad	+ 43
3	Louis Meintjes	MTN - Qhubeka	+ 1'20
4	Daryl Impey	MTN - Qhubeka	+ 2'20
5	Bradley Potgieter	MTN - Qhubeka	+ 4'15
6	Mudada Masaku	MTN - Qhubeka	+ 7'14
7	Goredema Chisiza	MTN - Qhubeka	+ 9'38
8	Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg	Giant-Shimano	+ 11'40
9	Jaco Venter	MTN - Qhubeka	+ 14'04
10	Christiaan Kriek	MTN - Qhubeka	+ 17'42
11	Arran Brown	MTN - Qhubeka	+ 19'02