Shutt Velo Rapid Torbay Crit

On Saturday, I rode out to Torbay for a Crit at the Velopark. As my second crit of the season—and my first in a 3/4 field—I was keen to see how I’d perform, and overall I was pleased with how the race went.

The course itself was fairly technical, with two tight 180-degree corners that made positioning and cornering especially important. It took a few laps to fully get to grips with them, but as the race progressed I grew more confident and was able to carry better speed through the corners.

I stayed active throughout, putting in several efforts to try and break the bunch. Despite multiple attacks from various riders, nothing managed to stick, and the race ultimately came down to a bunch sprint.

In the final few metres, I lost a couple of places but still managed to finish inside the top 10—an encouraging result given the level of competition.

Overall, I’m happy with how the race unfolded and with my performance on a challenging circuit. It was a strong first outing at the Torbay Velopark, and I’m looking forward to returning with the team over the next month to take part in the upcoming crit series. Wrapping up the day cycling back to Exeter made for a good training day with 130km in the legs.