Weather hinders Simmonds European Championship push
The 30-year-old woke up for her early morning European Championship time trial expecting bright sunshine on Wednesday but faced anything but – a Scottish shower putting an early dampener on proceedings on the road.
But the two-time national champion was never going to throw in the towel.
Consistency proved the order of the day as Simmonds, who has struggled with injury this season, finished in eighth place in a time of 44:07 having hit every checkpoint inside the top ten.
“I was probably more cautious than I needed to be,” she said.
“I broke my elbow at the women’s Tour de France seven-and-a-half weeks ago and had surgery.
“I did not want to risk coming down on it today, setting myself back, then basically being in the same position for the World Championships [in September] as I am now.
“I looked at the weather forecast and it said dry, but I’ve learnt from my three days up here that you kind of ignore what it says and assume it is going to rain.
“That proved to be the case and it started hammering it down when I was finishing my warm-up.
“Luckily it actually stopped a couple of minutes before I took to the ramp as I was concerned about water on my visor and visibility.”
Meanwhile, a kick up the backside has proven to be exactly what Alex Dowsett needed in his cycling career after finishing as the leading Brit in the men’s event.
The 29-year-old also took to the roads in rainy conditions on an unfavourable surface but put in a starring role to finish fifth in the men’s race, stopping the clock in 54:13.84 as he crossed the line on Glasgow Green.
That was more than 30 seconds behind eventual winner Victor Campenarts, event favourite having won the same race 12 months ago in Herning, Denmark.
Yet for Doswett, a top-five finish was perhaps not something expected earlier in 2018.
It was on these Scottish roads that he became Commonwealth champion at Glasgow 2014 but he has since failed to hit the same heights, finally coming to terms with just what has stopped him reaching the podium since.
“I’ve felt all this season there’s been something wrong with my position on the bike. I’ve taken it back to the drawing board,” he said.
“I’ve come to the stark realisation this year that the reason I used to win a few more races than I do now is that I was ahead of the game and everyone has caught up. I need to get back ahead of the game.
“When the rain started coming down it got a little bit tricky. It’s hard, it’s Scotland – hard roads, bumpy roads. You struggle to get into any kind of rhythm which is a good thing for me.
“It’s always special putting the GB jersey on, myself and a bunch of other riders were taken off the squad last year so it is nice to be back.”
Joining Dowsett in the race was fellow Brit Harry Tanfield – a man who had never ridden a time trial in the wet previously.
The 23-year-old took to the starting block in Glasgow in bright sunshine but ended it with ‘hailstone-esque’ rain barraging its way down, making the surface treacherous.
As one of the first to compete, conditions could have been far worse but Tanfield still made his mark, eventually finishing 16th in a time of 55:53.71.
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