The race in Joe’s words

6^th overall

1^st in age category 50+ World Champion

3600 KM’s, 108,267 ft climbing, 213 hrs 34 mins

A whole new country to race and a course made for a climber like me.

This was also the inaugural World Championship so the stakes couldn’t be higher for my World Cup push. There is always a greater likelihood of race complications the bigger the distance and 3600 KM’s is a fair distance!

Everything was going to plan and then two events happen – a thunderstorm, where I choose to sit it out while my competitors pushed on, and in the chase back to the front I tweaked my lower back climbing out of the saddle on an extremely steep gradient.

I suffered debilitating pain but my physio managed me and it extremely well. Of course, my pace was affected but I was able to work with it and in 2-3 days the acute pain subsided.

At this point I was firmly in sixth position overall, with no pressure from behind, and first in the 50+ category.

Putting on the World Champion jersey after 213 hours in the saddle was an exceptionally proud moment with a close second being securing big World Cup points.

My World Cup was going well but then… I crashed.

QUOTE: “There is no place like home and, for me, the race is home.”