I’ll open with a rare piece of insight I’ve garnered these past few weeks: the Tour de France is pretty enjoyable when you get to watch it loosely and just casually follow along. I’m definitely not glued to the TV, but it’s interesting to catch a few minutes here and there and check in on my teammates and other friends in the peloton. Seeing it from the outside actually gives me some deeper perspective and appreciation for having been there a handful of times, particularly winning it with Cadel back in 2011. So far, my favorite moments have been my teammate Daryl’s stage win and seeing my buddy Joey convert an awesome top 10 TT result in his first TDF. Daryl and Joey are both friends, but to me, these are the guys and moments to really cheer for and get inspired by. Everyone at the Tour is incredibly talented and works extremely hard but seeing riders who are slightly less celebrated compared to the major GC stars perform and realize their dreams is about as good as it gets for me from a spectator standpoint.
It’s rare to have a multi-week block between races once the season starts yet I’ve somehow found myself with a multi-month block off from racing. On the one hand, it’s a pleasant luxury to step away after an intense winter/spring build-up and early race season. On the other hand, it is challenging to bridge such a big gap and keep the fire lit for the races to come.
It took me a couple of solid weeks to get healthy after the Giro, but things have progressed to the point where I’m feeling healthy and ready to get back at it. I wasn’t there yet to make it back for the June race program, and like many teams, Mitchelton-SCOTT only races at the Tour de France in July. Currently, I’m chipping away and looking forward to returning to racing in early August.
One of the biggest challenges of recovering from any sickness or injury is balancing yourself physically and mentally. Forced downtime is not the same as a rejuvenating healthy period away from training. I feel like the clock is always ticking and like I’m sliding backwards when I’m not moving forward relatively quickly. Despite all of that, I have enjoyed the training these past few weeks and have been fortunate to switch up my locale with a bit of travel and seeing people that I wouldn’t otherwise mid-season.