he start was crowded but I got into my stride as quickly as possible. Last year I started far too slowly so I pushed the pace from the start. There was a really strong headwind along the back leg of the course and this made for hard going. By the second lap I was pushing as hard as I could and I was suffering a lot. The final few kilometres seemed to take forever but I managed a sprint finish and gained a place in the final 20m.

I was hoping for a quicker time so I was a little disappointed, although I did improve my finish position from last year (95). I couldn't have gone any faster though and it is still early in the season.