Overcoming challenges is something I’m getting better at

I’m really happy with the way this year has turned out. It was a rough start coming back from a hip fracture, but the injury and rehab process allowed me to go into the season with a new mentality.

I approached the season differently, as I couldn’t be on top form in the early months. I took on a supporting role within the team which was a change in mindset for me.

Things turned around in May when I could go for results again. That was the first time I could perform at the highest level again and started picking up victories again.

Between the end of April and June I won five races, but then things turned around again. The middle of the year was meant to be one of my biggest peaks, but I got sick in the Giro Rosa, one of the biggest races of the year. It put me on the back foot for two important objectives, the Giro and La Course. Cycling teaches you lessons over and over again.

The recovery in the middle of the year did, however, mean I could build my form back up by the time World Champs came around in September. I was very happy with my fitness going into Norway. It was the best form I had ever had for a World Champs.

Getting a bronze medal with my team was special because the team time trial is a unique event and one that is important to us as a team.

That was followed by one of my highlights of the year … finishing top 10 in the individual time trial in the World Championships. I almost wrote off my trial ability a few years ago. It was only when I joined Cervélo Bigla that the team believed in me and showed me I could compete at the highest level in the discipline. The result in Norway is a new motivation for me to give extra focus to the TT discipline.

Photo: ASO/Thomas Maheux

Unfortunately, the road race wasn’t as successful. I crashed out with another fracture. In cycling, so many of the challenges we have to overcome are out of our control. In other sports, like swimming for example, if you get to an event and you’re in the best possible form and you’re the fastest swimmer, you know there is a high likelihood of you getting the result you’re looking for … because there is very little that could go wrong.

It’s taken me a lot of time to learn to deal with disappointments. I feel it’s something I am getting better at every year. I am a Christian and believe things happen for a reason. Every challenge is there for an end goal, or to make you stronger and teach you a lesson. That is the only way I have managed to get up after every fall. It has carried me through injuries and disappointments.

If you learn to roll with the punches and find the positives in every situation, it’s really amazing and develops your character. It allows you to go into life after cycling stronger and ready for new challenges. It’s all about developing a strong and positive mentality.