Lewis Askey (Groupama-FDJ) had by no means raced the Australian summer time calendar earlier than however has long past all in, taking part in the elements and the serious racing, and fought the ache of a crash.
The Brit headed out of the United Kingdom iciness and into the warmth and disparate time zone earlier than Christmas, with hopes that the early adjustment and coaching in just right climate would set set him up for this block of racing but additionally the 2025 season.
His effects had been combined however he and Groupama-FDJ have one ultimate probability on the Cadel Evans Nice Ocean Street Race.
“So it means that if I can come here in good form, get a good big block of training in nice weather before I head back to Europe, that hopefully should put me in really good stead for the Classics and, well, I hope to already come out with something from Sunday.”
The shape a part of the equation appeared neatly in hand, with Askey announcing with regards to race numbers “I’ve been probably near my best level, of my life, I’d say, up to this point.”
That situation translated into a powerful lead-out on degree 1 of the Excursion Down Below, with Askey handing over teammate Matthew Partitions onto the proper wheel so he may take a podium consequence.
On the other hand, the opposite sprints didn’t move to plot and worst of all of the closing one on degree 6 ended with Askey and Rémy Rochas crashing simply after they had appeared preferably situated to guide out Partitions heading towards the closing kilometre.
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“I honestly don’t even know what happened, because for me we weren’t going too fast around the corner. Maybe it was the mixture of the speed bump and the white line at the same time. It really did take me by surprise as I wasn’t anywhere near the limits of the tyres. Because it took me by such surprise I actually crashed really quite hard.”
A busted helmet, pores and skin off and a troublesome hit to the knee on his motorcycle body wasn’t precisely the best run into the overall races.
“I’m really hoping to be back on 100% form for Sunday,” said Askey.
“Physically, form-wise, I’m actually going really quite well at the moment so if we put me on a parcours that really suits my abilities, then there’s a chance to do something quite nice.”
Askey raced Thursday’s Surf Coast Classic in Lorne and despite it being a brutally fast race with attacks and splits that just kept coming, he didn’t seem to suffer with his injuries. He finished in the lead bunch of 45 and the team added in a statement that Sunday’s crash had left no after-effects.
“Honestly, the biggest thing for me coming to Sunday will be how sore I’m feeling and how almost fragile I’m feeling – as in how much I don’t want to crash again,” said Askey.
“Sometimes when you’ve had a crash, it kind of makes you a little bit more wary in the peloton and that’s actually the worst thing to do, because if you start braking a little bit early, it means you slide down the pack a little bit more, and that’s where it’s even more dangerous.”
“I’m hoping if I’m on the start line, it’s because I think I’ve got a chance of doing something. I mean a bike race is a bike race, everything can always happen.”
