‘After my original race was cancelled last week I was keen to race so I found a nice race up in Cambridge at the St Neots sprint. I’d raced this last season as a world, European & British champion event so I knew it was going to be hard but not as hard as it turned out to be.

The current in the river Ouse due to the rain was strong and I mean strong. On the turn of the out and back I was in a battle for 2nd as 1st had gone. As we turned we hit the current and boy did he hit it. It felt like I wasn’t ever going to get back. I hugged the bank and pushed hard exiting with the other guy who I soon dropped in T1

Heading out onto the course I thought I knew the way so I checked with the Marshall and unfortunately he directed me on the super sprint course and not the sprint / Olympic course. I should have stuck with my gut instinct. When I realised it was too late. Off course and angry with myself. I picked up the main route having gone from 2nd down to the mid 20s. I pushed as hard as I could to get places back and although the head wind was conspiring to break me I eventually got back to 5th overall as I entered T2

The run course was a mixture of park paths and flooded grass stretches. My legs were cooked from my epic bike ride (still 7th fastest split even after 3 added kms). I dropped a place on the 2nd lap but still with a sub 19min 5km so all good. Looking back 1st & 2nd would have been out of my reach with their run times, but I would have come off the bike in 1st or 2nd and would have held on for 3rd. But I didn’t so that’s that.

Back to Milton Keynes next week and I bike course I know really well so not wrong turns for me.’

As raced and reported by Mark Yeoman