A tough year has ended in difficult circumstances but hopefully Marcus Christie can bounce back once again.
By Brian Canty
Having gone to the season-ending Chrono des Nations time trial in France to try and salvage something from a difficult year, Marcus Christie was left to count the cost of a wasted trip after hitting the crowd control barriers on the approach to the finish.
He said he felt he had done a great ride, but his spill saw him slip to 20th in the 23-rider field.
The An Post-Chainreaction man, who is on the lookout for a new team next season, admitted it was a hugely frustrating end to a year he hopes to forget about as soon as possible.
“It was such a disaster,” he said of Sunday’s 51-kilometre race against the clock in the Vendee region.
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“We made such a big effort for this race and made all the arrangements to get down there in plenty time so I could go over the course and really give myself the best chance of a result," he explained.
"I rode the course once the day before the race and felt good. It was really up and down with a flat last 15 kilometres and I was really going well.
Marcus Christie starts his test in France, but would end his hour-long effort dazed after a high speed crash.
“I was in good form and was very lucky to get a last-minute entry so I wanted to make the most of it,” he added.
“I’ve been training really well and my body felt good. I thought the course was to my liking as well and I thought I could do a good ride.
“I was on for that too and I reckoned after 25k that I’d go close to finishing under an hour.
“I was getting time-checks and I knew I was gaining time on guys ahead of me. I caught my two-minute and four-minute men but I got too eager coming to the finish.”
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What happened next was something Christie believes sums up his year; a crash to end all hopes of a high placing.
From injury to illness and now bad luck, he said it’s been a year he will not look back on with too many fond memories.
“I was coming into the final few hundred metres on a bend and I pulled the brakes and nothing happened,” he said of his late high speed spill.
“Then I just hammered into the barriers head over heels and that ended my chances of a top 10.
“It took me a while to get my bearings but I did manage to finish, even though the bike was mangled.
"I was in a fair amount of pain though. I just couldn’t believe it. Something like that could only happen to me. Physically and mentally I’m fairly beat up now.”
However, on the positive side he was happy with how he had executed the race plan set out for him by coach Tommy Evans.
“I was in contention after the last time check and I was really feeling on top of it, but that’s bike racing. It gives me a huge desire to try and turn things around next year.”
Christie is down about his season right now, but riding the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow for Northern Ireland after battling back from injury for several years was a great achievement.
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