I’ve been looking forward to this race for months. Santa Vall felt like the right way to open a season — two stages through the hills behind Girona, in February, when most people back home are still sitting indoors waiting for spring. That suited me fine.
The start list was proper. Forty-one nationalities, elite riders from across Europe and beyond, all on the same gravel roads in the Vall de Llémena. It’s a beautiful corner of Catalonia — rolling, technical, with enough climbing to sort out who’s done their winter work and who hasn’t.
Stage One: Finding My Legs
Stage one runs about 129km with 1,500m of elevation. Not the hardest day on paper, but February legs and race pace are two different things. I spent the first hour just settling in — finding my rhythm on the Ventum, reading how the group was moving, working out who was going to be trouble and who was just there to get round.
The racing was aggressive earlier than I expected. Attacks went from almost the first kilometre, which I liked. It reminded me of criterium racing — the kind of thing I grew up doing. You don’t overthink it. You react, you stay in the right position, and you trust your legs.
I got through stage one feeling good. Not a perfect day, but a solid one. The kind of result that tells you the work over winter has landed.
Stage Two: The One That Counts
The second stage is where Santa Vall shows its teeth. Eighty-six kilometres with 1,100m of climbing, and the racing is sharper because everyone knows how the first stage finished. There were a lot of tired legs around me, and that’s when you find out who can genuinely suffer and who’s been riding on adrenaline.
I pushed hard in the final third. The roads in that valley get tighter and more technical toward the end of the route, which I’ve found suits me. I can carry speed through sections where others ease off. That’s a product of racing on UK roads for years — you learn how to be comfortable being uncomfortable.
Starting as Champion
I don’t want to make too much of the jersey, but it does change something. I noticed it at registration, at the start line, in how other riders read the race. People know your name. That’s new for me.
I find it motivating rather than pressuring. The jersey is evidence that what we’re doing works — the training with Jacob, the support from Merlin and the rest of the team, the commitment to making 2026 a full gravel season. It means we’re going in the right direction.
The OGT nutrition plan held up well across both days. That’s something I was genuinely curious about going in — how to fuel a two-day stage race properly without leaving anything on the table for day two. We’ve dialled that in now, and it showed.
Two Stages Down, a Season Ahead
Girona in February is a good reminder of why you spend all winter on the bike. While it was grey and wet back in Blackpool, I was racing in the Catalan hills. That doesn’t get old.
Next up: Turnhout Gravel in Belgium at the end of March. Flat, fast, and an enormous field — completely different to this, which is exactly what I need.
Supported by Merlin Cycles, Ventum Racing, OGT, Gravaa, and Questa Financial Planning. Coached by Jacob Tipper at JT Performance Coaching.