The third and final World Cup of the season was held in January, in the city of Cali in Colombia—another transatlantic journey for a particularly important race. Through that race, the 20 best ranked athletes of the world would be qualified for the Track Cycling Word Championship, which will be held in Paris in February 2016.

My preparation for that race has been the best possible. Luckily, I managed to recover in time from my injury in London and had intensive training during the Christmas season in the frozen, yet familiar, velodrome of Athens.
Although the final result of the race didn’t satisfy me, I successfully managed to qualify for the World Championship in Paris!

During my stay in Cali, which is essentially the second largest city of Colombia, I was particularly impressed with the total absence of tourists in the city and the extreme policing and protection of all those who were participating in the event. To and from the airport – and generally, wherever I was going, whether for training or just to buy something from the supermarket - I was always escorted from at least one army official. As I learned along the way, the police and the army are closely related in this specific country.

All this overprotection made me feel a constant threat, a constant fear that at any moment something bad would happen.

Obviously, all of these measures were taken for our safety, and I don’t judge them. Yet, why do you choose to take so many risks by holding this event in a city so hostile and xenophobic?

On returning from Mexico, the time for rest was minimal. I had to continue with hard training for the 2nd World Cup, which took place in London on December 5-7. I had about three weeks to prepare myself physically and mentally for another difficult and demanding race. Again, I would participate in the Omnium event) in which I would try to secure a place for the 2016 Olympics in Rio, Brazil. The training up to my arrival in London had left me particularly satisfied; I was ready and optimistic about achieving a very good result.

So, I arrived with my national team in London about 4 days before the official opening of the games, a period that gave me plenty of time to adapt to the conditions and the slight time change. The hotel where we were staying was one of the four official hotels of the event; thus, it was full of athletes, women and men, from about a dozen different countries (the total number of the countries taking part in the World Cup was about 35). The whole organization of the event was excellent. From the moment of our arrival, they gave us tags for food for each day of our stay, and there were also organization buses available every half hour to travel to and from the Olympic Velodrome. The weather could be characterized as classic British, with plenty of cold and rain, while the daylight hardly lasted nine hours… Of course, the Olympic Velodrome of London was closed and heated, so it was not affected by the outside weather conditions.

The trainings, until one day before the race, were going extremely well. My anticipation was great. I was looking forward for my event to start, to be thrown into battle and have a great result. The race started with the discipline of Scratch with a total distance of 15 km (60 turns). In this sport, all the athletes start together, and the winner is the one who passes the finish line first. From the start, up to two lapsbefore the end, the race was taking place as I had planned. All that was left was a good placing in the final sprint. However, unfortunately for me, having two laps to go, due to tension and nervousness, the Mexican athlete changed course abruptly and hit the front wheel of my bike. Whatever should I do? When you lose control of the front wheel, as in all two-wheel vehicles, the fall is inevitable. So, from fighting for a place in the final sprint, I found myself on the floor of the Velodrome to crawl down with a speed of approximately 55 km/h. As a result, my body was covered with burns and abrasions, and I strained my right hip. The worst thing of all was that the fall was during the first event (Saturday morning), and I had to keep fighting in the remaining five events of Omnium (2 more on Saturday and another 3 on Sunday) accompanied by pain from my fall. Abandoning the race was not a choice, as each earned position offers valuable points for the Olympic qualification. All I had to do was to forget the unfortunate moment and continue the race with will and tenacity.

So, after the fall I had to go to the organization’s mobile hospital unit to have the wounds cleaned. After coating the wounds with Xylocaine (local anesthetic), 2 painkillers, and a time-consuming cleaning of the wounds, I had to re-start the warm-up and get ready for the 2nd event without having any time to rest and calm down. Of course, my performance in the 2nd event was hopeless. The situation was similar that evening when I ran the third race without achieving a good performance. Finally, I arrived at the hotel on Saturday night (23:00 GMT) exhausted, mainly from the pain of my wounds. The next morning, I had to get up early because I was racing at 10:00 in the 4th event of Omnium. I had slept for barely six hours the previous night. However, even if it was short, that sleeping time was precious and offered me a slight feeling of freshness. As a result, I managed to improve my position in the next three Sunday races, ultimately achieving 17th place, obviously a better placement and result than if I had abandoned the Omnium altogether.

Of course, I will not forget the relief I felt the moment when that race finished. Those two days seemed to me like eternity, indeed. Despite the beauty of racing in such organizations, when you are injured, you can’t enjoy anything. You don’t have fun. And as my coach says, when you don’t have fun with something, you can’t perform on it!

Happy New Year to everyone, and I hope it is filled with health, joyous moments, and success!!

After a successful National Track Cycling Championship in September, my next race obligation was the European Track Championships in Guadeloupe, in the Caribbean, in October. For those who wonder how come a European Track Cycling Championship could be held in an Atlantic island, the answer is simple. Guadeloupe is a colony of France and therefore has the right to organize European Championships. After this event I had to participate for the first time in my athletic career at the 1st Track Cycling World Cup in the city of Guadalajara, in Mexico. As in all World Cups, it lasted three days, from 7th to 9th of November. I raced in the Omnium , a discipline consisted from 6 different events which lasts 2 days.

The problem with this particular race was that I came across a peculiarity that I had never experienced before in my career. The peculiarity of this had to do with the fact that most cities in Mexico are located in altitude, so the density of air and oxygen levels in the atmosphere were significantly reduced (up to 30% - hypoxic conditions) than those observed at the sea level. More specifically, Guadalajara is located at an altitude of about 1500 meters above sea level, in the middle of a vast plain. Before a race, to enable an athlete to prevent the negative effects of hypoxia (dehydration, increased pulse, severe shortness of breath), to help the body to function normally and to adapt to the altitude, you need to train at the location where the race would be conducted at least 3 weeks prior to the event.

Without knowing how my body would react to these conditions, we started our long journey with my National Team (3 different flights in one day, 17 hours total on the plane). We arrived in Mexico about 6 days before the Official Start. Hitherto, as time was scarce and valuable, with the support of the Greek National team’s coach, I did my best to adapt in time to the altitude and the Jet Lag (8 hours apart with Greece).

As for my diet in Mexico, although I'm not a fan of Mexican food, Mexican cuisine at least at the hotel was excellent. Fresh Chimichanga (burritos) and tortillas deluged every day the breakfast and lunch buffet, which you could combine with various sauces of your choice in order to achieve delicious results. Of course, I confined myself to the classic European cuisine (fortunately the restaurant was not limited to Mexican recipes). Moreover, the weather conditions in Mexico resembled the spring of Greece; sunny weather, normal humidity and a temperature between 17-24 degrees Celsius. This is the best weather scenario for taking a nice walk or spending some time doing intervals on the bike. Being used to train on the busy roads of Athens, I thought that riding in Guadalajara wouldn’t be any different. So I made the mistake and tried to go for training on the road. The result was that for 3 consecutive hours I was trying to get away from traffic, wayward drivers and smothering exhaust gas in order to find a quiet '' provincial '' area to continue my workout. As I was moving away from the '' four star 'hotel and the charming city center, the only thing I saw was an endless shantytown. By observing the people , you would see everywhere kids in the streets with bare feet shouting in Spanish, local traders selling their goods in the middle of the road , people looking tired and grim, damaged agricultural cars that were turned into temporary homes; images completely contradictory to downtown life. Third-world situations that serve to remind us (that) there is much suffering in the world and make us feel lucky to live in the Western Countries despite all the adverse economic conditions we have experienced from time to time.

Regarding the World Cup, six days after our arrival in Mexico, the time had come for the races to start. To be honest, my feelings were mixed. On one hand, I was feeling excited for participating for the first time in a World Cup and simultaneously racing against athletes from all over the world. On the other hand, I had a lot of stress as to whether the altitude had affected me negatively or not. The truth is, from the intensity of the first day of racing I felt what lack of oxygen really means. Event after event dizziness and drowsiness had become a common phenomenon on me. However, on the second day of racing my performance totally changed for the better. I managed to achieve two personal bests, an 8th, a 10th and a 6th place in the final event that placed me 14th overall. I believe it was a decent result, if you take into consideration the poor start of the first day. Therefore, by the end of the 1st Track Cycling World Cup I returned to Greece, with experiences and memories that I will remember my whole life!

My next important race was the 2nd Track Cycling World Cup, which took place in London, UK. It was definitely, a race equally important and episodic.

After a satisfactory first half of this year’s racing season, the time has come for my first important race in view of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio.

So, my racing summer started in Nyon of Switzerland, where I participated in the European Road Cycling Championships in the U23 Men. My main goal was to get a place in the top ten in the individual time trial. However, upon arrival in Switzerland, the prevailing weather conditions didn’t remind me of summer at all. In 3 hours, I went from the heat wave of Athens to dealing with cold and rain. The weather conditions during my entire stay didn’t change even slightly. But what was worse of all was that just one day before the race, I got sick. The reason for that missfortune was probably a combination of the cold, the rain, and the different water and food. Despite all of that, on the day of the race, I managed to finish in 21st place among 60 athletes, a very satisfactory result given the circumstances and the competitive level of the other athletes. The next day, in the Road Race event (a total distance of 175 km), there was no improvement in my health situation, and I was forced to abandon the race after 90 km of intense effort. Undoubtedly, that result caused me only regret. In the afternoon of the same day, I traveled with the National Team at Fiorenzuola, Italy to participate in the International Grand Prix named Six Giorni Delle Rose in the Omnium event.

At this point, it is necessary for me to analyze briefly what the “Omnium” is, exactly. This is the so-called Olympic cycling “exathlon” (six events), an extremely demanding track cycling sport, both physically and mentally. It consists of six individual disciplines, and lasts two days (3 events are held each day). Each event differs from the other ones and is completely unique. An athlete who competes in the Omnium is expected to perform both in sprint and in endurance sports. All athletes, according to their rankings in each separate event, collect points. The winner is the athlete who has collected the highest number of points in all events.

Thus, returning to the race of Italy, unfortunately, I hadn’t managed to fully recover and to retrieve all my strength by the first day of the event. As a result, I made a mediocre start, which put me in 15th place. However, on the second day of the race, after consecutive good performances in the individual events (two fourth places and one third place), I improved my general ranking, and I ultimately finished in 6th place overall. That performance was exactly what I needed for a smooth qualification for the three World Cups of 2014-2015.

The next and last summer station was Portugal, where I participated in the European U23 Track Cycling Championships , again in the Olympic Event of Omnium. That particular race was essentially a kind of test for me, a chance to observe the competition that I will have to face in the coming World Cups and Championships; all of the athletes who took part will represent their countries in the other important events in this sport in the year ahead. So, after 2 days of consecutive races, I finally achieved a 10th place, a result with which I was not at all satisfied, knowing my abilities and the extremely small point distance that separated me from 5th place. In the total of the 6 individual events, I managed to perform as I really wanted only in the last one, finishing that one in 5th place. After the end of the last summer race, the fatigue was evident, both from the races and the continuous traveling in Europe. What I needed most was a few days of relaxation, away from the tough training and the deprivations, so that I could recoup my energy and feel strong again.

After 5 days of resting, I have resumed my daily cycling routine, with intensive training sessions and fast races in Great Britain, in order to be well prepared for the autumn and winter races. The first goal is the World Road Cycling Championships , which will be held in Spain(September 18-23). Then I will compete in the Elite European Track Cycling Championshipsin Guadeloupe, where I will participate in the Omnium event (October 18-22). Until then the only thing I have to do ishard work, concentration, and attention to my nutrition!

It is my first time racing on Ronde Van Vlanderen U23  and I managed to breakaway with 4 more riders (Spain , Estonia , France and Polland) 18 km after the official start.

We slowly created a gap and with 80km to go , we were 6 minutes ahead of the peloton. Unfortunately for me , on the first cobbled section of the race (around 12 km from the start ) my saddle dropped and the right part of the saddle holder broke.

During the breakaway, I tried to raise my saddle and fix it but the mechanics of the Shimano’s service car could do nothing about it, due to bumpy roads! As a result, I had to continue like that ,which was something  really painful for my legs.

I tried to withstand on the front as long as I could possibly manage with my legs in pain.

Some more details about my race : My average was 310 watts for 4h and 5 minutes. The race was really fast. Congratulations to the winners ! Now I have to focus on the next race , Le Cote Picarde. It will be interesting and challenging!