Frenchman Alex Blain, winner of many major British events, returns to race in Britain for Madison Genesis
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Spot Interview – Alex Blaine (Madison Genesis)
Winner of the Tour du Lorit et Cher, Tour of Normandie, CiCLE Classic, the British Cycling Elite Circuit Series, Severn Bridge RR, a round of the Tour Series and much more, Alex Blain is a major ‘weapon’ to any team and a strong signing for Madison Genesis.
Bringing him back to the UK will please many who enjoying this attacking Frenchman enliven many a race, with the former downhiller having a special liking for the off road/on road races. Speaking at the launch of the team at Icebike, he says “I feel really happy to come back to the UK after a year back in Franceâ€.
“This is a good team which has been on the road for many years and it continues to get stonger.â€
“I know the British races and the British teams so it is why I came back. It is really nice to race here and having raced here before will work to my advantage. Roger too brings a lot to the team and his experience will help me learn more this year as wellâ€.
Asked what goals he has, Alex replies “We are going to defend out title in the Tour Series so that is a big goal for the sponsor here in the UK. For me, I am looking to do well at the CiCLE Classic, one of my favourite races, and some of the one day races like Lincolnâ€.
“I have had some bad luck in that race (he crashed into a dog the last time) so I really want to go well there this year. And then there are races like Tour de Yorkshire and Tour of Britain, WorldTour level but we know we can do something on a stage and they will be goals for the team for sureâ€.
Talking about his winter training, he says “it has been a very good for me. The weather this year was beautiful so I have had good preparation, a lot of days in the legs so all the lights are green for me!â€
Alex has raced with Team Raleigh GAC as well as Endura before.
Finally, his first race in the team’s colours is expected to be the Tour of Normandie in his home country where he has a great record. A winner in 2011 and second too a few years ago, Alex is not expecting a repeat of his GC success.
“It is not properly a goal because this year we are starting at Normandy so won’t have racing legs before Normandy. But Normandy is like lots of one day classics every day for seven days so it’s not easy but it’s in France. I won it in 2011 and was second two years ago. I don’t have any pressure for the race but for sure, I will look to see what I can do after the first three or four daysâ€.
We look forward to seeing Alex racing here in April!
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