Q & A: Charles Page (Team onForm)

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Team Onform’s junior Charles Page is quizzed over his season in 2016 and the goals for 2017

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Q & A: Charles Page (Team onForm)

Junior Charles Page says his new team (Onform) is a great bunch of riders who are all really personable adding that the supporting staff and team have a great wealth of knowledge about the sport.

1. What was the highlight of 2016 for you and why?
Charles:: Winning my first race of the season in Belgium. I’d come out of the winter unsure what to expect of my form especially being in Belgium for the first time, so to get in the break all race and win the group sprint to the line was awesome.

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2. What was your favourite/most fun race of 2016
Charles:: Riding the Nations Cup round of the Gent-Wevelgem for Juniors. For me this trumps anything of last season even though I was involved with an incident during the race. The possibility to ride with such an incredibly talented field which hosted teams from the majority of European nations.

3. What was the toughest race of 2016 for you and why?
Charles:: A little Belgian race just outside Geluveld. A break had gone up the road with team mates of a lot of the bunch and so there was very little chasing which left me and a few others putting in all the work unfortunately to no avail though I came away with the bunch sprint for 7th.

4. What is the best piece of equipment (clothing/bike/gadget) to do with racing you are proud of most?
Charles:: My bartape.

5. What is your warm up routine for races – rollers or turbo? Music or no music?
Charles:: I usually use the roller to get the legs well loosened pre race and music depends on the severity of race.

6. What’s your favourite discipline on the road; road racing/crits/time trials and why!
Charles:: I’m a fan of the Belgian Kermesse’s as they’re usually pretty flat with slight drags and so you can put the hurt on the bunch but still get a good sprint to the line.

7. Will you stay in the UK to prepare for next season during the winter or get in a training camp or two abroad to get in some serious miles?
Charles:: Staying in the UK with a possibility of going abroad for a week closer to the season.
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8. When will you start training for 2017 and what comes first – long steady miles or a mix of miles and efforts?
Charles:: Training’s already started for me with a combination of both miles to get the distance in but a few efforts to keep a bit of twitchiness in my legs so I don’t have to focus on it come January.

9. Do you use a special winter bike with mudguards etc or using a normal race like training bike?
Charles:: I use my old race bike for the winter months

10. What are the goals for 2017?
Charles:: I have aims to do well in the UCI races I’m riding next year as well as the Junior National Series

11. With darkness now upon us, are the long rides now only on the weekend and how many hours a week would you do in a typical week?
Charles:: I have an afternoon off midweek which allows me to get in some long miles there, I’ll usually do around 15/16 hours a week.

12. Does winter training consist only of riding the bike or running/swimming/gym work (cross training)
Charles:: I’ll put some gym work in there to get the core fitness up over winter and focus on explosiveness

13. Finally, what have you learnt over the years to best deal with the winter months on a bike!
Charles: Layers and lots of them. I usually get cold pretty quickly and so the more layers the better.

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