Bibby targets Yorkshire gold after Gold Coast bid

The Preston rider finished 12th in the road race on Currumbin beachfront on Saturday as his preparations for the domestic road season continued apace.

A JLT-Condor rider by trade, Bibby was making his Team England debut on Australia’s Gold Coast and finished ninth in last Tuesday’s time trial despite suffering a number of mechanical issues during his ride. He returned on Saturday for nine laps of the 18.7km circuit centring around Currumbin, which was won by Steele von Hoff.

Bibby admitted he got his tactics wrong in the closing stages but did not regret trying to win the race.

“It was hard,” he said. “I overheated a bit in the last lap and I was on my own by the end, without a lead-out so I thought the best option was to try and jump them. But it was a block headwind so it didn’t really work.

“We were trying to keep Chris Latham well positioned on the climbs, for the sprint finish, but he was struggling a bit on the last one.

“So after that I just though the best thing to do was to try and hit them early but I should have just sat in really – oh well.”

Bibby will now spend a week training in Australia before returning to the UK for the fourth edition of the Tour de Yorkshire, which will run over four days for the first time this year.

And he is hoping to make up for lost time having suffered in the build-up to the Commonwealth Games.

“It’s been amazing experiencing it all here on the Gold Coast,” he added.“Next I’ve got the Tour de Yorkshire and then after that it’s the Tour of Japan and then a race in Canada. I was ill for three weeks last month, so I’m a bit behind really. Hopefully after a week here the legs will start coming for Yorkshire.”

npower is the Official Partner of Team England and is giving our athletes the power of support by recording a brand new version of their anthem, Jerusalem. To listen to the track visit npower.com/teamengland