SIGN, SEAL AND DELIVER (WITH TONY MARTIN'S HELP)

In the second part of his 'Stepping Up' series, Alex Ballinger pins on a number and literally steps up for the CTT national '25'. It's time to put the theory into practice - with the help of a very special TT expert

- Alex Ballinger

I'll be the first to admit I'm terrible on race days. So far in my relatively short time trial career, I've turned up to race without my mandatory lights, got lost on the way to the start, set off a minute after my allotted start time, and on one occasion drove to entirely the wrong course - just about every avoidable mishap short of forgetting my shoes (but never say never). It became abundantly clear that in order to step up my riding to the next level - the subject of this three-part series - I would need to up my game on the big day, and avoid those most irritating avoidables.

To really overcome those pre-event mishaps, and to make sure I get the most out of my legs and head, I knew I needed some help from the big guns, and who better to grill than multiple world-time trial champion Tony Martin. Of course, Martin's expertise stems from the very highest level of the sport, but many of the lessons he picked up during his 13-year World Tour career are just as relevant to a club '10', a sportive, or even the local paceline ride.

THE BUILD-UP

While delivering on race day may seem as simple as a good warm-up and fuelling properly, the real work actually starts the day before, according to Martin, as prepping your body for a major effort should start more than 24 hours before the flag drops. “Whenever I had a big race, the days before were really important,” said the 37-year-old, “because I was never able to do a good performance when I was too relaxed, too recovered. For me, the day before was always about putting some pressure on the pedals, doing a small race before the real race. I’d spend a few minutes on the limit to wake up my body and say ‘Hello, tomorrow will be a really tough day.’”