RAPHA TAKE TO THE HIGHLANDS

The Rapha-Condor-Recycling squad will be well prepared for the Girvan at Easter. Manager John Herety has gathered the riders in Scotland for a 10-day training camp including a recce of the roads covered during the three-day race on the west coast of the country.

?We came up here last year,? said Herety, ?and it worked out well. We check out the routes, which is very useful for the younger riders who haven?t ridden the race before. They can see where to make efforts and where to conserve energy. The roads are very sticky round there and the surface can be pretty rough. They won?t be riding their best wheels ? heavy-duty tyres for everyone!?

Part of the team?s preparation will include the Musselburgh RCC 3-up time trial at Longniddry on Saturday. Having entered four teams for the 28-mile test, Herety has been forced to shuffle his pack with Matt Rowe unable to ride due to college commitments and Chris Newton and Ben Greenwood still on the road to recovery: ?I originally split the teams according to height; Partridge, House and Greenwood are the tall guys and Briggs, Downing and Diggle are at the other end of the scale. Now we will have three teams racing and Adam Bonser will be riding solo,? explained Herety.

Ben Greenwood continues to make good progress from his long-standing knee injury but Herety is playing it safe for the time being: ?Ben would probably be fit for the Girvan,? he said, ?but I think we will leave it until the Tour of Reservoir (March 30). He has had to adapt to a totally new riding position ? he couldn?t even get out of the saddle initially ? so he is doing lots of core stability work with the physios, re-training muscle groups."