Reece Wood joins brother Ollie at Canyon dhb SunGod

Reece Wood joins brother Ollie at Canyon dhb SunGod for 2021 with the big aim being to win a UCI race next year


Reece Wood another new signing at Canyon dhb SunGod and pictured in the race at Otley in 2019

Reece Wood joins brother Ollie at Canyon dhb SunGod for 2021 with the big aim being to win a UCI race next year. Reece came through the ranks within the British Cycling program from youth to U23, spending a lot of his junior years on the track gaining medals at both European and World level.

Reece is looking forward to 2021, and being teammates with his brother Ollie. He says “I’m really excited to see how the 2021 season unfolds with Canyon dhb SunGod. I’ve raced against them many times in previous teams, and always noticed how well the team works together and the high morale. I’ll even be teammates with my brother, that should be good! I‘m looking forward to the calendar as it’s really going to suit my style, with a lot of Belgian and French rolling terrain races.”

When we asked Reece what his goals are for the season, he said: “My main goal for the season is to win a UCI race. I’ve come close a fair few times over the last couple of years, and I think with the team it’s very doable. I’m not one to plan months ahead, but there will be races I aim for. Hopefully the season brings a lot of team wins our way!”

Tim Elverson, owner and sports director: “It feels like I’m joking now, but Reece was somebody I also chatted to for 2020, but he had a good offer to stay in an Under 23 squad which he went with. Throughout this year, he and I have chatted, and with Ollie in the squad already, Reece’s ability has always been spoken about and I’ve watched and I’ve seen patches of what I think he is capable of at our style of racing and I’m keen to see him get a season of it. I think there is a lot to be unlocked.”

Original article on www.velouk.net

 

Read Reece’s monthly blogs here :

May 2021

Beginning of May was really quiet again for me. Majority of the races we had entered as a team had been cancelled or re-scheduled for later on in the year. However, it’s not all doom and gloom as races are finally starting to come back around now!

I’ve just got back from Belgium after racing Ronde Van Limburg on Monday. It was my first race in a while so nerves were running high, and a packed-out peloton with numerous world tour and pro conti teams was going to make a hard race! A very technical course with cobbles and a lot of narrow passages meant we had to stay very active near the front of the peloton the entire race. For the first half of the race my job was to try keep our chosen sprinter (Rory Townsend) as close to the front as possible for the entrances to the narrower sections and cobbles. Due to the course, the peloton soon whittled down as we found ourself riding in to the last part of the race. With some good legs I decided to try go for an attack with about 25km to go. I got a decent gap but couldn’t quite manage to bridge to the guys ahead of me, but I was expecting a move from the peloton to go after the last narrow road climb. After watching it back on TV a move did go as well, but for some reason it came back which was gutting for me. If the move stuck, they would have bridged to me and I would’ve had a great chance at a good result from the small break-away. After I did eventually get caught, I was pretty gassed, and the peloton was getting quick for the run-in to the sprint. A couple of our team mates were left though and managed to pull 10th in the reduced sprint finish. Overall a good race as a team and I’m super happy with how I was feeling.

Hopefully I will be taking my good legs and morale in to the future races in June. I have a couple confirmed and possibly a stage race abroad with some big competition mid-June. Thanks as always to LBTF for the continued support and see you on the road!

 

April 2021

It’s been a quiet month for me in terms of racing. Very quiet! With the ongoing crisis all the teams races this month were cancelled, so we took the opportunity for a good team camp.

Last week I ventured off down south for a 4 day camp with a race simulation day. A much needed get-together with the team started with a steady day. It was great to meet some of the guys I hadn’t met yet!

The next day was a race simulation featuring a loop around box hill and the surrounding Surrey Hills. It was a great workout and a shock to the system! It was my first bit of intensity in a while after having a couple steady off-weeks.

I took advantage of the quiet month and weekends by getting a proper bike fit for my new Canyon. A trip to Fit 2 Ride and a few hours later I came home with a few tweaks and some custom insoles. A great improvement and hopefully keep any injuries at bay.

Hopefully May will be a more action packed month. Especially with british races starting again. All-in-all not much racing to report back on this month, but I’ve taken advantage of the support with a lot of stuff to help me in the coming months of racing.

 

March 2021

First of all, I’d like to say a huge thank you for LBTF continuing to support me through the 2021 season.

This year I am racing for Canyon DHB Sungod which is a great opportunity for myself with plenty of international races across the season.

It was an early start to the season for me, back in January for a UCI 1.2 race, the Valencia classic. After feeling pretty apprehensive (as normal for the first race of the year) it ended up being a great race for me. Although no result for me personally, I executed the team plan for our dedicated sprinter for the day, Rory. We ended up with 8th position, we were pretty content considering it was the first race of the season. Good legs and a team race experience left me coming out of the race excited for what the future races hold.

After a bit of a break from racing, March started with a week block in Belgium. First up was Le Samyn followed closely by GP Monsere. I went in to Le Samyn with brilliant condition and an eager mentality to do well. Unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances we ended up without a team car for the second half of the race so was left without service. With around 40km to go I punctured out of the remaining peloton on a cobble sector so was forced to abandon the race. I was pretty devastated to say the least after feeling pretty mega all throughout the race.

GP Monsere was next on the list, another UCI 1.1 but this was a closed loop circuit featuring a lot of corners! I had some pretty bad luck in this after changing race bike the night before, an issue with my back left me on the backfoot of the race. But I could still assist my teammates throughout. Unfortunately we didn’t have much to write home for after this race.

My final race of March was another UCI1.1, Cholet-Pays de la Loire. Our team plan was to ride for Bostock for the sprint. We were pretty happy to see him get 8th in the sprint finish, considering the field also!

Overall, quite a bit of bad luck in March for me personally but I know with my current condition that I will get my opportunity for some personal results in the near future with a busy calendar ahead in the summer.