Here’s my wrap up of an exciting last few months of 2024.
In mid November, the UCI Track Champions League (TCL) kicked off with its opening round in Paris. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but the amount of organization that goes into TV production is astonishing. My numbers could be off, but it seemed like there were around 100 staff members from both the TCL and the Vélodrome National working to put together a seamless night of racing. Never having raced a 30 lap scratch race, I ended up lost in the flow and rhythm of the race, never grasping what was happening around me. The same held true for the elimination, and I left Paris empty handed on the results sheet, and in my comprehension of the racing.
After returning home to Wageningen, the next TCL round was just 30 minutes away in Apeldoorn where I regularly train. With my sponsors from Plieger Wielersport present, the velodrome’s proximity to my home, and my familiarity with the geometry and nuances of the track, it felt like a true home race. My first home race, in fact, since July 2019 at the now defunct NSC Velodrome in Blaine, Minnesota (RIP). Apeldoorn hosted two rounds, and I was keen to better understand the racing and make an impression. The first night went similarly to Paris, and I left the track that night not just resultless, but frustrated. Success in cycling is fleeting, and when it occurs it can be difficult to identify its causes for replication. The next day, after a long call with my friend Jan-Willem, I had a plan. As we talked, I realized that I was either unable to compete in a field sprint and or unable to properly set myself up for one in such a short race. So, I turned to a different tactic: disruption and attack. By riding slowly at the front of the bunch, letting wheels go, and generally creating speed differentials within the peloton I could create enough chaos that an attack was inevitable. I knew that the first attack in a scratch never works, so I needed to be patient, wait for that attack to be caught, and then make my move.
The plan worked to perfection. With 15 laps to go, an attack went, and the whole field followed. I hung tight in the back, and just as the move was caught with 12 laps to go and the peloton took a collective breath, I followed an attack of the French rider Oscar Nilsson-Julien, pulling the 2023 scratch race world champion Will Tidball with me as we went. We worked well together, and I led out a long sprint to the finish, taking home my first win of the TCL! Plans rarely work in cycling, so I was thrilled.
Scenes from my win in Apeldoorn! Credit SWpix.
After another week back home in Wageningen, the fourth and fifth rounds were set for London. Using exactly the same tactic as I had in Apeldoorn, I also won the scratch race in London, and used that positive momentum to record a seventh in the elimination, my best elimination result of the series. The TCL’s fifth and final night held no successes, and was shockingly cut short after a horrifying over-the-barrier crash in the women’s Keirin: but luckily the worst of the injuries was a broken arm. Huge thank yous go out to Plieger Wielersport and Bicycle Fit Guru for their support during the TCL.
Some shots from my win in London in a sold out 6,000 seat velodrome. Credit SWpix.
My reaction to my win (thanks Ryan Crissey for the screenshot), and the shot! Credit SWpix.
After getting home from London on Sunday night, I got a call from the Rotterdam Six Day on Monday afternoon explaining that the Swiss rider Claudio Imhof had fallen ill and would be unable to make the start. They asked if I could race and I of course jumped at the opportunity. Just over 24 hours later I was racing with Swiss partner Silvan Dillier at the Ahoy arena in Rotterdam. The week was a huge step forward for me. Riding with Silvan, a World Tour Pro with a long six-day career, was eye-opening. We ended up sixth on GC and took home a Madison win on night four. The whole week felt like a bonus after such late notice, and I enjoyed every minute.
A great week in Rotterdam with Silvan (credit Stephan Tellier), Willem and I after a particularly painful madison, and a rare post-six Westvleteren 12 thanks to Willem.
Over the course of these five weeks encompassing the TCL and Rotterdam, I worked closely with Julie Emmerman, a sports psychologist out of Boulder, Colorado. I have long feared going for small gaps, defending my space, and aggressive racing, but consistently avoided confronting my difficulties, because they seemed insurmountable. These fears have impacted countless races on the track and the road, and have often left me wondering if I’m capable of further progress. Heavy. This past fall, I finally accepted my fears. That breakthrough afforded me my first road win in Europe in late September. But moving from accepting to confronting them was a whole other task.
The TCL-Rotterdam period was an excellent window of racing to work through those fears, so I started meeting weekly with Julie. The TCL eliminations are the most aggressive bike races I have ever participated in, with more tight squeezes, bumping and pushing than is even close to standard. The only way to even remote success is to fully join the fray. I could dedicate a whole other blog post to the specifics of what we worked on, but the basic outcome was this: I went from the guy who was unenthused about the elimination, keen to see it removed from the program during a rain delay at an outdoor C1, and submissive, to the guy who was eager to race, embrace the chaos, and defend my space. It took a lot of work, visualization of success and failure, confidence, acceptance, breaking down risk perceptions, and much more, but I did it. I went from a non-factor in most eliminations to second place behind the Elimination World Champion Tobias Hansen at the individual elimination on night one in Rotterdam, followed by my first win in an elimination at the Bremen Six Days in January (more on January in another post). I’m fiercely proud of this progress and encourage everyone to ask for help with mental blocks, and to be honest when you can’t work through them. Thank you to Julie Emmerman, and thank you to myself!
The Olympic Velodrome in London, the Paleis Het Loo in Apeldoorn, and surprisingly some snow in Paris!
After Rotterdam, I few back to the US to spend time with my family over the holidays. I headed first to Manhattan where my brother Alex and I stayed with the lovely Jim Ingalls, a lighting designer friend from my Mom’s dance career. Over the course of a few days we saw performances by Alvin Ailey, Mark Morris’s Hard Nut, and the Marc Copland Quartet, and took some time to explore. I also got out for a spin in Prospect Park with my good friend Mattio Montesano from the days of the NSC Velodrome. It’s now been five years since the track was demolished, and although scattered, the community is just as meaningful. We then joined our parents in New Jersey just outside of NYC to visit some family. Given my peculiar career choice, I rarely get to see my family – typically for just for a week or two every year. It was lovely to spend some time with them, and I returned to the Netherlands full and rejuvenated.
My ride with Mattio, my Mom, and the family out to breakfast at Veselka.
I’ll be back next time with some stories from Dutch New Years, the Bremen Six Day, training camp in relatively warm Calpe, Spain, and an altitude training camp in Paipa, Colombia.
Peter Moore on the Road 
Great post. Makes me feel as if I am there. Keep living the dream.
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Congratulations Peter on a stellar season with significant breakthroughs. Great to see you grow as an athlete and a person. Onward.
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