Joshua Dubau saw the wheels of Thibau Nys, Felipe Orts and Eli Iserbyt up close this Sunday, for the World Cup round in Dendermonde. But despite appearances, the Van Rysel CX Racing rider was still outside the Top 10, in his standards (see ranking). “I think it's going well. But these drivers are capable of great performances, they're not really in the places they're capable of in the best conditions. It's good to be in the fight, but It will be in a week that you will have to be there, it will be that day”. Before thinking about the French Championship, it was time for one last rehearsal.
And the least we can say is that the departure did not give him a glimpse of a great day in Belgium. “It was the construction site, we knew it. I went a little far away, I was a little embarrassed. Behind that, the drivers were a little dirty, some of them were really not clean and not fair play”. What was supposed to happen is happening. Joshua Dubau is caught in a fall. “But it wasn’t my fault, it was with guys who were not at all sporty”. Then, we had to move up the riders one by one to finally achieve a Top 15 finish. “I climbed back as best I could. I can play for 12th place at the finish, but before the last post I had my handlebars going up and down. I lost the place on that”.
With the bad weather, the runners were able to remember the beautiful hours of winter in the mud and puddles. “It's special here, it's special with a lot of running. It wasn't easy to pedal at the end of the race with the mud under your feet. But it's nice to run like this, to have an international confrontation before the French Championship”. The big moment therefore arrives in Pontchâteau in a week, to recover the tricolor jersey that he had won three winters previously. “It’s the final stretch, with work but nothing more, and with recovery to arrive with a little freshness and the end of the season with the World Championship in sight”. Where he will also find Liévin, land of his national coronation.
