Cycling: Lakes break works wonders for Boardman

Chris Boardman took another step in his Tour de France build-up yesterday with a caravanning weekend in the Lake District with his family. It was his escape from the competitive heat of international racing, and he still found time to win the Porthole Grand Prix time trial at the Lake Windermere town of Bowness.

The world champion spent 45 minutes and two seconds, almost three minutes fewer than Stuart Dangerfield, his closest rival over a 21.2-mile course where riders were often threading through tourist traffic.

"If I am going to perform in the Tour I have to start the serious racing later," Boardman said. "My manager, Roger Legeay, agrees, so to stop me getting sucked in too soon by the pressure of international racing I am here."

Still tension reared. "I was amused that I got so nervous before the start. I was worried about having mechanical problems like I have had previously in this event. I don't like losing, and you have to give everyone the same level of respect."

So three pairs of spare wheels and a spare bike were standing by, but Boardman heightened any fears by deciding to road-test a prototype bike he had designed.

"The machine proved to be too sophisticated and delicate for this kind of course, but it did the job OK," Boardman said. "It is 1.5 kilos lighter than my Lotus [the breed that won Olympic gold] and more reliable."

Then the Water Board increased the pressure when they arrived to dig up a section of the course. They held off until Boardman, the last of the 120 starters, had finished. He is two weeks away from his first serious objective, the Criterium International, in France. "I am going to be in good shape, and that's when I will let it go into the red."