Daniel Lloyd at the Guinness Premiership side training ground (Image credit: Gerry McManus)
By Gerry McManus
Daniel Lloyd (DFL-Cyclingnews-Litespeed) moved a step towards making Great Britian's team for the Beijing Olympics this week. The British Olympic Association confirmed that his name had been put forward for possible selection and Lloyd knows that good results are vital to achieving his goal next year.
"I haven't been away as much this year as people think," said Lloyd as he watched the Guinness Premiership's side lining up for a team photo. "I have based myself at home this year and I have been commuting to races. There have been quite a few times where I have been at home for up to three weeks training and getting ready for the next event. I think it helps you focus on your next race without too many distractions. I was away in the Tour of Ireland and Tour of Britain at the end of the season though."
27 year-old Lloyd lives in the London suburb with wife Lorraine and son Ralph after he moved from his home in Christchurch in Dorset. He has had one of his best seasons in 2007 after he finished second overall, by just one second, in the Tour of Qinghai Lake and took the silver medal behind David Millar (Saunier Duval-Prodir) in the British national road race championships.
"I had marked both of those races as my targets at the beginning of the season," continued Lloyd. "The national champs were postponed because of the floods in June and I was hugely disappointed because I had unbelievable form then. I trained a bit between Qinghai and the rescheduled nationals. I like to have time to prepare for specific events rather than just race week in and week out."
Lloyd got in some top level racing in the semi-classics with his team early in the season. "I did Gent-Wevelgem, E3 Prijs, Dwars Door Vlaanderen and the three days of De Panne. I really enjoy those races and I got on well. Nico Mattan was the team leader for all of those races. He has won a number of those before and our job was to stick with him for as long as possible. Nico wasn't going so well in the E3 Prijs race and we had a free hand. I finished in the main front group that had split off the front with about 30km to go and it felt really good to make the final selection. It was the first time I had made the crucial cut in a classic race. I didn't quite have the strength to go on the last bit but it is something I would like to focus on next year."
