2016, that's a wrap!

With 2016 nearing it's end and the last posting on here back in May, I thought it was time for an update to round off the year. 

And action, pre stage 1 Amgen Tour of California.

That blog posting came just before the Amgen Tour of California and what a privilege it was to do America’s Greatest Race and one of the biggest races in the world. My race began in San Diego with a km 0 breakaway day which can be seen here https://youtu.be/bT7lTEtYltk and continued riding for my team to the races end in the state capital of Sacramento. An amazing race to be part of and courtesy of ATOC and Microsoft Band I was one of the riders to be tracked throughout the race. This can also be viewed here http://amgentourofcalifornia.com/competition/microsoftband as well as an interview with Frankie Andreu reviewing the data from that Stage 1 breakaway day https://youtu.be/6y531V_NAa8.

 Day out front in San Diego.

Present in California. 

 TV time in America's Greatest Race.

Once back from ATOC the season continued and included a solo breakaway and claiming the King of the Mountains classification at GP Wales, the Team Classification with a superb 2nd overall for Scott Davies at the Tour de Alsace, amongst others. 

TV time in Wales.

I was back in Belgium for the last months of the season, always a special place to race. Aggressive racing as always and the performances continued throughout this period with results that included 3rd GP Lucien Van Impe Erpe-Mere, 6th Memorial Briek Schotte Desselgem and 12th Izegem Koers. 

Volle gas in Flanders.

Podium time with the Naesen brothers.

After two years in these colours a big thank you goes to Sir Bradley Wiggins for the opportunity. It's been a privilege working with and representing such a legend and sponsors and something i'm truly grateful for.  

Dubai and working with a legend.

Post season has been particularly busy as I continue to look to secure a new team for 2017. Post season has also seen a Flanders-Roubaix-Ventoux-Valkenburg-Flanders road trip with Polocini as well as a trip to Mallorca and filming with Velusso.

Road tripping with Polocini. 

On set with Velusso. 

As I write this however my situation for 2017 is indeed still very unclear, any suggestions i'd be happy to hear from you. The last 2 years with Team Wiggins has continued to show my all round professionalism, in my performances and devotion to my team and sponsors, on and off the bike, as has been the case throughout my career. It's amazing to see the level of support i'm getting and I thank you all. Thanks Cycling Weekly for reporting on this too http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/latest-news/daniel-patten-still-searching-team-2017-305091?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=Social. And ofcourse a huge thank you to my family, girlfriend and friends for the continued support throughout the year as always!

Many thanks.

I hope you’ve all had a wonderful Christmas and see you in 2017. Until next time!

2016, that's a wrap!

Rolling with 2016.

Home training.

With the 2016 season well underway and having not posted an update on here since last November (apologies) I thought to keep this update more of a brief review of where the bike has taken me in these last 6 months.

Hanging out in Croatia.

It wasn’t long after that last blog post back in November and I was heading stateside. The trip to North Carolina provided an ideal transition into winter training, whilst getting to catch up with great friends and experience at first hand the Thanksgiving holiday in the USA. 

Thanksgiving in the USA!

The festive season was ofcourse spent at home with family, but it wasn’t long into the new year before I was back in the sky again. Early January saw a 2 week team training camp hosted by the Cambrils Park Sport Village in Tarragona, the Catalan region of Spain, an ideal location to continue laying the foundations for the 2016 season ahead.

Tarragona training camp.

Whilst on camp it became clear that I would be starting my season with the Dubai Tour. A week after returning I was UAE bound to get the season underway and what a location to start the 2016 season it was!

Kicking off the season in Dubai. 

Next it was back to Belgium and neighboring countries to kick off my 2016 European campaign. GP Lillers (France) in early March followed by Wanzeel Koerse Wanzele-Lede (Belgium), Dorpenomloop Rucphen (Holland) and rounded off with a nice breakaway in the Handzame Classic (Belgium).

Breaking away in Belgium.

Some racing in the UK followed including the first national series race of the season, the Chorley GP (another breakaway) and most recently a call up to Le Tour De Yorkshire. Sandwiched between these races was the Tour of Croatia, a first visit there and another good 6 days of racing. In between racing I've been keeping busy with Polocini, Yellow Jersey Cycles and Kinetic Velo, riding, chatting, advising and sharing stories from experiences on and off the bike. 

Breaking away in the UK.

Its full circle for this 6 months as I head stateside again later this week for my first Amgen Tour of California. A race i've been wanting to do for a long time, i'm happy to say that in the last days its finally worked out that I will indeed be on that start line in 2016. As always keep following for updates on Instagram (@dfpatten) and Twitter (@dfpatten) and ofcourse on here in the future.

California here we come.

Until next time!

Keep following!