Sylvain battled through the four laps on his rigid single speed
against Trek rider Richard John (who usually races Expert) with his suspension forks and XTR gears
The conditions were poor and the laps long. Recent rain had made the course very boggy.
It really was very tough and Sylvains result was a great achievement.
I finished 24th in Masters, It was a psycological battle: me against the mud and just wanted to finish.
I was placed better than I thought until I had cramp on the last lap and lost 5 or 6 places.
It was like weight training solidly for 90 minutes; I finished and rode straight to the car in a black cloud.
Fortunately it was warm and sunny and I had a kip in the boot of my car!