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Cyclist Jack Reed is ready to step up and take on more of a leadership role as he enters another season racing in France.
Reed has signed with the Sportbreizh Tydor Armor-lux team for 2025 after something of a stop/start season with VCP Loudeac.
"When I first joined Loudeac last year, the plan always was a year in the reserve team, get some good results and help them out, and then move into the main National One team for 2025," he said.
"At the start of the year, I had a good training camp. They were really impressed with me. I was in good fitness, so I got selected for lots of big elite national races from February to April, but I didn't really perform."
Reed went into the 2024 season having cut the year before short because of Epstein Barr virus and had been managing his workload to avoid a recurrence in the buildup.
"It took me a long time to get used to being in the peloton and being around the races. So then from April to August, they didn't pick me for any elite national races, which is basically what you need to be doing to get results. Because I hadn't performed well, they didn't select me. It's part of it.
"Once August came around again, I got selected for more races. I got some good results, but my peak fitness of the season had been and gone."
From May Reed was talking to the Director Sportive about what he needed to do and what his next move could be.
"I had two options to progress as a rider and achieve the aim of going professional, either I moved team or I stayed another year in the reserves.
"But I realised, because I didn't get selected for the elite national races from April to August, it could be very similar next year. A lot of how I got selected for the races was often down to illness or injury of the other riders.
"And I had a long, hard think about it in August and I realised that what I want from a team is to be consistently racing at that elite national level all year. The best way to probably do that would be to move team and most likely to a lower team, so instead of working for other riders, I would have more of a leadership role."
His DS helped put him in touch with Sportbreizh who are a National 3 Team.
"It's exciting, but also quite a big step up, because the whole time I've been in France, I've always been working for others and been the nipper, I guess, learning from all these other people.
"And then next year, it's going to be the complete opposite. I've been looking up to people for the last two, three years, for advice and help and this is going to be my role next year. So it's an exciting new opportunity, but certainly my role is going to have to change a lot, and I'm going to have lots more commitment helping out these new riders that I was in a similar situation to the other year."
Next year will be the earliest he has begun a season with a hilly stage race scheduled in the Basque Country from 8 February that should suit him.
Reed has a couple of training camps planned before moving back to France in mid-January and just before the season starts there will be a 10 day camp with his new team.
The full interview is this week's The Cool Down podcast. There's more on Jack Reed's YouTube channel, time out bike packing with his dad, how his support network operates and the crucial role sponsors play. Reed is looking for support to help complete his season next year.
You can find Jack Reed on Facebook and Instagram.
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