AFTER a turbulent year of illness and disappointment, Chelmsford cyclist Alex Dowsett can finally celebrate after winning a Commonwealth Games gold medal.
The 25-year-old admitted that he felt he had a point to prove after missing out on a spot in his Movistar team for this year's Tour de France through illness.
And that anger fired him on to time trial glory in Glasgow, finishing the 40km road course in a time of 47mins 41.8secs, more than nine seconds faster than Rohan Dennis of Australia in second.
He said: "It hasn't been easy in the last couple of months. I spent a long time training for the Tour de France but then to get a sore throat that turned into bronchitis put a stop to that quite abruptly.
"That was obviously a massive disappointment but it gave me time to concentrate on the Commonwealth Games.
"Because I was so angry about the whole situation it gave me a real fight to dig deep in the race and pull it out the bag, feeling like I had a point to prove.
"I didn't go to watch le Tour at all. I went to the British Grand Prix instead and then just went training on the day that it came through Chelmsford to avoid it.
"But the Commonwealth Games really turned that round for me big time."
Dowsett made a blistering start to the race, but with 8km to go he found himself more than five seconds behind Dennis and Geraint Thomas.
And despite his strong finish, Dowsett still did not believe that he had managed to grab the gold medal.
He added: "To be honest I got to the finish and didn't think that I had done enough. It wasn't until I got round to the winner's area and saw Rohan sitting in silver and Geraint in bronze that it dawned on me of what I had done.
"I wanted to have a strong start as it is never nice to be so behind early on and I wanted to do that to everybody else. But then it was time to be smart and not cook myself too much. I knew the finish would be an area I could be strong in, whereas the lumpier sections were where I lost time.
"I knew I was a bit down and that I really had to dig deep down there to pull it back."
Dowsett was unable to complete the road race, with heavy downpours meaning only 12 finished from 140 starters.
He added: "If the race had been dry it would have been a completely different kettle of fish for me. The circuit was so twisty that every single corner you were coming to a near standstill and then having to accelerate.
"Sprinting is not my speciality even when I have trained for it. So I was well and truly out of my comfort zone in that race. I was disappointed that it went so badly for me but not unsurprised. In a race like that, once you lose contact it is pointless to carry on."
