What a year. Yes indeed, 2013 was a pretty special season for me; I grabbed my first ever World Championship medal, finished 5th in the 4X ProTour overall standings, and 5th in the UCI 4X ranking. I t’s not easy to sum up a full season in a few words, there’s so much to say. Every race has its highs and lows, highly charged emotions, and nitty-gritty detailed moments which can change the course of the race and ultimately the season. So the best thing I can do is to try and get what it takes to prepare for a season, at least from my perspective anyway. First things first, you can’t compete and fight for a world class win without the necessary training. And I must emphasise that it’s ‘training smart not training hard’. It’s a philosophy that I always take with me into winter sessions, or when I’m teaching BMX techniques. Essentially, it goes like this ; find the most appropriate exercises, optimize quality with the necessary intensity and duration, maximize individualizing exercises. It’s not far from the truth to say that most athletes have a tendency to always go for exhausting sessions, whichever sport they do. But being ready (peaking) at the right time sometimes means stepping off the gas during training, even if it feels frustrating. It’s not only physical training it’s also mental preparation. You have to know yourself well. You need to know your weaknesses and strengths and then plan the best periods to work on them. Should I try to work on my ‘limiters’ during each session? Or concentrate on my strengths? And what about pure skills training ? Brief refresher or a long workout? All this planning and calculating is essential, it keeps me on track for my season’s goals. From the bigger perspective, it worked out pretty well this year. I had the best season so far, so I should be happy. But you always want more. A few things left me with the ‘job unfinished feeling.’ I was lead the World Championship final until a skill bullet did for me less than 4cross bronze medal winner quentin derbier