Jul 16th, 09. Kiwi cyclist Josie Giddens is in her 1st season riding the US circuit and she's loving it.  She has already won a prime and stood on her first podium.

Giddens in action for Hub Racing (c) Matthew Koschara

First success

On June 30th Giddens achieved her 1st international road podium when she placed 3rd in the Exeter criterium. "Exeter is a local race that the team has done well in, in the past, so it has history for us which was a pretty cool thing to look forward to," Giddens said.

Josie's Exeter Criterium race report

The weather was pretty cold and it was kind of foggy out, so not the nicest conditions. The team worked their wee butts off and covered any breaks and also went for every prime that was up for grabs.

We unfortunately missed out on the 9th lap memorial prime but that was okay as there were more to come. Just before the half way point I was recovering on the back and I heard the bell ring for $100 prime. I was like, "crap, we need this money," so I hauled myself up to the front and jumped away to win the prime, I was fizzing at that!

Then it was all about recovering as riders tried to jump away straight after. My teammates covered the gaps really well and for the next part of the race [teammates] Sally and Arley both won a couple more primes.

Then it came down to the final sprint and I was the lead out for [teammate] Veronica. I led it out pretty early and no one was coming around me and so I was like "oh crap!", then all of a sudden here comes Nicole Freedman (former Olympic rider!), she scooped up the win and Kathryne Carr 2nd and I was 3rd! It was a mint day at the office!

Honouring a memorial prime

The prime I won was a memorial for Brian Bogart. Here is a short write up about him that I got from the organiser as I think it's important to find out about why there is a plaque about this person and who and what they were like.

Brian Bogart loved the sport of cycling. Through it he learned how to suffer and still succeed. Brian had a keen sense of humor a love of life, a great knack with jargon, and a way of making you feel like you were the most interesting and funniest person alive. He loved his family, his Saviour and cycling. If he were here today, his advice to you would probably be if it doesn't kill you, it'll make you stronger. Cyclists understand this saying better than most.

Brian lived life to the fullest. He loved to travel and loved competition. He was a cyclist, a skier, a tennis player and had plans to climb Mt Rainier and attend law school. He could get along with anyone he met, making friends at every opportunity. Brian died February 27th, 1995 while skiing in Maine.

Following the Tour de France

Giddens says she has been trying to watch as much of the Tour de France as she can, "It's so wicked to watch them in action and it's even better this year now that Roly and Jules are both flying the flag for us Kiwis."

"I have no doubts that they will once again do us proud and get some good results not only for their teams but for themselves," she said.