 May 17th, 09. Logan Hutchings had a shaky start to 2009. His new team fell apart but the kiwi has found new friends in Cinelli-Down Under and now has his season back on track.
Far from the beaches of Papamoa in the Western Bay of Plenty Logan Hutchings, a New Zealand Time Trial Champion, is battling it out over the cobbles of northern Europe from his home base in Roeselare, Belgium.
Login Hutchings talks to Ben Christian from RoadCycling.co.nz about a shaky start to 2009, and what lies ahead.
An impressive 2008
During a successful 2008 when Logan rode for Beveren 2000 Quickstep (the feeder team for QuickStep), he gained five first places and fourteen top 10 finishes in races all over Europe as well as the title of New Zealand Time Trial Champion.
Logan considers last year's solo win in Omloop van de Grensstreek - Wervik his greatest achievement to date. "It's like the amateur version of Gent-Wevelgem, one of the one day classics of all time" he said.
Logan Hutchings lines up for Cinell-Down Under
A shaky start to 2009
After these performances Logan was looking forward to an even better 2009. Unfortunately things didn't start out quite as he expected. After securing a new contract for Italian team Cinelli-OPD things started to go wrong.
"I was about to leave for a training camp in Italy in January when I found out that the team was having problems getting a team license from the UCI," explained Logan. "It seemed that there was some dodgy dealing which was going to carry on to this year."
Logan spent the next month in limbo wondering what his future would hold, only to be given notice that his contract was terminated. "It was made official that the team had no license and all the contracts where not going to be honoured, so the riders could go elsewhere" he said.
"Trying to find a new team in February seemed impossible" said Logan. But in true kiwi form he managed the impossible; Logan joined a team created by Belgian cycling hero Nico Mattan. Logan's new team Fuga-Down Under included three Belgium riders from Logan's defunct Cinelli-OPD team.
"The merger of these two teams all happened within a week and a half. It was a massive job for Nico and the management of Fuga-Down Under to do" said a grateful Logan.
Nico Matten, a previous winner of famous classics like Ghent-Wevelgem and a stage winner in Paris-Nice, managed to get sponsor Cinelli to remain as the main sponsor of the new team. The team name was changed to "Cinelli - Down Under."
The racing begins
Logan Hutchings races the Wassland
Little did the riders know that paperwork mix ups meant that wasn't to be. Not letting that get in the way of the need to race, the team headed instead to the Beverbeek Classic a, 1.2 UCI race.
Logan finished this first race after a few small crashes. "With all the mucking round with teams in January and February my training was not that good so when I arrived in Europe I was creeping and I had some of the biggest races I had ridden coming up."
"For the first month we basically rode the Belgium semi classics; Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen, Nokere-Koerse, Dwars door Vlaanderen, De Barabantse Pijl, races like that."
Since then Logan has raced plenty of events and has been enjoying the normal ups and downs of pro cycling. He's often seen off the front of the race in early breakaways.
Influences
Logan says current Cinelli-Down Under team mates Nico Mattan and Frank Vandenbroucke have been a big help this year. During and after races the more experienced Mattan and Vandenbroucke give him advice on the way things work in European cycling. "It's definitely been a big help" he said.
Logan Hutchings and Frank Vandenbroucke
Logan honoured his Rotorua based coach John Lee, saying he has been the greatest influence on his cycling career.
John Lee told RoadCycling NZ, "Logan is professional in his approach and commitment to be the best he can be and in the toughest competition he can be apart of."
"For him this means Belgium, even in his previous amateur years he has had this approach."
"I think for NZ riders to make it to the top levels they have to see the racing as more than an OE and Logan certainly does that. This year we can only hope that Loags can build on what he achieved last year, stay healthy, get noticed, and move to the next step."
Looking forward
Logan summed up the interview saying "Riding over here in Europe is definitely not as peachy as some people think."
The next race for Logan is the Tour of Ireland 17th-24th May, a 2.2 UCI graded race. With each race Logan claims "the form is getting better so hopefully I will start to pull some wins."
RoadCycling is looking forward to keeping in touch to see Logan's 2009 season finally start going to plan.
Photos supplied by Logan Hutchings.
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