The Linda McCartney – Welsh Cycling Union development squad arrived back at Heathrow happy and relaxed after the Tour of Rhodes. An ideal start to the season, the race gave the management team an opportunity to assess the fitness and ability of their riders, and an early chance to nurture the raw talent available.

Mark Kelly, youngest in an international field of 136 riders, impressed greatly. James Griffiths also rode well, showing that a winter in Australia has been a good investment for him. Both riders suffered some bad luck with a puncture each at bad moments, and a crash kept Mark out of the top 10. The race was won by the experienced Dane Dennis Rasmussen.

Martin Lonie, Greg Imlah, Paul Sheppard and Ross Davies all rode well despite their relative lack of training miles, and placed the McCartney-WCU jersey in the thick of the action every day.

“That was a good trip, really worthwhile,” reflected assistant manager Chris Lillywhite when the team returned to the UK. “It was the first international race for most of our boys, and our most experienced rider Huw Pritchard won't be joining up with us until next week. They acquitted themselves very well, and we can now really look forward to the rest of the season.” The next date in the Linda McCartney-WCU diary is their training camp at the Prestige Resort in Cavagnetti, in the Umbria region of Italy. They leave on Saturday for one week, which will also take in an under-23 race near the legendary Imola Formula One circuit.

In Toulouse, the final touches are being made to preparations for the elite team's visit to Italy. The staff leave today to begin the gruelling drive to Sicily for the weekend races of Trofeo Pantalica and Giro Di Siracusa, the riders flying in on Friday. From there, they move to Sorrento for the beginning of Tirreno – Adriatico next Wednesday.