Anna Kay looks back at the 2018 road cycling season

"AFTER a really enjoyable Cyclocross season, racing in events I would never have dreamed of like the European champs, World champs and World cups.. even being given the opportunity to stay and race in Belgium over the busy Christmas period, I went into the road season in 2018 on a high!

With not really any expectation I just went out to try and enjoy it and gain as much experience I could racing with my new team, Storey Racing.

I am very lucky to be on a team like Storey with the best role models Sarah Storey and Barney Storey, having achieved the highest level in their sport. Together they give me something to look up to.

I am also very lucky to be on a team with such a talented and lovely bunch of girls. Girls I'd also looked up to as a youth rider.

To have older and more experienced girls on the team definitely has given me something to learn from.

I am really pleased with how my road season has gone. I got to ride in my first Women's World Tour stage race in the Tour of Yorkshire and finished in 28th on Stage 2 and the same position in GC.

I raced all of the women's National Road Race Series, with my best result being in Stockton GP getting fourth and finishing my first full National Women's series in sixth overall!

To top this off I also managed a third to podium at the national women's U23 road race champs and finished just off the podium in the elite champs too getting fourth on what was nearly a home course as-well.

Out of cycling, at the start of the road season I got in contact with Leathers the Accountants based in Newcastle. Leathers are one of the main sponsors of Storey Racing and I was able to arrange a part time role in their accountancy firm.

Having already met Michael Leathers at our Storey team camp in Lanzarote at the start of the year I already knew he was a real supporter of womens cycling.

So he put me in contact with Tim Mallon and I started working at Leathers pretty soon after! Working at Leathers Accountants has been so good, the flexibility of work allows me to combine my training and racing along with working part time too.

It is brilliant having Leathers behind me and supporting me through my cycling and especially this coming Cyclocross season too.

So now I am looking forward to the CX season!

This season I will also be travelling out to Belgium for a bit longer thanks to the amount of money I have raised via my Go Fund Me page and other generous donations from many friends in the North-East cycling community.

My goals for this season are obviously the National trophy CX series, National Champs, a block of Euro racing in Belgium and any selection for GB world cups, Euro and World champs!"