As some/many of you may have already heard, I have taken the decision to step away from the sport.

I won't bore you with the details, as they have already been partially covered in the 220 column that I reproduced on my blog, and will probably be covered in more detail over the coming month in another 220 column and Tri News article, so check them out.

Suffice to say, in the short term, I'm off to Nepal in a week for a couple of months, and then I will be starting at Cambridge University in October reading Computer Sciences.

It was a tough decision, and I can never thank enough all the people who have helped me so much over the last decade (family, Glenn and Bodyworks XTC, friends, Ben, sponsors and BTF), but I know I have made the correct choice for me, and am really excited about what the next few years have in store.

After a less than ideal preparation, I had a shocker at the London WCS over the weekend. My swim started well but ended badly, my bike started badly but ended well, and my run...well it never got started!

It was gutting to have such a poor race at such an amazing event so close to home, but I learnt a lot and am ready for the next challenge!

Today I managed to sneak into the top 10 at the European Champs.

I had a frustrating day. I had a good swim start, but in the first buoy melee my wetsuit got unzipped, so the rest of the swim was just a fight to not sink! I felt like the Titanic! The bike was mostly a tactical affair, but it was great too see Ali and Jonny getting away to help Ali grab the title.

On the run, I mostly lead out the main pack for about 6km by which time we were battling for 3rd (behind Ali and Gomez), but faded a little in the last 4km but hung on for 9th posting a pretty decent run split.

As with most of this season, not ideal, but progress again, especially on the run.

Next stop, London World Champs Series in 3 weeks. The field is STACKED, anyone who is anyone is there...it's gonna be a biggy!

In the last two weeks I have managed two (unlucky?!) results at the Madrid World Champs Series and Beauvais French Grand Prix. In both races I was disappointed with my swim and bike (conversely to Seoul and Dunkerque), but was much more pleased with how my run is progressing.

It's starting to get to the business part of the season, and I've put in some good swims, good bikes and half-decent runs, so I'm now looking to step-up and put it all together when it matters!

I'm currently training with the GB team in Portugal, before heading to Ireland for the Europeans.

I had a tought but satisfying run out in Dunkerque over the weekend. Representing Satrouville (the Green Team!), I led out the swim, got into the winning break of 8 on the bike, and had a dissappointing run, eventually finishing 7th. I was pretty pleased with most of the race, and although my run was weak, I went into the race with very tired legs...so hopefully they'll come round in time for Madrid in a fortnight!

It was my first ever FGP, and it was an awesome experience. It was also great to get on the podium with teammembers Jonnie Brownlee (congrats on an awesome performance), Courtney Atkinson, Mario Mola and Aurelien Lescure, as we managed to nab 2nd place in between Beauvais (strong lads!) and Racing Club (fast lads!).

I'll be hoping to fly the green flag again in Beauvais in 3 weeks time.

In my first race in 11 months, I was pleased to come away with a 16th place.

My original season plan hadn't included a race at this early stage of the season, but a cancellation of a European Cup in Madeira forced me to go to Seoul to get some hogh quality race experience before the meat of the season starts in June.

A strong swim saw me exiting in 3rd place, and after negotiating a very technical bike course in the front group of over 50 athletes, I worked my way through to 16th by the end of the 10km run.

Next stop looks to be a French Grand Prix race in Dunkirque before heading to Madrid for the next race in the World Championship Series.

Race report and highlights can be found here.

After a very eventful 10 months (which you may or may not be aware of), which pretty much wiped out most of my 2009 season, I am back in hard training for the 2010 season.

I am delighted to announce the support of my new sponsor allyouneedtotri.com. I will be writing a weekly blog for them, charting my trials and tribulations of the 2010 season, along with much ranting, pondering and rambling.

You can catch my blog at allyouneedtotri.com itself, or here on my site.