Team Probikekit.com competes in the Premier Calendar race programme here in the UK and we will be bringing you race reports and reviews of their progress as the season unfolds. We also wanted to let you know a bit about the riders, so we will be posting a series of rider profiles starting with the Kiwi – Nick Busst.
Nick Busst
D.O.B. 20-06-84
Height: 184cm
Weight: 72kg
Riding style: Punchy, I like to dabble in everything from TT’s to climbing, breakaways and sprints from a small group but I would describe myself as a puncheur.
Strengths: A road race on rolling terrain in the heat. Too many hills for a sprint but each not long enough for the climbers to send me too deep into the hurt box. I always seem to go better in extreme heat rather than extreme cold.
Favourite riders: Big Jens Voigt has to top my list for being a legend. Big Jan would also have to go on the list as when my desire to race was at an influential stage and I would be pushing hard in the hills training with friends, I would always imagine myself as the Ullrich of 2003 with deeply tanned legs clad in the Celeste of Bianchi powering up the Tourmalet
Role models: Armstrong, I didn’t think it possible and then I saw it with my own eyes. From a world championship victory, through his fight against illness, that stare on l’Alpe d’Huez through to the podium 10 years after his first win in Le Tour. There are some who find him arrogant and crass but I find him inspirational.
Favourite Bike: Either a Penny Farthing, my Argon 18 Gallium Pro and Cyfac frames.
Best ride: I have had a couple of wins and podium finishes in graded racing, but the ride I regard as my best came in a top graded race in Auckland. There was a small breakaway group up the road and my team was not represented. I worked on the front to limit their advantage and later attacked the main field taking a team mate with me. My team mate eventually bridged the gap from the attack and won the race.
Worst ride: My first race in A-Grade racing in New Zealand. It was the Auckland half distance championships, it was a toe in the water of A-Grade racing and I got spat out the back quickly due to others determination to go from the gun. I didn’t finish but learnt a lot. I trained hard after that and later regularly competed in A-Grade racing.
Favourite Tour Stage: So many to choose from. I would have to say the stage to Bourg-St Maurice in 2009. I was stood at the top of the Petit St Bernard just on the Italian side between where Armstrong made the junction to the Contador – Schleck group and just before the top where Big Jens took a big spill. The only two imperfections on the day were the 26km climb up the Petit (Petit??) St Bernard which I assumed to be small as indicated by the name but it wasn’t and an aggressive Italian man who was stood next to us and hoarded the haribo coming from the pre-tour caravan.
Life changing moment: Going to New Zealand in 2005. I didn’t think I would stay for four years but it turns out it’s a cool place.
Favourite music: Heaps of stuff, Flo and her Machine, Kings of Leon, pre-getting-rubbish Oasis…
Worst Crash: Lake Taupo, 2008, 300m to go, few guys getting a bit too excited about a top 10 position in the group I was in as it’s a big race on the NZ calendar and there were only 6 guys ahead of our small group. Guys were coming down the inside trying to get through and squeezed me out. Wrote off my bike and said goodbye to a lot of skin. Had to walk across the line. Not ideal.
We’ll bring you more from Team Probikekit.com and the riders soon.
