Paris-Nice

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So now you have all caught up on the first part of my season and now we arrive here, at Paris-Nice.

Stage 1 and 2 are now both complete, my hands and toes have finally thawed out enough for me to fill you in on what so far has been a cold and wet start.

Stage 1 was a 9.4km Individual Time Trial. Not exactly ideal for me, probably about 4-5km to long, but non the less I gave it a good crack and came up a bit short…as expected. Still I was happy with my time and when I look at some of the riders I finished with and some that I beat, it made me realize it was a decent ride.

Stage 2 was a very interesting stage to say the least. We started out the day slow, really slow. Not one attack went until 60km into the race when 1 guy from Lotto attacked and jumped clear. Then as we came up to the feed zone at the 100km mark the peleton started speeding up frantically and shuffling for position.

Unfortunately for me I wasn’t in position and was caught at the back. As we hit the feed zone not one rider even attempted to grab a feed bag, it was all hands on deck at the gutter action started. By the end of the feeding zone the peleton was in 5 echelons and it was all over red rove for me and the riders around me. The front group of 20 riders rode clear and from there until the finish it was full gas rain and wind in really cold temperatures. One thing that kept me going was knowing that the showers would be running hot when I arrived. Day 2 done, tomorrows another day!

Until next time folks.