Tour Of Qatar: Day One
Doha Qatar from the 3rd to the 5th of February
Credit © CJ Farquharson/WomensCycling.net
The pace was high due to the flat terrain and nervous riders with fresh legs, the crosswinds were adding to the risk of a high speed tangle so it was soon inevitable. Somehow something happened and I found myself doing a wheelie over a few fallen riders, I was lucky to have rolled across the top of a few riders, I was able to tug my bike out of the jumble and then I continued running and mounting my bike in one motion… wait, it wasn’t that good- I remember stopping to adjust my handlebars, then I was on my way. I believe the bunch continued to apply pressure and hold the pace high after the 1st sprint; this made my task to get back to the group a ‘do or die effort’.
I had to give everything I had during those chasing moments to get back to the front group- and it wouldn’t have been possible without my teammate Veronica Andreasson (Swedish). Veronica is quite a diesel and I learnt very quickly that she was in good shape, so good that I had to ask her to back it off at one point, she was about to blow up my little engine!
I reached the main group with enough time to take a few deep breaths and compose myself before the final sprint. My Lotto team mates delivered me to the final 5km and then I fought for a good wheel; it was that of Giorgia Bronzini that I focused on in the end. Unfortunately Giorgia and I didn’t find a gap on the right side of the road until the sprint really opened up. We were in a throw for the line with 4 riders and with my tired jelly legs I could only manage 4th in the stage.