October 4/07 12:54 pm - Tobago International Cycling Classic: Stage 1

Posted by Editoress on 10/4/07
 

Tobago International Cycling Classic
Report Courtesy Chris Atkins

Today was the first stage rolling 14km time trial. Riders were off at 6:30am this morning to avoid traffic, but unfortunately many riders experienced delays waiting for traffic while on the course as police redirected vehicles.

Darko was primed and ready to battle for the leader's jersey at the break of dawn. He set a blistering average of 45.8kph into the headwind at the first turn. Shortly after making the turn he hit a pothole that sent his computer sensor into his spokes and he had to stop to quickly rip it out. After losing about 15-20s he mashed his 58x11 to make ground on the short rolling decent back to the finish.

He would give up the fastest time over the course by only 2 seconds to German Atlas Romers pro rider Alexander Gut.

Race Notes:
-Darko encountered a suicidal dog on his time trial that insisted on almost being hit, and Ficko had to put on the brakes to lose even more time!
-The temperature at 6:30am was 30-deg+, and the humidity was 40-deg+

Stage II, a 110km circuit race starts in about 45min. We have been hydrating non-stop since this morning, but it's hard to keep up with the sweat loss.

Stage 1: 14km ITT