@Sutty You'll find out at the weekend, because ...
@All I'm away on a workshop thingy for the School Magazin (I'm Chief Editor), so i won't be updating this or posting much till the weekend. I'll have my phone with me though, so i might still be around, depending on who fun/boring it is, and if i get a signal out in the countryside.
February 15th
What a stage (- though not for me.) (Tour of Oman - Stage 1)
Today was probably one of the best days in the teams history. So, the Tour of Oman, stage one. 5 kilometres to go. Our four sprinters are at the front. Suddenly, the Peleton stops riding. First Nico escapes. Then Sam. Then Pieter. Then the Peleton reacts, and catches Pieter. I was boxed in all the time, so i could just look. The race radio was giving through the gaps, and they were massive! They could not be caught! In the end it was Nico sprinting against Sam, with Nico having a big, big headstart. Of course he took it, 29 seconds ahead of Sam. Meanwhile in the Peleton, i sprinted to 12th. Nico is now wearing the red jersey, nearly two minutes ahead of the pack. They cost me a Top 10 placing, but i'm still delighted. Now, let's try to keep it!
February 16th
Eurosport Coverage (Tour of Oman - Stage 2)
“The Peleton is edging closer and closer to the breakaway just ahead of the last hill, it won't be long till..Oh, it's an attack! This looks like Sam Bennett trying to make it two out of two for the An Post team of race leader Nico Eeckhout. He's got himself a nice little gap, and he's making ground on the breakaway quickly.”
“That's not Bennett, Phil, this looks like another young Irishman, Dublins Jack O'Connor bridging the gap. He's already nearly at the half way point between the peleton and the breakaway, and the short, but steep climb isn't even over yet!”
“You're right, that is indeed O'Connor. Remember this is somebody who missed full four years of his youth career due to what seems to be a mix-up of medicines. This is only his first year as pro, and he's already showed us some great signs over the past weeks, getting on to the podium repeatedly in the New Zealand Cycling Classic. He's over the top now, and barely ten seconds behind the break. Oh, look at him descending, he's really upping the game now, and he seems to have halved the gap in no time.”
“He's reached the breakaway now, looks in to their tired faces, and decides to just motor on towards the finish line. It's not far away, but you can see Simon Gerrans' Orica-GreenEDGE team stringing out the peleton as they reach the top of the climb. It looks like nobody can take this from the young Irishman, he's looking over his shoulder, he can barely make out the Orica-GreenEDGE lead peleton, he surely has it now, the gap has shot up to 45 seconds, he's riding to take the leaders jersey off his teammate Nico Eeckhout now and i'm sure he knows that too, as he puts his head down for one big last effort. He's within 200 metres now, he looks up and raises his hands to the sky, can you see the joy on that young mans face? I believe this is his first win as a pro, and he sure is happy about it. He just crossed the line, you can see the An Post physio running towards him and hugging him in ecstasy, while meanwhile Orica are getting the pack set up for the sprint for second, it looks like it's Simon Gerrans and another An Post rider, I believe it might be Pieter Ghyllebert battling for second, and the Australian takes second ahead of Ghyllebert. Eeeckhout, Ciolek and Boasson Hagen dissapoint in what looks like 8th, 9th and 11th for the guys you would have expected battling it out for second. What a ride from the young Irishman, we'll catch you him for an Interview after a short add break. If there is anything you would like to know, just leave a comment on our website and we'll get it to him.”
February 16th
Eurosport Interview (Tour of Oman - Stage 2)
Eurosport: Hi, and congratulations, what a win for you there! Has it sunk in yet? O'Connor: Hi, no, it hasn't really. I thought yesterday was great, but this was completely insane. My first win as a pro, and I'm loving every second of it!
Eurosport: Talk us through your win. O'Connor: Well, there was just a slight slow in the pack as we hit the last climb, so I just thought “f**k it, I'll go for it”, and attacked. Luckily I had great legs, and could make lots of time on the climb. Then I risked everything on the descent, which I am quite good at, since I've lived at the top of the hill nearly all my life, and bombed down, making more and more time. It was a good thing we have the leaders jersey, so I wasn't being chased at first. Then the Orica guys decided to try and catch me to set up Simon Gerrans, I expect, but I was already too far. Those last 250 or 300 metres were great then!
Eurosport: How very nice. When did you know you had it in your bag? O'Connor: Hmm. I had the feeling I could pull it off all along, especially after I caught up to the break and went straight past them. But when I really knew I had it was at about 500 metres to go I turned, and I could hardly see the pack in the background.
Eurosport: What did Nico think of all this? Was this planned? O'Connor: No, it wasn't, but I'm sure he's cool with it. I didn't actually take over the lead anyway, so that's allright. I also think it doesn't really matter that much to him, to be honest. He's had a really long career, and he's not going to win the GC anyway, so I don't think he'd mind anyway if I had taken the lead. Well, I haven't, so it doesn't matter.
Eurosport: Thanks for the Interview, congratulations on your first pro victory, and best of luck for the rest of the race. O'Connor: Thanks, it was a pleasure.
@Sutty Ah, you can't judge him for that, he was still full of adrenaline. @Shonak Yeah, imagine this after him winning a tour stage or something. But well, that's a long way in the future yet.
February 17th
Keeping it going (Tour of Oman - Stage 3)
Before i go on with writing about my race today, i would like to note how incredibly well our team is looking ahead of today's stage. 1-2-3 GC (Nico-Me-Sam), 1-2-4 Points (Nico-Me-Sam), Me leading the KoM rankings, Us leading the team classifications, and a 1-2 in the youth competition (Me-Sam). The stage today was rated flat, but with a steep climb in the middle and a slightly uphill sprint. I was feeling good, and i caught the wheel of Matthew Goss in the end. This proved to be the right decision, but in the finale i couldn't get past him, so i had to settle for third behind him and his teammate Simon Gerrans who made full use of the rising terrain. I'm still very happy though to have beaten people like Gerald Ciolek, Francisco José Ventoso, John Degenkolb and Edvald Boasson Hagen in a sprint like that seems like a nice achievement to me. Because of that, i took over the points jersey from Nico for real. That means i'm now leading every classification except for GC, where i'm 13 seconds behind Nico.
