Petra, Jordan: day 1

Posted on October 24, 2013 by Kathryn

Of all the places I've ever been, Petra easily earned a spot in my top 10. I spent 2 days here and could have happily spent the rest of the week exploring the rocks and caves. The oldest of the buildings were carved over 2,000 years ago by the Nabataens. The city is a series of dwellings, civic buildings, and an irrigation system, all carved directly into the stone.


The scale of Petra is astounding. I walked a wavy path through giant, rose colored cliffs.


I caught a glimpse of the Treasury as I approached, the cliffs promising a dramatic unveiling.


You may recognize the Treasury as the temple with the holy grail in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. A small plaque explained the building, standing an imposing 40 meters tall, was named after a local Bedouin legend which claimed a pharaoh had hidden treasure at the top. The Treasury was actually the mausoleum of King Aretas IV (9 BC – 40 AD) and more royal tombs were discovered underneath the floor in 2004.


The color of the stone was beautiful and warm with a rippling texture. I took these photos over the course of the day, constantly marveling at the melted crayon-like swirls in the rock.


I went inside one of the buildings and realized that the architects focused their efforts on creating lavish exteriors while keeping the interiors simple and functional.


There are so many buildings at Petra that they are not all labeled but this one once housed a series of tombs.


Not all of the buildings are ornate as many of them have nothing more than a short doorway and a hollowed interior, calling to mind an apartment complex from the Flintstones.


Many of the dwellings didn't have stairs so my friend Chris and I often scrambled up the rocks.


The Roman amphitheater.


Today it's mostly tourists who go for a camel ride, but just their presence is like looking back in time.


We spent our day climbing the rocks and ducking in and out of the various structures. Each place we rested brought a different view.


The Royal Tombs are a series of chambers where experts believe Petra's most prominent families were kept, given their prime location and extravagant facades.


In our exploring, Chris and I found a staircase and followed it. We had no idea how long it was or where it would lead.


It was long, long, long, but the view was worth it.


The wind was awfully strong up there and whipping up sand and pebbles, which ultimately convinced us it was time to head back down.


Only the most important buildings had tall ceilings and carefully carved mini-chambers.


We took this bridge and hiked for awhile, seeing amazing views and gorgeous rock shapes.


It was getting late in the day when Chris and I started the trek up to the High Place of Sacrifice. We turned down half a dozen Bedouins who tried to tell us that it was hours away and that we should rent their camels or donkeys, but we were happy to carry on by foot.


The trail traveled by 2 obelisks dedicated to the god of strength and the goddess of fertility and water.


At this open-air altar, the Nabataeans practiced ritual animal sacrifice for hundreds of years.


Chris and I spent the better part of an hour sitting here in silence, admiring the view as the sun began to set, before we realized we had better get moving so we didn't get lost in the dark.


We hustled down and still had time to spare when we reached the Treasury. Unlike when we had arrived, it was virtually tourist-free and the setting sun had turned it a beautiful shade of red.


We lingered as long as we could before starting the walk back to town.

 

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Madaba, Mount Nebo, & the Dead Sea, Jordan

Posted on October 23, 2013 by Kathryn

Back in June, I spent a week traveling through Jordan and I didn’t have time to post about my trip until just now.


Just outside of the capital is Madaba, a small city with a long history.


At the end of the 19th century, a 6th century mosaic map of the Middle East was uncovered in the floor of a church. While it has suffered damage over the past 1,500 years, it is still easy to admire the craftsmanship that went into to creating one of the oldest known maps depicting Jerusalem.


A nearby museum is home to an ongoing project, creating a mosaic of the King’s Highway using 3.5 million pieces. Visitors are encouraged to contribute by writing their name on a tile and gluing it in place.


A little further up the road is Mount Nebo, best known as the final resting place of Moses. When I visited, the Byzantine church was closed for renovations, buried under a pile of scaffolding, but the views of the arid landscape were timeless.


My ultimate destination on this day was the Dead Sea.


First I went to a museum about the famous body of water. It is shrinking at an alarming rate, reminding me of the ongoing ecological disaster the Soviets created in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan with the disappearing Aral Sea. Yikes.


But for now, the Dead Sea is present and draws in tourists.


It was bizarre to look out at so many people floating effortlessly in the water. Even though I knew it’s nearly 10 times saltier than the oceans, a part of me still wondered if I would actually float.


Good news. I did!

 

There are several resorts and spas on both the Jordanian and Israeli sides of the Dead Sea boasting the restorative properties of the mud. I cut out the middleman and slathered the soft mud all over myself. I wasn’t sure if this was legit or something locals tell tourists so they can laugh at the silly foreigners covered in mud, but I’ve got to admit, my skin was baby soft afterwards!

 

There were two mild downsides to my visit however. First, that mud? It’ll leave your swimsuit with a brown tinge. Yeah, I probably should have seen that coming. Second, remember how I said the Dead Sea is ten times saltier than the oceans? Imagine swimming in the ocean with a paper cut. It hurts. Now imagine the water is ten times saltier. OW! Yeah, I probably should have seen that coming, too.

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World Championships reflection

Posted on October 21, 2013 by Kathryn

It’s been a little over three weeks since Rui Costa first pulled on the rainbow jersey and just as long since my last posting. Still, I’d like to return to the World Championships in Florence one last time for a few final thoughts.

 

Coming from a sporting mad family, I’ve been to two different Olympics, the last three Rugby World Cups, numerous baseball games, including World Series match ups and several playoff games, and of course multiple stages of all three cycling Grand Tours this year, in addition to a handful of other races in Europe and North America. So please keep my spectating resume in mind when I say that the Cycling World Championships in Florence this year was the worst organized major sporting event I’ve ever been to.

 

Atmosphere

In a word, there was none. Sure, there were posters across the city and lots of stores incorporated bicycles into their window displays, but that was it. The average tourist would be forgiven for failing to notice either of these. Nowhere in Florence did I come across anything colorful, large, unique, or remotely attention-grabbing that related to this important week of racing.

 

Tickets

For the brave non-Italian speakers who persevered through the litany of links to buy tickets (suddenly Ticket Master doesn’t seem so bad–frightening, I know), the one and only ticket collection point was a 30-40 minute walk outside of town and a good mile away from the seats themselves.

 

Volunteers

I don’t know what kind of training the volunteers received, but those who I saw rarely seemed to be focused on their assigned duties. Instead, I frequently saw them socializing with spectators and allowing pedestrians to slowly amble across the street as cyclists riding full gas approached.

 

With all of these deficits and then some, you’d think no one had ever put on a multi day cycling event in Italy before. I met two people who worked for different national cycling federations and they both said all they had learned from watching Florence host the Worlds was what not to do.

 

Despite so many shortcomings which royally ticked me off as a devoted fan of both cycling and logistics, the incredible racing made it worthwhile. It was my humble privilege to witness moments like Christian Vande Velde in his last race ever; the narrow margin of victory for Omega Pharma-Quick Step in the TTT; meeting the family of Zeke Mostov, the up and coming junior American rider; Taylor Phinney recognizing me after he placed fifth in the ITT; cheering for Uzbek riders; seeing the enormous joy on Rui Costa’s face as he adjusted the sleeves on his rainbow jersey for the first time; and watching hundreds of athletes from around the globe fight to realize their cycling dreams.

 

Florence may have dropped the ball, but the peloton made sure that I spent a memorable week doing what I love: watching cycling. Grazie.

 

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World Championships: Elite Men’s Road Race

Posted on September 29, 2013 by Kathryn

Way back in May when I was in Florence to catch a Giro stage, seeing this ad planted the idea in my head of coming to see the Worlds.

 

I can’t remember exactly when I actually planned my travels to make sure I would be here for the cycling, but today’s race was the one I was most excited about. The winner of the elite men’s road race gets to wear the coveted rainbow jersey for all road races and training rides until the following year’s world championships. Belgium’s Philippe Gilbert has been wearing the rainbow stripes since last September so the question today was, who will wear the stripes tonight?

 

The world championships road race is always a doozy. This year’s course was 272 kilometers including 10 laps of the 16.5 kilometer Florence/Fiesole circuit that the road races earlier in the week also used. The start in Lucca was wet and nasty across Tuscany and the forecast showed little sign of improving throughout the day.

 

I arrived at the finish area about an hour before it opened and found my seat, not that I actually ever sat in it. I set my stuff down and then stood at the fence, waiting first for the race to get underway and then for the riders to reach Florence.

 

I watched the first 110 kilometers on the big screen, trying to identify my favorites hidden underneath their rain gear. It was great to see Garmin teammates Alex Howes’ and Rohan Dennis’ excited reactions when they realized they were riding next to each other right off the bat despite working for different countries today. Next to them was another pair of my favorites, Johan Vansummeren and Jan Bakelants, riding together for Belgium. Nearby, Taylor Phinney smiled to himself as he rode alongside his BMC and national teammate, Tejay van Garderen.

 

With the peloton en route, various riders launched attacks trying to create a successful breakaway. A 5 man breakaway finally got some open road and took off. The escapees were Austria’s Matthias Brandle, Poland’s Bartosz Huzarski, Venezuela’s Yonder Godoy, the Czech Republic’s Jan Barta, and, my newest favorite rider, Tunisia’s Rafaa Chtioui. I had seen him a couple of times across the city in the past week and anytime I gave him a little cheer, the man looked like he’d just won the lottery. Lucky for him, I prefer to support riders who seem to enjoy their job and his enthusiasm puts him safely in this category.

 

Ten laps to go

 

The kilometers went by as the peloton wound its way across a rainy Tuscany. The clouds were hardly spitting at the finish line until the riders arrived in Florence. Then the sky darkened like someone had turned the lights off and no more than 5 minutes before the breakaway reached the start of the circuit, it started to bucket down. Left to right: Jan Barta, Bartosz Huzarski, Rafaa Chtioui, and Yonder Godoy.

 

Less than a minute after they had gone through, the rain suddenly eased off, only to start up again in time for the peloton. The Brits used Mark Cavendish to do much of the work on their way to Florence.

 

France’s Thomas Voeckler in the white helmet and Australia’s Rohan Dennis wearing his blue Garmin helmet.

 

Nine laps to go

 

The breakaway’s 8 minute advantage held through the next lap.

 

Italy had come to the front with Germany (Marcus Burghardt in the yellow shoes and John Degenkolb far right) enjoying the free ride.

 

Right: Jan Bakelants.

 

Ramunas Navardauskas representing Lithuania in the blue helmet and Canadian Frank Parisien in the white helmet.

 

Taylor Phinney turned back to see if Tejay van Garderen was still with him.

 

Nick Roche, left, showed evidence of a crash.

 

It was significantly easier to pick out riders on this lap, once I’d had the opportunity to see everyone in their rain capes and with the peloton quickly stretching out.

 

A gruppetto was already forming. Wiggins and 2 other riders slowly cruised by with Cavendish not far behind, scanning the seats for someone before he threw his water bottle into the VIP area and abandoned the race, his work done.

 

One of the 2 Canadians, Christian Meier, had suffered a puncture, and was not long for the race.

 

Another rider I was keen to see, kiwi Jack Bauer, was even further back after crashing, which meant it was just a matter of time until he, too, abandoned.

 

Eight laps to go

The rain switched from bucketing to a modest monsoon so I didn’t take any pictures on this lap and instead focused on finding riders. I was really excited to have found one of my 2 favorite Canadian cyclists, Frank Parisien, on this lap! He looked good, despite having no teammates. Jan Bakelants, however, did not look so good. He was in the cars, likely returning from a crash and Luxembourg’s Bob Jungels was cradling his arm after suffering a crash himself. Dan Martin was another crash victim. The slippery conditions were causing spills regularly. It was stressful just to watch, I can’t imagine how the peloton on must have been feeling.

 

Seven laps to go

 

No change in the breakaway despite the rain kicking up again.

 

More and more riders were coming by with torn up kits from crashes.

 

There were plenty of big names hanging off the back, including Chris Froome who rode along, shaking his head, and Michael Matthews, winner of 2 Vuelta stages this year, who was in a world of hurt. Every couple of minutes would bring news of yet another crash. The announcers didn’t always identify who had been involved, but it was obvious to see the riders in shredded kits or gingerly resting an injured arm.

 

Six laps to go

 

The pace was starting to get to Rafaa who had fallen off the original breakaway by almost a minute.

 

The Italian squad remained at the head of the peloton, doing the lion’s share of the work.

 

Five laps to go

 

The breakaway dropped 2 more of its founders and was whittled down to just Huzarski of Poland and Barta of the Czech Republic.

 

Like the cyclists, the storm was going full gas. The thunder was so intense that it sounded like hard a dozen jets simultaneously firing their engines.

 

Italy was still at the front but Belgium, France, and Switzerland were starting to help out.

 

The peloton was slowly reeling in the breakaway to just a 4 minute advantage.

 

Four laps to go

 

Huzarski and Barta lost another 2 minutes on their lead while thunder clapped and lighting flashed every few minutes. This storm was not messing around.

 

Out on the course, several riders tried to attack solo. Nothing managed to stick but this must have heightened the anticipation among the race favorites.

 

Three laps to go

 

The umbrellas came out in force as the rain continued to pound.

 

Incredibly, Barta and Huzarski held on to a small lead.

 

Brandle and Wilco Kelderman were gaining on the leading duo.

 

Cyril Gautier and Giovanni Visconti were not far behind.

 

Johan Vansummeren lead out the main bunch.

 

You can get a sense of how wet the scene was between the falling rain and the water bouncing off the riders and their bikes. Center: Frank Parisien.

 

Two laps to go

 

The same pair remained out in front but it was just a matter of time until they were caught.

 

Johan Vansummeren led the chase.

 

After the main field had passed, there was a break in the clouds and the sun started to shine on the course for the first time all day. Having ridden for over 6 hours and with no teammates depending on him, Frank Parisien pulled out of the race, but not before smiling and waving to the spectators. The crowd ate it up and responded with a roar of approval.

 

One lap to go!

 

Barta couldn’t hold on anymore and Huzarski rode solo until Italy’s Visconti bridged the gap. The crowd woke up for the first time and went wild for their countryman. Attacks were coming regularly now from solid riders like Carlos Betancur and Marcus Burghardt. With under 20 kilometers left in the entire course, Jan Polanc of Slovenia attacked.

 

The peloton was not going to let him escape.

 

Amaël Moinard and Jan Bakelants with his crash souvenirs.

 

Cyril Gautier.

 

Final lap!

 

Every rider was giving everything he had left to make it to the line first. Rigoberto Uran was in contention until he suffered an ugly crash that eliminated his chances at the jersey. The Italian crowd was going crazy watching Nibali attack on the big screen. The race had come down to the lone Italian, Spaniards Valverde and Rodriguez, and Portugal’s Rui Costa. Costa took off and Rodriguez followed, surprised that Valverde hadn’t come with him. Costa and Rodriguez sprinted down the home straight, both men giving everything they could muster. Costa began to pull ahead and Rodriguez, inexplicably, let up after the first white line, just a few meters shy of the finish. Whatever the reason, Costa won the world championship!

 

Valverde took third and Nibali fourth.

 

Andriy Grivko was fifth.

 

The first decent sized group came in, every rider looking weary. Far left: Simon Clarke.

 

 

Pete Stetina and his teammate Alex Howes, the only Americans to finish, both rode an outstanding race. Watching Stetina, it was hard not to think of his father, Dale Stetina, a former pro cyclist who was seriously injured in a recent cycling accident. When Stetina attacked with 3 laps to go, I got emotional knowing his world championship ride was dedicated to his father’s long recovery. Next year, Stetina will swap his argyle kit for BMC, but I’ll still be cheering in his corner regardless. He came in 37th place.

 

Marcus Burghardt in 39th place and Jan Polanc in 40th.

 

Rigoberto Uran had that terrible crash, flipping while still clipped in, yet he got back on his bike and finished the course, coming in 41st.

 

John Degenkolb in 42nd.

 

The field started with 208 kitted riders and just 61 saw the race through. Twitter was full of comments and jokes from the peloton about the number of crashes. Kiwi Sam Bewley suggested the rainbow jersey should go to whoever didn’t crash and Cadel Evans overheard someone in the radiology department wondering who was still in the race if all the riders were at the hospital.

 

I didn’t watch the rest of the field come in even though there was less than 2 dozen more riders to finish. I was hoping to get to the podium to see the jersey be presented, but there were no signs security would open up the road to fans, so I watched some of the riders make their way to their buses. Below: Jonathan Castroviejo.

 

 

Simon Clarke, 7th place finisher, discussed the day’s crashes with a coach and noted his luck to avoid them. I overheard him saying he knew that he was the only Aussie left in the race and simply wanted to finish.

 

Pete Stetina headed to the buses while Alex Howes stole a few moments of relative calm to rest and catch his breath in a corner while giving an interview.

 

The best I could do regarding the podium was to watch through the chain link fence. My angle wasn’t ideal as the flagpoles usually made sure someone’s face wasn’t visible, but you get the picture.

 

On the podium, Rodriguez was visibly upset that his Spanish teammate hadn’t supported him. Costa looked beyond tickled to be in the world champion’s jersey while Valverde seemed pretty neutral to the whole situation.

 

Interview done and breath caught, Alex Howes went to the buses.

 

Thibault Pinot made his way through a sea of spectators to get to the buses himself.

 

Johan Vansummeren looked fresh and relaxed after his work on the front.

 

I don’t know at what point Bernie Eisel abandoned the race, but he clearly had had enough time to freshen up and rest since he was walking around the parking lot as if he was on his way to a summer BBQ.

 

The Italian bus was completely mobbed.

 

A Dutch rider navigated his way through the ambling spectators.

 

A BMC mechanic worked on former world champion Philippe Gilbert’s bike. I’m guessing Gilbert is going to miss zipping up his rainbow kit, wearing his rainbow sunglasses and shoes, and riding his rainbow bike, but I suspect there’s a part of him feeling immensely relieved that the inevitable burden of the rainbow jersey is no longer his problem. Having just met Rui Costa at the Quebec races and appreciating how friendly and accessible he was, I’ll be curious to see if his new title changes him.

 

Purito Rodriguez, winner of the silver medal, certainly loves his cigars.

 

There were dozens of cyclists just wandering around and, as much as I’d have loved to get some new autographs, the parking lot was a zoo and a lot of the riders seemed to be a bit overwhelmed and exhausted, so I didn’t want to bother anyone. Lucky for me, my favorite Eritrean rider was just hanging out at the team car and everyone else was ignoring him, so I was able to get a picture with Daniel Teklehaymanot.

 

And with that, my 2013 cycling season came to an end.

 

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World Championships: Jr Men’s & Elite Women’s Road Races

Posted on September 28, 2013 by Kathryn

The Junior Men rode a 140 kilometer road race this morning which included 5 laps on the Florence/Fiesole climbing circuit. On their first lap, who was in the 15 man breakaway but my new favorite junior man, Zeke Mostov of the United States.

 

The gap was over 4 minutes back to the peloton where I was trying to pick out the 5 Canadians and 3 Uzbeks. Even though the peloton was practically overflowing with 199 riders, the Canadian kits were easy to spot.

 

The Uzbek kits, on the other hand, were not. I was expecting something akin to the time trial kit so it was only when I reviewed my photos after the first lap that I found the Uzbek riders. In this shot, Sergey Medvedev is in the green and blue kit near the front of his group.

 

With each successive lap, the peloton got thinner and thinner. Even though 70 riders did not finish the race, that still left 129 riders on the 16 kilometer circuit and there wasn’t an overly long gap between the tail and the head of the race.

 

Once I had learned to identify the Uzbek kit (which most spectators assumed said “Pakistan” thanks to the way their race numbers covered the back of their jerseys), I got to practice my Uzbek cheering for the trio. Sergey gave me a mighty fist pump the first time I yelled out “Tez boling, Sergey!” (“Be fast, Sergey!”) but the next time I saw him and cried out, “Uzbekistan!” he turned to look at me like he couldn’t believe his ears.

 

With another lap yet to go, there was a group of Irish riders who looked far too old even from a distance to be racing in the junior category. About half a second later, I realized it was Dan Martin (in the blue helmet) with his teammates Matthew Brammeier and Sam Bennett! Dan high-fived the two junior women Canadian riders as he carried on with his training ride.

 

Meanwhile, the riders who could not keep ahead of the broom wagon were given the option of riding down or driving the rest of the circuit. This rider from Azerbaijan opted for the former and it was an unexpected sight to see him cruising past picnicking spectators and souvenir shoppers.

 

The riders do not wear radios so the feed zone is one of the few opportunities where the athletes can communicate their status to their coaches and soigneurs. Below, a Dutch rider told his coach his legs felt empty and a Belgian cyclist grabbed a water bottle.

 

The Azerbaijani rider wanted to cross the street to get to his coaches but a race official didn’t trust the homemade looks of his race number.

 

I was really excited at the idea of scoring a musette or water bottle from the Uzbek squad so I shouted to the coaches in Uzbek, but I think the coach assumed I was just another souvenir hunting fan and turned me down, even though I can’t imagine anyone not associated with the team had spoken with him in Uzbek. Boo.

 

A Hungarian rider received a push from his coaches.

 

Down near the finish line, the photographers looked enormously bored as they waited for the race leaders to arrive.

 

Colombia and France had a small advantage coming into the final lap.

 

The police and race workers moved the fences so they could easily close off the rider finish area when the time came. They left just the narrowest of gaps for the riders to squeeze through on their fifth and final lap.

 

After more than three and a half hours of racing, there was a winner. A Dutch rider won by a margin of 3 seconds and a Dane won the bunch sprint to claim the silver medal. Bronze went to Albania. Again, spectators were not allowed in to see the podium ceremony. Instead, I realized how much the peloton resembles a triage unit after a long road race.

 

It was sweet to see the 2 Algerians ride around like this for a couple of minutes.

 

Some of these riders behave in such a professional, mature manner, it’s easy to forget they’re 17 and 18 year old kids. An Irish coach comforted the disappointed rider who finished dead last.

 

Zeke Mostov placed 67th. As he pedaled off to the team vehicle, I called out to congratulate him on his time trial medal. Even though it was loud and busy in the finishing area, he turned around and beamed an ecstatic smile, thanking me, which meant all the more given that I’m sure he had no idea I had spent the morning of his time trial with his nervous family. A great rider and a genuinely good guy? I’m already looking forward to following his career.

 

As the security guards insisted on keeping he junior men in the finishing pen, one older rider wanted to pass through. Alberto Contador was trying to navigate his way through the melee so he could examine the course for his upcoming road race.

 

Mathieu Van Der Poel of the Netherlands pulled on the rainbow jersey but fans were not allowed in to watch. Shortly after the medal presentation, there was a ceremony for the best junior team which we were permitted to attend. France won with Denmark in second and the Netherlands taking third.

 

Results

1st: Mathieu Van Der Poel, Netherlands

2nd: Mads Pedersen, Denmark

3rd: Iltjan Nika, Albania

 

Fien and I never strayed far from the road in case any of our favorite riders were riding the course but no such luck. We waited another couple of hours and then saw the elite women’s road race, which followed the identical course as the junior men. A breakaway with most of the American team flew around the corner as they started the gradual climb up to Fiesole.

 

The peloton was already a bit strung out before they even arrived in the city but the circuit exaggerated the time difference between the leaders and tail of the course. I wish there had been a screen where we could have watched the rest of the action because riders kept attacking and there was a new leader every time the race completed a lap.

 

Both Italy and the Netherlands had multiple riders in the breakaway going in to the final lap.

 

Riders had been dropping out throughout the duration of the course but rather than ride the final lap, a huge group abandoned en masse. Just 46 of the original 141 riders completed the race.

 

Our only source of information was the awful race commentary. There were a number of attacks in the final kilometers, which I’m sure were exciting to watch, but when the American announcer called everything like it was the decisive move, it was hard to get a clear picture of what was really happening. Finally, with 10 meters yet to go, the Italian announcer took over and declared that Marianne Vos was about to solo to another world championship victory. She had a commanding 15 second gap over Sweden’s Emma Johansson who beat out Italian Rossella Ratto for second.

 

Vos and Johansson were swamped by the media right after the finish line but Ratto made it another 50 meters. She had between 2 and 3 seconds to catch her breath before the press found her.

 

I was watching Claudia Hausler, who had come in 12th, because she looked a bit off somehow. A moment later, she was throwing up.

 

Fortunately, not every cyclist was in as rough shape as the German. When a couple of Polish riders rode by on their way to the buses, a fan started to yell for Maja Wloszczowska.

 

He convinced her to sign a few autographs which got a massive roar of approval from the crowd. As if I needed another reason to love Poland.

 

I’ve been at the finish a few times now and seen a range of responses from security to family members of medal winners. When Marianne Vos’s mother (in the orange scarf) tried to see her daughter, security was adamant that she would not get in. The woman in the orange top tried to reason with security, but she eventually gave up and pushed and pushed until she had slipped through to the other side, at which point she grabbed the mother’s hand and pulled her through, too. The guards did nothing.

 

I was approaching my limit of Italian men for the week when the older man behind me began to push me and started yelling. I had no idea what he was going on about until I saw a rider start to come over. Valentina Scandolara greeted him familiarly and he was beyond thrilled. She had placed 28th and, here’s a fun piece of trivia: she and I share the same birthday, separated by 9 years (I’ll let you guess which one of us is older).

 

Security pushed open the fences while the medal ceremony was underway and I hustled over to the podium in time to hear the Dutch national anthem begin.

 

There was a big crowd and people behind me were pushing to get closer. I was in the second row but didn’t want to move at all because someone had a bike in front of me. Out of curiosity, I glanced down to look at the bike and noticed its shiny gold seat and the number 1. This bike could only belong to one rider.

 

There were plenty of Vos supporters decked out in orange.

 

Ellen Van Dijk, winner of the time trial championship, was in the middle of giving an interview but had to turn around and laugh when the fans began to chant her name.

 

Ratto emerged from the media tent with her bronze medal.

 

Emma Johansson wearing silver.

 

Marianne Vos, ready to spend another year in the world champion’s rainbow jersey.

 

Results

1st: Marianne Vos, Netherlands

2nd: Emma Johansson, Sweden

3rd: Rossella Ratto, Italy

 

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World Championships: Jr Women’s & U23 Men’s Road Races

Posted on September 27, 2013 by Kathryn

As great as the time trial is, the road race is the heart of cycling since this is what these athletes compete in most often. The Junior Women raced 5 laps, for a total of just under 83 kilometers. About 2 kilometers in, the course featured a slow and steady climb with a couple of steep moments. Fien and I watched the first lap on a flat turn before finding a good looking switchback.

 

On the second lap, riders from Russia, Germany, and the Ukraine had escaped and had a lead of around 2 minutes.

 

They were chased by riders from Colombia and Denmark.

 

The peloton stayed grouped together early on but it didn't take long for them to string out.

 

By the next lap, it was just a matter of time until the Dane and Colombian caught the escapees.

 

Canada had 4 riders in the Junior Women's race. Kinley Gibson, below, finished in 51st.

 

Tessa Pinckston was off the back of the peloton for a good portion of the race but managed to finish in 49th. Since she was often alone, she really responded to my cheering and usually waved back to me. It was great to see an athlete able to give her all and enjoy it.

 

The field started with 81 riders, of whom 60 finished. During one of the last laps, the broom wagon honked violently at a Swedish rider. She pulled over to the side and stopped. Once the broom wagon had sped off, she turned her bike around and let gravity take her down the climb. She had failed to keep ahead of the broom wagon, so her race was done.

 

Four riders remained in the breakaway by the time they reached the climb on the final lap. These riders would ultimately compose the top 4 with Denmark in first, followed by Russia, Ukraine, and then Colombia off the podium.

 

Results

1st: Amalie Dideriksen, Denmark

2nd: Anastasiia Iakovenko, Russia

3rd: Olena Demydova, Ukraine

 

As the Under 23 road race was scheduled to start a couple of hours after the women's race wrapped up, the roads remained closed to traffic. Fien and I stayed put in case any of our favorites were checking out the course. The Croatian men rode by a couple of times and, in a refreshing change of pace, they always waved at me first. The Slovenian men's team was casual as they chatted and talked on cell phones riding up the climb.

 

Some of the Aussie squad, including Ritchie Porte in his Sky helmet and Rohan Dennis in his Garmin helmet, went for a ride on the course. Poland was with them but it seemed to be just the pro women and junior men. No sign of Maciej Bodnar yet!

 

The German men wear still in their trade team kits yesterday but today were wearing the German colors. Marcus Burghardt, center, in his typical yellow shoes.

 

At 173 kilometers and with 173 riders on the start line, the U23 road race was twice as long and twice as big as the morning's race. Their course included 7 laps on the same circuit. When the first riders arrived, it was a breakaway of 6 with a rider each from Romania, Estonia, Belarus, Latvia, Slovenia, and Eritrea.

 

The peloton showed up around 4 minutes later in a massive block.

 

There was relatively little change over the following few laps, other than seeing which riders were in danger of being swept up by the broom wagon.

 

Canada had just one rider participating in the afternoon's event. Given that only 84 of 173 riders finished the race, Antoine Duchesne did well to come in 46th.

 

With 2 laps to go, Fien and I abandoned our location on the climb to move towards the finish line. We watched part of the sixth lap in front of the feed zone where team staff offered water bottles, Coke, and musettes packed with snacks to hungry and thirsty riders. Below, a Slovakian rider tossed his empty water bottle and prepared to grab a fresh one. It's important that the hand off goes smoothly, otherwise a rider may drop a bottle or musette, leaving him dangerously low on energy with kilometers to go.

 

Upon reaching the feed zone, many riders decided to call it a day early in the penultimate lap.

 

We joined the swarm of people on their way to the finish line and caught the race leaders just as they started the last lap. Below, France looked over his shoulder to check on Slovenia.

 

When I recently saw Antoine Duchesne race at the Grand Prix in Quebec, I hadn't realized he was just 22 years old. I got to talk to him quickly after the race and he was as nice as you'd expect a Canadian to be!

 

We listened carefully to the race commentary in Italian and English but it was frustratingly useless. The American commentator spoke almost exclusively in similes and metaphors without actually conveying any information, at one point describing the race as a slow motion underwater fight scene in a James Bond movie (I don't know what that was supposed to mean and I was at the race). The Italian commentators said the names of a few of the riders but since I only know a couple of names in this peloton, it would have been infinitely more helpful if they had occasionally also mentioned what countries these riders were from.

 

Less than 30 minutes later, the race was over when a Slovenian cyclist crossed the line first. South Africa soloed to second place, while a Norwegian rider beat over a dozen riders in a bunch sprint to take third place.

 

American Nate Brown launched a late attack but it wasn't enough for third and he came in 13th place. I was really hoping either the young Garmin signee or his teammate, Lawson Craddock, would make the podium, but that's not how the race played out.

 

As the riders crossed the finish line, many of them continued to coast through, giving their legs a gentle spin after over 4 intense hours in the saddle. The security guards had a different idea and stood in front of several oncoming riders, trying to grab them as they began to slow down from the sprint. I'm guessing the security guards had been given instructions to keep the riders confined to the small area 30 meters past the finish line, but the fact that they actually were grabbing riders and trying to bring them to a dead stop was stupid and dangerous for everyone involved. Davide Villella barely managed to shake free from one security guard and exercised a few colorful gestures to express his irritation.

 

This sequence shows one security guard taking a hold of Toms Skujins' bike, the 5th place finisher. Skujins was just able to unclip in time to get his feet on the ground. Once he was stopped, the security guard moved on to find the next rider. It's incredible that no riders were injured and that no security guards got punched in the face. Would you stand at the 104 meter mark and use your body to bring Usain Bolt to a total stand still without first telling him to stop?

 

This French rider's legs were shaking so badly it looked like he as doing an Elvis impersonation. His coaches ended up pushing him on the bike so he wouldn't have to use his legs.

 

It was a busy scene as coaches found their athletes and the press descended on the riders. We spectators waited for the security guards to open the gates and allow us to watch the awards ceremony. Minutes passed and the awards music blared over the loudspeakers but the guards didn't budge. Surprisingly, no fans at all were let in so I would imagine the only witnesses to the medals presentation were the photographers. How disappointing for the athletes on the podium to be unable to share their moment with fans and family. I was none too impressed with the security guards this afternoon.

 

The international peloton loitered in front of the media tent.

 

Many of the trade teams have loaned their buses to the U23 national teams so the young German men guzzled their recovery drinks in comfort under the retractable canopy on the Argos bus. While the elite Swiss men are using the RadioShack bus this week, they didn't seem to be sharing it with the U23 team, leaving the Swiss youngsters to take wet wipe showers in the parking lot before piling into a van.

 

Eritrea fielded a full team of 6 riders, with one finishing in the top 15. This Eritrean spent a good while giving an interview while his teammates patiently waited.

 

Results

1st: Matej Mohoric, Slovenia

2nd: Louis Meintjes, South Africa

3rd: Sondre Hoist Enger, Norway

 

Categories: Canada, Italy | Tags: , | Comments Off on World Championships: Jr Women’s & U23 Men’s Road Races

World Championships: rest day

Posted on September 26, 2013 by Kathryn

Just because there were no races today doesn't mean there wasn't cycling to watch. With the road races starting tomorrow, today the national teams got to scout out the course on traffic-free roads.

 

The Algerian team stopped to discuss the morning's ride.

 

The 2 minibuses carrying the Canadian team drove right by me on their way to the parking lot. When they stopped for the police to open the fences, I enthusiastically waved my Canadian flag as all the athletes started to wave back and pound on the windows. After that, they seemed to be looking for me out on the course and I got half a dozen waves and lots of smiles each time they completed another lap. Yup, they were excited to have a little support.

 

A lonely Portugese rider waited for his teammates.

 

Fabian Cancellara, Mark Cavendish, and Gregory Rast.

 

The Belgian team rode by a couple of times and on their second lap, we cheered for Philippe Gilbert. I got a photo of him looking at us just before he smiled and waved. Left to right: Bjorn Leukemans, Philippe Gilbert, Serge Pauwels, Johan Vansummeren, and Greg Van Avermaet.

 

A couple of Belarussian riders were trying to find a shortcut to get on the course so one of them moved a fence and started to ride off, assuming his teammate was right behind him.

 

An Italian cop was none too pleased that his fence had been disturbed, so the logical thing for him to do was to chew out the second Belarussian rider in Italian and demand to see his accreditation. The poor kid fumbled through his backpack, muttering, “I don't…speak…Italian.”

 

Part of the reason I was so keen to watch the riders test out the course today was to get used to seeing riders in their national kits. I can identify half the peloton from a fair distance but I'm used to seeing them wearing their trade team kits, so it's an adjustment to get used to seeing Alejandro Valverde riding in Spain's red and black as opposed to his usual Movistar navy blue. As usual, there are far too many teams with far too much white in their kits, making a lot of countries look awfully similar. And I'll never understand why Lithuania has completely forsaken the green in their flag for red and yellow kits that look more Spanish than Lithuanian, but after today I can now tell the 2 countries apart. At least the Dutch can always be counted on to sport their distinct electric orange.

 

We headed over to the parking lot to see what was going on. There were lots of buses and vans parked with coaches and mechanics sitting out front, taking advantage of the relative peace and quiet.

 

Riders from the various countries slowly trickled in. Here, a Slovakian rider swaps out his cycling shoes for flip flops. When we walked by the Slovakian bus a little later on, Peter Velits had just returned and was joking around with the coaches.

 

Serge Pauwels and Marcus Burghardt talking with the German coaches.

 

When Greg Van Avermaet pulled up to the team bus, the media flocked to him, though that was nothing in comparison to the stampede when Philippe Gilbert turned up. Being the world champion is no easy burden.

 

Swiss rider Gregory Rast couldn't have looked like a man on vacation as he munched on a banana and hung out with kiwi Sam Bewley.

 
Rast went back to his Swiss headquarters to pal around with the mascot.

 

Yesterday's bronze medal winner in the men's ITT, Fabian Cancellara, emerged from the bus to get some snacks out of the car while the rest of the team prepared to go out for another few laps.

 

This is the small mob that instantly materialized the moment Cancellara showed his face.

 

It seemed like most of the riders had finished their morning training and lots of the buses had left so Fien and I made our way out of the parking lot. I saw a Tunisian cyclist slowly ride past us. Immediately, I recognized him as the same Tunisian I'd randomly cheered for during his training ride a few days ago and the teacher in me is really good at remembering names, so I yelled, “Allez, Rafaa!” He turned around and I swear you could have lit up Las Vegas with the energy in his smile! It's safe to say I now have a favorite Tunisian rider.

 

As we started to walk away from the course, we spied a gaggle so Spanish riders approaching (it wasalready paying off that we have made the effort to study the national uniforms!) and saw Jonathan Castroviejo.

 

Close behind were Purito Rodriguez and Sammy Sanchez.

 

Categories: Belgium, Canada, Italy, Tunisia | Tags: , | Comments Off on World Championships: rest day

World Championships: Elite Men’s ITT

Posted on September 25, 2013 by Kathryn

Today was the first day of the World Championships that actually had any degree of a festive atmosphere, to be honest. The elite men's ITT promised to be a big day with several contenders expected to be within striking distance of the coveted rainbow jersey. Since it was going to be such a big day, the organizers had kids from local bike clubs ride a section of the course and then packed them into the stands, alongside a few paying customers.

 

I figured I should get into the spirit of things with a healthy breakfast fit for a time trialist. Maybe this is how Sir Bradley put on those extra 15 pounds training for today.

 

For the first day, fans dressed to the nines.

 

I got super excited to see a big Polish contingency so I called out, “Go, Maciej Bodnar!” I'm not entirely convinced I wasn't Polish in a past life.

 

Of the 77 riders who lined up to start today, Taigo Machado was the third to start but the first to finish, having passed a Paraguayan and a Syrian out on the road, who finished in 76th and 77th, respectively.

 

The riders went off at ninety second intervals and over the nearly 58 kilometer course, Lithuania's Ignatas Konovalovas came within seconds of catching Kazakh Alexey Lutsenko.

 

Even if I could name another Greek cyclist, Ioannis Tamouridis would still be my favorite. He finished in 44th place today.

 

Maciej Bodnar got the Polish flags waving and ended up sitting in 28th overall.

 

Luis Leon Sanchez placed 35th.

 

Earlier in the week when I was watching cyclists train on the course outside of the races, I spotted a Tunisian rider and called out to him, “Allez, Tunisia!” because I really enjoyed my short time traveling there in April. He was so excited that he turned around so suddenly and violently to see who was cheering for him, I thought he was going to fall off his bike! Oops. Fortunately he righted himself and I wasn't responsible for a crash. This time round when I cheered for Rafaa Chtioui, he was much better prepared and just kept riding.

 

Wedged between the kids' bike clubs were 4 incredibly anxious looking adults waving their Germany flags for Tony Martin. They were so stressed that they had to be the family of the reigning TT champion. After spending yesterday with a cyclist's family, it's not hard to recognize the unique brand of anxiety experienced only by powerless family members.

 

Rohan Dennis of Australia was the first Garmin rider to start so I cheered and waved my Garmin sock when they broadcasted him leaving the start house. The American announcer obviously hadn't done his homework because he said Rohan rode for Orica GreenEdge, the Australian team. Hmm, ok, maybe it was just a mistake, I tried to let it slide even though “Garmin” is quite legible on his blue helmet and kit. But over the next 68 minutes of Rohan's ride, the announcer must have repeated another 4 or 5 times that Rohan was on Orica, which was awfully frustrating to listen to. Then again, this is the same announcer who said in the junior men's TT that in order to win, you had to go faster. Not exactly a secret that the winner is usually the rider who was faster than the rest of the field, so I did my best to tune him out since he wasn't a wealth of information. Rohan finished in 12th place.

 

Nick Roche was the sole Irish cyclist today and finished in 13th place.

 

I can't be sure if the road and TT champion of Uzbekistan, Muradjan Halmuratov, saw the new sign I made just for him, but he did place 62nd, which will do nicely.

 

The next rider to come in was another Garmin rider, Dane Alex Rasmussen, in 43rd.

 

I couldn't get over what a giant Gustav Erik Larsson was on the bike. The big Swede made the top 10 in 9th.

 

Colombian Rafael Infantino ended up in 67th place but it was a relief to see him finish at all. At one point in the race, a cat ran across the street and looked like it was about to launch itself against Infantino's rear wheel in a macabre suicide attempt. I can't even be sure if the Colombian ever even saw the cat, but he and the cat fortunately didn't collide and the rest of his time trial was pleasantly uneventful.

 

Niki Terpstra, one of my favorite riders in that special shade of Dutch orange, was 25th.

 

Bob Jungels, the Luxembourger who turned 21 earlier this week, finished in 33rd.

 

Jesse Sergent in 21st.

 

I don't think I had ever heard of Denmark's Rasmussen Quaade, but he came in at 6th place.

 

Michal Kwiatkowski in 24th. Three cheers for Poland!

 

Andrew Talansky finished in 46th.

 

Vasil Kiryienka produced a tremendous ride to slot in at 4th place.

 

Sylvain Chavanel in 22nd place.

 

Richie Porte in 17th.

 

Taylor Phinney. Oh, Taylor. Always a bridesmaid. He's a great time trialist and made the podium at last year's TT championships. I was desperately hoping to see him make the podium again this year despite the stiff competition, but it wasn't meant to be. The deficient commentary didn't provide us with much information and I later overheard his coaches saying he'd lost his water bottle after just 1 or 2 kilometers and had to ride for an hour without a sip of water, but whether he became dehydrated or was having an ill timed off day, Taylor came in 5th place.

 

Sir Bradley Wiggins, on the other hand, was gaining time at each intermediary time check. He crossed the line in first place with 2 big riders yet to finish.

 

Cancellara got off to a roaring start and was tearing up the course but he couldn't hold it. The man known as Spartacus faded and finished 2 seconds slower than Wiggins.

 

Had the commentary been better, we would have know that Tony Martin was destroying the clock and probably had enough time to get off his bike, enjoy a pastry from the expo, and soft pedal across the finish line and still finish in first. Tony came in 46 seconds ahead of Wiggins and retained his TT world champion rainbow jersey.

 

After being bundles of nerves for over an hour, Tony Martin's family could breate for the first time.

 

At the awards ceremony, Wiggins and Cancellara looked underwhelmed while Tony was, understandably, beaming.

After the podium, we made our way against the grain to the parking lot to see if any team buses were still around. There was a surprisingly small crowd waiting at the German bus for Tony.

 

Most riders were long gone (we just missed the Polish duo of Maciej and Kwiatkowski!) but Sam Bewley was still around.

 

Luis Leon Sanchez kept riding around in circles looking for something like he couldn't find his team car.

 

Nearly an hour after the medals were presented, Kiryienka walked towards the Belarussian car, stopping for photos and autographs. He looked a bit weary and I'm guessing he may have been frustrated with missing the podium after earning the bronze medal last year. If the officials and media held Kiryienka for so long and he didn't even podium, that suggested it would be a long wait yet for the medal winners.

 

There was still one other team vehicle in the parking lot and it belonged to the Americans. Andrew Talansky had placed 46th so I knew he would have left ages ago, but we stuck around in case either Taylor Phinney or Tony Martin showed up. Not too much later, we heard an expensive bike pull up and 3 kids scrambled to ask Taylor for autographs. He seemed to be taking his 5th very maturely and didn't mind spending some time with fans. I had resisted the urge to get photos or autographs from the other cyclists I'd seen in the parking lot over the past several days, but I couldn't pass up a chance to see Taylor! When the kids had their autographs, I took a step towards him to ask if he'd mind taking a photo with me. Before I could even open my mouth, Taylor said, “Well look who it is!” and put his arm around me for a picture. The only time I've ever met him was 6 weeks ago at a couple of Eneco Tour sign ons and I guess I made a bit of an impression. I wasn't looking for another reason to support Taylor but I found one!

 

When you're already on cloud 9, there's no reason to hang around. Rather than linger for Tony Martin with dozens of others, Fien and I started our walk back to the city.

 

Results

1st: Tony Martin, Germany

2nd: Sir Bradley Wiggins, UK

3rd: Fabian Cancellara, Switzerland

 

Categories: Italy | Tags: , , | 2 Comments

World Championships: Elite Women’s ITT

Posted on September 24, 2013 by Kathryn

After the excitement of the Junior Men’s ITT, I was happy for the 25 minute walk back to the center of town to let the adrenaline in my system settle down. Fien had arrived from Belgium to be my official spectating partner for the rest of the week, starting with the women’s ITT in the afternoon.

 

I was pretty excited that Canada had 2 women riding in this event. Denise Ramsden was the first of the 2 and was one of the first riders to go off. It usually takes a crowd several riders to get in the spirit of things and really start to cheer but with Denise starting 3rd, we didn’t have the luxury of time. I had already exchanged pleasantries and exhausted my limited Italian with several other spectators who had seen me pinning up my Canadian flag, so right before Denise was due to pass by, I pointed to the road, saying, La prossima Canadese! On diamo! On diamo!” and gestured for them to cheer and shout. I have no idea if that’s the correct Italian spelling, but I assure you that’s exactly what I said. When we first caught sight of her, I figured people would be willing to follow my lead so long as I got things going, so as I bellowed for Denise, the crowd quickly got energized and clapped, cheered, hooted, and howled for her! I was thrilled and Denise finished in a respectable 24th place. After she’d gone by, I thanked the spectators and got plenty of “preggo!” responses.

 

Now that we were well into the race and I’d been cheering for the Italian riders, it took far less coaxing to get the crowd geared up for the Canadian road and ITT champion, Joelle Numainville, who finished in 19th place.

 

American Carmen Small finished in third place for the bronze.

 

Evelyn Stevens is one of the few riders in the female peloton I know anything about. The prize money at women’s races is a fraction of the men’s and many women work part time jobs in order to fund their training whereas their make counterparts earn enough from their contracts to train full time. With this in mind, Stevens quit her high paying Wall Street job to take up cycling full time (Bicycling Magazine and the Wall Street Journal have both published great stories on her). Stevens placed 4th overall, just 0.04 seconds behind her teammate, Small.

 

Linda Villumsen, who rides for a Wiggle Honda, won silver.

 

Ellen Van Dijk was the favorite going in to the race and she delivered, beating the kiwi by 24.1 seconds.

 

Results

1st: Ellen Van Dijk, Netherlands

2nd: Linda Villumsen, New Zealand

3rd: Carmen Small, USA

 

Categories: Italy | Tags: , | Comments Off on World Championships: Elite Women’s ITT

World Championships: Jr Men’s ITT

Posted on September 24, 2013 by Kathryn

The first event of the day was the Junior Men’s 22 kilometer ITT and I was pumped! Two of the first 3 riders to start were Uzbek and I try to never miss an opportunity to cheer for my favorite doubly landlocked country. My plan was to see the last couple hundred meters of the race and catch them at the team bus area afterwards. I was ready with my sign!

 

Sergey Medvedev was the first rider on the course and I cheered as loud as I could for the young Uzbek.

 

The next rider finished and I waited for Khusniddin Khakimov, the other scheduled Uzbek, but the next rider to finish was Kazakh, followed by a Russian. Hmm. I doubted he’d been passed by 2 riders and was suspecting Khakimov hadn’t started. I figured I’d go to the buses and see if Medvedev was still around, but I could hear the 5th rider to start approaching and I could hear that he was flying. It was Zeke Mostov, a 17 year old American, and he was smoking the road.

 

Zeke’s time was good enough to put him in the hot seat and this is where he remained for most of the day. I did a quick lap of the buses, no sign of the Uzbek anywhere, and headed back to the course. Rider after rider finished but they all looked lackluster after Zeke’s performance.

 

There wasn’t a ton of people at the race but there were enough to make some good noise. Unfortunately, the stands were completely empty and the opposite side of the street with its VIP tents was equally deserted. It’s a shame to think these kids have given so much to get to the World Championships and no one is there to see them cross the finish line except for a few UCI race officials.

 

Adam Jamieson, the first of 2 Canadians, placed 37th overall, having passed a Turkish rider in the home stretch.


I tend to meet any number of people from all over the world when I go to a race since I like helping other spectators understand the sport and to get the crowd cheering for my favorites, so when I overheard an American woman talking, I was going to jump in to her conversation but then I stopped myself to double check what I had heard. Wait–did she say her son is Zeke Mostov? The fast American in the hot seat? Sure enough, his parents and brother had just arrived and I was glad I’d stuck around to take Zeke’s photo! They’d seen him ride by the Duomo and had just missed him approach the finish so I was able to show them my photo of him running it. I updated his mom as best I could about the riders who’d since finished and said he had a buffer of 55 seconds with about 50 riders yet to come in.

 

They’d had a frantic morning of alarm clocks and taxis, and then getting a text message from Zeke that he wanted his family to visit him in the hot seat added to the intense excitement. Since I had been to the finish area a couple of times already, I guided them around the sports complex to the finish line/hot seat since they didn’t have VIP bracelets that would have allowed them to walk the 200 meters directly.

 

In no time, I felt fully invested in Zeke and his family! We made it to the back entrance which was about 30 meters passed the finish line. We could see the tent that housed the hot seat where the race leader and the next 3 highest ranked riders stay until another cyclist finishes with a faster time and bumps someone out. Cycling is a cruel sport but to see the anxiety on a rider’s face as he sits in the hot seat and watches his competition come in, constantly wondering, “Is this the guy going to best me? Maybe? No, good. What about this one? How many more riders to finish…?” Oh, I can hardly stand it when I’m watching on TV but to be with that rider’s family was a whole new level.

 

It wasn’t a surprise but it was disappointing that security wouldn’t let the Mostov family in. The only thing to do was to watch the remaining 40 odd riders come in and listen to the occasional commentary for updates.

 

Canadian Jack Burke finished in 19th place.

 

Some of the riders looked destroyed after they had finished.

 

When Matthew Gibson, a British rider who ended up just 10 seconds behind Zeke’s time, finished, he looked exhausted behind words. Someone in the finish area stepped in front of him without looking, so Gibson swerved to avoid a collision, but the act of making a sudden hard turn seemed to be too much for him. His arms buckled and he hit the deck still clipped in to his bike. I was already taking a photo when he started to go down and it was horrible to watch him collapse. As if your heart didn’t already go out to this kid who just turned 17 a couple of weeks ago, he started to throw up anything that was in his system. The medical team was already on the scene as he landed, so they took care of him, but it was beyond humbling to witness the aftermath of one young athlete’s efforts. Gibson ultimately placed 5th.

 

Most riders went to the nearest fence, unclipped, and tossed themselves on the ground while their coach and teammates brought water, electrolyte drinks, and cans of Coke.

 

After a few minutes to recover, the cyclists generally got back on their bikes to ride the short distance to their bus or gave a quick interview.

 

With each rider that finished, Zeke was guaranteed a top 20 finish, then top 15, top 10, and top 5. To say it was stressful or nerve wracking would be an insulting understatement. When only a few riders remained on course, Mathias Krigbaum, a Dane, bumped Zeke into second place by 12 seconds. The last rider to finish, Belgian Igor Decraene, was the fastest rider of the day and beat Krigbaum by 8 seconds, pushing Zeke into third place but keeping him on the podium!

 

Below: Decraene finishing, the media surrounding him as he laid on the ground, and his family who stormed security to congratulate him.

 

Meanwhile, this is what it looks like when a mother realizes her child is going to be on the podium at the World Championships.

 

The race organizers actually got Zeke’s name backwards, calling him Mostov Zeke, but all that mattered was that his hard work had been repaid with a medal.

 

Just before the awards ceremony began, security let everyone in. We passed the hot seat on the way to the ceremony.

 

I told Zeke’s family to just enjoy the moment and that I’d take plenty of photos for them.

 

Zeke Mostov was one happy cyclist!

 

The family was given maybe a grand total of 10 seconds together for a picture before Zeke was whisked away to anti-doping control. You can see the hand coming in on the right to literally pull him away.

 

Personally, I would like to offer my heartfelt congratulations to Zeke and to thank his parents and brother for letting me be part of such an enormous family moment. Chapeau!


One last note. Apparently the last time an American finished on the podium at the Junior Men’s ITT, it was Lawson Craddock (see yesterday’s post for more on him). And before that? Some kid named Taylor Phinney (who certainly featured in my posts from last year’s Olympics and last month’s Eneco Tour, not to mention is one of the riders I will be rooting for in the elite men’s ITT and road race this week). So Zeke is in some good company for sure.


Results

1st: Igor Decraene, Belgium

2nd: Mathias Krigbaum, Denmark

3rd: Zeke Mostov(!), USA

 

Categories: Canada, Italy, USA | Tags: , | 2 Comments