Racing has gotten underway and I'd say it's already been somewhat of a success. Stages 1 and 2 have been flat and relatively short, and with large teams and so many world class sprinters here, both stages were destined to be field sprints. So much so that the break that rolled away from the gun on stage 1, treated their escape as more of a parade, even stopping to take a pee break after they had built their lead up to 8 min. Being so flat and controlled has made for pretty straightforward racing on my part so far. The only times I've been in any difficulty are when I've spent a long amount of time in the wind moving up or helping teammates maintain position (something I've been pleased to be so helpful with this trip). The only thing I wish I could do was provide a little more support in the last 5km or so. By this point in the stages half a dozen full squads are duking it out at the front to set up their sprinters and I lack the speed, skill, and confidence to get in the middle of that. I figure if I'm not gonna be able to help anyone, its a little safer to ride further back coming into the finales, this way I save a little energy not fighting for position and I'm far enough back to avoid any crashes that may happen in the sprint (plus we're all gonna get the same finish time anyway).
So what have we done so far... Yesterday in stage 1 my teammate Danielle Colli sprinted to 3rd on the stage. I was reeeally impressed when I heard this result after the stage, considering how stacked the field is with sprinters. Colli probably weighs half as much as Greipel but he's one of the wiliest, best bike handlers I've ever seen. The narrow road and crash in the last kilometer definitely played to his strengths yesterday.
Today no one fared as well in the sprint, but after covering moves for the first hour of the race today with Lazlo, I watched him ride away in the break of the day. Apparently he took the sprint for the Turkish Beauty Preme (not even sure what this is.. all I can surmise is that it's a points competition, separate from the "points competition," consisting entirely of intermediate sprints, with no points given at the finish line). Taking that one sprint today put him in the lead, so he got some podium shots today and gets to don a nice white jersey for the stage tomorrow.
That's all I've got for now! The race is putting us up in really nice oceanfront hotels so far, and the food is awesome! Lots of olives and feta, Greek influence I guess. Plus they always have pancake and eggs over-easy for breakfast, my favorite combo.
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