Team Cyclingnews.com - 2005

Team Journal Entry - May 5, 2005, by Cody Stevenson

Are we there yet..?

After 10 hours in the A-team bus, aka the cyclingnews.com team van, I lifted my numb butt out and did one of those early morning wake up stretches. It was 4pm. Not to worry. The next two days of racing was filled with some gravel, some hills, and some dudes from CSC.

The race on Saturday, GP Herning, where Sven took a fine ninth place, was a race which I had done previously and which suited my ex-BMX riding skills. I managed to stay in the front for almost the whole day, not crashing and also without puncturing. On the 13th (of 18) gravel section, I hit the gravel first wheel...in hindsight I should have followed the CSC train as I hit some soft stuff and went from the front to the back in a matter of a kilometre. At that moment the boys at the front lit the wick and the peloton was in tatters. I was a mere thread at this point and Cameron and I tried in vain to bridge across to the front group; but alas, no cigar.

I finished in the main group, but was a little dissapointed as I had been riding well towards the front the whole day. After a short drive we reached probably the best hotel our team ever stays in at a race, I think it was a Hilton hotel, which was in downtown Aarhus. It was very comfortable.

Day two - the CSC classic, and my legs were like two tree trunks.

Kane and I began to chase back a lone rider that had six minutes on the peloton; we brought it back to around 3-4 minutes and then CSC took the final sting out. Once again they showed their strength and tactical prowess, picking a section of the course that was littered with short climbs and wind to split the field.

After the race it was back for a quick shower at the hotel, some standard Aussie shenanigans (which got us some strange looks from the locals..."well your Prince did marry an Aussie sheila, stop looking at us like we are fools!") On second thoughts, maybe the looks were justified.

Im sure a good weekend was had by Glen, Sven, Cam, Kane and myself, and also by our management - Daniel Willems, Eddy and Nick. Even after some earlier, politically-induced nervousness. Anyway, back in the car for the next 10 hours, sleeping like a puppet that has no puppetier, legs and arms everywhere!

Arrived back in Belgium at 3am. Funnily enough, the next morning out training, the legs felt like they had just done 400km in two days and then been shoved in a box for 10 hours...I think I need a massage!

And just a quick one before I go, I am now an uncle after my sister, Neige, gave birth to a healthy baby boy, Tomas. Now they call me UnCo - haha, very funny!

I'll keep you posted with upcoming races,
Cody