Tour of Qatar Diary – Stage 1- Welcome to the ProTour Kid!
By Justin Williams, Trek-LIVESTRONG U23 Team

2/8/10 - Welcome to the ProTour kid! "You've only got about 15 more years of this left in you career," said Reed our swanny (Soigneur).

Wow, today started off slower than a Sunday Cruise. It was nerve racking for the first 30k and I ended up stopping twice to use the bathroom. Two guys went up the road and a Garmin guy waved them off.

Everything felt like dream! All these guys were around me that I go to YouTube to see. Yeah, well that didn't last much longer, as we made a right turn and the fireworks started. It was like someone lit a rocket and we went from 22 mph to 32 mph in a crosswind.

I was about 25 riders back, which was too far back. I watched the first group ride away and held my ground in the second echelon. After a few kilometers and a few mistakes in my legs, it was back to the third group on the road! Sweet, right? No, I blew up and was on my own trying to find a wheel before it was too late. I got a wheel and with a little help from the team car I was back in the 3rd group. We stayed together until about 35 K to go and another split happened.

Of course, I was being a sprinter and sitting on the back. Great!  I was stuck in a group of about 15 riders with 3 teammates Cody (Campbell), Ben (King - USA), and Julian (Kyer) and it was a team time trial all the way home! I worked until about 5k to go and then called it a day. Flecha  (Team Sky) was in our group and I couldn't help. So, I guess it's not so bad (ha ha). But, I want to do better. I know I can. Three days to go, time to nut up!