Tour of Qatar Diary – Stage 3 - So Close, Yet So Far Away
By Justin Williams, Trek-LIVESTRONG U23 Team

Day three started like a race. Everyone wanted their spot at the front and when there is 120 guys that can be a problem. My Trek-LiveSTRONG teammate, Alex Dowsett, went with the early move. It was good to see him mixing it up. Back in the field, it was fast but not horrible. The first 20 + kilometers were cross/tailwind, so it was a big bunch.

We started to get toward the first turn into a cross wind and the tension was building. Guys are such A-Holes in the field, but I'm guessing it’s something that has to grow on you. I made it to the corner in pretty good position. But in the final meters to the corner, the group slammed on the brakes and I found myself in the back and then on the back of teammate Cody Campbell. As I was going down fast, I hit my hip pretty hard. All I could think about is, “Who the hell sprints and fights so hard to get to a corner first and hits the brakes this hard?”

I got up and put my chain back on my bike and then the Quick-Step car gave me a lift back to the group on roads that were barely ride-able. I wanted to contest the sprint at 57 K, but I figured that I need to practice a little on how to get to the front in the ProTour. 

The rest of the day was pretty mellow until about 20 K to go, then the race turned on like a light switch. The war to the line had begun! I chilled and saved my energy until about 10 K  to go. When we got there I started riding trains and teammates to the front. Ben King (Aus), who had been getting me to the front all day, stayed close to help when it was needed.  Jesse Sergent and Ben King (USA) kept taking me to the front and were fighting with other teams for the outside. I was sitting about 20th with 2 K to go, but with teammates I could see I was a sitting duck. With pretty good legs, I tried to move up before a round-about, but things were so sketch there was no way. With 300 meters to go there was a crash which ended my day. I rolled in so close, yet so far away. I could see the sprint in front of me, but wasn’t in it.

Tomorrow is a day to earn respect and get ready for Stage 6, which favors me!