Tour of Qatar Diary – Stage 5 - I Made the Front Group!
By Justin Williams, Trek-LIVESTRONG U23 Team

2/10/10 - Today started off slow and we were all pretty relaxed.  For some reason, I was having a hard time waking up and getting my head in the game.

A few teams rode to the start. Tim Roe, who is taking Taylor’s place in the Tour of Oman, also rode to the start. We had a quick talk before the stage and took a few picks. We figured it was going to be another controlled day and a break would go and it would be a nice tempo at the start. We shared a few laughs with the Lotto boys and then we were off.

The first hour and twenty minutes was so fast, that I was spun out in my 53 x 11.  Other than not being able to concentrate, I felt good. It's hard to explain, but I was so tired that my eyes were heavy and my arms seemed weak, but I passed through it.

When we hit the headwind section, a break went up the road and we rode tempo. The day seemed to go on forever and I kept bugging Axel to find out how many kilometers were left in the race.

With about 50 K to go, I finally came around and was ready to race. We were in a headwind and about to make a left into a crosswind.  It was a race to the corner and I made it up front.  I still don't know how that happened, but I went through the corner in 10th and the group started the washing machine.  It got so crazy, I had to back off and get myself together before diving right back into it. We finally got strung out and I was way too far back.

I wanted to prove myself on this day and I wanted to show my teammates that I wouldn’t let them down.  I wanted to make the first group and was running out of time. The split was about to happen and the fast Bernhard Eisel (Team HTC-Columbia) was the guy in front of me. He shouted, “Now or never boys!” and hit it and I was the only one that followed. We made it to the front and I found myself pulling with Saxo Bank teammates Fabian Cancellara and Stewy O’Grady and all of the other big hitters. I made the front group!

After about 4 or 5 turns I was so blown I was pulling through as hard as I could and hardly passing the guy in front of me.  I finally blew up and it was back to the next group. Lesson learned ...  next time sit on (haha)! My group stayed close to the main field for a while, then decided to cruise home. I was disappointed, but happy that I tried something new and know I will get there soon.

Tour of Qatar Diary – Stage 6 - The Last Day
The last day, it was here! “I’m going to finish this tour”, is all I could think about! I was excited and focused because I knew that I might get lucky and was hoping for a top 10.

On the finishing circuits, we started with a neutral start. A motor bike hit a man that was jaywalking. It was a scary sight. The guy flew ten feet in the air and all you could hear was the motor bike rev super high. It wasn't a good start!

We headed out and the attacks kept coming and it wasn't a day for bad positioning. Ben King (Aus) made the break and made us look good, as Jesse (Sergent), Alex (Dowsett), and Taylor (Phinney) had done all week.

Axel told us, "Once you got past 60 K the race was over so just hold position until then" which is what I did. We were heading back into town on the finishing circuits and my legs weren't as good as I thought they would be. I was a little disappointed, but still had hope that at least I could give Taylor a hand.  The gap to the break looked good and I was beginning to think that Ben would steal the day in his group of four, but it wasn't so. After fighting to stay out of the wind the whole day it was time. Two laps to go then the bell I was to far back and I wasn't going down with out a fight.