Day 6

Getting up early is starting to become a tradition. Welcome to race day. Breakfast was at 7am sharp and we were on the road warming up by 8:15am. Bobby, John and Tom were invited to race as guests of the Federation. We were asked to stay in the back and try not to interfere with the qualifications (basically lose). It was a great privilege to race with the elite field including last years winner of the Tour de President.

The race started at a decent pace but the attacks began early. The was a 3 man breakaway within the first 15 Kilometers which stuck for the entire race. Tom punctured at km 25 and John waited for him. John paced Tom back to a group of riders and pulled off once the job was done. The group worked together for the remaining 50 km for a strong finish.

Along the way, Rustem was in his element, yelling out of the van and forcing us to eat. It was a true euro peloton where we were fed on the move from the team van.

Special thanks to 'Coach" for all his help and support and to Gary for some incredible photos. Tom gives a special thanks to Chris for all the water hand-up. Back at the hotel, Tom gets a special thanks from the Turkish riders for being one of the few riders who worked in the paceline pulling them up the 2.5 climb.

After the race we walked around town and saluted victory with our goat intestine sandwiches. Walking through the sand in 70 degrees wasn't bad either. We enjoyed some espresso while watching the sunset along the beach on the Mediterranean. Tomorrow is another 125km race including climbs. Should be fun. Time to get some rest.