Did you hear?

It was windy in Qatar today, and Tornado Tom and his boys ripped some legs off... fun stuff. But, even more fun was reading the riders comments...

Slipstream's Backstedt:

"It was fast out of the block. You couldn't sit back because it was almost harder then because you would get pushed off the road and into echelons."

-or-

"It was almost easier to stay at the front and take your pulls and then float back."

Hmm... this from a former Roubaix winner? Sounds more like a cat-4 after racing Snelling or Merco for the first time and just starting to figure out how to ride in the wind.

BMC's Sayers:

"My God!"

-or-

"The first hour was 57kph and it never came down from that. It was totally frustrating trying to stay with the front group. I was on my limit. I'm a pretty good wind rider in the United States, but this is another level."

I know you've been a pro since the Mesozoic Era, but, welcome to the big leagues, Mike!

Drapac Porsche's Dean Windsor:

"QuickStep went to front... and pushed the speed to 70kph for about five kilometers. That just pushed out everyone except seven riders."

Hey! Do you think they guttered it on purpose? I'm telling!

What a clinic on racing in the wind. Check out the results. As I read thru them I was reminded of the Battle of the Little Bighorn. If you've ever been to the battlefield you know about the grave markers placed where Custer's soldiers fell. You can literally and physically follow the battle up the gullies and draws to the knoll where the 7th Cavalry made its last stand.

Qatar's stage two results read like those markers. Only seven riders come to the line together... and not out of some snuck-away-and-nobody-cared break. A few hangers-on that didn't have quite enough grip to stick with the front group. Then eighteen at 45 seconds that must have been the second echelon. A third echelon at 3:32. A few more hangers on with not enough grip. A fourth echelon at 8:12. And a fifth echelon at 12:42... and this wasn't a bus. This was a flat stage. Are you kidding me? 12:42 on a flat stage?

I've read somewhere that bicycle racing is Chess, Nascar, and Boxing all rolled into one scratching, biting, gnashing, smashing sufferfest. If it indeed is, then Quickstep opened stage 2 of Qatar with the King's Gambit, countered black's defense by putting most of the competition into the wall ala Tony Stewart, and finished with a flurry of body blows followed by the haymaker. My kinda racing... I love it.

I also love that Slipstream put a rider into the select final seven... two from Quickstep, two from Silence Lotto, one from Bouyges Telecom, one from Lampre, and Christopher Sutton from Slipstream. If you look real close, you'll see that all those teams except that of young Mr. Sutton are Pro Tour teams. Maybe Slipstream is gonna be able to play with the big dawgs this year!!!