Down Under stage 1: Searing hot survival!

Just wrapped up a searing hot stage 1 with a field finish after our go-to man Julian was taken out of the sprint. His rear wheel exploded with just a few kilometers to go and he had to get a new bike [Ed note: A Quick Step rider actually slammed into Julz wheel.]. Surely there will be another sprint for him this week though. I was happy to get the first real race under my belt and keep it rubber side down. Much like a certain Lance Armstrong, I’m sure.

After ten months out of the bunch, today was a good test of my timing and coordination. This summer, after my brain injury, I had a few tests to pass: a driving skills course to get my license back, a timed exercise to see how fast I could put blocks in a bucket with one hand. Today, I ripped a shadowy decent with 140 guys at 90 km per hour and jockeyed for position in the final mass sprint. Just the next test in the process really.

I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s stage as it finishes on a really tough and hilly circuit that suits our team. I’ll be testing the fitness tomorrow, that’s for sure!

A BIG thanks to my family and friends, my team, and my doctors for getting me back to this point. I’m truly lucky to have my career back and to be able to put this injury behind me!

Thanks for checking in!

Garmin-Slipstream stage 1 results
1. Andre Greipel 3h45′27″
32. Ryder Hesjedal
34. Chris Sutton
47. Cameron Meyer
63. Timmy Duggan
68. Christian Meier
85. Trent Lowe
127. Julian Dean

Garmin-Slipstream GC
1. Andre Greipel 3h45′16″
35. Ryder Hesjedal +11″
37. Chris Sutton +11″
49. Cameron Meyer +11″
65. Timmy Duggan +11″
70. Christian Meier +11″
85. Trent Lowe +11″
127. Julian Dean +11″

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 20th, 2009 at 5:04 am and is filed under Garmin Web Site, Home Page, Race Reports and tagged with Julian Dean, Timmy Duggan, Tour Down Under. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.