Equipe C.M.I., a team full of surprises. Working with these guys is always an adventure. First of all the races they pick, this time Kosovo, independant since 2010. Second surprise is how to get there.
Eather you pay an arm and a leg and fly direct to Pristina and arrive in the middle of the night. Or you pay only one arm or one leg and fly via Frankfurt, Ljubljana or Dusseldorf and still arrive in the middle of the night and missing your bike. Any way you pay more or less €400 to find out that the food is s**t. But the coffee was good!
The racing himself is another case. Every day you race on the motorway.
Up and down. They block all traffic on the motorway while the race is on. You can imagine that cyclist are very loved by car drivers in this country.
The police puts you and your family, in your car, on the side for an hour. All this in a temperature of around 35°C.
But ok we had a good time, no stress no rush as all teams stay more or less in the same hotel and you have every day a convoi to start with the help of the police.
Stage one from Lebane to Qafa e Dules, in fact 142km with one right turn. Probably the only stage that started on time. (only 12 minutes behind official start)
Nothing really went wrong, boys coming back for drinks every ten minutes. So Lieve had a lot of work in the car refilling bottles. No puctures at all. Lilian in the break for a while, but it came all together for the last climb. With Dudu finishing 6th on 16" and Smytey 11th on 19" we were in the top of the race.
Stage two started at the Albanian border (Morine) and finished in Macedonia (also on the border). Again a motorway race of 144km. This time the peloton sprinted for first place and Smytey got himself a 6th and Dudu in the bunch at 24th. All in the same time of the winner.
Third stage (159 or was it 152km?) went actually the other way around from the Macedonian border to the Albanian border. Well that is what we tought. Luckely the Dutch commissaire Edwin Cruijssen was on the ball and saw the mistake in the race book. Race finished 7km earlier. So with 25km to go he announced that we were only 18km from the finish line. Never mind, no problem for Dudu who finished 5th after a long uphill sprint.
After the race it was waiting a long time for the ceremony, even tough hundreds of cars were blocked on the Albanian border. After the long (read: too long) ceremony all the riders in the bus to Prizren where we had our dinner (or was it lunch) then back in the bus to the hotel. O and our car and the one of the Dutch team and a bus with 15 riders in it had the special treatment from the police. We have been escorted by two police cars (one in front and one behind) with wailing siren for 85km to the hotel.
Once again, people in Kosovo will love cycling!!!
Our team
Guillaume "Dudu"Duverger : 6th / 24th / 5th / GC 5th on 49" / Points 5th
Alex Smyth : 11th / 6th / 24th / GC 13th on 52"
Lilian Sanvincente : 44th / 40th / 44th / GC 43th on 17'13"
Guillaume Soula : 45th / 45th / 46th / GC 45th on 20'49"
Simeon "Sim"Green : 46th / 44th / 47th / GC 46th on 20'49"
Lieve Drieghe : soigneur and mecanic (only one wheel change)
Dirk : DS
from left to right : Sim, Alex (Maltese road champion) Guigui, Dudu, Lilian.
I was a happy DS with a five mens team. We lost two riders on the way to Kosovo, Thomas Peyroton Dartet and Stevan Kervadec, who broke his foot in the Zurich airport.
With two guys on GC and three great helpers/workers I can say we did a great Tour of Kosovo!
O, one more thing: all three stages and GC were won by Charalampos Kastrantas (Greece).
Eather you pay an arm and a leg and fly direct to Pristina and arrive in the middle of the night. Or you pay only one arm or one leg and fly via Frankfurt, Ljubljana or Dusseldorf and still arrive in the middle of the night and missing your bike. Any way you pay more or less €400 to find out that the food is s**t. But the coffee was good!
The racing himself is another case. Every day you race on the motorway.Up and down. They block all traffic on the motorway while the race is on. You can imagine that cyclist are very loved by car drivers in this country.
The police puts you and your family, in your car, on the side for an hour. All this in a temperature of around 35°C.
But ok we had a good time, no stress no rush as all teams stay more or less in the same hotel and you have every day a convoi to start with the help of the police.
Stage one from Lebane to Qafa e Dules, in fact 142km with one right turn. Probably the only stage that started on time. (only 12 minutes behind official start)
Nothing really went wrong, boys coming back for drinks every ten minutes. So Lieve had a lot of work in the car refilling bottles. No puctures at all. Lilian in the break for a while, but it came all together for the last climb. With Dudu finishing 6th on 16" and Smytey 11th on 19" we were in the top of the race.
Stage two started at the Albanian border (Morine) and finished in Macedonia (also on the border). Again a motorway race of 144km. This time the peloton sprinted for first place and Smytey got himself a 6th and Dudu in the bunch at 24th. All in the same time of the winner.Third stage (159 or was it 152km?) went actually the other way around from the Macedonian border to the Albanian border. Well that is what we tought. Luckely the Dutch commissaire Edwin Cruijssen was on the ball and saw the mistake in the race book. Race finished 7km earlier. So with 25km to go he announced that we were only 18km from the finish line. Never mind, no problem for Dudu who finished 5th after a long uphill sprint.
After the race it was waiting a long time for the ceremony, even tough hundreds of cars were blocked on the Albanian border. After the long (read: too long) ceremony all the riders in the bus to Prizren where we had our dinner (or was it lunch) then back in the bus to the hotel. O and our car and the one of the Dutch team and a bus with 15 riders in it had the special treatment from the police. We have been escorted by two police cars (one in front and one behind) with wailing siren for 85km to the hotel.
Once again, people in Kosovo will love cycling!!!
Our team
Guillaume "Dudu"Duverger : 6th / 24th / 5th / GC 5th on 49" / Points 5th
Alex Smyth : 11th / 6th / 24th / GC 13th on 52"
Lilian Sanvincente : 44th / 40th / 44th / GC 43th on 17'13"
Guillaume Soula : 45th / 45th / 46th / GC 45th on 20'49"
Simeon "Sim"Green : 46th / 44th / 47th / GC 46th on 20'49"
Lieve Drieghe : soigneur and mecanic (only one wheel change)
Dirk : DS
I was a happy DS with a five mens team. We lost two riders on the way to Kosovo, Thomas Peyroton Dartet and Stevan Kervadec, who broke his foot in the Zurich airport.
With two guys on GC and three great helpers/workers I can say we did a great Tour of Kosovo!
O, one more thing: all three stages and GC were won by Charalampos Kastrantas (Greece).
Hello John, do you remember your stay at the Pekelharing in 1985. Your ghost was Tom. I am Tom. I have very nice rembrences of you. It's so long ago now. But if you would like I should be very happy to hear from you. Greets, Tom. Email : Tom.plasschaert@hotmail.be
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