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mustardbeak
@cliveo
So yesterday was quite a day.
#184 Michel Vandermeerschen rode some of the way with #131 James Illman before James’ struggle with illness slowed him and forced I’m to rest. Michel went on the finish relatively quickly as did #163 Denis Uzadiaev.
James struggled throughout the day but managed to post some excellent tweets and instagram pictures and showed that, despite the agony he was in, he had amazing determination. He wrote of looking forward to seeing a doctor on his arrival. He has spent the last five days in a poor way since contracting Bosnian food poisoning. His final 800 km or so encapsulated the true spirit of the TCR. I have to say that I am totally impressed. It is struggles like James’ that makes the tailend dot watching so rewarding.
Which leaves two riders on the road.
#44 Lionel Bobb hit CP4 yesterday in what seems like a relatively gentle day of riding. He covered 76 km but still managed to climb 1563 m. It seems that He decided to rest before hitting the parcours. He is up and riding already and is almost 16 km into the brutality of that climb. He has been averaging over 150 km a day (apart from days like yesterday which were, no doubt, strategic) and if he sets off tomorrow towards the end, I think we should see his dot bouncing at the weekend.
#171 Neil Matthews is the back marker. I was concerned yesterday when I realised that he had ridden into Vienna. Often, entering a major city is a precursor to an abandonment and, indeed, the ghost dots of four scratched riders can be seen in Vienna. He woke late, meandered around town, moving perilously close to a major station before popping nto a Sports Direct. He then meandered some more before hitting a McDonalds and then, late into the evening, he set off. He is now just outside the suburbs of Vienna. He only rode about 32 km yesterday. His daily average is low, around 80 km at most. He hasn’t posted on Instagram for a while. It is hard to make out his plan. One has to hope that he is not suffering and that the long recovery between efforts is enabling him to enjoy his riding. A gentle poodle each day, day after day, for a month and a half.
I suspect that we will be dotwatching well into September.