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50 shades of pink

Mogoče se med preteklimi dnevi najde tudi kak bolj primeren dan za zapis, pa dobro malo se mi lahko oprosti, ker sem na poti že vsaj mesec dni, pa še skoraj toliko bom. 🙂 Iz višinskih priprav na Tenerifih smo odleteli direkt na Tour de Yorkshire po brzino za Giro, sicer nas je v Angliji pričakal sneg in mraz, a se je za mojo ekipo končalo dobro; z zmago in drugim mestom. Potem smo se samo prestavili na Nizozemsko, ki nas je pričakala v rožnatem! 😀 V sredo doping kontrola za vse, v četrtek predstavitev ekip pred noro množico ljudi, z vsemi efekti iz gledališča, napetost se je stopnjevala kot se spodobi.Petek, začnem svoj prvi Grand Tour, enega izmed veličastnih treh ob 16:09, si mislim ko pripenjam številko na dres. Pred velodromom je že na ogledu proge vzdušje ta pravo – folk se v roza majicah slika z repliko pokala, ljudi pred našim avtobusom je toliko, da se komaj zdrenjam proti startu – ljudje grilajo v mehki zeleni travici pred big screenom in piva je na štantih zmanjkalo že nekja časa nazaj, Jaz bi tudi; si mislim.
Namesto da bi jedel pečene hrenovke stojim na roza rampi v Omniumu. Piskanje naznanja uro resnice. Zdaj pa bo. Vseskozi sem razmišljal samo o tem da moram počasi skozi ovinke, napotkov iz avta za mano pa večino časa nisem slišal – vzdušje je bilo namreč peklensko. Zlagal bi se, če bi rekel da nisem presenetil tudi samega sebe. Preostanek zgodbe je poznan, stotinka je zelo malo, a vendar je bil Tom v roza; pa sej, če sem iskren, ne vem niti če mi ta barva paše k očem…:) Danes pa, padec pred mano, jaz pa čez balanco v robnik. Sprva nisem mogel niti dihati, potolčen sem po celem telesu – bil sem že slabše, bil sem pa tudi že veliko bolje. Eden od sotekmovalcev me je počakal, da sva se skupaj privlekla do cilja, drugače ne vem kako bi končal. Pravijo, da je zares poražen tisti, ki se ni nikoli boril, zato ostajam optimističen glede svojih nastopov; čeprav je bila pot do cilja kot desetkilometrski križev pot. Ko to tipkam sem prekrit z ledom, ki mi blaži bolečine, spanja danes ne bo, to je fiks, in razmišljam, pri tem športu si velikokrat poražen in na tleh (dobesedno), a kitajski pregovor pravi, da je veličina ravno v tem, da se vedno pobereš in ne da nikoli ne padeš…Ah grande Giro –  en dan si skoraj maglia rosa, drug dan trdno pristaneš na tleh.:D
 
I guess I could find more suitable day for this blog entry, but you can forgive me a bit, because I am on the road for at least a month, and will be at least one more. 🙂 From altitude training in Tenerife we flew directly to the Tour de Yorkshire to find the right speed for the Giro, England waited us in cold and snow, but it did ended well for my team; with a win and a second place. Then we just moved to the Netherlands, which welcomed us in pink! : D On Wednesday doping control for all teams, Team presentation on Thursday in front of amazing crowd, with all the effects from the theater, the tension was escalating as it should. Friday, I am on the start of my first Grand Tour, at 16:09, I am thinking when I am putting the number on my jersey.
In front of the velodrome the temperature is rising –  there are people in pink T shirts, taking pictures with the Giro trophy. It is so crowded around our bus, people are sitting in the soft green grass in front of the big screen, eating burgers, and the tents with drinks ran out of beer a long time ago. I would do that to, I say to myself.
But, instead of getting a frankfurter, I stand on a pink ramp in Omnium. The moment of truth.  I was thinking all the time about getting safely through the corners, I didn’t hear most of the instructions, because the crowd was crazy. I’d be lying, if I would say that I haven’t surprised even myself. The rest of the story is known, one hundredth is really not a lot, yet it was Tom in pink; However, to be honest, I don’t even know if pink fits me…:) Today, however, the crash was in front of me, and I flew over the handlebars, At first I could not breathe, I  am bruised all over my body – I’ve been worse, but I was also much better. One of my teammates waited for me, we dragged ourselves to the finish line, otherwise I do not know how I would finish. They say that the one that never fought is truly defeated, so I am staying optimistic about the next days; although the 10K ride to the finish was like the route of suffering. When I type this I am covered with ice, to relieve the pain, I will not sleep today, that is sure, and thinking about that, in our sport you are often defeated and on the ground (literally), a Chinese proverb says that greatness lies in the act of always picking yourself up and not that you never fall… Ah grande Giro – one day you are almost maglia rosa, the next day you hit the ground.