Stage 2 of the Tour of Friendship was the first road stage, following the time trial of stage 1. We headed west towards Kanchanaburi Province along exposed two and three laned motorways. The stage started with a 20km neutral zone to the official race start of which apparently I missed as all of a sudden the high pace got a lot faster and attacks were coming thick and fast. I was accompanying the first group on the road which comprised of the Cat 1 Men, Women, Juniors and the Fifties men. It was the Cat 1 Men who got the ball rolling and it wasn’t long before one of the attacks got away. Three riders were able to get up the road before they were slowly joined by a few riders bridging the gap in ones and twos. The final breakaway ended up with about eleven riders. It was interesting to watch as there seemed to be a big difference in strength across the group with a few riders doing the majority of the work and the weaker riders trying to hold the wheel at the rear of the pack. It was hard to believe that with temperatures as high as 38 degrees some riders had goose bumps on their arms and legs and a couple times I had to remind them to remember to drink to avoid getting dehydrated. In the end the break stayed away and Dave Christenson (Direct Asia) took an early flyer with 450m to go and held on for the win. It was a great first day of real racing and it left me really looking forward to the next few days ahead.
A busy morning for the riders before they set off. Getting all the gear in the correct support van, signing in and finally posing for photos.
Amazing infrastructure being built in Bangkok. The riders ride beneath the recently constructed rail line as they head out of town.
The police did an amazing job stopping traffic for the peloton.
Riders from all over the world make up the peloton. The best beard in the peloton belonged to Nick Mahoney (Saint Cloud Racing) Australia.
As soon as the neutral zone finished the attacks started.
The pace was high in the break.
High temperatures and lots of sweat meant riders kept their salt tablets handy.
Exposed roads offered little protection from other road users and the sun. Eri Yonamine and her Japanese counterpart Kyosuke Takei were two very strong riders.
And finally Dave Christenson (Direct Asia) out sprinted the break to take Stage 2.