It’s been 2 months since I left NZ to join Manisaspor Continental Team, born of the Turkish football club from the same region. To be honest I wasn’t expecting much after a bad experience with a new ‘Belgie’ team last year; I thought it would be much the same. So far I have been blown away- it hasn’t been a smooth or easy beginning but the team have always been honest with plans, developments and delays.
We don’t have all the bling wheels or TT gear - it is a Spartan operation but there is a solid frame work that ultimately hinges on commitment and a great race program.
I have put in a lot of hard work, basically not taking a break since August last year. I think a higher work load suits me better now that I am older, I still get knocked around by the odd bug but that’s normal when your body is copping a hiding from racing and travelling.
The new team are fantastic. We are 7-8 guys living, training, eating and racing together non-stop. It has its hard parts being away from the comforts of home but this year we have been given fantastic racing opportunities: training and racing in Italy, Croatia, Slovenia, Mallorca and Greece - all towards our major target the 47th Presidential Tour of Turkey, starting Sunday.
Our main GC chance rests with Tadej Valjavec (7th in Giro d'Italia last year). He placed 2nd GC in the 4 day Tour of Mallorca and is a lethal climbing weapon. Gabor Kasza is pretty funny guy, every racing story starts with the phrase "one day in the tour of (obscure country here) I was in break away..." his speciality. Our sprinter is Dean - I haven’t actually seen sprint yet as he is normally up the road hunting points or tearing legs off in the break. The rest of us (Andi, Mareck, Ahmet, Fatih and Bunyo) are all good climbers and can ride in support of the team or, if given the chance, can make something for ourselves.
We have just completed the Tour of Greece - I was unlucky to be caught in the last 10m of the final stage around Athens. But I was very happy with how things went, both for myself and the rest of the team. In every break of every stage we were represented. We came very close to winning 4 of the 6 stages, some from daring breakaways of up to 140km. Only to be caught in the last 1.5km, 300m, 200m and 10m respectively. I finished 3rd on the last stage and 10th overall, Dean won sprint classification and we held the KOM lead for 2 days with Kasza. Our team won teams GC overall and I feel now that we are in fighting form to challenge for an even bigger result.
Best regards to all, Jeremy Yates
