#Touroffriendship

[bigmacsg]

Tour of Friendship 2024

ToF used to be my goto race of the season. 5 stages racing on good roads & usually pretty close to my Thai house made it super convenient. 

With Covid & excessive work, this is my first time back since 2018. A lot has changed. The total race is shrunk to around 100 riders only now & we’re now racing in Krabi rather than around Kanchanaburi. On the plus side, the resort is quite decent with better than normal rooms.

The flaky organisation has also reached new levels - but it still seems to work out in the end!

Stage 1: 82km

50s has the 2nd largest peloton of the race with 30 riders. No teams are big enough to dominate - with Matadors (3), Quantum Racing (keiichi & I) and 3 US guys being the largest. 

The temperatures were super hot - it hit 46 yesterday but Day 1 speeds not so much. The race felt like an easy bunch recovery ride for the first 10km so I attacked out of sheer boredom. An excellent noodle, US & Matador came over so I thought a good group mix but it lasted only 5 mins. 

I went again at 25km and we stayed out for 15km with just the Excellent Noodle for company. The signposts were not well marked and we hit a junction with no marshalls and had to stop - letting the peloton get back. 

I made a few more attacks later to drop a few off the back of the bunch. We ended with a super dodgy bunch sprint along the beachfront. Keiichi took 5th and I rolled in 15th. Happy with the start.

In 30s, Dom took 2nd so we’re looking good as a team.

Stage 2: 13km ITT

Having 2 stages in a single day is nuts - especially at 4:30pm in this heat. 

After a gentle 7km spin to the start, I was met with the superb last minute news that aero bars were banned. As I hadn’t brought any, i thought this change was fantastic (and fair)!.

The course was 13km out & back with slightly more climbing on the return.

I felt great and averaged a 39.8 for the race - catching 4 people before me. Despite losing 10s on the junction, i still managed 5th on the stage. My best ever ToF result - 1st podium in 32 stages!

Keichi took 2nd on the stage and is now 2nd overall. I’m in 6th on GC - 1 second from the podium.

Stage 3: 83km

Legs felt ok but not as sparkling as Day 1. Fortunately the day started out easy with a 30 average for 1st 10km. Excellent Noodles and the German took off and quickly were out of sight as we all felt it was too early. They got lost at a roundabout and we collected them 5km later.

After 20km there was another missed turn & Dan Smith took advantage with a sneak attack. Noodles and I jumped over but that lasted for only a few km before the yanks Made America Great Again.

We hit the rollers at 40km and the group splintered then - with only 8 hanging on. The climbs were punchy and Bintanesque.i went for the KoM only to find it was the next hill along.

As we got back to main highway, Mike Pryde suddenly appeared after getting towed by a motorbike!

The sprint appeared unannounced and i ended up in 7th. Retaining my GC 6th. Keiichi still in 2nd overall.

Dom had hired a pickup so we were safely on our way back to the hotel within 5 mins of finishing. Good marginal gains that hopefully pay off tomorrow. 

Stage 4: 83km

The legs felt even less sparkling today. Overall it felt like rerun of Stage 1 but at a slightly faster pace. We averaged closed to 38km and even caught the 40s peloton with 30km still to go.

I had a few digs but nothing that stuck. The race ended in a huge sprint with the 40s group. Given the dangerous finish, it sat up and rolled in 13th position. Keiichi got 3rd in the sprint.

Im still 6th GC. Tomorrow has a hint of a big hill on the profile so lets see how the legs recover.

Stage 5: 53km

Originally slated for 112km, the stage was dramatically slimmed down overnight to a short fast stage.

The course was easy so there was little opportunity for attacks. I launched the first on the slight rise out of the ITT dogleg. I got a 100m and then brought back pretty quick. Nothing else stuck & no-one else seemed motivated to try.

We hit 55km on the road back into town before degenerating into traffic hell at the sprint. I sat up and cruised in with the bunch. I retained my 6th GC but disappointed not to take a few seconds out of Dan Smith to get on podium.

My best ever ToF result & first time I’ve ever made the stage podium. The joys of a depleted peloton compared to its glory days! Ultimately I did not enjoy as much as previous years - due to the dodgy sprints, lack of marshalling & courses that weren’t really selective. If 2025 really is the last edition and back to the classic Kanchanaburi course then I’ll be back