RUTA DEL SOL - Stage 5 — BRENT BOOKWALTER

Stage 5 saw us finish off five days of racing with a pretty wacky individual time trial. Coming from the USA, where all of our TTs seem to be on frontage roads with U-turns, this was the extreme opposite. Tons of corners, dirt road section, lots of gravel in the corners, two-way traffic separated by water-filled (and leaking) traffic dividers on top of the already slick southern Spain pavement. Can’t we find a happy medium somewhere in the middle!?

Despite a little bit of back and forth between the race org, officials, and CPA, we raced as planned. A reminder that for every bit of progress we’ve made in this department, we are still severely limited by our communication and collaboration.

In the end, it turned out well for our team with Jack moving up a place to second overall, and Edmo Nearly pulling off the stage win.

From my point of view, I was very average. I felt the load and hard work of the past few days and feel a bit “off the back” in terms of fit, preparation, and confidence with my TT setup. Obviously, there is room for improvement! Still, I’m leaving this race better than when I went in, especially considering the monumental life event of becoming a father (happened in recent weeks).

Overall, I’m pleased with how my pre-season prep carried me through this race. I am excited to get home but, unfortunately, looks to be a long night with a 7 pm flight delayed to midnight, putting me back in Girona around the time of Waylon’s 3-am diaper change.

I’m already anticipating the start of Paris-Nice and hoping to be able to confirm that soon! Thanks for following along this week.