3rd Cappadocia International Stage Race

Last week I travelled out to Cappadocia in Central Turkey to Slave for Cross Country riders Ruth McGavigan (Pedal Power RT) and Iain Nimmo (Merlin Rocklobster), I say slave because simply standing around waiting to hand bottles out in 35 degree heat is in itself, downright slavery.

Cappadocia is a beautiful area of Turkey, almost desert like with its cave houses and surreal surroundings, to see for yourself you should check out http://www.great-adventures.com/destinations/turkey/cappadocia.html But sight seeing was not top of our agenda, we were here to contest a UCI D2 Stage race hosted by Turkish Bike store Deltabike and the Turkish Cycling Federation. The start sheet looked daunting with 17 Countries being represented including Germany, Holland, Belgium, Austria, Sweden, Ukraine, Ireland, Romania and Isreal to name a few.

The first stage on Friday, was a time trial around the old town in Urgup Center. This consisted of around a 500m climb up through the cobbled streets and onto dusty single track where the riders twisted back down some steep technical stuff to finish back in the town center in times of around 11 minutes. Both our riders held their own despite some untimely luck which saw Ruth take a bad spill on the descent in a warm up lap. While Iain spent the previous night fighting a fever and a serious dose of the runs, which was eventually to effect the majority of the camp. I guess its tough to overcome bacteria in the water system when the average temperature is around 35 degrees and you are 400 Km from the nearest coast. Iain came home in 9^th while Ruth did an excellent ride to finish 5th.

Day two we headed out of town to the Cross Country Course which was an excellent mix of sandy fire road and dusty/rocky single track with descents which passed through vine yards and caves culminating in a 12Km lap. The main climb was steep and grueling with some parts fully exposed to the rays with white rock all around to help reflect the heat. Iain started well and held eighth place during the 4 lap Elite race, battling it out with Dutch rider Huyib de Roo and Romanian Tudrop Oprah. A strong last lap earned Iain 7^th finishing 3 minutes ahead of the Dutch rider. Ruth put in another good steady ride to take 7th in the 3 lap Elite Womans race.

The final stage was a 42 Km Point to Point, starting and finishing in Urgup Center. The start of the course utilised Friday's time trial course before heading out of town on sandy fire roads towards the previous day's cross-country course taking in some unbelievable scenery of canyons and caves along the way. Some of the course proved very technical and saw Iain bite the dust gaining some minor grazing. More seriously was the leading female Swedish rider who came down and had to be rushed to hospital for emergency surgery on facial damage. This was by far the most difficult stage for the riders with the combination of it being the hottest day and the hard going nature of the sandy course. Ruth, now also suffering from a tummy bug had a great ride to come home 5th and take 6^th overall while Iain struggled round looking tired after 4 days sitting on the pan to finish 8^th and a credible 7^th overall.

Irish rider Beth Mccluskey did a storming race in the Elite woman. Unfazed by her bike going missing at Heathrow and having to do the first stage on a borrowed bike she went on to take a win on the final day to finish 4^th overall.

A massive thanks goes to all the organizers for putting on a top race and for their outstanding hospitality, to Meltem and Philis for escorting Iain along the Doctors on Sunday morning to fix his tummy, Gokcan for sorting the technical stuff. A Big up to Muratis and Selim (Shady Guy) for looking after us, learning some Scottish and sharing some of the Turkish delights. Also a big SHOUT has to go to Engin the Man for being the Man and Scott Boyd for giving Iain water and encouragement when he needed it most.

Top 10 Overall :

Janet Innes (XC Slave)

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