Rest Day: Un día fuera de sitio - A day away.

Valencia. Photo by LuigiMS.

What can tell you about our rest day here in Valencia? Our day so far has been exactly what we needed -sleep, eat breakfast, have an easy ride with our teammates, eat lunch, take a nap, read the paper and wait for massage and dinner. It is nice to eat three real meals instead of plates of pasta, tubes and bars.

On race days we normally we don't have time to even read the paper. Although, sometimes reading the race's highlights can be a mixed bag. After reading the paper we have come to understand that many of the teams' leaders are suffering greatly from one thing or the other. We have read that it isn't the race or their form per se, but an ailment or some type. This is when I and other riders start to wonder. It is thought that team leaders are not suppose to have a bad day and if they do maybe it isn't that they aren't in form to win, but maybe something else like the bike, a sore muscle, a stomach flu or something. Then again maybe it is all true. But the coincidences seem overly frequent.

It is tough for many to admit that they just can't perform like they had hoped and that indeed that there are others who are in much better form than they are. When normal riders hit a brick wall - they just hit it. When those of us non-leaders get dropped we lose time because we haven't prepared well enough and are not in winning form. When we suffer and don't finish well we don't have an excuse. What else can I tell you. This is the reason there is a social hierarchy among us professional riders.

Ah, my masseur has arrived - what luck! A massage to complement a good day of rest.

Bingen Fernandez Bustinza
Cofidis
Yellow Jersey Tours
www.yellowjerseytours.com