After I have been fighting a cold since the end of the Tour Down Under, nothing has really been going right here at the Tour of Qatar. You might say I have sand in the gears and must just look from day to day.

We have sand in our gears here in the desert quite literally, though. Yesterday we had such a strong storm that we got free of charge a peeling or more accurately, a sandblasting.

When I arrived in Qatar and said that it was my first start here, I was greeted as a newcomer. I was more or less taken into a club. Everyone said, you have never experienced anything like this. And after yesterday I know that it really is something very special to ride here.

But it is extreme not just for us riders. In a sandstorm you can’t see very far and while you are going full out you inhale a whole lot of dust. I believe we all lose three years of our life due to black lung ;-)

Our mechanics curse the entire time. If you let the bike stand for just a few minutes, it immediately has a layer of dust on it. They have to constantly clean the bikes because of the sand. And the sand not only grates between our teeth, of course it also grates in the chains, sprockets and the gears.

But that is just the way it is. I’ll just have to see how it goes for me in the next few days. Maybe there will be another sprint and I will feel good enough to take part.

Photos: roth-foto.de (1), private (1)