“This is the wettest day in my career,” Nadav Raisberg said right after his individual time trial in Rwanda. “I got back to the paddock completely soaked.”
It seemed more aqua cycling than road racing in Rwanda: to say it was raining cats and dogs is an understatement. Water flowed over the roads like a river. Holes in the road were filled like swimming pools. It was incredible circumstances to race in, even if it was only four kilometers.
Raisberg enjoyed his debut in the colors of the team big time either way. “I loved it. This was already exciting. I am ready to do the next stages.”
It was also Cole Kessler’s first race with IPT. He started early, and got the hot seat for a few minutes, but the fastest riders (on paper) started the later.
One of them was Alastair MacKellar, who was IPT’s top-finisher in the capital of Rwanda. He claimed seventh place in the rain. Omer Goldstein was right behind him: eighth.
MacKellar competes for the youth classification and gave himself a head start for that jersey. Goldstein barely lost time on the race leader and is competitive for the GC in the days ahead.
Raisberg quickly changed his wet clothes and shoes for dry casual wear and slippers. “Hopefully we get some better weather the rest of the week. Even though it was special to race in these conditions, I rather have dry roads!”
