STEVE CUMMINGS

DIMENSION DATA

The Abu Dhabi Tour was frustrating, to say the least. It did not go to plan. We lost Mark Cavendish on stage 1, which was a big blow. I felt terrible all race, too. I think the main problem was the sudden change in temperature. I’d come from a European winter into a desert, where we saw temperatures of 35 degrees. I arrived one day before the race and it was never enough time to adapt to the heat. It has been colder than normal in Europe the last weeks and it was hotter than average in Abu Dhabi. A shift in temperature of around 20-30 degrees was enough for my body to not function at its optimal.

Having said that, after seeing the decisive climb to Jebel Hafeet on stage five first hand, I realised it was absolutely not a good climb for my characteristics. The race for the GC was climbers who could hold their own in a TT. Congratulations to Alejandro Valverde, the race winner – he’s a class bike rider. I read that he went to Abu Dhabi five days early and rode the climb several times, firstly, so he knew the climb, and secondly because getting there early he felt gave his body more chance to adapt.

One of Team Dimension Data’s main objectives is to bring African talent through into WorldTour level. With this in mind, I wanted to write a little story (there are many more!) about one of my team-mates Mekseb Debesay. Mekseb hails from Eritrea. Like all the riders I’ve met from Eritrea he has big talent - he may be a little raw, and may need some polishing to improve, but hey, who is perfect? I’m certainly not. Mekseb came to Abu Dhabi via Turkey. When he arrived in Turkey he was held at customs for 12 hours, because of some problem with his visa. His luggage was lost during travel, too. When he finally arrived in Abu Dhabi, with 12 hours to go to the race, his hand luggage had been left on the runway so he had no shoes either. He borrowed a pair of shoes from a team-mate that fitted him more or less, and set the cleats up as good as he could before the start.

Visas are a big challenge for some riders. Often, in between races, riders have to make special trips to embassies three hours or more from where they live, to get them approved. They have to wait for hours for paperwork to be processed, and there is no guarantee they will get the visa even then. Mekseb though, like all the Eritreans, is always smiling. Pretty cool, guys.