19 February 2014
IAM Cycling
For the start of the second stage of the Tour of Oman, the cloudy sky seemed also to be in mourning. On the starting line at Al Bustan, the 142 riders as well as fans and organizers, observed a minute of silence in memory of Kristof Goddaert, who died tragically Tuesday afternoon during a training ride in his hometown of Antwerp.
Kristof was present in everyones mind. His IAM Cycling teammates, who decided the night before to continue the race in his honor, were lined up at the front of the group. Sébastien Hinault (40 years old) gave tribute to his teammate who was taken from us too soon.
For sure, the coming days will be complicated. But Kristof was an energetic guy. Let us use that energy to enjoy this job that he loved so much.
Hinault had already been saddened after having heard some hours earlier of the death of an 11 year old support who succumbed to a disease. Nevertheless, the IAM Cycling road captain from Brittany led the team by example when he attacked the peloton in an attempt to bridge up to the three escapees who formed the main break for the day, though in the end all efforts would come to naught and the day ended in a sprint finish won by Alexandre Kristoff (Katusha).
On the starting line, we received many messages of sympathy from the other teams. That helps. And the minute of silence proved to be a powerful moment for everyone. After that, once we were racing, I decided to force the pace in an attempt to forget everything. To remove the emotion, I tried to push the pedals as hard as I could.
It was not enough to bridge up to the break, but Im glad I gave it everything I had. That is exactly what we are committed to doing in the next stages. We do not intent to withdraw from the race. The best thing we can do is continue to do business as usual, just as Kristof would have liked. Although both physically and psychologically it will not be easy to continue given the stages that are ahead.
Kjell Carlström, directeur sportif for IAM Cycling, was no less affected by the tragedy than his riders.
I have unfortunately already experienced something like this in 2010 as a rider with Sky. An assistant died during the Vuelta. Today, I reminded the guys how important our decision Tuesday evening to pay tribute to Kristof is. Though they were all affected, they all showed complete professionalism at all times. So even though the day has been very difficult, everyone has been exemplary.
