Joost again

It's been a while since I wrote about my favorite bike racer, Joost Posthuma. He spent a day in the White Jersey as best young rider in the third stage of last year's Tour de France, but spent most of the season supporting other riders on his team and when given opportunity to shine on his own, didn't have the legs, luck, or savvy to make it to a top-placing position.

Last year I wrote about him as one of a handful of unassuming, reticent, or not-spotlight-hogging professional athletes in whom I was interested.

I write about him now because Tuesday he made a wise move in a stage race called De Panne-Koksijde, coming in 20 seconds behind the break-away winner, fifth in the stage and (since it was the first stage of the race) fifth overall.

Yesterday, alas, he was only 30th in the 2nd stage, a long 227 kilometres from Zottegem to Idesbald. However, because other top-placers in Tuesday's race did even worse, he ended up 4th in the overall competition.

We'll see how how he does in today's time trial, a speciality of his.

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