South African Stefan de Bod relished the learning experience he gained riding in the recent Tour of Turkey, his first international race with his new team.
The Dimension Data rider, who signed with the WorldTour set-up in August, said he learnt a lot and was happy to take that from the race, which finished in Istanbul on Sunday.
“I think my performance was good working for the team,” said De Bod, who placed 30th overall in the six-stage event.
Dimension Data’s Stefan de Bod relished the learning experience he gained riding in the Tour of Turkey. Photo: @gettysport
“I would have liked to have a go at a GC result in the tour myself. But that being said, I learnt a lot working in front for the experienced guys. I don’t see 30th as a result as I know I could have finished a lot higher.”
The 22-year-old, who won this year’s individual time-trial at the African continental road champs in Ethiopia, had a domestique role working for Ben O’Connor in the general classification and Mark Cavendish in the sprint stages.
“I made sure I was well prepared. I went to Turkey to learn and be in support of Cav and O’Connor.
“I also think my efforts to keep the guys up in front of the bunch were strong.”
De Bod raced alongside fellow countrymen Ryan Gibbons and Jaco Venter and found the experience rewarding.
“Racing with them in my first race was nice. I really enjoyed it. I shared rooms with Ryan, which made the new experience less stressful.”
An obstacle he had to overcome was the cold weather conditions.
“Stage five was extremely cold where we had a summit finish in the snow. I ate a lot on the bike and tried to keep warm.
“Good nutrition and recovery is important in keeping your performance going throughout each stage.”
De Bod, who placed second in the ITT and third in the road race at this year’s SA national road champs, added that his legs were fortunately strong all week and that he looked forward to racing more with his team.
“International race experience is really important.
“I learn something new in every race that will help in the future when it will be my job to get the results.”
