On the 14th of March I have successfully qalified for the Tour de Korea stage race in a 80kms hilly criterium in the city of Chuncheon, in Kangwondo province (this province is famous for proposing for staging the winter olympic games). As the weather was freezing and temps nearing minus 3 Celsius my only tactics was to attack as much as I could and keep high pace to shave off the rivals. After the first half of the race I appeared to be in a 3 men breakaway, we kept solid pace and put some distance on the main peloton. In the end I was sprinting for the glory but american exMTB pro Scott Stillwagon beat me by one bike lenght as I have led the last 2kms into the win. Tour the Korea will be a 9 stage cycling event circling the entire Korean penisula. Starting on the 22nd of April and finishing on the iconic Dongdaemun main sqare in the very downtown of Seoul on May the 2nd. The first stage will take place in Jeju, my favourite korean  island of volcanic origin (newly listed amongst UNESCO protected national parks). Now after several days of not training due to flu  I am back in preparation. Not easy as the weather here is still 0-6 Celsius. Evening defrosting sauna sessions are a must. Stay tuned in for the TdK 2010. Next race is Korean Duathlon Champs in Cheonan on April the 4th. Course 5km-40km-10km