Jet Fuel Coffee at Tour de Taiwan 2008 - Part IV

Prior to the start of Stage 1 in Kaoshiung City, there was a pensive mood among all the riders. For many of the Jet Fuel Coffee members, not only would this be one of the highest level races of the year, if not their career to this point, but it was also the first race of the season for a some of them. In fact, for some of the snow-bound Toronto residents, it would be their first ride not on an indoor trainer in many many weeks.

Despite the idiom of "saving the best for last", Jet Fuel Coffee was called upon to have the great honour of being the first team allowed to 'sign-on' for the Tour de Taiwan 2008, all the while being filmed for TV coverage by ESPN Asia :

The whole peloton seemed to have alot to prove. The foreign riders had traveled long and far to participate in the Tour de Taiwan 2008 and were anxious to get the show started to justify the time and expense to participate. Meanwhile the local riders wondered how they would stack up against the foreign powerhouses.