hi!

well the stage today was one that was full of nothing but STRESS… basically all day it was stressful due to the wind, and doing a lot of riding close to the coast. everyone was nervous that there was going to be cross wind, and there was but just not quite enough of it. there were times when the peleton split up, but then there were some trees etc that gave everyone cover so the field come back together.

i had a much better day, legs felt 100x better than the day before too. so even though we never got a result i was a much happier chap knowing that the old me is somewhere inside my body, and i am guessing ill just get better from here on.. well im hoping anyway!

it was only 130kms today, so a very short stage… but like i said. stressful. we had to always be ready, at the front or not far from the front.. the last few stages we have really relaxed during the start of the stage, something much different to the last few years, but today we only relaxed for about 5kms. then it was stress city, and all for nothing! i guess its best to be ready cause you never know what could happen, but it really takes it out of you being on the edge for 3 or so hours.. coming into the finish it was pretty sketchy with roundabouts, traffic islands and then every rider wanting to be on the front..

we were all well placed, then i got really hit hard and ended up to far back to help our sprinter. its just like that some days. if you get knocked around, you lose momentum, and its hard to come back.. there was so many near crashes, and sometimes i wonder what on earth the race organizers are thinking having real technical finishes just due to the safety aspects of the race.. but again thats cycling..

we all survived and no one had any real trouble. we had jan from our team in the break today and he picked up 4s in time bonuses which moves him up close to the overall lead… it now gives us 3 cards to play so all is good for us heading into the last few days of the tour, and most importantly, the big stage that finishes a top of wilunga hill.

today we have the same distance of 130kms to ride.. it has a hard start, then a tough wee climb with 20kms to go… it will be interesting to see what happens, and the last climb could be a real launch pad for a few riders to attack.. we will have our climbers ready to go should that happen. it doesn’t look like a decisive stage but this is a crazy world we live in, and we have to be ready…

a bit of a boring report today… only bit of laughing material will come yet again from jens.. he commented after the stage that when he and stuey ogrady were riding on the front with 10k to go they just about had 80yrs between them.. pretty unreal, and just hearing the way jens tell the story is even better.. we are all like kids listening to his stories at the dinner table.. great way to pass the time..

right, ill update after the stage.. would be really nice to give you all some good news.. either about myself (that will come this year trust me!) or about one of my teammates.. we do have a shot to win this race, and what i seen the other day from one of our riders says to me that he has the legs to rip the race apart… time will tell!

cheer for reading…
ciao