The past 4 stages...

The legs have been coming around a bit so I've been a bit more involved in the racing as the week goes on:

Stage 1 - Hard day with steep repeated climbs. Rolled in with the groupetto with Travis, Nick, and Jake. Guy and Cheyne are highest on GC.

Stage 2 - Flatter stage. I got into the early breakaway and we DRILLED it for a while. It was pretty tough to stay away since the Italian team was going crazy fast in the field. Our gap was up over one minute, but it quickly fell after 30 km and we were caught. The Italians kept tempo and reeled in the next break for a field sprint. Travis, Nick, Cheyne, and I set up Jake for the field sprint, where he was 4th and just needed a bit more help to take the win.

Stage 3 - Short circuits with a 600 meter steep climb each circuit. Ouch! The legs came around by the end of the race and I felt ready to lead out Guy and Jake to the base of the final climb on the last lap. I drilled it hard and hit the climb first, then Guy took over and I rolled in at the back.

Stage 4 - An evening TT on the same course. It was a bit unfair since the officials allowed a full aero front end on a road bike, but no TT bikes. So guys were set up really aero even on their road bikes! I ended up rocking my road bike standard setup with Travis' 404 wheels for a 12:05 time and 35th place. Guy killed it and almost won...2nd place. Travis also had a good ride with 11th place. Everyone on the team road really well today.

Stage 5 to come from almost France land.

-b-