Today was a rather flat 137km, with just one small KOM at 29km. The stage consisted of a circular 111km loop, before coming back into Kansas City centre for three laps of an 8.5km circuit.

We started out pretty fast, with lots of attacks, but nothing getting away. I went for the KOM, trying to jump away with 2km to the top of the climb. A group came across to me with 1km to go, and I ended up getting a bit boxed in in the sprint for the points, and only got 2nd. It was a pity, as there are no KOM’s tomorrow, which would’ve meant a “free” day in the KOM jersey.

After the KOM, a five man break slipped away, and the peleton eased up. Once the break went out to almost 6mins, Discovery Channel got on the front along with Saunier Duval and Toyota United. They had a hard chase on rolling roads, and we had to fight in some crosswinds for about 30km, but everything stayed together.

The break was reeled in on the finishing circuits, and there was a bit of disorganization for a while, as no team took control to line up the sprint. Finally BMC got on the front, to be eclipsed by Healthnet in the final 3km. I did my best to look after our sprinter, Kyle Wamsley, and keep him sheltered near the front. He ended up getting third, so it worked out fairly well.

My average power for the stage was 192 watts (including 0’s), max was 1045. Peak 30sec was 705watts, 5min 353 watts and 10min 309 watts. So, the stage had its fairly hard moments, but I felt pretty good overall.

Tomorrow looks like another day for the sprinters, so I’ll just look to stay out of trouble and conserve for the TT on Thursday.