Today was the longest stage of the tour, 215km, and also very undulating. It was a point to point course, with a head to cross headwind the whole way, which made attacking/getting a break away difficult. Normally a break forms around the hour mark, as that’s when riders start to tire of covering moves. Today it took around two hours, with the break finally forming around 90km. During that time, I covered numerous moves, and sprinted out a rather flat KOM at 50km. I again got second by a tire’s width, as Jeff Louder (who has the KOM jersey) had a team mate who lead him out, and then drifted me wide into the pavement.

Finally, a ten man made it off the front, and I was happy to be in it. Discovery Channel kept a tight leash on us, and there were also some riders in the break who weren’t pulling their weight. We should have had a really good chance of making it to the line, but because Discovery kept us under 5mins, the sprint teams got organized, and got on the front to bring us back and force a bunch sprint.

With 12km to go, the peleton was breathing down our necks, and Jeff Louder (Helthnet) and myself decided on a do or die dash for the line. We attacked our breakaway compatriots, and the two of us worked well together, but to no avail. We were caught with 5km to go, and the stage ended in a field sprint.

My only consolation for a hard day’s work was being awarded the most aggressive rider jersey. Also, it was really good training towards Worlds. My average power for the stage (5:14hrs) was 237 watts (not NP). So it was a good hard stage overall, especially the first 90km where I was trying to get away. I felt good throughout, so am happy with that.