I couldn’t believe it when I learned at breakfast that the
conspiracy theorists jumped on Ryder Hesjedal’s crash as evidence of a hidden
motor. I’ll leave the physics out of the argument and just say this: if he had
a tiny motor hidden in his frame, it would definitely have a very limited
battery life. Why, then, would he be using it in a slick downhill corner, when
he wasn’t even on the front?
Anyways, we were excited to have our own bus back for today’s
stage. You don’t realize how spoiled you are until the toilet and showers are
taken away from you!
There was no doubt in anybody’s mind that today would be a
sprint stage: 8 laps of a relatively flat circuit. With a tough week of stages
looming, everyone wanted a fairly easy ride today, which is why it took 3k
before anybody attacked. Even then, only one Cannondale rider was willing to
fall on the sword.
With only one rider to chase down 160km later, we were in
for a very easy day. For 3 hours, the hardest I worked was getting back to the
field after one of my four pee stops.
With Lawson on the front sharing the workload with FDJ, the
gap steadily fell over the last 100km. With nothing interesting going on,
Tobias asked over the radio if he could swap out with Lawson and do some work.
I couldn’t help but laugh when’s Lawson’s reply came over the radio, “Just let
me be happy, Toby!”
Over the final two laps, the speed steadily increased. With
10k to go, we were at the front before the short descent. Everything was going
to plan, until it wasn’t. Due to some miscommunication, half of us ended up at
the front too soon, with the others all fighting on their own to join us. We
were still trying to find each other at the moment that we had planned to make
the big move to the front, and we never properly linked up. Due to skill,
experience, and a bit of luck, however, John and Ramon were together very near
the front when the field strung out for good with 4k to go.
Nikias and I were fighting to get up there to help until
about 1.5 to go, then pulled the plug after accepting that we wouldn’t make it.
When the barriers narrowed at 1k to go, some riders tried to force through a
gap that wasn’t there, and the crash spread across the road. I was relieved to
see no Giant-Shimano jerseys among the fallen, and continued on to the finish,
where I learned that John had taken his 3rd stage win after a superb
leadout from Ramon.
Just to give you an idea of how motivated we all are: we got
the stage win, but most of us are left a bit unsatisfied, wanting more. The end
result was achieved, but not in the way we had wanted, and for that we will
work harder next time. 3 stage wins is not enough—we’ll fight every day!
We aren’t sure what we’re in for tomorrow…it could easily be
a stage for a big breakaway, or possibly a another field sprint. After a relatively
easy day today, it could be really exciting.
12 down, 9 to go!
