I felt rather bad on the prologue, and my stage ranking said more than words. I crossed the line on the only 2k long prologue with a loss of whole 22 seconds, and I was unrivalled at the bottom of the stage rankings. But I did not really mind, because I just came here to Croatia for the next to stages, where I hoped for Top 20 on both of them.

The next day, however, I fell remarkably good. I had great legs, and the Top 20 on the stage seemed to be a piece of cake. Hell, I think I could get a Top 10 even! However, I was not our leader, and we had to work hard for Balloni - protecting him from the wind, bringing him water etcetera, but I did not really mind, as I was the one to be his lead-out. I felt rather proud of that. I mean, Riccardo apparently trusted me this much, even though I was not fit at all.

Then something weird occured. I don't know why, but Riccardo told me to get points for the mountain classification, and so I did. Or well, my team helped me a lot, because a breakaway had broken loose, and they had about a minute.



Eduard(o) quickly got them under 20 seconds, and then I went. I did not know, and I still don't why I had to do it, but Riccardo was almost certain that I would be able to win that competition overall in this race. The "breakaway" was caught short after, but I did not mind at all. I had gotten what Riccardo told med to get, and therefore I was pleased.







When the final was close, we gathered in the front of the bunch. Or the ones of us, who had enough energy. I went to the front of the bunch to catch the latest attackers, but I did not have the speed to do so, and Sinkewitz got a way too big gap to close. He got accompained by another guy in a red jersey, and my only job to do now, was to get Balloni in the best position for the upcoming uphill "sprint". I felt rather good having in mind that only a week earlier I had made a big crash.

I came in as a stunning 9th of the day. I almost caught Balloni even. Needless to say I was once again a bit proud of myself, having one or two things in mind. First of all I had had a crash one week earlier, and I had recovered remarkably well. Second of all I was not even our captain, nor a protected rider. I had worked hard in the front for Alfredo, but coming in as the 9th best of todays stage was a bit of a surprise. As I mentioned earlier, I am very proud of myself!

Selwink wrote:
A very nice result, definitely considering you're a domestique in the first place

admirschleck wrote:
It doesn't seems like you're getting a big support with this, but I am loving this so far. Keep it up, please.

Well, it looked like another hard day in the saddle as I can recall it. I was supposed to attack for the mountain classification jersey on the two mountain sprints and that was basically the plan for me. After my somewhat impressive ride yesterday, Riccardo was not putting a leash on me.



I had to admit. The racing was boring until 1 kilometer before the first mountain sprint. I don't know why but nobody attacked and that team with the red jersey was riding at the front. They were setting a steady pace but not more than that. When a rider in a green jersey suddenly decided to attack about 1 kilometer before the mountain sprint, I decided to go with him - just for the points.



As I reached the top, I took a look behind me. There I saw how I had ridden faster than the two other guys had. I got the mountain points and calmed my pace a little. After a while, a motorbike passed us, as we formed in a group. We had gotten about a minute to the pack. We then started riding together, to increase our lead. Therefore, I was in the break of the day, as they called it.



I don't remember much of this stage. I think because of the fact that nothing really happened. Me and the other two guys just rode along. We shifted places. Shifted places again and it was really…repetitive. The pack had us, where a pack wants a breakaway. At most, we had 5 minutes. Before the second mountain sprint, we had like 2 I think. Oh well, at the second mountain sprint, I only came second but I was really close. It was enough to get into the provisional mountains jersey, I think, which was nice.



As we neared the finish line, we still had a minute in our bags. The pack had not reeled us in entirely. I was pretty sure they would though, so I decided to attack. The other guys could not follow. I didn't really feel tired after the attack and when the motorbike, I earlier mentioned passed me, it said 1'20". "I might do this. This could be my first win" was just some of the thoughts that went through my head.



I was alone until 1 kilometer from the finish line. A rider in the same green jersey, as the guy I had been in the break with, passed me quite fast. At that moment he passed me, I was fairly confused, because I thought it was the guy from the break. That I found weird. And on top of me not concentrating fully, my legs started to hurt. Just one kilometer away from my first professional victory but I think Riccardo told me that I would get many experiences like this, as a pro cyclist. I was quickly caught by the rest of the pack but I somehow managed to sprint a top 10 home.

Looking back at todays stage I am happy with the result. I was on the podium to get the mountain classification jersey and as tomorrow did not bring any mountain sprints, I had won that here in Croatia. Although it would have been nice to have won the stage, I can say that I am happy with my 9th place today. Going in to this race, I was expecting about top 20 in both of these hilly stages. It's nice to get to the top 10 in both of them. I am happy with my own performance. I have to go now, though but thanks for being here! Ciao!

Dippofix wrote:
WTF, a wild Kritzo appears.
And Sean Downey.