@Sutty Yes, it was.

Today we had the third stage of the NZ Cycling Classic, a flat one again. This time we decided we'd see how Nico could do in the Sprint, so in the end there were three trains: OFM for Caldeira, Jamis for J.J. Haedo and us for Nico. It didn't work out though, and I can't really tell who's fault it might have been, but our train completely collapsed in the end, and Nico only managed to get 16th. That also ends my short stint in the green jersey, but I expected that anyway. We'll see who'll lead out who tomorrow, but I think it might be a good idea to try and let Mark pull us all to the front, making it a four man train instead of a three man train.

@knockout I do hope so!

@mvhoogdalem Yes, it is. Now to see what he can do on the other stages.

@Hobbit How could they dare not to make him the leader in his first ever race?!
Joking aside, Jack will gradually take over more and more leadership.

@mvhoogdalem (again ) Yeah, he was extra motivated to be in a good shape early on.

@Ian No, Sam didn't seem to have the strength.

@Sutty I'm sure it'll improve, maybe letting Mark McNally pull will help.

Today I tried my luck with a late break away. Sadly I got caught with 4km to go, which didn't leave enough time to form a sprint train. In the end i just took Briggs wheel, whilst Nico lead Sam out. I finished 5th, as our best, which Kurt finds „very, very strong“ after riding on the front for about 10km. Haedo won the stage, and I'm still wearing the white jersey. Kurt said the guys should lead me out on tomorrows final stage, so we'll see how that goes. I would like to add that I don't have a photo of today, because apparently riding solo on the front for ten kilometres isn't worth taking a picture. I'll just use a picture from on of the other days (here me contesting an Intermediate on Stage 2); this might happen once or twice more, depending on.

@Sutty Yeah, that'll be great.

@mvhoogdalem Possibly, but as the pace slowed, he just couldn't resist. I'm sure it's not the last time he'll try an attack like that, he hates nothing more than sitting in the Peleton all day doing nothing.

And the New Zealand Cycle classic is officially over. On the last stage i came 8th, not quite as high as i expected. Trussov won the stage. We were never really far up front, and i couldn't close the gap enough after i'd started my sprint. I think this was just a positioning mistake, and I hope I can overcome those sort of silly mistakes the more experience I get. Anyway, here are the final results:

GC:


Points:


Youth: