After a flat and uneventful penultimate stage, the final one was my only chance to get the jersey back proper. I may have been wearing the jersey but Sastre would be the one taking it home, at this rate anyway.
So I went with the break and thankfully the bunch let it go.
I worked with the rest of the 10 man group until it became evident that we would stay away until the climb. Over the climb, Zubeldia and Pereiro pulled me and Hejesdal clear. I clipped past them to take the points and with it the jersey!
The peloton had not worked hard to catch us and it was clear that we would stay away. The pace slowed and I was working with them. I had recovered well and was riding on the front when I turned round and flicked my elbow, to realise that I had been outmanoeuvred and I would be leading out. Just one moment of lapsed concentration.
However, they remained looking at each other as I kept the pace low. None of them were good sprinters and I felt that if they just forgot about me for a bit I could reverse the mistake…. There, go!
And there it was, my early kick caught them off guard and it was enough to take me clear for the win! My first ProTour win! What an occasion! What a result!
It was fantastic for me and coupled with the mountains jersey was definitely my best day in cycling. What more could I have wanted.
Before I update you on my own racing, I just wanna say congrats to Phil at the Giro. 5th place overall! He slowly moved up in the mountains as others fell by the wayside and took a superb stage win on top of that. Sadly he lost 4th place in the final time trial to veteran Paolo Salvoldelli but his heartache was put into perspective when Mauricio Soler was overhauled by less than a second.
With no motivation currently, this story will go on an indefinite hiatus.
Just to update you, Alex rode with no particular consequence at the Dauphine before returning to the UK to stick it to the domestic pros who raced against them, helping Geraint Thomas alone to win the GP of Wales before the rest of the Brits returned to make it double succes for the team and for G as he then won the nationals. Alex subsequently went on a months break as Velits went 5th in the closest ever Tour, Evans beating Gesink by just 6 seconds with a brilliant attack in the penultimate mountain stage.
Sorry about this and I have kept the savegame and db so if I find the want, then I will get going with this again. Edited by wackojackohighcliffe on 20-03-2011 19:16
