@sutty: On a mission, and changing focus to remain in contention for something at the end

The second week was initially billed as survival, but following my exploits over the first nine stages, I felt like I could come out of the race with more than just the experience of completing my first Grand Tour.

With the Mountains dominating the Second Week, I knew that I wouldn't be lasting too long in the Maglia Rosa. However, I was also sitting pretty at the top of the Points Classification, and up and coming routes favoured myself over Elia Viviani (OmegaPharma), who was my nearest rival. Could I seriously come away from my first Giro d'Italia with the Maglia Rosso? The hilly stage finish to Stage 13 was a particular target of mine.

As expected, I was spat out the back of the peleton the first moment that the Giro hit the mountains on Stage 10. I was riding well, but the pace of the Climbers was just too much to handle, and the narrow roads didn't help either. My time in Pink had lasted 5 days, and I was more than proud of the achievement.

I would finish the stage 12'27" down on Stage Winner Vincenzo Nibali (Astana), who comfortably took over the lead in the Maglia Rosa. Rohan rode well on the stage, and moved up to 8th on GC. I rode home with Davide Malacarne for company, and was hoping that today's efforts hadn't taken too much out of me.

It was agreed that Stage 11 would a gentler stage all-round for the team, and we would look to delivering Adrien at the finish. However, fate would make it a Giro to forget for the French Sprinter, as a crash and then a mechanical issue would rule him out.

Approaching the finish, I decided to have a go myself at the finish. I was in the Points Jersey, so I thought why not! Viviani looked like he was struggling in the run to the finish, and Giant weren't too keen on Kittel's chances either. Arashiro led me out perfectly, and not a single person came past me! I had my second Giro victory, and it was in a bunch sprint.

The ITT on Stage 12 would give me a time to recover, and I took my time over the 42km route. It was flat, and surprising I felt really good on the bike. After the efforts in the Mountains, plus the Sprint on Stage 11, I was convinced that I would struggle, but I felt fine. Dennis was flying though, and finished 7th on the ITT. Race Leader Nibali was the only GC rival to better his time, and he moved up to 5th Overall. Great riding from the Australian. I finished in 29th place, 3'18" behind stage winner Taylor Phinney (BMC).

The targeted Stage 13 didn't go to plan, as the ascent to the Cat.2 KoM Spront was harder than it looked on paper, plus when the GC favourite do battle on the climb, there was no chance I could react. My hope of taking a large number of points went with the attacks, and the Standings showed that Nibali was now my biggest rival to the Maglia Rosso. With the big Mountains still to come, could the Italian take that Jersey as well? Eduard Vorganov (Katusha) took the win from the break.

Tactics had to be put in place to try and limit the impact of the Mountains. Nibali was in top form, and he looked like he could win every stage where the road went upwards. On Stage 14, I attacked with Arashiro in tow. A group of 6 formed, and I was able to take maximum points at the Intermediate Sprint. As the mountains came, my race was over, and Nibali went on the win the stage, and put me 4 points behind him. This was going to be close.

The final stage before the rest day would be a gentle ride for me. Meintjes spent his day in the break, as it looked like Nibali could have also been a threat to his KoM Jersey. However, after a long day in the saddle, Louis did fantastically to all but confirm the victory with 6 stages remaining. Even better was Rohan's performance so far. He was consistently riding to Top 10 finishes in the Mountains, and going into the rest day, he sat 3rd on GC. Pete Kennaugh (Sky) timed his late attack to perfection and took the win.

Personally, I couldn't wait to get this final week started! I was 16 points down on Nibali, and the remaining stages 50:50 when it came to Flat and Mountainous.

And so we arrive at the final week of the Giro d'Italia. I currently sit 29th on GC, over 40 minutes down on the Race Leader Nibali (Astana), who needed a disaster on the last 6 stages not to win back-to-back Pink Jerseys.

My battle in the final week would be the Maglia Rosso. I sat 16 points behind Nibali in the Points Classification, and with 50/50 split of Flat and Mountain stages in the last week, it could easily swing either way. All I knew though, it was going to be a tough fight. The placement of the intermediate sprint on Stage 18 favoured Nibali.

1	Vincenzo Nibali	Astana Pro Team	85h35'01
2	Rafal Majka	Tinkoff-Saxo	+ 16'03
3	Domenico Pozzovivo	OmegaPharma - Quick Step	+ 18'00
4	Rohan Dennis	Team Europcar	+ 18'28
5	Fabio Aru	Cannondale Pro Cycling	+ 19'47

1	Martijn North	Team Europcar	211
2	Vincenzo Nibali	Astana Pro Team	209
3	Elia Viviani	OmegaPharma - Quick Step	149
4	Domenico Pozzovivo	OmegaPharma - Quick Step	137
5	Philippe Gilbert	BMC Racing Team	117

1	Louis Meintjes	Team Europcar	223
2	Vincenzo Nibali	Astana Pro Team	155
3	Samuel Sanchez	BMC Racing Team	101
4	Simon Clarke	Orica - GreenEDGE	89
5	Francisco Manuel Bongiorno	Bardiani Valvole - CSF Inox	75

1	Rohan Dennis	Team Europcar	85h53'29
2	Fabio Aru	Cannondale Pro Cycling	+ 1'19
3	Wilco Kelderman	Belkin Pro Cycling Team	+ 4'09
4	Moreno Moser	Cannondale Pro Cycling	+ 49'54
5	Louis Meintjes	Team Europcar	+ 50'02

1	Astana Pro Team	258h13'50
2	Cannondale Pro Cycling	+ 23'25
3	Sky ProCycling	+ 24'15
4	OmegaPharma - Quick Step	+ 26'17
5	Trek Factory Racing	+ 30'51

I couldn't believe my eyes when I opened the newspaper and saw the headline: Astana ProTeam to fold at the end of 2015. The Team had just won the Giro d'Italia with Vincenzo Nibali, taking the Team Classification with it. Both victories were done in a very commanding fashion. What had gone wrong?

Reading further into the article, as well as reading other bits online, it seemed that the team chequered past, and its relationship with doping, had reared its ugly head again. First it was revealed that Ruslan Tleubayev had tested positive for EPO during the final week of the Giro, with his B-sample also gave a positive result. The UCI issued the Kazakh rider with a 2-year ban from the 28th May 2015.

This blow to the team was soon followed by the news that irregularities were found in the Biological Passport of Vladislav Gorbunov, dating back to the beginning of the season. He was suspended immediately by the Astana management, pending investigation by the UCI. This turned out to be the straw that broke the camel's back, and enough was enough for the Management. At the end of 2015, they would be no more.

There was no news on who would replace Astana in the WorldTour, but rumours had already already been circulating; from a new Portuguese team starting up in 2016 to the return of a Big Name from the past.