Quite possibly the hardest day I've ever had on the bike. Non-stop climbing at 18km/h++.The long and short is that I finished in a chase bunch that arrived 2:12 after the stage leaders. I've now been bumped down to 14th on the GC, 2:16 down on the Yellow Jersey. That being said, only a minute separates positions 7-14.
All of a sudden I'm aiming for a top 10 whereas yesterday it was top 5.
Alex and I planed to attack from the off, having marked the climbs on a stage with 3 King Of the Mountains climbs (KOM), we aimed to be away before the first climb. We hugged the lead car's bumper for 12km of the Neutralized Zone through Usk, and then we were off.
Needless to say we were marked men and our position at the front only served to prompt an uphill sprint that lasted about 20km and which split the field. A later conversation with one of the marshals revealed that around 40 men were dropped before 20km in. For us, this only wore us out and by the descent into Llanishen we were chasing GC contenders who were chipping off the front.
The descent itself was pretty hairy, with some rolling tubs at speeds of up to 75km/h and the hum of overheating cork pads in the air. Two went down in front of me at one of the hairpins where someone's brakes had overheated, but luckily only at low speed.
The second half of the race was spend tapping through and off on the A40, only for me to later realise that Team Corley were bluffing their turns and had a man up front.
Our strategy needed to adapt as soon as we failed to get away - we had no contingency. This was our downfall today.
Not a good day for the Eastern Region composite - no time made, and Owen Lake had dropped out of GC contention, rolling in with the second large bunch. Alex has dropped from 5th to 10th in the GC.
Tomorrow is rolling with a 4 mile uphill finish. If I can tow Alex to the base of the climb, he could still get yellow.
