Well, one day to go in the Tour of Ireland and things are still going great!  I’ve been learning a lot about racing in yellow, and although there have been a few moments of stress for me, I think I’m getting the hang of it.

The first day defending yellow started with a group going up the road, containing nobody within 2 minutes of me but my teammate Robin.   So, the situation was perfect for us, as even if they gained lots of time, we would still be in yellow.  There were in fact a few problems with this though, as we were also trying to defend the KOM jersey, and if the gap got too much we would still be in the lead, but we would only have one rider at the top of the leader board, instead of Robin and I both in good position.  So, the plan was to keep the break close enough to be manageable, but maybe bring it back to get Anders some points, or at least keep it low enough to have the two of us filling up the top spots.  Anyway, this meant having the team on the front for a lot of the day, and we weren’t getting a lot of help from the others.  In the end the gap came down enough to have me and Robin in 1st and 2nd on GC, with Robin taking the stage win.  It was all good, but the fact that we had to have the team in the wind the whole time concerned me, and I knew I had to take a bit more control myself to save the other guys.

Anyway, the next day I knew I had to present myself in the moves, not so much to drive them unless they were good for us, but just so we wouldn’t have to chase so much.  Things started out really good though – it seemed like the other GC contenders were more concerned with attacking/marking each other than me, so that made it a relatively easy day for us.  As the day went on it was pretty clear that nobody was letting anything get out of sight, and a bunch sprint seemed to be what would decide the finish.  A crash about 3km from the finish caught Austin off guard, and he ended up with a bit of a bloody knee, but nothing serious.  After that, with a strong tail wind, Robin got the big gear rolling and won his first ever field sprint in dominant fashion, for his second stage win in two days.  This also put him in the points jersey, as well as the king of the mountains.  So, things were looking really good for us, with 1,2 and 10 or so on GC, KOM and points jerseys, and team GC by over 4 minutes, but the toughest day was yet to come, on the coasts of Achill island – a hilly, very exposed island which happens to also have some pretty incredible scenery.

Today was one of the more important days – and one of the last opportunities to gain or lose time, aside from tomorrow’s finishing climb up windy gap.  It was another windy, rainy day, but nothing too horrible for Irish standards.  The stage was flat for the first 50km, and then there were 3 good climbs back to back to back, with cross winds wreaking even more havoc on the riders.  With lots of days of racing in everyone’s legs, it made it all the more reason to be aggressive.  After all, the best defense is often a good offense.

About 30kms into the stage, Anders got things rolling for the team, going off on his own, gaining a minute within the first few kilometers.  This brought the other riders up to the front to defend their GC spots, and in the process using up their teammates and even their own legs.  Everyone was looking beat at breakfast this morning, but the head bobbing and choppy pedaling during the stage gave everyone’s fatigue away even more.  It was looking like they were bringing Anders back, but just as he came into sight Yannick jumped across the gap and helped him spin away yet again.

That’s when we hit the hills and cross wind, and I thought this would be a good time to put some more time into the others.  It took a few tries, but after a while I was away on my own, fighting into the wind.  3 others crossed to me, and I stopped working since we were chasing down two Hot Tubers.  They worked hard to bring Anders and Yannick back, but started to lose organization after a bit.  That’s when I hit them again on a small climb, and got a decent gap right away.  It’s funny how sometimes when you’re on your own, you can feel that you’ll be caught soon, but others you just no your gone and can see everyone else suffering in your mind.  Today was just like the second situation, and I knew it wouldn’t be long before I saw Anders and Yannick.  I caught them at the base of a good KOM, but Yannick was beat and dropped back.  Now it was me and Anders, with 2 good climbs, then rolling hills for the 20kms to the finish.  We hammered away, managed to hold off a bridge attempt from one of the Irish guys, and held on to put 35 seconds on what remained of the field by the end.  Behind us, things were blowing to pieces and finishing with small groups, just the type of epic finish that you would expect from such a stage.

Once everything was tallied up, Anders took the climbers jersey, Robin kept the points jersey (but in a tie with one other guy), and I gained a bit of time for the overall.  So everything is coming down to tomorrow’s stage for the other jerseys.  It’s a flat day, with a good climb to finish up.  If Robin can beat the guy he’s tied with, then he’ll keep the points jersey, and Anders just has to place in the finish for some KOM points.  It’s certainly not over yet, but we’re starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel!

One Response to “Tour of Ireland – Stage 3-5”