Friday, April 6, 2012

Basque 3 & 4

It's been difficult racing the last two days, especially with the two "summit" finishes. Late finishes, longer transfers, busy nights, and broken internet have hindered my updates, apologies! Stage 3 was a real tough day with constant pressure on the field all day. The team did a good job of protecting the leaders until the final climb where the race was made. Chris made a really good effort for the win, but as has happened in the past 2 years, Samuel Sanchez timed his efforts to perfection to take the win. For me, I was with the front group and feeling pretty good actually until the base of the final climb, where I had a run in with a sign, which brought me to an abrupt stop. The group was gone and I was left frustrated. I thought I was bringing Frank back after he had dropped his chain at the bottom of the climb, but when I asked him after the race, he said he didn't even see me! I guess it was all for nothing. C'est la vie!

Stage 4 was a dandy for sure. I felt pain in the legs almost all day. I just couldn't seem to get going. Chris, Frank, and Max did a good job on the final climb to animate the race, but in the end, Chris actually lost some time on the gc. The biggest problem is that he didn't gain time over Tony Martin, so now it will be very hard to win against him in the TT. I finished yesterday's stage a bit disappointed because I feel like normally I should be able to have been there to help a little bit on the final climb, but I just didn't seem to have it yesterday. There are other days to continue to fight, and I will continue to do my best. The weather continues to be on/off ugly. It certainly is nothing like the last 2 years where it was sunny and warm.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Just keep on keeping on. You continue to make the race exciting for us!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the breakfast read, always look forward to the inside story. Weather says dry today hope that is accurate, keep us up to date on the real race happenings.