ToF Stage 4

ToF Stage 4 Last night I woke up a few times because of the pain on my hips and leg. In the end I removed the blanket and had to sleep on one side. This morning when I woke up, my whole body was feeling so stiff. My wounds were also a little swollen. Having wounds really isn't very enjoyable. I wasn't able to get any massage after each day. All I could do was watch Raymond get his. I also couldn't really do any proper stretching as I was limited by my wounds.  But I got up anyway got ready for the stage.

Today was the perfect day for me to breakaway. I'm way down in GC and everyone was tired. They would certainly let me go. But I should really kick myself in the head. When Matt Kinch went from the start I hesitated too much. I thought the pack would chase him down and then I would go on the next counter attack. But the first attack happened to be the break of the day. The pack didn't really chase after that. Matt DNF on stage 3 so is out of GC battle, so no reason for the pack to chase. I really should have went in the break with him. That way I could have had a shot at stage win or a podium. Anyway he would go on solo for the next 80km and win the stage. The gap went up to as much as 6mins 48secs at mid way before the pack started to speed up on the second half of the race and slowly ate away the lead. In the end the gap between him and the first finisher, which happen to be Fredrick again, was only 23secs.

The organisers took away the big climb in the middle of the race. So it was only left with the hill top finish on top of a dam. It was a 4km climb to the top, about slightly more than twice that of Faber. When I looked at the stages for this year's ToF, this was actually the stage that I have targeted. So I really wanted to do well today. But half way through the stage I wasn't feeling too good and my left arm was feeling stiff and numb. I couldn't really squeeze my bottle and had to shift my left shifter with my right hand. Going up the last climb I started somewhere further back. Then the split happened and I had to chase hard to get back to the select group of riders. By the time I did so, Fredrick attacked and the pace went up again. The pack split and I was a little further back. I continued at my own pace keeping them in sight. In the end I finished 12th on the stage, 7secs behind Damian Barrett of team DirectAsia.com. After today's stage, I'm lying 26th on GC.

Tomorrow's last stage would be some small rolling roads before a pancake flat 10km to the finish, which ends the same place as the second stage. The roads would be wide with strong headwind. There is no point in trying to break anymore as the possibility of a bunch sprint is very likely, unless a big group gets away. But that is very unlikely too. Tomorrow is my last chance to get something out of this tour. I need to stay out of trouble and plan my sprint better.