The legs feel heavy and so do my eyes, I have just risen from my bed and feel like I could crawl back under the sheets for a week to recover, but the tour goes on.

Today we are in the host town of the 2008 World Championships, Varese. The air is very heavy and humid and last nights sleep wasn’t quite as comfortable as I’d hoped, though that just seems like part of grand tour life some days are good and some not so.

One bonus is we are back at sea level, after spending three nights sleeping at over 1200m altitude in the Dolomites its nice not to loose your breathe as you just walk down the stairs for breakfast.

After Mondays craziness on the slopes of the Corones Ski field, Tuesdays rest day was welcomed with open arms. After a 400km bus transfer and a small ride I put my feet up to rest and let my muscles recover for the final five days of the tour. It is a strange feeling being so far into this monumental race seeing the finish in site, but knowing there are two epic stages still standing in the way. Friday and Saturday bring two of the hardest days of the whole tour, so for me today I will be hiding in the bunch as much as possible and saving every bit of vital energy I have to get through the final two mountain days. Then just the final time trial in Milan to finish proceedings and hopefully my first Grand Tour.

Time to pull the chammy on once again.

Cheers

Tim