Hi all,

Well to be honest with you I would have written this earlier but after a long delayed flight home yesterday, and the need for an afternoon at the beach today (with what seemed like the rest of France) I’m back online to fill you in on the action of stage 7 and where I’m off to from here.

Stage 7 was a 135km blast out of the mountains to the center of Krakow.  The race book’s profile didn’t really illustrate how difficult the stage would be, as we wiped up and down some nasty climbs for the first 100k.  To add to this an 11man group got away on the hardest climb of the day just 15km into the stage and with 4 riders close on general classification it was race on!  Though like I’ve said before this is the Pro Tour, and teams don’t let races slip away that easily, Lampre demonstrated just how strong they are and reeled in the break with just 20km to go.  By this stage the sprinter’s teams were ready to take over and as predicted what was left of the peloton roared into Krakow for a bunch sprint.

I had set myself a small personal goal for the stage, to finish in the top 10.  I knew I was capable if I put my mind to it, even with how tired I was feeling when I woke that morning.  As we started the mad dash to the finish line, I was positioned well but at the same time the sensations I felt rubbing shoulders with the other sprinters at over 65kph felt quite foreign again.  Team Columbia’s Andre Greipel was by far the strongest winning by 2 bike lengths, though for me it was a 9th place that sealed my own victory.  As we all slammed on the brakes to miss the mass of photograpers, I instantly felt happy and satisfied with my performance.  Though it didn’t take long for it to turn into a feeling of missed opportunity, I had hesitated as Greipel went by me thinking it was too early instead of backing myself to go with him.  Hindsight eh!  I didn’t have the legs to beat him, but maybe if I had set a goal of top 3 or even for the win, would I have done better?

Back home resting on the couch, I reassessed things again before setting new objectives.  Now I feel completely happy, content, and motivated for my upcoming races.  Really I achieved all my goals, finishing the Tour of Poland, and attempting a bunch kick, so I have to be satisfied.  There were riders there that had just stepped off the Tour de France in full form, and really for me it was less than 2 months since I even knew what my problem was.

The Tour of Poland was a month earlier than last year, and what a difference it made.  Last year we were belted with freezing cold weather and a lot of rain, stages had to be shortened as hypothermia was a real risk.  Though this year we were treated with mild days of 25degrees and sunshine almost all week.  It definitely changed the mood of the peloton which meant for a more exciting race for the crowd.  What really impressed all of us though, was the organisation of the race.  It was quite incredible, every day when you left the hotel there were signs directing the teams to the start village, and after the stage directing us to our next hotel.  I mean every hotel, when there were at least 5-6 hotels needed to accomodate all the teams each night.  Well done Poland, I say.

So this week I am in real recovery mode as its been almost a year now since I have done 7 consecutive days of racing and my body can sure feel it.  Though there’s not long to wait,  Saturday I am on the plane to Hamburg, Germany for a very prestigious race the Vattenfall classic.  Then its direct to Rotterdam for the start of the Eneco Tour, taking in Holland, Belgium, and Luxemborg in one week.  Now the goal is to just keep progressing with the injury and my form in general and hopefully I will get through this next block of racing in one piece.

Thanks for reading and all your comments, they are really appreciated.

Cheers

Tim