TdF Stage 13…The big question of the day: will it be a sprint or a break? The Tour has now fallen deep into the second half of the race and the real show to sort out who will finish where in the general classification starts today as we hit the high mountains of the Pyrenees.
Thus yesterday was the end of the “pre-race” part of the Tour for some. Considering how tough it’s been, that’s a facetious line to say the least.
As yesterday was finally a little cooler, and the profile itself wasn’t too fierce, the on-course support for the boys was a little less. This meant we headed straight for the finish, rocking out to Bonnie Tyler (bit of a powerballad chicks of the 80s theme in the last few days), sending messages to the boss about anything that looked dangerous on the road.
The big question was if the stage itself would end in a sprint. The final climb was close to the finish, and while short, was quite steep: no guarantees the sprinters would get over it. Regardless, we did some recon on the finale so the boys knew what the conditions would be like if they came in at warp speed. In another great ride by the team, Julian Dean, our Kiwi cult hero, came across the line 5th in the sprint and 6th overall.
I should know the stats precisely, but instead can only say we’ve had an awfully high number of top ten finishes in the race. We’ve been consistently amongst the action on all terrains and stage types. It’s great to see.
And now, the big show.
