Sunday’s stage offered up a mix of emotions for the team as we had several guys in the front, or near the front, on the last ascent to the finish, yet Janez was unable to hold on to the jersey as Valverde, and Vinokourov rode away.

The stage was likely the hardest day of the Vuelta with over 5,000 meters of climbing, stifling temperatures, and little recovery between the long ascents. Today, we are fortunate to have a rest day and can have an easy day on the bike, keep our legs up and spend some time with our families. In some ways it seems the race just started as the last week has actually passed quickly as we have had many hard stages sandwiched between easier days. With just under two weeks of racing to go, the race is not nearly over and it seems several riders are getting stronger in the mountains whereas others are faltering. Overall, the feeling in the peloton is that there are a lot of tired guys in the group — the gruppetos are massive and bigger than the groups up ahead racing — and in the peloton yesterday I heard, “ah, tomorrow’s the rest, I am looking forward to a nice cold beer with lemon tonight.”

As we climbed the mountains in the heat, it actually sounded quite good at that exact moment. In fact, my Dad who is here with Bikecamp, the Phinneys’ camp, found a beer tent two kilometers from the summit that was serving free cervezas, and after climbing the mountain twice — once from each side — in the extreme heat, he certainly was happy to be drinking one as we pedaled past suffering. Janez was disappointed with his performance yesterday — not because he lost time to some of the greatest riders in the sport but because he made a mistake on a day he was feeling fantastic and paid the price: he forgot to eat.

When a rider is on a good day, or even a great day, his legs are floating beneath him and he isn’t feeling the pedal, it is easy to forget to eat, as it seemingly doesn’t seem possible that anything can sap his energy. And, on a big mountain day it is even easier to forget to eat as we are either going up or down which leaves little time to dig into the pocket for a gel or energy bar and even less time to chew it down. Yes, we were racing for six hours, but most of it we were huffing and puffing going uphill or completely focused braking, cornering and accelerating going downhill. I can assure you that Janez’s Vuelta is nowhere near over and he will come back fighting and flying in the first time trial. Last night he was not sad about losing the jersey but mad about making the error — in this he has found motivation. Tom had a very good day in the mountains yesterday and was getting back to his normal sensations on the bike. He was up front and able to follow attacks, get in the action and help Janez to the line. Tom has improved since the start, and as the tenth stage is usually the breakpoint of the race — where riders go downhill in fitness or improve — it looks likely he will have a better second half. Yesterday’s stage was a telling stage as it was long day, after a long week of racing in the heat; it was quickly evident when the attacks started on the final climb which riders were still fresh and strong and which were struggling. Today, on our rest day, Chechu Rubiera and Benjamin Noval took us out for a nice easy ride on some quiet roads and then into downtown Gijon for a quick tour of the boardwalk and coastline before treating the team to drinks on a terrace on the water. The rest of the day I spent playing with Liam and relaxing with my parents which was the ideal rest day that I have been thinking since I left home two weeks ago.