Will Frischkorn's Tour de France diary, stage 4
And now the real racing begins...
After three road stages on the rolling roads of Brittany, we had a bit of a change today with a shorter-than-normal-for-the-Tour time trial. We'd flown in a day early last week to scout this one out so there were no surprises out there, nice for the heads of the guys really gunning for it. And gun they did.
Danny lit it up with a hot early time, then Christian and David put in some really solid rides near the end that solidified our lead in the team GC and sets us up well looking forward to the days ahead.
I, however, got to take the day and enjoy it a bit. After yesterday's dig, the legs were a bit stiff walking downstairs to breakfast this morning. A post-breakfast nap helped with that a bit. Then another quick snack and off to the start. The bus had gone over early this morning to score prime parking and when the last of us arrived by car they had the place dialed.
With the crowds of both fans and press surrounding the start area having a little cordoned off space was key. I still had a few hours to chill once we got there and managed to catch up on emails and get back to a few of the so many people who've sent notes my way. Thanks to all!
An hour before the start I got ready to head out and start spinning on the trainer to wake up the legs a bit. First, however, I had to squeeze into a new speedsuit. Our earlier clothing from Pearl Izumi was all custom, made to measure when need be, and fit like a glove. With the über-quick sponsor change, requiring a massive run of clothing in a matter of weeks, it's back to standard sizing for a while, with tall or short versions of each size to get things a bit closer. Things still fit a bit differently however, and the speedsuits are fast. These are different from the normal Lycra skinsuits. These puppies are made by hand from some sick fabrics, and in addition to being fast, they come out tight. With a helper I finally managed to squeeze into the thing and headed out to the trainer. Forty-five minutes of spinning, a few at tempo, but nothing too hard, and it was time to roll.
I gotta tell you, it was a pretty wild feeling to be rolling over to the start ramp of the Tour de France, with only two riders behind me. Lionel, the director following me both today and in yesterday's stage, kept reminding me to enjoy this one. No need to remind me of that! I was off to ride a stiff tempo that would safely put me within the time cut, while flushing out the legs from yesterday’s effort and to be ready to rock tomorrow.
While I still needed to focus, mainly because of the stiff wind that blew around the aero rig pretty well from time to time, there were plenty of opportunities to soak up the atmosphere and the road-filling crowds, especially on the two little climbs out there. Wild!
I can only imagine the mountains to come. To then roll in to the finish and hear that both CVV and Millar were right in the hunt topped it off.
Tomorrow looks like a long tailwind smasher, but on Thursday we hit the first hills and the big boys will come out once again. With a bit of luck, and some strong rides by our leaders, there's a good chance we could end up on the front for a day or two in the week ahead.
If so, I'll be needing every Kilojoule I saved today!
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