Another tough stage last night with the four laps of a 25 kilometre loop around the town of Altenberg including a short (400 metre) but steep (23%) climb. Unlike the riders of the Tour de France, the women didn’t feel the need to take it easy on the final stage and raced from the gun.
Vicki’s job was to protect her team mate’s third place on GC:
Finished thank goodness. Worked hard to keep Shara in third. Bit worrying at times as Linda Villumsen [AA Drink - Leontien.nl Cycling Team] in break.
The finish saw a few survive off the front of the bunch and finish in small groups of twos and threes. Vicki finished 16th on the stage but slipped one place to 8th overall. More importantly Shara Gillow retained her podium position, finishing the tour in third.
Sounds like Vicki is struggling with a cold which would explain why she has been feeling tired the last few days. Unfortunately, unlike us mere mortals, pro riders can’t just curl up in bed with a good book when they are feeling under the weather. I knew there had to be some downside to this ‘easy’ life tripping around the world riding a bike.
That’s me signing off on another tour. Guess you’ll see me again at the next one.
Dave