The weekend brought some all out racing for us here in Missouri. With the TT behind us, everyone had nothing to lose and everything to gain. No one was content to give Garmin an easy ride either, and I felt for them suffering on the front as I have been in that position many times.

The attacks were relentless, and the tactics were questionable at times. Garmin was not happy to let anything go too far, so breaks never really got more than a minutes advantage. So we raced and raced some more. On Saturday we averaged 48kph for the stage and in Sunday’s circuit race, with many turns and hills, we still averaged 43kph at the end of the day.

With our overall hopes dashed after the TT some of our focus moved towards the upcoming World Championships. The Michaels and I added on 50 kilometers after the stage Saturday to cover a distance close to the Worlds.  Even though we are racing hard here everyday, the stages are only 180 kilometers, so its important to do some longer rides as the Worlds is around 265 kilometers. At the World Championships we will have not even started racing at the 180 kilometer mark!

Now we must say fairwell to a few of our teammates as there is a big change over in our team for next year and we will for sure miss all of them. We have raced so well as a team over the last two years that it will be very strange to be racing against each other next year.

Today was probably not the best day for the Columbia-HTC boys. A few of us took it easy in the time trial and a few of us went for it. In the end no one was really happy with how it went.

The course itself was about as plain and boring as it can get. Long straight drags and wide open roads. Traffic was also a big problem today, with several riders having to dodge cars and one unlucky rider unable to and was taken out.  I think that is about the worst thing a race can have happen and I’m not sure how cars could even be allowed near us.

After the race a few of us were cracked on the race food so we headed to a local Mexican restaurant for some burritos and nachos. Turns out we weren’t the only ones with this idea as the whole race seemed to be in there. The food was quite good and we were treated like celebraties. One table sent over a pitcher of margaritas, which none of us could stomach to drink, and another table picked up our check! It turned out to be a very nice night, and put us all in a better mood.

Its amazing how much of an effect one person can have on a race. Once the news broke that Cavendish would not be starting the fourth stage everyone’s race tactics changed.  The small break was formed just like the past few days, but instead of us riding the front by ourselves, four teams joined each other in setting the tempo for the day.  I guess I take that as a compliment to how strong our team is.

For the most part it was a nice recovery day for me, just sitting in the wheels. I was planning on taking the time trial tomorrow fairly easy, but now if I feel good I might go for it a little more.

The race so far has been pretty boring to be honest. I would like to see some harder stages and some bigger time gaps by this point in the race. There are almost 100 guys on the same time. Hopefully the race will be back again next year and maybe they could put in a TTT or a few days in the Ozarks to shake things up.

I know I must sound like a broken record, but for the third day in a row a break of three went up the road and Columbia-HTC controlled the race from start to finish.

The stage was suppose to be the hardest of the week, but everyone was a little nervous and the break began as a joke more than anything else.  Two Garmin riders first to attack and another rider later joined them.  The rest of the day was pretty uneventful, just counting down the kilometers and the hills. In the last few kilometers things fell apart for us and we were overtaken by a few other of the sprinters. We can’t win them all, but at least we are out there trying to.

It was nice to make it to Rolla this year on the bike. Last year I was taken out by my own teammate and arrived in Rolla in an ambulance.  We did return to Matt’s Steakhouse for dinner again for some of the best steak any of us have ever had. A nice reward for our hard work today.

Wow! Another win for Cavendish today. There is no question that he is the fastest man in the world. That makes doing all the work we do so much easier knowing the he will repay us with a win.  Today was very hot and humid. I lost count of how many bottles I went through. I felt bad having to constantly ask the guys on the team that were not pulling to go back for water, but we were all in need of bottles.   Three of us rode the front the whole day with the occasional rider from Saxo Bank coming up for a few pulls.  To be honest I’d rather just our team do all of the work. Its great to have help from other teams, but when they keep swaping out fresh guys they usually just mess up our tempo and cause more trouble than anything else.   Its not the easiest way to pass the day, riding the front, but time seems to go by fast when you are focused on a goal.  Having the open road ahead of you is something special as well.
Tomorrow could be a big day and decide the GC if we race hard over the numerous hills towards Rolla. With two stage wins already we are confident and we have the guys to win the GC as well. We just need to watch anyone who can do a good time trial on Friday and make sure they do not gain any time on us.

A very long day for us today in St. Louis. Me and my roommate for the week, George, were up early as we are still adjusting from the one hour time change.  We headed down to the Starbucks in our lobby and found a few other of the Columbia boys. After catching up over a cup of coffee it was off to the breakfast buffet and right onto the bikes for a morning spin. Bob Stapleton and Brendan Quirk also joined us for a lap around town. It was great to have them riding with us and I was impressed at how well Bob was riding.

Once back from the bike ride we headed right back to the lunch buffet. Yes, we do spend plenty of time eating at these races. I always seem to put on a little weight during a stage race, but when your pushing your body so hard everyday you really can’t count calories. Its always better to play it safe and eat a little more.

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