Stage 9, from Vielha val d'Aran > Andorre Arcalis, was a proper mountain stage. 184.5KM is a pretty long stage, never mind the five categorized climbs of the day - 1 x Cat 2, 3 x Cat 1 and an HC mountain-top finish at 2,240M.
Those are the kind of numbers that test the arithmetic skills of all sprinters. Coefficients, gradients, average speeds, wind - even the temperature all play a part in calculating how to get to the end of the stage just before the time cut-off.
Dan did his job again today, a day that saw three more race abandons. He finished 186th on the road, in a huge gruppetto that came home 35:26 behind the stage winner. Tomorrow is a very welcome rest day.
In this month's edition of Evie Field's racing blog we join her and her team mates as she makes her debut racing on the European scene at Junior Gent-Wevelgem.
We are following the fortunes of young cyclist Evie Field, in her first season racing as a junior for JRC-Interflon Race Team. In Part 1 Evie told us about the transition from club to national level racing. In Part 2 of her blog she gives us a peak inside the team training camp which took place in the cycling Mecca that is Girona.
New for 2023, we will be following the progress of Evie Field, a young female bike racer as she graduate from her club teamLiverpool Century, to make her debut season as a Junior withJRC-Interflon Race Team, racing at National level in the UK and on the Continent. In her first regular update she tells us about making the jump from racing as an individual for a club, to joining her first big team and joining their pre-season training camps.