Timetrial time

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T-Y-P-I-N-G O-N-E L-E-T-T-E-R A-T A T-I-M-E, D-A-V-E I-S S-L-E-E-P-I-N-G.

Ah, forget that, I’ll miss my start in the time trial if I carry on typing at that speed. Dave Zabriskie and I have just got back to the hotel after stage 17 and he’s face down on his bed, fast asleep. He deserves it though, he put in such a strong ride. He went away with a large group earlier in the stage and then when Bradley and Christian caught him he started driving on the front. Okay, it’s his job, but to do that for as long as he did, man, that was impressive.

As for me, I’m not feeling too bad. Yesterday was a really hard day for me and I wasn’t great, but today was a lot better. I was able to help our two leaders right up until the second to last climb when all the big boys started to play. It was a really steep at the base of the climb and the attacks were relentless.

Bradley unfortunately lost a bit of time but he’s still riding a great race and we’re all really proud of his performance. To be up there, doing what he’s doing is just amazing. Not only that, and I’m not being biased here, but the guy is racing smart too. Yesterday he wasn’t doing all of the work, just doing what he needed to do.

You’ll see him on fire today in the time trial. He missed out on a TT win by just one second in the Giro and was bitterly disappointed. Today should be a different race. He’ll be looking to claw back as much time on some of his rivals and climb back up the leaderboard. Sparks could really fly.

But we’re nearly there. I know we have some difficult days ahead, and of course there’s the stage to Ventoux, but Paris is getting closer and I can almost feel it now. It’s been a long, hard Tour but the spirit within the camp has always been great. My condition is improving and I’m hoping to take that form into the rest of the season.

Dave’s starting to stir now, so if I want to make it to Paris I’d better stop typing and quiet down.