Time to pull the trigger

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Chadwick looks a bit sceptical before the ride up to Brasstown(Image credit: Glen Chadwick)

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Longest day of the tour, three KOMs – the first coming at kilometre 100 kilometres and the last only two kilometres from the finish! Needless to say it was on like Donkey Kong! 48 kilometres were clocked up in the first hour. It wasn't till about 60 kilometres into the stage before a break was finally let go. Type 1 was represented in it with Kobza. The legs were still working overtime but as the stage wore on I could feel them getting better.

The descent off the first KOM was pretty rapid, with a max speed of 102km/h on the clock – there wasn't a hell of a lot of room for error! The speed had slowed down a bit just in time for a snake to scatter the bunch, not sure what type it was but I'm gonna say a Rattle snake (sounds cooler!) After the stage Ed said 'Did ya see that big dead snake?' I told him that it was very alive when we crossed paths, but nothing out of the ordinary after training in Australia for a number of years.

But back to the stage, the break maxed out at 11 minutes before some squads started to bring it back. It wasn't too bad in the field but a bit boring just sitting on a wheel eating and drinking. We cruised over the second KOM and the pace finally started to pick up as we neared the final one, only two kilometres from home. The break was just up the road now and as the smack was laid down by Moises on the final climb it was caught over the top. I had managed to hold onto the second small group over the climb but came in a bit too hot into a left hand corner, coming into the finish; cooked it and ended up about 25 seconds from eventual winner Richard England from the Bissel squad. Moises picked up another top ten for us, finishing seventh.

The Queen stage was finally upon us and even though we weren't greeted with the three climbs till the final 50 kilometres – and of course the mother of all nasty climbs at the finish – that didn't stop guys from attempting to get away for a good head start. Eventually a break formed after 40 kilometres, but there were a couple of threats up there so Slipstream pretty much set a good tempo all day to keep them in check.

Before we had even gotten to the climb there were some long drags with some steep sections in them. Astana started to pick up the tempo before we even made the right turn onto the climb. As I learnt from last year on the climb it's better to pace yourself and find a comfy rhythm and not to try and kill yourself to stay with the big boyz. That was the case again, I slowly caught riders one by one and as we hit the 25% sections I just tried to stay on top of the 26 and pulled away from the small group I was climbing with.

The rest of the squad were all climbing well also. By the top Moises had crossed the line in sixth, I managed one spot better than last year with 10th, Chris was 15th and Kobza 17th. A great day for the team to say the least! We had also moved the team into third overall in the teams classement. The only bad thing to come out of the stage was Matty being taken out in the gruppetto. He broke his bike and ripped his cleat clean off his shoe and was unable to finish the stage. But he didn't hurt himself, so not so bad in the end. The legs seem finally to be coming good and like I said just in time for the Wind Tunnel!

Luckily, the course started to dry out halfway into the stage. Chris managed to get himself into the only break of the day which started off as a group of 15, but slowly dwindled down as guys were either crashing out or getting punctures. Also, in the peloton there were a crazy amount of punctures. Chris ended up getting a flat as well and lost contact with the break, which he was a bit bummed about but as it was reeled in four kilometres from the finish line he felt a bit better. High Road once again had a great day, setting tempo all day for their yellow jersey leader and Greg Henderson took the win once again, to finish off their tour in style.

Native New Zealander Glen Chadwick, a former Team Cyclingnews racer, found a new team with Team Type 1, after the Navigators folded at the end of 2007. With his new team, 'Chady' was already criss-crossing the planet in the early spring. Follow his adventures during the 2008 season.