Not Ideal

Well, that sucked. Couldn't of asked for a crappier week. Only one day at the tour that it didn't rain which can only mean one thing... Carnage.
Before the tour started I had already decided I would have a crack at the General Classification (overall lead) so that would mean I would have to be very smart and well positioned through out the race. Last couple of tours I've always been going for stage wins or Sprints or KOMs. First day was pretty full gas with a lot of wind and a bit of rain. I had good position up the front for the first half of the race but I slacked off a bit and crept back to the middle of the bunch. We headed into a wooded area and the road was soaking wet from a passing shower and just as we were coming out of the woods there was a big crash that spread across the whole road so I had to throw down the anchors and come to pretty much a complete stand still. Was bloody lucky to stop in time because I was hauling ass on the inside because I had decided that I needed to start moving up just before the crash happened. Because of that crash, a big split got away from us and stayed away until the finish. There were heaps of small bunches through out the course at I finished about 2 minutes down with some small bunch. I was sitting 40th or so on GC so I just thought stuff it, I'm just going to go for stage wins again because there's only one way to move up on GC and that's by being in a successful break away group so I'll take my chances.
Stage 2 was a quiet day for me as Zeno was up in the break for most of the day so all I did was ride in the bunch and conserve for the next few days. Zeno and the break got caught about 30km from the end or so and it was just a bunch sprint. Lotto Belisol U23, which is a really good team, was in the lead so they just controlled the race for the whole day.
Now day 3 is where stuff got interesting. As we sit in the carpark getting changed for the race a big black cloud rolls over top of us and it starts pouring with rain and there were big cracks of lightning every couple of minutes. We were all thinking stuff this! The rain eased up just before the start but it was still freezing. The rain gave me really good motivation to be either in a break or right up the front of the race cause I knew it would be complete chaos behind us. I went up the road fairly early and got into a small break but we got caught not too long after but I made sure I stayed right up near the front. About 15 guys just rolled off the front and no one in the bunch was chasing them so I decided to attack by myself and I bridged up to them. A few more guys, including quite a few Lotto Belisol riders, bridged up to us and the Lotto riders went straight to the front and started hammering it. I quickly turned around and I couldn't see anyone behind us so I just thought sweet, I'm moving up on GC today cause we have the leader of the race and all his teammates in the bunch with us and they were drilling the crap out of it. But not long after, the lead car stops in front of us and tells us to stop. Apparently there was heaps of carnage behind us and over half the peleton had crashed. It was a bloody stupid course because they had diagonal railway crossings and everyone was binning it on them because it was wet so we had to stop and wait for them. Everyone in the group was pissed as. The neutralized the race until we had gotten through all the railway crossings and then we started again. It was another bloody windy day so I made sure I was right up near the front. Lotto was again on the front just drilling the crap out of it and they were splitting up the whole bunch. I managed to keep in contact in them until we hit 45km in. We were all single file in the left gutter and we were riding on nice smooth tar seal so between the gutter and the road there was like a small lip where the tar seal is higher than the gutter. I was riding right on the edge of that and leaning towards the right a bit because the wind was blowing from left to  right. I think an extra strong gust of wind just pushed me of the road so my front wheel was in the gutter but I was still leaning to the right so my front wheel wanted to go back up on the road but because the road was still a bit wet it didn't grip on to the road so it just slid and I was still leaning right so I just fully decked it at 45kph and tore up my right side. I got up pretty quick and put my bottles back in and hoped back on my bike but some how my pedals and cleats were covered in mud and sand so I couldn't get my left cleat clipped in, it just kept pulling out so I had to pull over again and spray my cleats and pedals with water to get rid of the mud. Mean while I'm doing this, a heap of small bunches coming riding past me so I was loosing valuable time to catch back up to the main group. I got motor paced by the team car up to a small group and we eventually caught up to some slightly bigger group but no one was working and they pulled us out of the race with 45km to go. Was not ideal but still got to start the next day. Bit of road rash on the old right thigh, leg and elbow but all ok.
4th day was pretty chilled again as Zeno got up in the break again so I got to chill out all day. I did try to go solo with 2km to go but got caught with 800m to go. That tactic rarely works but hey, it's worth a shot, nothing to lose.
Day 5 was another cold wet windy day. Managed to get in a small break but only for 5km when one team, for no reason, decided to mow us down. Was bloody pissed because there was no one dangerous to GC in that group so we got chased down for no reason. A group of 3 riders went up the road but I missed that break. They were about a minute 30 up the road and the peleton was riding really slow and I was really bored so I decided to smack it up the road with some other guy in the block head wind. We were working well together and again, the same team decided to drill us back for no reason. They were about 20 meters behind us and the guy I was with sat up and went back to the bunch but I was bloody pissed off so I just attacked again and went solo. They let me go and I slowly caught up to the break. They were about 1.5 minutes up the road and I got to about 15 seconds behind them when I could start feeling my back tire going soft. Got myself a bloody puncture. There were a few team cars and race officials behind me so I pointed at my rear wheel and a team car came up next to me and I told them I had a puncture so I pulled over and got a wheel change. It was some random team car and the team mechanic was an absolute douche. He lazily got out of the and started to walk towards me but luckily the driver rushed out and told the mechanic to come on and took the wheel from him and put it in my bike. So before that I was 15 seconds behind them and after the wheel change I was at least 45 seconds behind the break. Not ideal. So I had to start all over again. After spending about 30km by myself I finally managed to catch them. I was feeling really good so I wasn't absolutely smashed when I caught them and I was able to help them out. But after being with them for about 15km we go caught by the bunch. And from then on I just sat at the back all day. With 2km to go I was pretty smashed and I dropped but I didn't care. Was pretty happy with my effort, it was a complete waste of time but it was a good sign that the legs are good.
So yea that's about it. I'm quite sore at the moment. I bought some bandage pads and savlon and stuck that on my thigh and it's been aching and stinging ever since. I'm sure it'll be fine though. But yea that's pretty much it for me. Had a pretty busy day today so that's why the blog is a little late.
So yea all is good.

Btw, sorry for any spelling mistakes. I can't be assed checking for the spelling and grammar cause I'm tired. Off to bed

Thanks for reading and don't hassle me too much Nans with my spelling errors, cheers.

Nick