Hello everyone!

Summer has now returned to Argentina once and for all – it was 42 degrees on the SRM as we started making the final climb today.

Back home right now they're in the depths of winter, and here we are competing at the height of summer. It’s strange and somehow a bit difficult to wrap your head around the weather here at the moment. Even the rainy first stage we had here is now almost a distant memory.

After yesterday’s rather easy day, our “bike excursion” today was a bit longer. There were transfers before and after the stage, which meant that the bus departed for the starting line around 10 a.m. and we arrived back just before 9 p.m. The four big long-distance Argentine buses have a lot of space and are quite cozy. Everyone had a very comfortable seat with adjustable backs.  I even managed to sleep for an hour and a half on the return trip. Alberto Contador flew by helicopter from Merlo back to San Luis today following the stage, but the rest of us traveled by bus. ;-)

For the most part, today’s stage came off relatively smoothly. Omega Pharma and Saxo Bank didn’t miss a thing, nor did they initiate any little games today. The other big teams also remained fairly calm. There was no shortage of opportunities to mix up the general classification or to break up the entire field. A strong crosswind prevailed, especially during the first 60 km, and the field split into two groups at times. The struggle for the leading spots in the peloton broke out about 15 km before the mountain. Of course, everyone wants to ride right at the front going into the climb. The race intensified from kilometer to kilometer, and in the end it seemed to me almost like we were preparing for a sprint rather than a mountain classification.  I don’t think there were hardly any riders who didn't ride in the red zone on the mountain today. I was looking after our Belgian rider Jerome a little, trying to get him into position as close to the front as possible. He felt better today, and was able to match the pace of the lead riders for a long time. 

After pulling off to the side and taking it easy for a few meters, I then rode with a big group across the finish line, trying to save as much strength as possible for tomorrow. After all, tomorrow’s stage will cover 201 km, including a long mountain stretch after 57 km. It will be an interesting stage, since there’s no way to predict how the race will turn out and there are a many different possible scenarios. Maybe a breakaway group will even manage to form, given the fact that the mountain is actually too far from the finish line for the general classification riders. Of course, the best thing for me would be to still be in a good position after the mountain. We'll see, in any case. As always, the riders will decide the race. ;-)

Speak soon,

Grischa