Stage 13 – Pays de Flers Individual Time Trial        36km

Today’s time trial was the most technical and hilly course I have ever ridden.  Bob drove us around the course in the morning and we all took note of the off camber corners, steep climbs and twisty narrow descents.  Fortunately there were no cobble stone sections, but there were a number of roads which were barely 5ft wide and were little more than goat tracks.  These would be tricky on the aero bars and after seeing the rough descents I wanted my hands near the brakes for these sections.

As I wasn’t a GC contender (ie. not in the top 15) and am not a world class time trial specialist, I did not bring my time trial bike to France nor any disk wheels which help shave a few seconds off a reasonable time.

Each rider is allowed a follow car in case of mechanical problems and I was glad to have Bob sit in the car to encourage me through the pain barrier.  After 12 stages, and a long year of racing, my legs were feeling quite ordinary but with the vision of seeing the Eiffel Tour tomorrow I was spurred on to ride my hardest.

I rode my Salsa with clip on aero bars and finished 31^st which was about 6 minutes behind Judith Arndt (Germany) who won the stage.  With time I believe I can become a strong time trial rider but it is a real skill to learn to push yourself to the point of blacking out and throwing up.