Wednesday 6 March

Stage 4                                   Adaminaby to Cooma                                          87.15 kms

Start 10.30am

Today was another warm day and with 5 girls within 38sec of Melchers the race was still heating up for a grande finale.  The riders were aggressive with the first attack only seconds after we started out.  The course was predominantly uphill for 30km during which time there were countless aggressive attacks.  My legs were screaming with pain as I hung on in the peleton.  A number of riders were shelled early as the fast pace and hard climbing took their toll, which included team mate Emma Rickards.

At about the 35km mark, Arndt (Saturn) attacked and Tadich (AIS) launched out of the bunch after her.  Tadich protecting other team mates, chose not to work, however the time gap held, despite hard work from Melchers, her Dutch team mates, Doppmann and Holden.  Tadich decided to work with Arndt in the final 10km and convincingly took the stage win, 39sec ahead of the peleton.

I lost contact with the peleton over the final climb into Cooma, and finished in 28^th position, 30sec behind the peleton and 1min02 down from Tadich.