2008 Tour de France - Stage 1: Blast Off. Not What I Hoped For........

The day never started too well. I was a little nervous this morning and unlike the experienced professional I'm supposed to be, I did the unthinkable and left my race jersey in my suitcase. All worked out ok as the team truck was chased down and my jersey rescued. Idiot.

I was hoping to be a little better than I was today. Actually I was hoping that I could've won the stage. When I'm on top of my game, a little uphill finish is good for me. I had been told that it was a hard finish but not outside my climbing capabilities. Unfortunately, as it turned out, even if I was at my best I think today's finish was a bit too much of an uphill finish. For sure I would've done better than I did but certainly not win the stage. There were no real sprinters in the top 10.

At minimum I had hoped to get bunch time which I don't think happened although I haven't seen the results yet. If I made bunch time, with a couple of good results I may have been able to take the jersey in the next couple of days. That won't happen now.

In any case, I don't feel too disappointed. I did my best. I rode with good position as long as I could but my legs just locked up in the final 500m.

On the positive side, as well as riding good position all through the final, I made it safely through a day that was nervous as hell and marred with crashes. As usual in the first days of the TdF, it was full of extreme stress.

Tomorrow is another day - as the saying goes in the Tour de France. First days have generally never been my best days so we hit tomorrow with the same focus as today but hoping to find better sensations in the body. We'll see how she goes....

Julz
Team Garmin-Chipotle presented by H3O

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