After feeling relatively ok yesterday, I was a little rough when we headed out this morning. Luckily it was a nice Italian start and I could ride into it a little bit. Still, when we started to ride tempo up the first climb I was far from ok.

I struggled on and got dropped about 4km from the top of the 10k climb. Luckily for me, a few other guys were hurting as well, including the big Cipo, and we were able to get back on to the peloton soon after the descent.

The rest of the day was spent at the mercy of the Rabobank, who rode to bring back a break so World Champion, Freire, could win the stage, which finished up a 3k climb.

I started to feel a little better after the first effort up the climb and managed to stay in the race till the final climb where I got dropped with 2km to go.

I was ok and was happy with how I was feeling at the end of the stage again. Physically I?m feeling pretty good. I?m having some small problems with my position on the bike though. Consequently, although I feel good, I don't reckon that I am riding as well as I could be if I was feeling comfortable on my bike. I am feeling a little twisted. One leg is sorer than the other and I generally don't feel efficient. I?ve also been told from a couple of my mates in the peloton, that I?m not looking right on my bike.

It?s only a small concern but it?s something that I have to try and get on top of it to get the most out of myself. It?s not until everything is feeling right that you go good.

Tomorrow, we have a long day of 230km. It was suppose to be 210km but they have had to change the course because of snow. Even today when we went to 800m altitude, there was a fair amount of snow. The original plan tomorrow was to ride up to 1300m but now they have changed it to 1000m as it would be impossible to pass over the 1300m climb. Even so, I think it?s going to be a hard day in the saddle.