^{Well After some great feelings in the pins (Legs) during the Tour De Pryenees , I was keen to see how I had recovered for Bretonne, and if the Pins would be in equally awesome shape. My answer came soon enough , after 3 days  of easy ridding and recovering we completed the 11hr drive up to St Brieuc for the start. The first stage was tough up and down all  day with a brutal finishing circuit including 8 times up a steep climb about 1km long !  I had horrible stomach pains and actually contemplated stepping off the bike for the first hour or so. Then by some miracle I attacked (as you do ) and broke clear of the Peleton with a few other guys and found our group ride across to the front breakaway.  Still feeling horrible pains in my stomach the day just got harder and harder as we  went over the hill every lap on the finishing circuits. My legs were still in reanonable shape so on the final lap with about 5km to go I attacked and rode across solo to the front break of 3 ! It was on like donkey kong and feeling good or not I knew we were going to sprint it out for the win between the 5 of us ! Unfortunately I don’t sprint all that well so tried an attack with 500m to go but I was swallowed up with about 100m to go and ran 5th maybe a second or two behind the winner ! A great day really in a really tough race ! I am over the moon with a 5th in such a huge race but still wondering how long I am going to run that finish over in my head time and time again, thinking what could have been :(}

^{Throughout the next 3 stages I experienced  everything ! Rain , shine , there were plenty of crashes but thankfully I was never involved.  Stage 2 I was lucky enough to wear the red jersey which goes to the highest placed international rider (non Frenchman) so that was a big Honour. Unfortunately we lost Tobyn on the first day, Flip on the second day and then Niklas on the 3rd day. So by the 4th stage I only had the help and support of Westley and Freddy. They were great team mates and did what they had done in the Pryenees and supported me all the way to the finish  on the final day ! It was such a relief to finish that stage race , I was very  tired by the end I think mentally more so than physically. I realised how much you have to be thinking all the time and think about the race , ridding smart , you can never relax mentally for a second when ridding for GC and I learnt  that.}

^{It was another big step forward for myself I was learning very quickly what it takes to race for GC  at the top  level,  and I was loving it ! A fantastic result eventually awaited me by the end of the Tour I I finished a well deserved 6th overall in the General Classification. I was over the moon the last 10 days I had a 9th and aa 5th on 2 stages and 2 great GC finishes in 2 tours . * days of racing out of 11 ! I really turned heads and gave our sponsors and team the attention it deserves! But now I must say  I am tired  and it is time for some rest, before I ramp up again for the final races of the season !}