STAGE 5B BRETAGNE: WRAPPING UP IN BRETAGNE

Instructions for the final stage were simple... protect our white jersey. I covered early attacks from threatening young riders and tried to shelter as much as possible on the 2km to the finish that we were to complete 8 times! Bel found herself being bullied in the bunch by the Chinese, in her stubborn manner she refused to me for them and found herself recieving screaming profanities. At one point we were in a bit of trouble after a difficult climb. Tiff was on the front with the Kiwi's while I was chasing hard to tow Bel back on and even further down the road was our jersey, trying desperately to regain contact. It could all have come undone but god was on our side and a bunch kick prevailed.

A quick sweeping bend followed into a long, straight, relatively steep uphill drag, it would not be Bel's day as we had initially hoped. A new sprinter emerged from our team on the most difficult finish of the tour after the grovel up the final climb. Kate managed 4th, just being edged out for the good money. A good result for the stage, the day and the tour. With two riders in the top 15, the young rider jersey and 4th in the team's classification Michel couldn't have been more impressed. So he organised a steak for dinner at our accomodation in Brest, which was conveniently located next to the town of Butt. We ventured into town for dessert in the form of crepes where it wasn't uncommon to eat at the table with your dog! The French do it differently...

Results: Tour de Bretagne Feminin, Stage 5b, Tremaouezan - Plouedern, 77.4 kms