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The stage to Aigle started with an awful pain in my left foot. I desperately needed the team to stop but they couldn't find a spot to safely park for a few km and it was a great relief when I could finally get new shoes on. At the same time we changed bike a prepared for the night riding.

Getting dark on the way to col des MossesGetting dark on the way to col des Mosses

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The descent towards Aigle was dry and it was fantastic feeling as I know the road quite well and didn't have to use the brakes too much...

The following stage to Nyon was less fun. Flat, a lot of traffic lights and the feeling of getting really tired. Somewhere before Lausanne I decided to take a short rest waiting for the team . They had stopped in Montreux to get some hot water... As they passed and saw me on side of road, sitting they thought I had a crash and Erik came flying out of the car...

Finally in Nyon I took a 5 minutes rest in the car, eating a bit of solid food and publishing my ride on strava... A bit useless and just a waste of time, so a note for next year: don't bother about it until the end of the race!

On the following stage to Yverdon I was able to find a reasonable rhythm and continued over St-Croix without too many problems. The downhill were extremely cold with a light rain and temperature just above freezing. I followed my plan to stop at the lac des Taillieres, a few km before Le Locle for a longer break, complete clothes change a 15 minutes sleep. This was in retrospect a very good idea and I felt like totally rested after that, even scoring the best time of the following two stages, despite a fall close to La Chaux-de-Fonds on a slippery train track... I was making a lot of time on the guy in front of me I could pass him after Delemont, giving me the third place for the Swiss Championship. This gave me also an extra motivation boost.

I had changed to the TT bike in the stage to Balsthal and decided to keep it for the Passwang which has slopes up to 15%... This was actually one of the nicest stage, at least for the start as the weather was sunny and my family came to cheer me up. So I stopped a bit longer at the restaurant close to the top of the pass for a soup a chat with the family.

The long flat stage to Glattfelden was also nice  with some tailwind and I could start to feel the end coming near. So with some relief I started the last stage knowing that I was well ahead of the 4th guy for the Swiss Championship, not knowing yet that the guy in the second place, well ahead of me, had an accident I could not finish the race.

I changed bike in Benken as I didn't want to get over the last hill on the TT bike and more important I wasn't sure if I could get off the TT bike without help of the team... It was actually a struggle to get me off it as stretching my leg over the saddle almost gave me a serious cramp... and would not have make it without Erik pulling on one side and Marc helping to keep my balance... It would not have been a nice scene for the finish line...

Getting close to the finish and 1000kmGetting close to the finish and 1000km