May 21, 2007 (Loughrea, Ireland) – Today’s stage went from Templemore to Loughrea for a total of 147 kms on a rolling course through Irish farm country. The team goal for the day was to follow the same guidelines as yesterday and it paid off fairly well. We stayed at the front most of the race and gave it our best shot to protect Jesse’s KOM climber’s jersey.

On the first climb of the day, we were surprised by how flat this 6km climb actually was. We had the whole team line up at the front to lead out the sprint for Jesse — but can you really say sprint? We averaged more then 40k/hr on the climb, I even saw 50km/h on my computer at one point!

Coming towards the finish we had two cat 3 climbs and a good chance to give Jesse a comfortable lead. He managed to get away on the second climb and formed a break with four riders. On the downhill, I came around with a few more guys to form the main break of the day. Getting points on the last KOM of the day was almost guaranteed.

Our group of 13 riders approached the final climb of the stage with a small lead of 35 seconds. I managed to lead out and Jesse delivered the goods, securing the pink KOM jersey for another day.

With 35 kms to go we had to get every one to cooperate. Coming towards the finish we drove the gap to one minute. At the 2km mark one rider slipped away and managed to pedal in for the victory. For a second time I stood on the podium with a fourth place finish. Happily, it allowed me the get a hold on the points leader’s green jersey with a solid six-point lead. Jesse held on the pink KOM jersey and moved into 2nd in the GC, while I moved up to 4th. Not bad for a day’s work.

Tomorrow is another relatively flat day before we head into the big climbs and more uncertain terrain. Look for another update tomorrow. Thanks for reading!

Dominique Rollin