13th June 2007, Forest Row The last time I reported in i was on the way to a stage start in the Giro. And I said that we had been taking a right hammering, we took another one that day too. It was one of the hardest stages of the race, luckily the rain that was falling at the start eased of and only reappeared near the finish. That was the stage were I had expected Simoni to attack and bridge up to his two team mates Ricco and Piepoli. That did not happen, Rico took the stage from the fittest looking guy in the bunch Piepoli. And behind Di Lucca stamped his authority on the race by dropping all the main contenders, although for a while Mazzolini looked like he was going to cause an upset. There were a few more hard stages after that, we got into a couple of race winning breaks but just did not have the legs to pull of the elusive stage win. So, it was a case of get to Milan in one piece. Most of us did that. And with the help of Matt White did so with more than a few laughs. Although it was getting tough for Whity. And he even said, you cant expect me to carry the whole team all the way to Milan, come on lads. He almost had to get there in his trainers, because before the TT on the second to last day he forgot both pairs of cycling shoes. After some frantic phone calls, his wife Jane who was there for the last couple of days dragged herself out of the shower and headed of to the start to try and get them to him. There was only one problem. She had to cross the course in order to get to the start, and without accreditation that was no go. So, she was reduced to trying to explain in her best Italian that her husband was riding the Giro, and that he needed his cycling shoes, and fast. but it was still no. Then, out of the blue along came some cyclist who had heard and knew of the famous Whity, and offered to take them by bike to him, talk about lucky. Anyway the guy proceeded to ride the fastest 20 kms of his life to get the shoes to Whity just in time. So, once Milan was reached we had a great party that went on into the small hours, then everybody split to their various homes, hoping that next years trip would be more successful. Meanwhile, back at base I have been working quite hard in the garden, and been on a couple of bike rides, that felt good. I limited my heart rate to 150 max in order to limit damage. Next on the list is the TTT in Eindhoven. There we are gunning for a win, we will have a very strong team, and after finishing third last year I think we can step up to the top spot on the podium. Then its the Grand Depart in London of the TDF, that should be a great event. Lets hope the sun is out, if it is I think it will be a memorable day for everybody concerned. I will let you know how thing are going, i am certainly looking forward to it. All the best Sean Back

Professional cyclist for 15 years
12 Tours de France
Tour de France yellow jersey
Tour de France stage winner
Fifth in Paris-Roubaix
Tour of Belgium winner
UK pro road race champion
UK 25 and 50-mile TT champion