Stage 4 lived up to the reputation of being a toughy. Although for once I felt quite good on stage 4. We got away quite nicely, again with Dirk and Nico shadowing us. I suppose I'd do exactly the same. Protect my 2 odd minute lead while at the same time have another "familiar" team to help share the work load. My mind has been working overtime to come up with a strategy as to how to shake them. If it is at all possible. They both look pretty perky.
But I digress. After a nice start, the rest of the Upington contingent caught up to us after an hour or so. They also seemed keen to ride along. Which is fine - but - they talk a lot of shit and it really is more difficult to manage a big bunch. The water points are a good example (there are 3 each day). If we all stop together, by the time each bloke has gone about his business we've wasted a lot of time. And after all we're here to get this thing done as quickly as possible. We're not here for a haircut. And thats what happened. We had a quick stop and by the time the rest of them had finished peeing etc, we were 5 min down the road. Incidently it was after this stop that I reached my max speed so far this week. 78km/h! Yeeeeehah.
The rest of the day went fairly well. Some hideously steep climbs, but are often worth it when you consider the view. But nice views are one thing, but there really isn't a nicer view than the finish line after a tough day.
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