CYCLING: TOUR DIARY:Yesterday's stage gave me a lot of confidence and I am looking forward to getting into the Pyrenees on Sunday

LOOKS LIKE the legs are coming back. Yesterday was one of the hardest stages of the whole Tour with four big climbs, including the summit finish of La Toussuire, and I was away for a lot of the day. I got in the move and while I didn’t have enough to be in the final mix for the stage win, it’s encouraging to be in the front going over some of those climbs. That boost the morale for the mountain stages ahead.

It’s hard to know what the antibiotics I am on have done to my form, although I definitely felt good on the first climb. Soon after the stage start in Albertville, a big group of approximately 25 riders went away on the flat roads before the first climb of the Col de la Madelaine. I managed to bridge across on my own, closing a 10 second gap, then when we hit the slopes of the Madelaine all hell broke lose and the group completely changed.

Six of us went off the front of the original breakaway and then we were joined after about 10 kilometres by a group of 15 guys. More and more kept coming across then. It was probably the world’s strongest breakaway – Alexandre Vinokourov, Alejandro Valverde, Ivan Basso and others were there. It was an incredible break to be in, some big names.

The Europcar team were riding full gas and making it hard for everybody. The original plan was to go for the mountains points but I was still suffering a bit with my breathing. It was okay when you are riding below threshold, because you don’t really breathe that hard, but I was really lacking my top end. That was tough with the high altitude on top of the climb – the Madelaine is 2,000 metres above sea level, so there is a lot less oxygen.

Astana rider Fredrik Kessiakoff jumped away at the top and took the points. He also had points from the other day, so with him in the move and riding strongly it would have been difficult for me to take the mountains jersey. I think there’s a chance now that competition is lost to me, although if I was 100 per cent healthy it might have been a different story. It’s just another lesson in the Tour, I guess – don’t get sick! A stage win is now the new focus.

On the Glandon, the second climb of the day, there were 30 guys at the bottom but the group got whittled down and at the top there were just six of us left. It was a real war of attrition. I know that climb as I won an Elite race in France there in 2007, one which finished right on top of the Glandon. So it had good memories for me.

This time round, being the Tour, there were obviously a few more people by the side of the road and the atmosphere was incredible at the top.

Once over the summit, the downhill was really technical and dangerous, so you had to be careful.

There were some guys taking a serious risks on the downhill and that helped blow the break to pieces. As always on these stages, when it is up and down all the time it is really difficult to eat and to drink. I paid for that towards the end as I didn’t take enough during the day. It was really hard. But it was also something that added to my experience.

The final battle amongst the break was being fought on La Toussuire and the day’s winner Pierre Rolland made his move on the climb, getting clear and going on to win the stage. My legs just folded there, I didn’t have anything left. I was trying to survive from that point.

The yellow jersey caught me with about 16 kilometres to go and for a moment I thought about trying to get in with them. However, I was so tired from being in the break for over 100 kilometres that I thought I’d just try to save as much energy as possible for the days ahead. It was the best decision; there was no point in killing myself to just finish 20th or 25th. I rode up as easy as I could and yet I still ended up 33rd.

It was incredible how hard the race was yesterday, with over 5,000 metres of climbing, and how much time people lost. I think there are going to be a hell of a lot of tired bodies today.

So the plan for this stage will be determined by how I feel on the bike. It took me two hours after the finish to recover. I was quite a mess when I finished, and had absolutely nothing left. In fact, I could barely walk to my hotel room! That puts pressure on your recovery, although generally when I am in that state, the body is an amazing thing and you do bounce back really well. If the legs are good, I’ll try to go in the break; there’s two climbs in the first half of the stage, so things could break up.

The only concern is that I think there is a chance that it will come back together for a sprint in the finale. Anyway, whatever happens, I’m feeling better on the bike and things can only improve from here.

The Pyrenees are coming up in a few days and they have always been kind to me. It is a mountain range which suits my style of riding a bit better, with shorter, steeper climbs. Yesterday gave me a lot of confidence that I can be in the mix, and so I am looking forward to getting into those mountains on Sunday.