Team Thursday storm Gibson Street, forget the rest of the map

Iain, racing for Team Thursday, delivered the sort of ride that will not trouble the record books anywhere except one 52-metre patch of tarmac — and on that patch, it very much did. The general shape of the day was ordinary: a steady grind home at 22.2 km/h, heart rate ticking over at 135 bpm, the legs doing enough and no more. But somewhere in the middle of it, something switched on.

That something was Gibson St Climb. Third best ever, in 0:52, just three seconds off Iain’s own all-time mark on the segment — and as if to prove it was no fluke, he followed it up moments later with the second best ever on Gibson St Half Climb, in a scarcely believable 0:18. For a rider who spent the rest of the stage shipping seconds on nearly every other segment, from the Shields Road climb to the long drag out along Etherstone Avenue, this was the one place the legs remembered why they turned up. The lights partway up the hill decide whether it is a climb or a standing start; today, whatever they decided, Iain simply climbed.

Elsewhere the story was more workmanlike. The bridge crossing brought its usual test of nerve rather than lungs, and gulls tracked the ride down towards the river without much else to report. An easterly breeze sat behind or across for most of the leg, overcast skies overhead, nothing dramatic — just enough push to make the good moments feel earned rather than gifted.

In the general classification, Team Thursday hold second, 78 seconds down per 10 km on the leaders. Team Wednesday remain out in front after their homeward hammering, still setting the tempo of this Tour. But a stage like this — one big number in one small place — is exactly the sort of thing that keeps a chasing team believing. The Diesels grind, and every so often, they surprise even themselves.