Team Friday roll home and leave the whole Tour scratching its head

There was no fireworks display on the way home tonight, but Team Friday didn’t need one. Iain eased out at 23.4 km/h over the 8.87 km leg, comfortable rather than committed, the sort of ride that suggests the legs had already clocked off for the week even before the wheels started turning.

The story of the stage was Gibson Street, the Tour’s one proper test of character. Iain came up it in 2:03, six seconds down on his last effort and a hefty 75 seconds off his best - proof, if any were needed, that Friday legs know the difference between a race and a ride home. The lights partway up did him no favours either, turning what should have been a rhythm climb into a stop-start slog. It’s the kind of segment that punishes hesitation, and today hesitation won.

A westerly breeze pushed from behind or across for most of the leg, the overcast sky keeping things mild at 18.4°C - conditions that flattered nobody and hindered nobody either. Out on Byker Bridge, that exposed deck felt its usual self, the wind doing just enough to remind him it was there without making a fuss of it.

Elsewhere the softer flat sections told the same story: times up across the board on Chilli Road Dash Reversed, Etherstone to the top of Coach Lane and Etherstone Ave itself, none of them within shouting distance of their best. This was Team Friday in guest-appearance mode, rolling rather than raiding.

In the general classification, Team Wednesday remain untouchable at the summit on 25.57 km/h, with today’s efforts doing nothing to trouble that lead. Team Friday sit third overall at 23.93 km/h across three legs, comfortably placed but a long way short of throwing down a challenge. With the weekend now looming, the Tour’s shape looks settled - Wednesday’s crown secure, and Friday content simply to see the week out in one piece.