Team Wednesday stall at the Tyne, slowest crossing in fifteen goes

Iain, racing for Team Wednesday, arrived at the run from St Ann’s down to the Tyne Bridge and simply couldn’t find a way through it. This was the slowest crossing of that segment in fifteen attempts, a full 139% off the best, and it stood out from a ride that had otherwise been steady rather than spectacular. The bridges stacking up one behind the other, the river appearing between buildings — the setting was as it always is, but the pace through it was not.

The rest of the outward leg had been unremarkable in the best sense, ticking along without drama through the early flats. Benton Road and its long run of lights let him settle, and by the time he’d threaded Chillingham Road’s parked cars and pulled buses the legs were doing what was asked of them. Byker Bridge brought its usual gift of a following, westerly breeze rather than a fight, the crosswind kept mild by conditions that stayed dry and mild throughout — 11.4°C and nothing worse than a 17 km/h tailwind to contend with.

But St Ann’s undid the rhythm. Whatever combination of traffic and timing conspired down there, it cost Iain dear, and by the time he reached the Quayside cobbles the TT sprint that followed, while quick enough at 47 seconds up on last time, couldn’t claw back what had been lost. The gulls and the tide were doing their thing regardless; Team Wednesday’s clock was not.

In the general classification, this changes nothing at the top: Team Friday retain the lead at 24.35 km/h across two legs, still the pace nobody else in this Tour can live with. Team Wednesday sit second, 98 seconds per 10 km down, their podium spot intact despite the St Ann’s stumble. Team Tuesday and Team Monday continue their scrap for third and fourth, but for now the Wednesday jersey holds firm, mid-week form bruised but not broken.