Team Thursday grind to their slowest Dovedale split in 14 goes

There was nothing pretty about this one, and Iain, racing for Team Thursday, wouldn’t have expected anything else. The story of the day came on Benton Road to Dovedale, where he posted his slowest run in fourteen attempts on that stretch, a full 57% off his best there. It’s the kind of number that would sink a lighter team, but The Diesels don’t do panic - they do grinding, unglamorous mileage, and today was exactly that.

The warning signs were there even before that low point. Benton Blast, just before it, had already come in slower than the previous attempt, suggesting the legs were flattening out rather than building. Elsewhere the story was steadier if unspectacular: small losses and small gains scattered across the Benton Road sequence, nothing dramatic, just the grind of getting through it.

Out on Byker Bridge the westerly breeze that had been sitting behind or across the rider all day made itself felt, sunshine and 13.1 degrees doing little to disguise a stretch that’s never sheltered from anything. The gulls would have been about as always, and the tyre note changing onto the bridge deck was the only real punctuation in an otherwise workmanlike leg. Down at St. Ann’s to the Tyne Bridge there was a much heavier time loss than usual, further proof this was a day for getting the job done rather than chasing numbers.

In the general classification, Team Friday continue to lead the Tour, out in front on average speed with Team Wednesday holding second, some way back. Team Thursday sit fifth, and nothing about today changes that picture - The Diesels aren’t threatening the top of the table, but they’re not falling apart either. Tired, stubborn, and still turning the pedals: that’s the Team Thursday way, and it kept the Tour ticking over for another stage.