Team Monday go out with a whimper, not a bang

20:54 for 8.1 kilometres, 23.3 km/h — a number that tells the whole story of Team Monday’s Tour before you even open the segment list. Sunny skies, 11°C, nothing to blame on the weather this time. This was simply the pace Team Monday have, laid bare on their last day out.

The damage was done early. Benton and Chilly Road, the long grinding second segment of the leg, took 7:18, seven seconds slower than Iain’s last effort there and a full 79 seconds off his best. On a segment that eats the best part of eight minutes, that is where a leg is won or lost, and Team Monday lost it. Everything after was just managing the gap: down on Benton Road South, down again on the Cemetery Drag, only flickers of form on Central Heatin’ and Querido Crunch where he actually went quicker than last time.

The bridge, at least, offered some cheer. Byker Bridge’s pedestrian path came in 13 seconds up on the previous crossing, and the tyre note changing from tarmac to timber deck was about the only lively moment of the ride. The gulls were about, the river doing its own thing below, but there was no drama here worth the name — just steady, unremarkable work into the city.

So it ends as it has largely gone: Team Friday still lead, 25 stages and counting since week 1, with Team Wednesday over a minute and a half back in second. Team Thursday sit third, and Team Monday’s small consolation is that the gap behind them has narrowed to just 3 seconds per 10 kilometres, down from 7 before this ride. It is not enough to trouble the top three, and with only the return leg left in this Tour for Team Monday, there is barely time left for that story to turn.