Team Thursday grinds into the Tour, no medals for style

Team Thursday arrived for the first time this Tour with nothing flashy to offer, and that turned out to be exactly the point. Iain, racing for Team Thursday, ground his way round at 22.5 km/h, the kind of number that flatters nobody but gets the job done. It was the Diesels doing what Diesels do: no fireworks, no collapse, just steady work against a headwind that never let up.

That southerly breeze was the story of the whole outing, a dry but persistent 12 km/h headwind that leaned on Iain from the first pedal stroke. It showed up everywhere, but nowhere more plainly than on the Benton and Chilly Road stretch, the day’s defining segment: over eight minutes of toil, 50 seconds down on his last effort there and well over two minutes off the best. It is the kind of stretch where legs and lights conspire, and today it was the wind doing the conspiring too.

There were flickers of resistance elsewhere. Central Heatin’ and Querido Crunch both came in quicker than last time, suggesting the engine wasn’t entirely cooked, and the Quay TT nudged marginally ahead of the previous effort as the finish neared. But the overall picture was of a rider leaning into a stubborn headwind for the best part of twenty-one minutes, with the gulls and the river smell down on the Quayside offering little consolation for tired legs.

At the top of the Tour, nothing changes hands today. Team Tuesday hold firm at the summit with 22.95 km/h across two legs, still the pace to beat. Team Wednesday sit second, just 10 seconds per 10 km behind, breathing down Tuesday’s neck. Team Thursday’s debut slots them into third on 22.5 km/h, 31 seconds per 10 km off the lead — a solid, unspectacular start that keeps the Diesels in touch without troubling the summit. Team Monday, meanwhile, continue to slide, now fourth and 75 seconds down. The Tour remains Tuesday’s to lose.