Martijn North - A Double Grand Tour rider. It has quite a ring to it. Well, as I sit here on the first rest day of the Tour de France, I can proudly say that I am.

Before the Tour, my form had been hit and miss, and it was well publicised about my current hatred of the sport and thoughts about riding a bike made me sick. On the first rest day, I am on top of the world, why I doubted my future staying in the sport is beyond me.

Of the first 'week' (the first rest day comes after 10 stages!), the end to Stage 6 reallt caught my eye. Flat, so it should favour the Sprinters, but the short climb before dropping down in Nancy could be a good launchpad for a surprise attack.

A 33km Time Trial opened the 2016 Edition of the Tour de France, and it would an early test for the GC contenders. Tejay looked good out on the course, coming home in 6th, 26" down on Stage Winner, and first the Maillot Jaune of 2016, Taylor Phinney (BMC). I would finish in 133rd, losing just under 2 minutes to the American.

Stages 2 & 3 went the way of the Sprinters, and followed the same trend. Andre Griepel (Lotto) took the victories in both sprints, with Cav struggling to find his finishing kick and crossing the line in 4th.

The TTT on Stage 4 was like Poetry in Motion for HTC. The team worked perfectly together, and stormed to the victory in Blois. Belkin would finish 2nd, putting Lars Boom in the Maillot Jaune.

Business resumed on Stage 5, as Greipel just edged out Cav again in Montargis. Luckily, The Manx Missile was riding high in the Intermediate Sprints, so the gap to Greipel for the fight for Green was under 50 points.

I tried to make my move, as planned, on Stage 6. The peleton was altogether on the climb before the finish in Nancy, and over the top, I had a 22"gap, but Lotto was in hot pursuit. They came past me like I was stood still. Mark was again finish in 2nd, with Greipel taking his 4th victory of the race.

Stage 7 saw the Grande Boucle enter into Germany, and another Griepel victory was expected in Karlsruhe. But sadly, HTC had other plans, and Cavendish finished it off perfectly! If there was a time to take your first win, this was it. It was almost the turning point in the fight for Green as well.

The route weaved out of Germany and back into the France on Stage 8, and it was first sight of the Vosges Mountains and the Alps soon to come. Normally, I would have looked forward to the long descent, especially after the climb before it, but we had to look after Tejay. Our GC would finish 4th on the stage, and put pressure on Boom (Belkin) who was still sitting in the Maillot Jaune.

Sitting on the team bus on the morning of Stage 9, I asked for one thing - let me attack. I jumped up the road on the first climb, taking with me Pierre Rolland (Europcar) and the World Champion, Sep Vanmarcke (BMC). On every climb, I kicked for KoM Sprints, feeling my legs grown stronger every time I got out of the saddle. On the final climb, I dropped my two companions, and continued alone.

I powered down the descent, and soon something dawned on me... I was going to be a Tour de France stage winner! The feeling crossing the line in Mulhouse was nothing like I had felt before. It was amazing. On the podium, I had to fight back the tears of emotion that had slowly built up since the Ardennes.

The final stage before the rest day was the Summit Finish to Courchevel. First, at the Intermediate Sprint, Cav took the points to take Green. He had finished in 3rd on the stage to Muhouse, whist Griepel finished long after the peleton. Added to the points won in Derrier on Stage 10, he had a 4 point lead over the German.

The GC battle on the climb to the finish was fantastic to watch. Tejay was on top form, finishing 4th and taking the Yellow Jersey, just ahead of Robert Gesink (Belkin). The biggest shock though was the performance of Chris Froome (Sky), who was unable to response to the accelerations, losing nearly 2 minutes on the stage.

The rest day is normally a hive of activity, but today it was a little more than that. Amongst the usual press conferences with the GC favourites, short rides to keep the legs moving and generally relaxing off the bike came a Press Conference from Bob Stapleton to announce the Team Ins and Outs for next season. It had already been announced that Renshaw and Eisel were going to be retiring, but Brent Brookwalter and, after some Contract Issues, Adam Blythe.

However, coming into the team were some big names, and some big rivals for squad places for me. Alex Dowsett and CJ Sutton were joining from Team Sky to add strength to the lead-outs, whilst Dan Martin (Garmin) and Michel Kwiatkowski (OmegaPharma) would give the team another dimension in the Classics and Grand Tours.

It was quite late in the day when I got a call from Douglas Ryder, the man who was going to be managing the National Team at the World Championships again. His voice sounded more excitable than usual, and the more spoke the more I realised why. The 2016 World Championships were to be held in the Hills around Durban, South Africa. The city of Pietermaritzburg would be the host, and given the course, I would be a hot favourite to take the Road Race victory.

Instructions were simple. I was focus solely on the Worlds, and work with HTC to ensure I had the best chance of winning on home soil. Hanging up the phone, it took me a moment or two to think about what to do next. Instinctively, I went to find Brian Holm.

The second week of the Tour was thankfully actually a week, instead of 10 stages like the first 'week'. Saying that, I wouldn't say it was easy. In 5 stages, we had three Mountain Stages, two summit finishes, a rolling hilly stage and fast flat rolling stage in the middle. I just hope there is one stage where we let the break take the spoils and we have a day off in the peleton.

Of the five stages, Stage 15 to Pla d'Adet will be the toughest. The Queen Stage of this year's Tour, it has FIVE classified climbs before we even get to the Summit Finish. Only the strongest will survive in the Pyrenees.

It felt really good lining up at the front of the peleton at the beginning of Stage 11. Tejay was in Yellow, Cav in Green and Me in Polka Dots. The sponsors were loving this picture. The stage itself was the first of the Mountain stages, and won by Bauke Mollema (Belkin). The Dutchman who is hunting after the Polka Dot Jersey escaped early, with Pierre Rolland (Europcar) and the pair would contest the stage. Tejay came home with the other GC favourites, 2'00 down on the pair and finished the stage in 5th.

I was given a opportunity to give a lead-out to Cav on Stage 12, first when approaching the Intermediate Sprint, and then at the end of the stage, as he contest the Bunch Sprint for the Minor Places. Geraint was given the chance to attack at the beginning of the stage, and he was rewarded with 2nd on the stage, behind Andrey Grivko (Trek).

On the flat transition Stage 13, I was given the job of looking at Tejay. The stages were offering nothing to me in terms of chances of winning, so it seemed only fair that I show repay the team for their hard work in the Ardennes in Spring. Cav would get his 2nd win of the Tour, outsprinting Peter Sagan (Movistar) and Andre Greipel (Lotto) on the line in Montpellier. The victory would also increase our Manxman's lead in the Green Jersey standings, a Classification that looks like it is slipping from Greipel's grasp. Amongst the celebrations, we were missing one rider though. Bradley Wiggins had come down shortly after finishing his duties in the lead out, breaking his collarbone, and instantly abandoning the race. It was such a sad moment for the 2012 Winner.


The second of the big Mountain stages came on Stage 14, and the summit finish at Ax 3 Domaines. If there was ever a day for Tejay to shine, today would be it. Before the stage, he had a 6" lead over Robert Gesink (Belkin). He would end it with 1'35" lead. Dominik Nerz (BMC) would take the win, but the World Press would focus on Tejay, as he would attack the favourites, and cross the line alone in 4th.

My job for the climb to Ax 3 Domaines, and also on Stage 15 to Pla d'Adet was to look after Cav and his Green Jersey. I would lead him out for the Intermediate Sprints, before falling back through the peleton with him, and riding gently to the finish within the Time Limit.

The Queen Stage would be won by Chris Froome (Sky), who was finally showing some form in the second half of the Grand Tour. The defending champion attacked on the lower slopes of the final climb, and only Tejey could respond, extending his lead over Gesink in the process. Going into the final week, van Garderen holds a 2'39" lead over the Dutchman, with Froome in 3rd, 3'15" down on the Yellow Jersey.

the_hoyle wrote:
@sutty & jandal: It was a good week, and with only a difficult Mountain stage plus the ITT, it could look like we have the first American winner since Greg Lemond