Adam Hansen (Columbia) seen here attacking in the Giro, had a day 'off' for once from team duties (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Adam Hansen keeps a diary of his Tour de France. Without team obligation (other than to finish inside the time limit!), he had some time to become director and producer of a little video clip on Alpe d'Huez. Read Hansen's entertaining story.
Sorry it's been a few days since my last update, but we've had a few mountains to climb... But I'll make this a longer update.
The second rest day was SOOOOO much better than the first. There was so much free time, it was incredible! We had no physio checks, no press conference and just a lot more time. I crashed in my room for most of it, trying to catch up on the internet, laying on the bed and watching a movie. I also saw my family – my mother and sister are watching the race. They brought some relatives around which was wonderful.
Stage 16 I struggled because I had a stomach problem, which made it impossible to keep any food down. I know I've said that everything is faster here, going uphill and all. But even going downhill is faster. It's amazing, when you really think about it. We have climbed all these mountains and are going down super-fast. A lot of us are worn out and not 100 percent switched on, but we still do everything perfectly without crashing. Going 90kph around these corners that I have never done before, and I'm sure a hundred other guys haven't either! It's amazing to me, but I guess you just call that pro cycling.
But I guess we don't all do it perfectly. I was in a group behind the Pereiro crash and we were going really fast. When we saw it we all slowed down and it was a huge eye opener. We took it a lot slower after that. I thought he was a goner when we rolled past – he was just laying there. But thankfully he is okay.
