Photo: © Discovery Channel

Eyes on the road: The Steve Cummings Giro diary 2007

Well known for his role in Great Britain's fearsome team pursuit squad, 26 year-old Steve Cummings now has his sights firmly set on the road with Discovery Channel. And it doesn't get much bigger than the Giro d'Italia where Steve is making his Grand Tour debut.

Follow his progress on Cyclingnews as he helps Discovery's bid for Giro glory whilst also keeping one eye on the finish in Milan.

• Index to all entries

Saturday, June 2, 2007

All good experience

Friday was another wet day but I felt good and did 20 k's on the front early on and felt better for it. I'm feeling better this third week than anytime before in the Giro. The second week was the hardest but that's to be expected with the long stage distances.

Thought I would try and get in a break on Friday. However, I was very cold so went back for a warmer top and when I started trying to move up it was a big line out. It's all experience though and that's what I'm here for.

Today was the time trial and I wanted to do a good ride. I felt good too, but had no idea what the course was like. It turned out to be a good fast course but I felt that if I'd been over it beforehand I might have finished a lot further up. You had to know the technical details and I don't have the luxury of that at the moment - I had to keep braking and my line suffered because of that.

Still, at least I beat over a hundred other riders even if many of them were just riding for a finish and I enjoyed the experience - the crowds were really supportive. Hey, more lessons learnt...

It's the final day tomorrow and apart from my girlfriend Nicky coming over, the Discovery team is having a big party hosted by AMD, one of our sponsors. One of my very closest friends was meant to be coming over as well, but Jaycloth (?) lost his passport. Nice one J. However, I hope there will be many other Tours where we can meet and celebrate at the finish.

Tomorrow I'll tell you about the finish in Milan. Who knows, I might have a go but it's nearly always a bunch sprint so it will be very, very difficult.

Thanks for your interest, the last diary will be coming up after Milan. I'll let you know about my withdrawal symptoms!

Best,

Steve