Stage two was a 109km stage starting and finishing at the Mt Stromlo crit circuit. We would ride out and back with the start / finish doubling as the feed zone and then out and back one more time. A 1pm start meant we could relax in the morning and had plenty of time to get ready for the race ahead.  Conditions were perfect.

With a strong rider in the lead and a strong team behind him we knew for the most part the race would be controlled by the Virgin Blue team. As expected the race started very fast with lots of riders trying to get away in early moves. Several got away for short periods but were brought back by the peleton, which clearly did not want anyone gaining too much time.

The course was very hilly with many winding roads, up and down all day.  The U-turn at the turnaround on the first lap and the following 15km was quite a shock to the system and very, very fast. With lessons learnt from day one we were all riding in a better position at this point and were better able to handle these accelerations. Shortly after a group of six riders got away and things settled down in the bunch.  There was still a long way to go.

Big thanks to our soigniers; Jim, Donna and Laura!

With 25km to go the majority of the break was caught. Things were about to get tough again. What was left of the peleton split into several groups on a climb with about 15km to the finish. Several attacks were launched and John was riding in a great position at this point. He found himself in the lead group of a dozen riders. That group would finish only 29 seconds down on the stage winner. A great ride by John.

The remainder of the team rode those last 15km in several different groups on the road. We took what we learnt from stage one into this race and were on the improve. Everyone was excited about the final stage on Sunday and determined to improve some more.