Greig Leach

Life at the back of the peloton can be tough, it is often the place for the walking wounded, or in this case the riding wounded. Ji Cheng (Giant Shimano) drops off the peloton to visit the race doctor in search of the magic spray that will keep him going. With all of the ban substances, to prevent performance enhancing doping, it is difficult to manage pain, pain most often from tendonitis. Cheng has been the man driving the front of the peloton for Giant Shimano and then disappearing after he has left all of his energy on the road. He is joined at the back by the heartbreak kid, Jack Bauer (Garmin Sharp). Having but so many kilometers into the break on the way into Nimes, he just was still too exhausted from that effort to be able to hold the wheels of the fast disappearing peloton. With 21 stages over a 23 day period, riders have to be careful to not over do it one day for fear of having nothing left for the next.