I sat in at the back until the sprint line at 21mi in, which Russell went for. After that, Middlebury Gap started at 23mi. My goal was to finish a full big bottle of sis before we got there, and then move up to start Middlebury with the front group. Two guys tried to get away after the sprint and got a bit of a gap before the climb. Russell shut it down, while I looked for the GC leader, Billy Hafferty. Russ finished the job and I was on the Billy’s wheel up Middlebury, as Corey took us up the first part of the climb. I focused on holding Billy’s wheel and watching out for Zach Weimer (who beat me at this race last year, and at Cap Regions in July). I crested Middlebury with the top 5 guys on GC and then we sent it on the downhill, as one does. I hit 57.9mph, which was super fun. A group had gotten away before the top of Middlebury and unfortunately, I didn't know it. Eventually, Corey and Russ joined my group with a few other guys. We were a decent group going into the second KOM on Notch Rd. It's short but steep and we hit it hard, right into a gravel descent. I was praying not to flat there, and thankfully didn’t. Eventually, we got to Baby Gap and the group had thinned out quite a bit. However, we were also picking up a bunch of guys who had been shelled from the break at Middlebury. We picked up quite a few before App Gap, and I started the climb second wheel in a group of 10-15. We went up at a good clip and the group reduced very quickly. I stayed with the top guys on GC and a few others. At that point, it was clear it was gonna be a battle of climbers, and about halfway up someone turned up the heat and I followed. We dropped a few more guys, and distanced the GC leader and Zach (which I was thrilled about, even though they ended up not too far behind). Last kilometer was absolutely insane. I didn't have enough in me to win out of that group, unfortunately. I ended up 8th on the stage.

This put me in 11th in GC, and I was happy with that result. It was a hard day, and I was very happy to thank Russ and Corey when they finished for helping me out. I raced about as smart of a race as I could have. I fed properly, followed the right wheels, and only expended energy when absolutely necessary. I could have ended my road season right here, but I had one more day left. As we were recovering afterwards, I checked the forecast for the next day: rain all day. “Wow, this sucks,” I thought, but it was a problem to be worried about tomorrow.