Yesterdays stage started in the far south at a resort. On the way there ex pro and brother in law Chris Jenner and I drove the course and the roads were bad, the part climbing out of the area was a dirt road with heaps of ruts and it went through some mine roads. Here is a few pics of what it's like but they don't really give you the real feeling for the roads.

The race didn't split like I thought and after the gravel and 4 hills it was still a bunch but about 20 guys ended up being 9:28 down at the finish. I was trying to set Roman up for the final sprint and had a good spot 8 wheels back 7km out from the finish but as I turned my head to see if Roman was on my wheel I ran over a stone that blew the side of my tyre out and ended up chasing back on after the wheel change, I got back to Roman and tried to help but my legs were toast from the chase and he rolled top ten and the VCC Mont Dore team took out the stage win.

 

The final stage is a loop around Noumea before doing a 1km loop around the city with 55 laps.

 

Karl Murray

 

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