Stage 5, Masterton - Admirals Hill, 125km

Today's stage is one dreaded by many, eagerly awaited by a few ... by my reckoning no less than twelve significant climbs with the final two being more than significant. Masterton awoke to a drizzly southerly, and local knowledge meant it was time for rugging up warm and conservative wheel choices with the weather likely to be much worse in the hills.

Hitting the end of the neutral zone and what did I see but Ross Stewart coming backwards with his hand in the air, the worst time possible for a flat. Sure enough it was all 50kph+ to the first climb with groups trying to escape, and Ross with no chance of riding back to the speeding peloton alone and not even a sympathetic motorpace from the neutral service had no choice but to abandon. Tough way for a young guy riding really well to end his race.

Up front it was Aussie David Pell heading off up the road with a few for company including Paul, who found the hills a bit less to his liking and wound up back in the bunch after about 30km. Obviously Pell had a few people worried, riding out to a 5 minute gap after 50km, and the pace in the bunch was enough that all plans for a mid-race attack were put on hold and it became a waiting game. Paul and I passed the time with a game of "Tractor", which he leads 11-9 going into the final day.

Come the feed-zone hill after 80km and it all turned to custard yet again with a couple of riders attacking and splitting the bunch (they shall remain nameless, but shall find their against-all-etiquette attack coming back to bite them at a Counties race this winter) ... to be fair Andrew Paul and myself only had bad positioning to blame as we found ourselves in a chase group and riding flat-out to get back on at the foot of the next hill ... only to be dropped again immediately.

1okm later on the climb of the Kororau (1.8km @ 13%, hurts), our group thinned out to what has since been called the "angry man group" ... the three of us and two others obviously a bit gutted at missing out. Pretty knackered by the time we arrived at the top of Admirals Road I was thankful for Robyn grabbing me as I crossed the line and preventing what was shaping up to be a ungraceful dismount. Happy to discover Josh had found some climbing legs and pulled a top-20 ride, little else known about the results except for David Pell hanging on for the stage win and status quo with Hayden Roulston still in yellow.

A mad rush of washing, eating, packing, driving, eating and unpacking again, and we find ourselves back in Lower Hutt, looking forward to a 12km time-trial and 1-hour criterium tomorrow. Dinner bell is ringing, gotta go ...