TOUR DIARY:Yesterday was one of the hardest stages as everyone was trying to get that iconic win before tomorrow's finale, writes DANIEL MARTIN

TWO DAYS left until the Champs Elysees. The Tour is nearly over, the riders are all worn out, yet we had one of the hardest stages yet yesterday when some of the teams and riders that haven’t won a stage fired everything they had at trying to get one. I think the average was a 45 or 46 kilometre per hour with a headwind . . . it was flat out all day.

It took an hour and a half for the break to go and there was a lot of racing done in that time. When it went, a lot of teams missed it and that meant that they spent much of the day chasing hard behind. The net result was that we covered 230 kilometres in five hours – it was just full gas all day, even though it was up and down and over 2,000 metres of climbing. I didn’t really feel too fresh at the start and had a few bad moments in the race, but generally I was okay.

There was a nervous moment for a few riders when a dog ran into the bunch and caused a crash. Our sprinter Tyler Farrar was one of those who went down, but luckily he was not too badly hurt. I didn’t actually know it had happened, but somebody just came up and told me that there had been a huge dog – he said it was like a horse – that had run out into the road. Dogs in the peloton have happened in the past but is the one thing that hadn’t yet occurred on this Tour. Now, just before the end of the race, it happens again. I really don’t understand why on earth people bring dogs to races.

Anyway, the riders got up again and chased the peloton. Tyler was able to chase back up to us, which was good. It was just incredible how fast we were riding. I think French television wanted a sprint as they were definitely helping the peloton a bit in terms of chasing the break. The guys at the head of the peloton were sitting two metres behind the camera motorbike and we were going really fast. Obviously if you were at the back, it was really hard.

Tyler was trying to get up there in the sprint and I was able to help him get over the last climb. I didn’t really help him much in the last couple of kilometres because it was pretty hectic. It was good to see him get back up there for the sprints, though, and get sixth on the stage. Picking up a top 10 was nice for the team.

Before then, Nicolas [Roche] attacked on the last climb and got clear. He went close to taking the stage. I haven’t yet been able to watch the highlights and see what happened, but it was great that he was involved in the action. I think it is the kind of thing he could do more often if he wasn’t thinking more of the general classification.

Nicolas is really talented as far as making efforts like that go, plus he reads a race really well and rides good position. I think he can definitely look for more opportunities like that, and maybe win a stage in the future.

The only complication is that when you are riding for the general classification it is always difficult to chase stages as you have to think about saving energy for when you need it and not wasting it at different times.

Anyway, I think that will be really good for his confidence, particularly heading towards London next week and the Olympics. Both of us are coming out of the race strongly. I do think that the winner of the Olympic road race is going to come from the Tour de France; I don’t think you can be even slightly competitive without being here.

Obviously there are a couple of exceptions like Tom Boonen, but I think there is a big difference in riding in the Tour beforehand. Yesterday we were all the time looking for extra gear. You are already in 53x11, riding at 55 kilometres per hour, and you just want to go down more gears. You don’t really get that anywhere else. It actually starts to become normal riding at 60 kilometres per hour – that’s going to be really useful for the Olympics.

There are now just two stages left in the race. The plan for today’s time trial is that I am going to ride it flat out, as if I’m going for the general classification.

Then Sunday is the final stage to Paris. I can’t remember the exact year but when I was young, I watched the Tour finish in there and the atmosphere is going to be incredible.

It is a fatigued and somewhat beat-up peloton that is arriving in Paris, but everybody says that it sends real shivers down your spine when you get onto the Champs Elysees. It’s going to be great.