Tour du Pays de Vaud Stage 2, 3, 4 and 5

Lawson has limited Internet so I'll try and fill in the blanks ~ Tom

Stage 2 was 103k from Faoug to Blonay. The group stayed together until the tough 3k climb to the finish. The goal today was to protect Nate's yellow jersey. Jensen from Denmark attacked on the climb and finished 14 sec ahead of 4 man chase which included Nate. Lawson finished 15th 34 secs down. Nate held onto the jersey and Lawson is in 15th overall. Third in the Young Riders category.

Stage 3 - 84k Penthalaz - Corbeyrier. This was a flat stage for 78k and the last 6k was about 1400 feet of steep climbing. The plan was for Lawson, Gavin, Jacob and Adam to set tempo in the flats and for Connor and Nate to be ready for all comers once they hit the finish climb. Nate was able to go with the breaks and finished 3rd but lost the yellow jersey to Jenson by 5 seconds. Lawson had laid in on the line in the flats and gave up over 4 min by the finish. Lawson is 38th overall.

Stage 4 - 12k Individual Time Trial -Aigle - Yvorne. This stage started at the headquarters of the UCI and was pancake flat for 11k with a nasty 1k climb to the finish. For team strategy most of the riders were instructed to take it easy for the TT so save their legs for Sundays last stage. Nate and Lawson were given the nod to ride the stage all out. Nate plan was to take back the yellow and Lawson's plan was for a top finish. It was raining on and off throughout the stage and a few riders took some spills. Lawson continued exactly where he left off in Franklin TN and won the stage by 4 secs. This makes it two years in a row that an American has won the ITT at the Pays de Vaud, Taylor Phinney won it last year! Nate finished 5th 23sec off Lawson's pace and take back the yellow jersey with a 40 sec cushion over second place. Lawson moved up to 28th in the GC.

Stage 5 - 112k Villars-Sainte-Croix - Chavornay. The final stage was the the toughest of all the stages and everything was on the line to take home the yellow. The stage had three climbs totally 2900 of climbing. 13k's into the race a group of 7 got away and opened up a gap of 2 1/2 minutes. Team USA got to the front and drilled it taking the field down to about 60 riders. By the end of the stage the break away gap was less than 45 seconds and the yellow jersey was Nate's for good. Gavin and Jacob finished in the top ten for the stage