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Ahead of the final stage, we were all gathered round the start line, eagerly anticipating the starter’s gun. It was one of the tightest Tours I’ve ever been involved in, and every rider in contention had been crunching the numbers to calculate how the stage might play out to their advantage. As we were held at the start line, Lomba approached Cav and casually inquired whether he intended to challenge for the intermediate sprints and the bonus seconds that came their way. Since I was just a couple of seconds behind his teammate Alaphilippe, Cav confirmed he would be shelving his own ambitions to help the Frenchman in the G.C. No sooner had he finished answering Lomba’s inquiry than his tire exploded! Right in front of him! Surely a good omen for the rest of the day, and an exchange that would have Lomba in hysterics for the rest of the year. To be fair, Cav did storm the sprint to win the stage, and I had no qualms about that—he was flying all week—but nervously I waited to see if I’d pipped Tyler Farrar to third, as that carried a 4-second bonus. As usual, Gabriele was confident and told me not to worry, and sure enough, I’d won the Tour of California.