Morning in Stuttgart and torrential rain. A change of plan formed last night comes into action, seeing a transfer for the cyclists to 20 miles out of the city, by minibus (to avoid the Birkenhead tunnel), making the remaining distance achievable despite reduced speeds on the wet roads.

20 miles out, all the riders set off together, with the conservatives / smarts aiming for 40 miles and the long riders hoping to make it all the way to Munich, including Stuart who was back on form after a day of recuperation.

Shortly after Dave sent out an SOS because his brakes couldn’t cope with the big downhills in the rain. It seems staying up until 1am in the bar the night before may have caused a malfunction on his bike. Or perhaps his legs.

John and Phil parked the fun bus forty miles down route. When the conservatives / smarts reached them and found out they were only 10 minutes behind the long-riders, they patted each other on the back for a while, until they were 40 minutes behind them, then they decided they wanted to try and do another 20 miles themselves.

Driving further on as instructed, J+P were fingered by the fuzz (I’d like to point out this is Ian’s phrase). When the policeman asked Phil to wind his window down he seemed shocked that the bus had no steering wheel. Obviously unfamiliar with British vehicles, the pretense was continued with demands of documents, before the fun bus was waved on.

Another 20 miles along, the conservatives / smarts whizzed past J+P (who were sitting in a bus stop wearing bath robes borrowed scouse-style from the hotel the previous night, as you do) shouting “another 10!”. The conservatives/ smarts were officially on one. Then they promptly all fell off on some tram lines.

The same tramlines had already claimed Andy Watson shortly earlier. He claimed only his pride was hurt, but we were all treated to him pulling down his trousers to show off the bruises in the bar later, from that fall and the one he claims was in fact a push from Richard.

Another 10 miles, and with time pressing, the conservatives / smarts were bus bound and taken 5 miles from the finish line to meet the long riders for the victorious ride across the finish line in unison.

Meanwhile the female members of the support crew were slowly freezing after 3 hours in the bus with Paul D at the finish line. Hysteria had begun to set in and the champagne was very nearly popped early...

But then, the cyclists rounded the final corner and rode towards the finish line together in beautiful unison, only to bugger it all up and go round the wrong side of the van and miss the banner and official finish completely.

Take two, reverse back to said corner and try again. This time, videos running, champagne on ice, wives waiting, against the spectacular backdrop of Munich's Schleiheim Palace, our 14 remaining cyclists rode victorious towards the finish banner, passing under it as camera bulbs flashed like paparazzi.

There were manly hugs and backslapping aplenty and kisses from Debbie and Bridget who had come over to welcome them in (not to go shopping for Jimmy Choos). Champagne was sprayed and beer was drunk as our intrepid cyclists rightly congratulated each other on a phenomenal week’s cycling that pushed personal boundaries, tested limbs and endurance, and raised a pretty amazing amount of money on the way.

Back to the hotel for presentations, Kangaroo Court and a much deserved bottle of beer or two...

(More on this, more pics, videos and more on the events of the day for the long riders coming soon!)