The towel did come in useful. Ben and Cat skinny dipped, talking to each other with ease, embracing in the water. Ready for more sex. No more condoms though. No matter – there would be tomorrow. And there really would be tomorrow. This wasn’t to be a one off. Neither of them knew what it was to be but they were aware that tomorrow they would be together, the day after too, and the notion thrilled them privately.

What happened today, Cat? Apart from your fair share of orgasms, a head full of daydreams and a heart newly nourished and beating hard for more? The Tour de France? The Time Trial? Who won? What’s happening?

Read my report, I’m tired. I want to go to sleep. I can taste salt water on my skin. I can taste Ben still. Good night.

COPY FOR P. TAVERNER @ GUARDIAN SPORTS DESK FROM CA TRIONA McCABE IN BORDEAUX

Against the setting of Computaparc, where a massive turnout of cycling aficionados rubbed shoulders with a huge crowd of somewhat nonplussed techno-geeks, the 54.5 km Time Trial of the Tour de France was run today and won in outstanding style by Fabian Ducasse of Système Vipère. Vasily Jawlensky, last year’s winner of the yellow jersey and contender for overall victory this year, rode brilliantly but Fabian rode better. It took 1 hour 9 minutes and 38 seconds for the French heart-throb to claim the maillot jaune and a 1 minute 18 second lead over the Russian defender, who now lies second.

Though there is no certainty that Ducasse will ride every day in yellow from here to the podium in Paris, the golden fleece will assist his passage and he will not relinquish it without the fight which many anticipate will take place between him and Jawlensky in the looming mountain Stages.

Fabian set his pace and held it, averaging just under 51 kph. He chose a huge gear and stuck to it, enabling his bike to gulp as much tarmac with each turn of the pedals as possible. He maintained his prawn-like position all the way; folded aerodynamically, his head tucked lower than his shoulder blades, his knees close to the frame, shoulders steady. Technique, however, went only part of the way in securing his victory today, determination played much the key role.

A Time Trial is lonely to ride and heart-wrenching to watch. Tarmac is ever unfurling and the wind seems to relish buffeting a cyclist out there alone, with no shelter, no slipstreams, no stretch where he can ease the pressure. How was it for Megapac’s Didier LeDucq, standing on his pedals to contend with the climb an evil 15 km from the finish, to have Ducasse power past him sitting deep and steady on the saddle? Time Trialling requires supreme strength, it needs calculation and brains and, ultimately, dogged determination to discredit suffering. Acknowledging pain does not win Time Trials. If your pulse is racing at 180 bpm and lactic acid is forming in your muscles but there are only a few kilometres to go – so what? Your soigneur, glucose and electrolytes can help later. Health does not matter to a rider midway through a Time Trial. A rider who can calmly dismount and walk himself to his soigneur did not Time Trial. Jules Le Grand, directeur sportif of Système Vipère, literally carried Ducasse from his bike. Similarly, Rachel McEwen, Jawlensky’s soigneur, eased the rider away from his machine, her supportive embrace holding him up, holding him together, as she escorted him to the privacy of the team bus.