San Luis Obispo, CA - Following the re-shuffling of the GC race after the grueling Stage 3 into San Jose, the race strategy for the Health Net Pro Cycling Team Presented by Maxxis changed to attack mode, with the goal of animating the long Stage 4 from Seaside to San Luis Obispo. After a number of attacks didn't stick, Roman Kilun of Health Net Presented by Maxxis helped initiate the day's main break about 25 km into the 217 km stage, despite battling the flu and a fever for the past few days.

Kilun was joined by nine other riders, including Team High Road's leader, George Hincapie. But with Iker Camano (Saunier Duval-Scott) also in the break, and sitting within five minutes of race leader Levi Leipheimer (Astana), the teams of the race leader Leipheimer, second overall Robert Gesink (Rabobank) and third overall Fabian Cancellara (CSC) all worked to keep the break within four minutes, through periods of rain and wind that kept the entire race more than a half-hour slower than the slowest anticipated finish time.

For most of the day, when the riders weren't faced with a block headwind, they instead had to deal with strong cross winds.

"The wind was really bad today," Kilun said. "At one point not long after the break got going, we came around a corner into an open area and got a big crosswind that blew me across the road. Another guy got blown onto the shoulder. There were a couple times on descents when there would be a gust of wind and a smaller guy ahead of me would get slowed down and I almost ran into him."

It was universally one of the hardest days that most, if not all, of the riders in the peloton had ever experienced. "That was the worst day I've ever had on the bike," said Phil Zajicek of Health Net Presented by Maxxis.

About the only person who may have been fine with the day was stage winner Dominique Rollin (Toyota-United), who attacked the break with 20 km to go after more than 170 km out front. Rollin held off the chasing Hincapie and Camano for the win. The remainder of the break was swallowed up by the chasing peloton, which eventually cut the gap at the line to 2:28. Tim Johnson and John Murphy of Health Net Presented by Maxxis finished 11th and 12th respectively in the sprint from the main bunch. A second group of about 40, containing most of the rest of the team, came in at 6:32. For his efforts, Kilun got swallowed up and spit out the back of the bunch, finally finishing nearly 15 minutes after Rollin. He now holds the distinction of being the Lantern Rouge of the race, sitting last overall.

Sick Bay

Health Net Presented by Maxxis has been one of the teams hit particularly hard by the various bugs working their way through the peloton this week. Karl Menzies was the first to fall victim during Stage 1. He was starting to come around, and rode his heart out on Stage 3 but Sierra Road finally took its toll on the big man from Tasmania, and he finished just outside of time cut. Matt Crane got hit Wednesday night after a strong ride over the climbs, but started today's stage, anyway. Unfortunately, he was forced to abandon during today's stage. Despite also having the flu, Roman Kilun worked hard in today's main break. Johnson and Zajicek have also felt the bug's bite. Thus far, only Frank Pipp and Murphy have escaped completely, while Rory Sutherland started out the week not feeling great, but has gotten steadily better. Even team director Mike Tamayo fell victim to the stomach virus, leading to quite a bit of discomfort in the team car. Mechanic Randy Villanueva also has suffered a bit from the stomach bug.

In all, nearly 30 riders have dropped out of the race, the majority suffering from the stomach bug.