Porte Sky Tour de France Gruelling: Australia's Richie Porte had a punishing day in the saddle during stage nine of the Tour. A confession: I ate my first Toblerone in three months on Monday, the first of two Tour de France 'rest days' that was hardly the day of relaxation it's meant to be. It was my first taste of the chocolate since April, when I was given a 4.5kg block that I only got halfway through before I ordered it be taken out sight. It was also my only real vice after a punishing day in the saddle in the Pyrenees that hurt in more ways than one. I'm pretty strict with my diet these days, and on the Tour I keep on top of what I'm eating. It helps too that at Sky we have a great team chef who knows what's good and what's not. But every now and then, there are times to eat something you wouldn't normally. For me, after all we have gone through in recent days on the Tour, Monday was one of those times. So out came the chocolate which I ate on the physio's table near the end of the day while undergoing some treatment. Otherwise, all I ate Monday were salads and light meals between all the things we had to do - let alone what we wanted to do. It began with a planned sleep-in, but like all sleep-ins - or so it seems - it was interrupted by the anti-doping control officers arriving at our hotel in the beach side town of La Baule. It was about 8am when the knock on the door of the hotel room myself and Chris Froome are sharing came. It was the anti-doping chaperon, ready to take you to a room assigned for our testing where you wait until your tests have been conducted I'm used to it. Monday's test was the 12th I have undergone since and including the Criterium du Dauphine (June 2-9). At least I was up and ready for a relaxed breakfast by 9am before getting out on the bike at 11am for a light ride with the team and our boss David Brailsford. But even that soon turned into a circus. The ride wasn't exactly a peaceful spin in the countryside, with a whole bunch of cameramen following us on motor bikes and in cars; plus fans riding on their bikes behind us. When we stopped for coffee about 20 fans were there taking photos. But this is the Tour. This is what happens when you are on the team of the overall race leader and favourite that "Froomey" is. We didn't stop long either. The point of the stop is to enjoy being able to stop when you want, which you can't do in a race. What's more, I couldn't rave about the coffee. It was your typical bad French coffee. I would race the Giro d'Italia next year just for the Italian coffee. What was odd about our ride though was our trainer Tim Kerrison, who mapped out our route, telling us that we had to stop after exactly 29km. As we were riding along we still couldn't figure out what might be there, or why he would want us to stop. It had us a bit rattled - but we quickly realised when we got there. At exactly 29km and on the D452 we arrived at a town sign that read Kerro. And "Kerro" - our "Kerro" - wanted us all to stop and have a group photo taken with him - which we did, leaving the fans who were following us on their bikes pretty miffed. By the time we got back to our hotel, we had only ridden 51km and it had taken us one hour and 50 minutes. But that's all we needed - the purpose of the ride is just to keep the legs spinning in readiness for the next day's stage. By the time you've had lunch, a physio and massage session and the traditional team press conference in the afternoon, the 'rest day' is pretty much over. So much for all that time to yourself. When it's lights out after eating dinner, you can't help wonder where it all went.