Originally Posted by timmhaan
i like to have a nice 10 miles of warm-up. otherwise my legs feel like they would at the end of the ride.
I'm about the same.
This suggestion would sound kind of silly but its what the pros do. They will ride slowly on long stages but when the stage requires immediacy as in your case, they will spin on a stationary trainer until they're warm and their circulation is active.
Once you are warm, you can do a little stretching and then climb those hills.