July 25, 2008 (Andalo, Italy) — Greeting from the Dolomites in Italy. Stages 5 and 6 were the hardest two days of this years Trans Alp challenge. In fact everyday in this race is quite challenging physically with the terrain and distance. But these two stages had the longest distances – 122km two days ago on Stage 5 – and the most vertical climbing meters, yesterday at almost 4,000m!

The longest day took us from Livigno down from the high elevation to Naturns, the valley near to the famous Passo Stelvio as raced in many a Giro d’Italia.

Though it was a very long day, also with some major climbing, I think this day (Stage 5) was my favourite route thus far. We started with a normal steep gravel road and this turned into almost 15km of lightly climbing single track – scenic and fun.

A small descent took us to a lake and from there we started climbing. First a wide gravel road then to almost 45 minutes of steep gravel switchbacks. If you had the energy it was ridable. The vegetation was sparce to nil and as we got higher into the alpine the wind was strong and very cold.

When we got to the highest point in the race almost 3,000 metres it was pretty much like a moon scape. We rode a small downhill and the it was back to more climbing on steep barely ridable singletrack.

It was freezing on the top of this mountain, totally bare with the wind whipping by, so it was quite the surprise to see how many people were up there cheering for us. Pretty cool, they could only have gotten up there either by a long bike ride, or hike.

We descended very carefully – it was fun but also in sections quite dangerous with long drops to the side.

This turned to a paved pass which was a bit scary with all the cars and motorbikes also on the road. When we hit the roads (which we do a lot in Italy) they are open to traffic and many riders ride as though they are on closed roads. It’s very dangerous and obviously stupid to do this.

From here we were mostly rolling and flat to the finish. We were with the leading mixed team and the 2nd placed mixed team as well, so we were in the middle of this battle and watching with interest.

The Cube Bike women’s team was close behind us all day but never made contact. We had a good group to ride with to the finish and managed to add a couple more minutes on to our overall lead. But I can tell you that this 6-hour day in the mountains for us was long and hard, and in the last half of the race we were back into the heat.

The following day we started Stage 6, the “king stage”. In stage races they always label as the hardest stage of the race as the king, or queen stage.

The first climb began right from the start line – almost 20km of asphalt road that turned into a gravel for the last 2/3 section. It was not the most interesting hour and a half. At the top we had some nice forest trails and then hit a very hairy downhill, steep, rough and loose. Can’t say I enjoyed that much.

At the bottom we were joined by the Cube team who had moved into 2nd place overall after the last stage. We rode the next couple climbs and downhills together and it was nice riding with them. They’re sisters from Denmark and are both strong riders uphill and pretty strong on the downhills as well. And they’re nice people — good, honest athletes, a quality I rate highly.

I was really short on water on this hot day, and we thought the feedzone was close. But we just kept climbing and climbing. Pia was riding super strong and she went ahead to fill up bottles. I wanted to stay close to her though and soon I had dropped the Cube women. I rode up to Pia and told her we were on our own now.

We got some much needed water and kept going on this long climb eventually catching a group of about eight by the top. The first part of the descent had some of the riders walking the more technical parts. We were pretty slow behind them, but just taking it relaxed and easy.

We hit roads for a while including a descent down the tight switchbacks of the Mendel Pass road for almost 10km. At this point I was definitely feeling a bit cooked. And the last 20kms were hard. Lots of fun forest downhills but also many short steep climbs. At this point we were in a super group but it was taking more energy than I’d have preferred to stay with them.

Right after the line I did not feel well. I drank and tried to eat a bit, but I was feeling dizzy and a bit sick. We got to the hotel and it took quite some time relaxing a cooler setting, and drinking lots of water, before I was feeling ok again.

Obviously in a stage race one tries never to get to this state as it takes more than 24h for recovery from even a mild heat injury. We likely made a tactical error trying to stay with a fast group and I must say I was quite worried at the start of today’s Stage 7.

Our plan was to ride tactically today and try to take it as easy a day as possible even though we still had 75kms and 3,000m to climb!

Again we were climbing right from the start line for 17kms up a gravel road. I was feeling bad so we let the cube team set the pace and we just followed their wheels. There were some tough moments for me and luckily Pia was riding so strong today so during my few crises I was able hitch up to the Pia-train for a small tow when needed i.e. grab her jersey pocket.

The pace was not so high and I knew Pia was quite antsy but I had to get some recovery today so I just followed and ate and drank all I could during the stage.

It was a 7km loose hot gravel climb to the line. And at the top I was very happy we were on the wheels of the Cube women. We rolled in behind them at the finish with the same time. A good mission accomplished now with the final stage tomorrow.

I was feeling hot but ok at the finish. And it was a good thing to not have an upset stomach today. We had some pizza at the motorhome after the stage today and I found one of my faves – ruccolla, procuito, and parmesan. I ate the whole thing. Great for my morale and for the recovery as well!

Tomorrow we have a long climb after the start and then a long steep trail downhill. After that just 25kms of bike paths to the finish line in Riva de Garda… a jump in the lake and some well deserved gelato.

Full Stage 7 results pdf here.

Results

Stage 5 – July 23 – Livigno-Naturns – 122.24km

Men
1. Andreas Strobel (Ger)/Markus Kaufmann (Ger) Team Vaude-Simplon 1 5:07.43
2. Martin Kraler (Aut)/Heinz Verbnjak (Aut) Craft and Friends 5:07.45
3. Karl Platt (Ger)/Stefan Sahm (Ger) Team Bulls 5:07.45

49. Lloyd Thomas (Can)/Dwayne Kress (Can) Team Craft/Hayes Brake/Mongoose 5:59.47

Women
1. Alison Sydor (Can)/Pia Sundstedt (Fin) Team Rocky Mountain 5:43.52
2. Anna-Sofie Noorgard (Den)/Christin Noorgard Team Cube 5 5:44.58
3. Peggy Klose (Ger)/Sandra Klose (Ger) Zwillingscraft-Ideal 5:56.32

14. Karin Welsh (Can)/Karen Rowsell (Can) Uxbridge 11:00.00

Mixed
1. Werner Fischer (Sui)/Milena Landtwing (Sui) Institut Ftan/Velo Franz Univega 5:43.51
2. Anita Steiner (Sui)/Cornel Bamert (Sui) Team Stöckli Wädenswil 5:53.59
3. Andrea Kuster (Sui)/Lars Vollmer (Ger) Die Königskinder 69 6:01.36
65. Clive Burke (Can)/Colleen Ast (Can) Trans Rockies Warriors 11:00.00

Master
1. Ekkehard Dörschlag (Aut)/Heinz Zörweg (Aut) Team KTM 5:08.54
2. Walter Platzgummer (Ita)/Johann Grasegger (Ger) Scott-adidas-Naturns 5:10.35
3. Siegfried Hochenwarter (Aut)/Georg Koch (Aut) Team Generali 5:16.14

Senior Master
1. Ferdinand Ganser (Ger)/Georg Niggl (Ger) Ept Connect 5:45.01
2. Walter Ehrler (Sui)/Marcel Arnold (Sui) Giant Swiss D’Ãœrner Oldies 5:50.44
3. Core Silvio (Ita)/Maltauro Ruggero (Ita) Maghagati (153) 5:57.50,3

Stage 6 – July 24 – Naturns-Kaltern – 97.36km

Men
1. Karl Platt (Ger)/Stefan Sahm (Ger) Team Bulls 4:53.02
2. Martin Kraler (Aut)/Heinz Verbnjak (Aut) Craft and Friends 5:01.28
3. Bjorn Papstein (Ger)/Holger Sievers (Ger) Team idworx-offtraxx.net 5:03.17

Women
1. Alison Sydor (Can)/Pia Sundstedt (Fin) Team Rocky Mountain 5:56.10
2. Anna-Sofie Noorgard (Den)/Christin Noorgard Team Cube 5 (11) 5:59.54
3. Kerstin Brachtendorf (Ger)/Daniele Troesch (Fra) Fiat/Rotwild (13) 6:34.27

Mixed
1. Werner Fischer (Sui)/Milena Landtwing (Sui) Institut Ftan/Velo Franz Univega 6:01.41
2. Heike Hundertmark (Ger)/Sam Baeten (Ger) Rothaus – Cube 3 (73) 6:07.51
3. Jon Richardson (Nzl)/Sara MacDonald (Nzl) R & R Sport (91) 6:08.11

25. Marisa Tosi (Can)/Roy Costodio (Can) RAM2

Master
1. Ekkehard Dörschlag (Aut)/Heinz Zörweg (Aut) Team KTM 5:16.53
2. Walter Platzgummer (Ita)/Johann Grasegger (Ger) Scott-adidas-Naturns 5:23.24
3. Siegfried Hochenwarter (Aut)/Georg Koch (Aut) Team Generali 5:26.49

97. Larry Michienzi (Can)/Peter Male (Ger) Muscat Tears 1:38:40

Senior Master
1. Ferdinand Ganser (Ger)/Georg Niggl (Ger) Ept Connect 5:55.10
2. Walter Ehrler (Sui)/Marcel Arnold (Sui) Giant Swiss D’Ãœrner Oldies 6:00.06
3. Bill Benson (Can)/Don Sissons (Can) Team Syngenta Prairie Boys (48) 6:24.25

Stage 7 – July 25 – Kaltern-Andalo – 97.36km

Men
1. Benjamin Rudiger (Ger)/Matthias Bettinger (Ger) Rothaus – Cube 1 3:43.22
2. Martin Kraler (Aut)/Heinz Verbnjak (Aut) Craft and Friends / mountainbiker.at 3:43.23
3. Karl Platt (Ger)/Stefan Sahm (Ger) Team Bulls 3:43.24

Women
1. Anna-Sofie Noorgard (Den)/Christin Noorgard Team Cube 5 4:31.18
2. Alison Sydor (Can)/Pia Sundstedt (Fin) Team Rocky Mountain 4:31.19
3. Kerstin Brachtendorf (Ger)/Daniele Troesch (Fra) Fiat/Rotwild 4:44.04

Mixed
1. Werner Fischer (Sui)/Milena Landtwing (Sui) Institut Ftan/Velo Franz Univega 4:20.58
2. Anita Steiner (Sui)/Cornel Bamert (Sui) Team Stöckli Wädenswil 4:21.00
3. Heike Hundertmark (Ger)/Sam Baeten (Ger) Rothaus – Cube 3 4:21.37

Master
1. Ekkehard Dörschlag (Aut)/Heinz Zörweg (Aut) Team KTM 3:46.38
2. Siegfried Hochenwarter (Aut)/Georg Koch (Aut) Team Generali 3:48.45
3. Udo Bolts (Ger)/Werner Wagner (Ger) Team Cube 3 3:59.50

Senior Master
1. Ferdinand Ganser (Ger)/Georg Niggl (Ger) ept connect 4:16.21
2. Walter Ehrler (Sui)/Marcel Arnold (Sui) Giant Swiss D’Ãœrner Oldies 4:21.00
3. Gerhard Moll (Ger)/Alfred Jocher (Ger) Scott Team Heilenmann/MOM grand Masters 4:34.04