Tuesday 18th July - Stage 4 - Scuol to Livigno
Looking forward to 78 km and 2717 m of climbing!!
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I ended my last diary entry complaining about a headache and the onset of a head cold. Well last night I really suffered. I don't know whether sleeping at 1200m altitude had anything to do with it, but all my sinuses were blocked and my throat was burning. I didn't sleep at all and rose up at 5am feeling less than ready to ride another 78km across the Alps.
It was the first morning my body showed signs of fatigue and a little bit of anxiety set in. I had to force my breakfast down, even though I had no appetite. I also had a little cry which relieved the pressure building up inside my head. I overdosed on garlic tablets, in case it was a cold and just tried to talk myself into 'how much fun I was going to have climbing three passes today at over 2200m'.
Today we were heading for Livigno, Italy. According to the race profile there would be more climbing than descending and apparently more single track than the last three stages. Uli the race organiser described the course conditions in great detail…'If you miss a bend there will be no hope for you'. I decided there would be no straight lining the bends today if I was going to finish the Transalp in one piece.
The neautralised start on pave
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When we finally started racing I expected the worst, but suddenly my legs started powering up the first climb and before I knew it I had passed Specialized Team Factory rider Sabine Spitz and her partner and was ahead of the leading German girls (Although a little later on Sabine powered past, exchanging some lovely encouraging words in the process to keep me pedaling on). My head had suddenly unblocked itself and I was feeling at one with the bike. Andy had said a few months ago that he was training Jenn and I to peak for the middle of the race. I didn't believe it was possible, but my legs had a mind of their own this morning (if only they would always feel that way).
Jenn and I were very honest with each other during the entire event and although we're usually quite equal on the climbs, Jenn is by far the stronger descender. The plan was for me to go ahead on the climbs so that Jenn would catch me on the descents, so neither of us would be waiting at any point. However today Jenn didn't seem her usual self and looked very pale. I stayed with her the second half of the climb to make sure everything was alright. Jenn admitted she was feeling unwell and so we stopped for a short moment so Jenn could take some anti-nausia tablets. It wasn't until the trail turned to single track that Jenn started to look more herself and was riding strongly.
During the second half of the course we rode a long section of technical gravel single track situated beside a river. There were some tough unexpected short climbs that caught many riders out, but Jenn and I remained smooth and fortunately didn't stumble. Jenn and I were cheering each other on, as our hard tails coped brilliantly with the conditions. Together we passed several riders who decided not to risk a fall if a wrong turn was taken…I think a lot of people today were wary of Uli's little warning 'If you take a wrong turn there will be no hope for you'.
As we continued along this long piece of single track, I noticed ahead that the leading pair (Team Rothaus-Cube/TREK/BDR) looked like they had slipped from the trail. Jenn and I moved into second place and pushed on as we knew they would be right on our tails before too long.
The last feed station appeared and both Jenn and I were forced to stop as we had run out of fluid. As we quickly refilled our water bottles the German team decided not to stop. Jenn and I took off after them. They had a gap of about 1 minute. There was still just over 20km to go. The gap remained on the last climb, but we felt confident we could make up some time on the last descent. Jenn and I fought on and as the course flattened out we had the German girls in sight. At one point we were virtually on their back wheel, when suddenly the course changed again to single track. This time the steep narrow trail took us by surprise as it was much steeper than the race profile revealed. The German team had passed a couple of riders, who we found ourselves caught behind. The terrain was very loose and rocky with only one grippy line that every rider wanted.
The finish in Livigno
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Finally we were told by a spectator that there was only one more descent to go. Jenn and I had made it safely to Livigno in 4.30hrs, still in third, but today only one minute behind the second place team who were leading overall.
After stage 4, Jenn and I were still in third. There were still four days to go, but I didn't want to look that far ahead as all I could think about at this point in time was food, sleep, more food and hopefully a better night sleep.
Photo's thanks to www.pattersontraining.com and www.aquickrelease.com
Bex Hopkins
