Transalp - stage 7

The initial climb out of Naturns - steep & hot, but as always - beautiful! (photo: transalp.de)

Transalp Stage 7: Naturns to Andalo Italy

We are riding lower down the Trento valley which runs from Verona up to the Austrain border. The start & finish towns are small resort towns where Italian & Germans vacation in the mountains. Many of the Italians in the region speak German instead of italian as this used to be Austria before WWI. They call the region the Sud Tirol (the South Tirol)

"Hopp, Hopp" the Germans yell & there are more German spectators than anyone else.

It is very hot here & we searched out shade at the start. The starting climb was 22km up a forested mountain but the trees provided only a little respite from the sun. It is absolutely amazing how so many people are still riding so hard every day. The starts remain fast but the groups break into long trains of riders early on the climbs. Thomas & Mike have good legs today & shoot up ahead. Mark gets stronger every day but my race plan needs to be to conserve on the early climb so I can make it to the finish. I am in the little chainring where I would normally be in the middle.

Our heart rates no longer climb into zones 4 or 5 as our legs are too tired to push that hard. At our level, this is a race of leg power, not so much cardiovascular fitness. I'm sure the top riders are still able to push it to redline even this late in the race.

Fabulous fast, descents today with a mix of single track & loose, steep rocky double track. We are mixed in some large groups & passing is difficult which keeps us a bit slower. That is actually not a bad idea as full speed descending on entirely unknown trails can be a bit tricky. Thomas took a small spill taking some risks today but no significant injuries. Mark & I have dropped back from our usual riding group & the riders here are less skilled in single track. This is hard on us as this would be a good area to make up some time.

The finish today is actually downhill, but only after you pay for it with a very steep 7k climb. Fortunately this climb is up a small creek in a tunnel of trees so it is cool.

Mike & Thomas finished the day in 15th & seem to be holding onto 12th in G.C. They are 9 minutes out of 11th & culd make that jump. A top 10 will be very difficult as they are 37 minutes out here. Mark & I finished - period. We were in 57th for the day, 1: 57 off the leaders, & dropped to 25th in G.C. We rode about 30 minutes back from our usual riding. This is all bad legs today - no mechanicals. I had to notch it back from the start with just to get to the finish. Just finishing the race was our goal coming in. We rode very well for 5 days & started shooting at top 20 but have reverted to our original plan.

Tomorrow is an "easier" stage. Easier is relative as there is still a 300o foot climb out of the start, Every one of these climbs in the Transalp would fit the criteria for a Category 1 or HC climb in Tour de France terms. The race then seems to drop right off a cliff - dropping 800 meters over a kilometer or so. Locals tell us this is loose rock & a pretty tricky technical section which is big plus for us. It is then a fast run to the finish at Riva del Garda.

short post - I am really tired
Ciao,

Drew Geer
Chipotle Titus Velonews

My Garmin profile from Stage 7. The finish climb was the hardest of the day. We ride with small profiles on our handlebars everyday. We have marked the feed zones & tops of the climbs so we know exactly where they are. Other riders seek out "Garmin" riders. They know that the GPS distances are accurate & they want to know exactly what kilomter we are at.I get asked several times a climb "Garmin - where are we?". A regular odometer may be substantilly off & on these climbs even 500 meters error is big.