Stage 3 - Sunshine...finally

Stage 3 - Brixen to St. Vigilio

What a treat! We woke up and didn't hear rain. A quick look outside revealed that it was chilly but dry. Yesterday's stage in the rain was mentally very challenging and we were not in the mood to repeat that experience. Today looked like a relatively easy stage. Only 90km but with two tough climbs: Passo delle Erbe (loooong but not too steep) and Passo di Furcia (relatively short but very steep).

The start was right in the heart of Brixen - in front of the beautiful church. People seemed very eager to race and cranked it up right away. We were a bit surprised about the amazing tempo to say the least. Especially since we started riding uphill right away. But we settled into a somewhat comfortable pace. My legs were heavy and my knees hurt. It therefore took me a while to get into a nice rhythm. Temps were great (nice and cool) and we had some great views over Brixen. The climb was supposed to be relatively easy but it was long, indeed. We climbed for almost 2hrs. And that is a lot of climbing. The descent was fine as well.

We then looped around the ski resort Plan de Corones on some beautiful Alpine side roads 200-300 meters above the valley. There were some vicious little climbs along the way which sab your energy. I didn't feel all to great. Just tired and empty. So, we decided to conserve some energy and let it roll. People were still punching it and hammering up some of the smaller climbs. Very impressive. But I had done the Furcia a few times before and knew that we would have to be conservative at this point.

The Furcia went pretty well. It has long ramps of 1.5km with 17-19%. That is quite something. We made some good ground on our fellow riders who seemed to have underestimated the steepness. For me it felt like being home as I had ridden the pass five -six times in early June. It is amazing how much energy that gives you.

The final descent was easy and we arrived in perfect weather. We felt great!!! We are now spending two nights in Olang inbetween stages.

Stats of the day: Rank 123, Ride Time: 4:45h, Kcal: 3412, Normalized Power = 227, AVG Heart Rate: 143, TSS 287

Tomorrow will be an 'easy" day. Only 100km and only 2100m of climbing.....whoohoo. My legs are definitely getting heavy but so far so good.