Yesterday was tough. Really tough. It was so tough that I really wondered why we were doing all this. Today's stage promised to be an easier one. 'Only' three passes on the first half of the 115k stage. 'Only' 2100m of climbing.
After a great evening last night with nice people, good food and most importantly 'Gelato' we were actually in a really good mood this morning. It seemed to be a nice day - maybe not as hot as the prior day. The stage started with the first and the biggest climb right away (Passo Valles). Adnan and I settled into a good pace and realized that we were both feeling relatively strong. It seemed that we were overtaking quite a few people. The downhill was also ok and we passed a few smaller groups.
The next climb (Passo Rolle) then worked out really well. We cranked up that hill and made some good time. It seemed like we were flying. The views uptop were absolutely amazing and we took a few minutes at the rest stop. The downhill that followed was looong and really nice. There were some beautiful towns along the way with hundreds of people cheering us on. This is one of the coolest things of this race: The roads are clear, there are no cars and people cheer you on! You almost feel like a superstar.
Then followed the very last pass of this Tour - Passo Cereda! It was a bit steeper than expected but we did alright, again. What the followed can only be described as epic. An almost 50km downhill section around the Feltre national park. We found a great group to ride with. Everybody worked together and we averaged right around 38km/h for the last 1.5 hrs. Unbelievable. Adnan did the most work as he felt great. When we got closer to Feltre (the finish) I got a bit nervous about the increasing accelerations. This is something I don't do well. But my body was fine and we managed to clear a few people before we arrived in Feltre. Wow. That was bike racing at its best. Our average speed for the last 10 minutes was almost 50 km/h (granted it was a slight downhill...but still....exciting....especially when riding in an ancient city)
The great news is that we had our best result, yet. Place 88 for the day. We jumped from rank 213 in the overall classification to 181!
Stats of the day: 115km, kcal 3105, normalized power 231, ride time 4:23, avg heart rate 145
Final thought of the day: Adnan and I have been an awesome team. We see so many teams break apart and it gets really hard if you don't have anybody to rely on. This race is hard and the partner is absolutely necessary. We always make it a point to roll across the finish line together. Many thanks to Adnan for holding back his fire - he is a much stronger rider than I am after all.
Tomorrow is the last stage: 150km from Feltre to Bibione. The boys will be there to watch us arrive!
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