Team MotionBased

This was the shortest stage of the race. Unfortunately, it was not really much easier. In fact, it seemed that we traded pain for duration. Leaving Male, we immediately climbed a steady 5km on pavement. At this point we entered some rolling trail sections. Rolling in TransAlp speak means steep of course! These rollers immediately had a devastating effect as the climbs were so steep that most riders were off and running only to wash and repeat several hundred yards later. First, one of the Rabobank riders (not Groendahl) blew and went back like a stone. Then a couple km’s later Team Mathis (also top ten) was off the bike and on the ground. After a fast descent on impossibly steep and loose switch backs, we crossed the first time check where Groendahl was waiting for his teammate. Later we heard that he never showed resulting in Rabobank’s withdrawal from the race. Following a gradual climb on paved bike path (miles of these here) we began the most brutal climb of the event. We ascended for 15 km in four steps each having grades of 20-35%. The gravel was loose preventing any standing and the descents between were just long enough to lock the legs. Fortunately we survived and rolled into MdC 47km later in 12th position. The withdrawal of the two teams boosted us to 11th overall. One day left! Check out the Garmin / MotionBased file: http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/episode/view.mb?episodePk.pkValue=1096576