The second day of the Transpyr challenge saw riders tackle an imposing 115km with close to 3000 metres of climbing. Together with another day of intense heat, many riders suffered up the gruelling Collada Verda ,then the even lengthier climb up Collada de Toses., before traversing some difficult terrain and hike a bike to the ski station at La Molina. Some sublime single track sections led to some stiff undulations, before a welcome 14km downhill into the town of La Seu D’Urgell. A second very demanding day of riding has seen the withdrawal of 24 riders from the original field of 300 starters. At the front of the pack with a commanding lead over the rest of the field is the Buff International team of Zamora and Llordela which will surely be held for the next 6 days if they suffer no mishaps.
Interestingly, there are still a large number of 26 inch wheeled bikes,and triple chainrings (on both 26″ and 29″) to be seen in the start gate. A popular combination of the 2 x 10 setup seems to be a 28/21 configuration, giving more climbing options. Even the stronger riders are using this sort of rig for this ride. A fairly small number of 1 x 11 setups are here, and pretty much all at the front of the pack. Dually vs hardtail would be 50/50.
We are slowly getting into the groove of stage racing…setting the early alarm, eating more than is humanly possible, washing clothes in basins, trying to keep the bikes in good knick etc. After a slight mishap in the first stage, Kim’s broken seat post has been replaced with a lovely heavy steel model!!! We were last night honoured with a gift from the village of Camprodon – a lovely touch at the end of a hard day.
Today we snuck home as the first mixed team after a hard battle through the last few kms. Tomorrow is the Queen stage…can it really get any harder?
