TransPortugal Garmin Bike Race

---

Fast, Very Fast and Hot, Very Hot!

Louize Hill / 31.05.2009

Today's stage has a well deserved reputation – that of being he hardest stage of the TransPortugal Garmin. Not only is it the first stage, it is the stage with the most climbs. None of these climbs are especially long, but there are a lot of them and the course goes up and down constantly. For those who like technical challenges, there is the odd roman cobblestone hill section.

But today, on top of all the usual challenges there was an added one – heat. Summer has arrived with a vengeance, and temperatures were above 30ºC all day. This was especially difficult for those riders that come from colder climates, but affected almost everyone. Several riders, including Shanti Tilling and Jac Strachan, had to pull out before the end of the stage, and some had to be taken to the local hospital to be treated for dehydration.

Other people didn\'t seem too troubled by the heat, and the guys in the lead literally flew from Bragança to Freixo. João Marinho and Frans Claes crossed the finishing line in a sprint together. They took 5h:47m:10s to cover some of the toughest riding in Portugal! Their average speed over the day was more than 24 km/h. If you know the course you can only acknowledge these guys really are fast!See All Event Posts