Trans Portugal Race

Kate Wins

Transportugal / 18.05.2014

Finally, after seven stages, Kate Aardal managed to uncrown José Silva from the first place in the day's podium. The Norwich cyclist found, on the rolling 102 kilometers between Évora and Albernoa, the perfect conditions to claim the so desired first place in a stage of Transportugal. Alongside her rode once again the Belgium Erik Defillet who arrived at the same time, today without the navigation problems he had experienced on previous stages.

But this was not the only interesting battle on yet another debutant stage in Transportugal Race. Luís Cordeiro, Malcolm Bruton and Peter Roelands are all pretty involved on an intense fight for the third place on the overall classification. This makes them push hard on every stage. It’s curious to analyze the strategies and partnerships made to fight for their goals.

This stage was made for rolling and the athletes rode it at a very high pace. However, the ones more used to this level profile took some advantage over the lighter athletes and the climbers. At the end of the stage, the veteran Robert Faulkner summarized it humorously: «There was no climbing, but that only meant that there was no descending too!»  And that would have been kind of handy so that the racers in the pack could have rested a bit!

Following Online

But fighting for positions is not the only way to live transportugal. There are athletes just riding against their own limits. They want to overcome themselves at every kilometer! They face the climbs, the harsh grounds, the descents. They fight the heat, the wind, thirsty and hunger! All this is accomplished with a huge and strong will of conquering and overcoming! For each obstacle left behind, as incredible as it seems, the riders start to feel respect for the climbs and harsh grounds! The cyclists become part of the landscape, they are one, they pedal alongside in a perfect symphony!

Lawrence Stuart-Hill is surely one of these guys. Alongside the pleasure of riding a bicycle at a very good pace, he confesses he came to «appreciate the outstanding Portuguese landscape!» And between Évora and Albernoa, he still revealed: «My wife has been following the competition online and she is simply marvelled at all the videos with the landscapes of Portugal!»

Good Choice

There are some riders simply looking for different challenges, like Dirk-Jan Funken case. «I only knew Lisbon and was far from suspecting that there are such amazing landscapes in Portugal. I just loved the stage between Guarda and Unhais da Serra. It was 108 kilometers of a brutal harshness. This cannot be found in the Netherlands. I was thinking about doing Transportugal Race or some other competition, but I’m glad I’ve chosen this one. I’ve been suffering a lot, since I’m used to rolling, but that’s the point of it. I’m sure that when I’m reviewing the photo book of Transportugal Race together with my friends what I'll remember is not what I’ve suffered on the stages but how amazing the places I've been riding were!»

In order for all the logistics of Transportugal Race to work properly and for the athletes not to have to worry about a thing besides the race, there are essential people contributing to the success of every stage. People that are like ants on their job.

Sometimes you don’t see them, but they are there. Working! It’s what happens with the luggage team. The athletes simply don’t want to worry with that kind of details. Their luggage is always in the rooms, waiting to be unpacked. André and Pedro Ribeiro just don’t let anything missing! One other thing we have to mention, now that we are close to the end, is the great shape of most of the riders in the pack. Except for same cases of dehydration, the athletes have been giving doctor Nuno Santos a quiet race!

The eighth stage will bring back the harsh climbs. It will connect Albernoa to Monchique covering a distance of 138 kilometers with an overall accumulated climbing of 3086m.

It’s pretty similar in difficulty to the third stage from Guarda to Unhais da Serra, even if it has more kilometers. It’s the last chance for the climbers to try and improve their classification and get the wanted places. It’s going to be very interesting to see the duels between Luís Cordeiro and Malcolm Bruton and try to understand if José Silva it’s going to win again as this stage is one for the climbers. None the less, it is also going to be one more chance for every rider to enjoy the outstanding Portuguese landscape, to conquer it, to be a part of it!

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