Garmin Trans Portugal
Preparations to Race the Length of Portugal
Agnelo Quelhas / 02.05.2010
The day was filled with various activities related to the preparation of the race and the anticipation of possible difficulties and problems related to the equipment being used.
By 8:15 everybody was at the welcome session and presentation of the staff, which this year is really strengthened, totalling 26 elements, monitoring and making everything run at 100%. One of the curiosities mentioned was the fact that the ratio of STAFF is about one person for every two participants.
The accreditation of the athletes and the verification of documentation were done after breakfast. GPS units were also prepared for all participants, with the loading of maps for the race. Also before lunch the bikes were all unpacked and prepared.
The general briefing about the race was after lunch, consisting of an overview of the event with its unique characteristics and the most important aspects to be taken into account for the athletes success and their safety. Antonio Malvar gave an outline of the regulations and explained the rules relating to the use of GPS, total autonomy and handicaps (the three unique aspects of Transportugal Garmin).
By 16:30 there was a briefing for the 1st stage, considered the hardest in the race. In previous years, many athletes, even those well-prepared candidates for top positions in the classification, lost the race right on this stage. Not because of problems or difficulties with the bikes, but for having ridden the stage with too much intensity, without managing their effort, which left them exhausted for the remaining days of competition.
This stage is 141 km long and, although it has no big mountains, the athletes will have to climb 3842 meters. The link between Bragança and Freixo de Espada-à-Cinta had left "scars" in racers since the beginning of Transportugal, and this year will certainly be no exception. Still there will be other stages that could get the trophy of "hardest", like those which pass through the mountains of the Serra da Estrela, the highest in Portugal, towering at 2000m above sea. Any mismanagement of the effort in this stage can finish the winning aspirations of many.
After the briefing there was a bike ride at the beginning of stage 1, for the athletes to get accustomed to the use of GPS in the trail.
The day ended in very relaxed atmosphere, something the athletes will only have again at the end of the race, after the arrival in Sagres.
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