Garmin Trans Portugal
Spring in Alentejo
Agnelo Quelhas / 06.05.2010
A perfect spring day greeted the riders today. In addition to having more relaxed journey the athletes had the opportunity to ride trough the exuberant colours of the south of Beira Interior and the Alto Alentejo with yellow, purple, red and white flowers dotting the fields as far as the eye could see.
The first kilometres where ridden alongside the river Ponsul, this year wider than usual due to the harsh winter and its never-ending rains. After crossing this river in Lentiscais the athletes cycled to Monte Fidalgo, Perais and through the wonders of the Tejo International Natural Park where Portugal and Spain come together with beautiful panoramic views of the river Tejo.
Crossing the river on the Vila Velha de Rodão bridge and looking right, the view was fantastic, with the Portas de Rodão towering over Portugal’s largest river – here it is forced to flow trough a small passage and over the centuries it has carved the hillside to create a wondrous scenery. Then the trail followed on a ledge, meandering alongside the river until it started rising to Salavessa.
Afterwards came a harder part, with constant ups and downs that took the team to Póvoa e Meadas where they could already see the finish line village of Castelo de Vide far away with São Mamede hills in the background.
The riders were going strong and fast, making the staff rush across the roads to get to the controls points and dangerous road crossings in time to meet and help them with the traffic. When they reached Vila Velha de Rodão the first racers had made an incredible average speed over 30km/h.
The first woman to cross the finish line was Lindsay Haak, who once again had a perfect day, coming ninth, 18 minutes behind the winner of the stage, Luis Leão Pinto, who rode side by side with Milan Spolc. The third to get to the medieval causeway right at the end was Greg Anderson, followed by Tiago Silva and Marco Almeida in fourth and fifth. Thomas Vandendaele also had a good day, coming sixth, right in front of Ricardo Melo.
The longest stage of this year’s Transportugal Garmin will be tomorrow. The new route linking Castelo de Vide to Évora has 172km of trail but only two climbs worth mentioning. The first one is right outside the hotel, on the hills of São Mamede. The second is Evoramonte, standing tall by kilometre 126. The rest will be ridden fast, undulating trough the fields and roads of Alentejo.
Even then it will surely be a difficult stage for most due to its length and the many hours sitting on the saddle. Riders will probably form small groups and ride close together, alternating pedalling in front of the group, in order to go faster against the wind – a technique often used by road cyclists, which allow the ones in the back to rest and recover until it is their time to go in front again.
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