Garmin Trans Portugal
Into Alentejo
Agnelo Quelhas / 10.05.2010
Today was the longest stage of Transportugal 2010, and even then the top-ranked athletes rode it in an almost leisurely fashion (if this can ever be said for a route with 172km of trails and 3000m of climbing). Indeed today the fastest riders all rode together in one big group and went down the Alentejo plains in a relaxed rhythm, much lower than their usual one. From the top-ranked ones, only Greg Anderson and Ricardo Melo chose to ride isolated and harder.
The riders started very early from Castelo de Vide, ready to face a very long day in the plains of the the middle and upper Alentejo. Right at the start the steep medieval causeway getting out of the village offered them a good warm up while getting to the top. A fast and long decent got the riders to the second steep ascent of the day to Carreiras and the hills of São Mamede. As in past years the race photographers love this zone, because of the splendid shots they always get in the forested hillsides.
The group went toward Monforte and the plains of Sousel, just before getting through CP6C in Santa Vitoria do Ameixial. Then came the biggest challenge of the day, with the very tough climb to Évoramonte. The four kilometres to the top get steeper and steeper the closer you get to the summit and conquering the 500m hill and getting to the village is a very rewarding struggle.
The ride down Évoramonte to Évora was a fast one and on this stretch the positions of the strongest athletes changed. Milan Spolc managed to escape from the main group and reached the village isolated. However Greg Anderson, who rode all day ahead of this group, came to Évoramonte 20 minutes before the chasing party and was able to manage this advantage to eventually win the stage.
Ricardo Melo came second after making a huge effort to catch the winner and to keep in front of the group behind him. Milan Spolc was third. In a perfect display of sportsmanship the athletes who rode in a group all day passed the finish line together.
The next stage will be from Évora to Albernoa, passing some more “hot-spotsâ€? in deep Alentejo. Expected are fields of sunflowers as far as the eye can see and skies of solid blue contrasting with the white and orange of Alentejo’s villages. The stage highlights are the views of the Alvito dam from Viana do Alentejo and the passages thought the characteristic villages with colourful fields all around.
Given the stage will only have 107km of trails with 1269m of climbs, the day will be relatively easy when compared to all the previous ones. It is the perfect stage for the riders to recharge theirs strengths and prepare for the hard journey from Albernoa to Monchique that will take Transportugal on next Saturday to the Algarve.
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