Trans Portugal Garmin
Stage One - The Heights of Northern Portugal
Agnelo Quelhas / 01.05.2011
With the day dawning gray and rain appearing in showers, the race started at the São Lázaro Hotel. The descent was fast to Gimonde and after 5 kilometers there it was - the biggest climb of the day, taking the athletes to the Montesinho National Park, from 500 to 900 meters in about 5 miles.
This section was followed by the descent to Quintanilha passing near the Spanish border. The ups and downs typical of this stage were there from start to end, but were more obvious in the initial part - with some long climbs that finished around kilometer 50 in Caçarelhos.
Up to São Joanico Anne Van Der Broeke was the leader, enjoying the 1h:20m head start given because of the race handicap system. She was closely followed by the Norwegian Kate Aardal who kept a very high pace, recovering about 20 minutes of the 31 she was behind from having less handicap than Anne.
At CP1B Kate Aardal was already in the lead, with the strongest athletes catching up fast. She kept the lead until check point D, where she was overtaken by Marco Almeida. The Portuguese won the stage in Freixo, with a time of 6h:14m and an average speed of 22.75 km/h. Gijs Dohmen came second, nine minutes later. Rui Anjos was third just 15 seconds after the Dutch.
For now the leader is Portuguese. However the race is just getting started and there are many kilometers left to go through little known parts of Portugal. A lot can happen tomorrow, more athletes can show their metal and challenge the front of the race.
<b>The Mad Dog Episode</b>
Norwegian Kate Aardal, one of the protagonists of the day, suffered the attack of a dog early in the stage, having been bitten in the leg. The organization spent the day worried about the possibility of contamination by rabies and the athlete was assisted in the health center of Freixo de Espada-à-Cinta. This episode may have influenced the performance of the athlete in today's stage. She still had an outstanding result, coming in 4th place, 16 minutes behind the winner.
SleepMonsters
