TARNo2 // 13th May: Off You Go
May 14, 2025
Words by Andrew Phillips
Photos by Matt Grayson and Sam Dugon
The first race of the day was for the Traveler Hostel coffee machine, and as the old adage goes: the race couldn’t be won here, but it could be lost. Behind the counter, Xhulio was putting in the athletic performance of a lifetime, cappucini, espressi, and macchiati flying out almost quick enough to satisfy demand. Dorm room 5 was represented in statistically significant numbers at 06:30CEST, and rumours had it that an unnamed German rider (Michael Fidorra, cap 29) had got up before his alarm, allowing it to go off in an increasing crescendo as the rest of the dormitory excavated his bag like Time Team, desperately searching for the thousand-decibel device.
Over the next hour those riders in more fortunate dormitories began to gather also, and by 08:30 something close to the full complement of riders was assembled. As always on a startline there was a mix of emotions and a range of coping mechanisms. Some riders stand alone dealing with their nerves by finding a distant fishmonger to fix with their thousand-yard stare, others gather in groups laughing and speculating on the race ahead. Justinas Leveika (cap 02) seemingly has no nerves to deal with, and with his trademark broad grin told me how much he was looking forward to his racing season starting.
As 09:00 approached, bad news came through from Xhulio. Irfan Domnori, Albanian wrestling champion and last year’s starting flag waver was unable to attend to see the race off. Apparently last night’s 4-0 defeat had been just too much for him. Bravely, organisers decided that the show must go on, and the race got under way in a more muted style. With a simple “off you go”, 33 riders launched into the rush hour chaos of the Shkodran traffic.
Their first ~24km followed the tarmac out of Shkodër, through Mes Bridge, and up the river valley to the village of Prekal where the first off-road sector of the race begins. From there the riders began the long climb to Nicaj-Shosh, and the rough descent to the Theth valley, where the team in Control Car 2 was waiting for their arrival.
Justinas was the first rider to pass feet away from our unseen cameraman, with Christophe Dijkmans (cap 14) following hot on his SPD-shod heels. The pace was fierce, with the front already around 20 minutes faster than last year’s leaders, and none of the top 10 stopping to refuel in Theth, instead pushing on despite knowing that they would see little resupply for the rest of the day. The climb back out of the valley would take them to around 1700m, where the temperature was a frigid 5 degrees. Some 12 degrees cooler than the temperature down at lake level, and riders could be seen at the top swapping their short sleeves and legs for full winter gear for the nearly 30km descent.
Towards the back of the pack we caught up with Annie Dunlap and Hannah Vet (caps 37b and 37a), the only remaining women in the race after Jackie Prosser’s scratch (cap 21) earlier in the afternoon. They were moving well and in great spirits, despite the exertion needed by Annie to keep moving up the slope on her single speed bike. “Single speed has 3 speeds” she told me as I span up the hill next to her, “sitting, standing, and pushing, and I’ve used them all today!”
Halfway up the climb we found Michael Fidorra (cap 29) sitting on the crash barrier and desperately trying to open a pack of biscuits. Eventually he got in, and munched philosophically on one, wondering out loud what he had got himself into. Nevertheless, next time we encountered him, he was riding strongly and making good distance.
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Spending the day in the Theth valley it was hard not to feel a twinge of sadness, observing the changes I’d seen in just 3 years since I first rode there. Gone was the tiny beautiful doubletrack running the length of the valley, replaced by a smooth, wide, gravel road. New hotels were being built in the valley, and a zip-line takes tourists to the valley floor. Of course, many of these changes will be good for local people, and we can’t begrudge development that improves lives. But I have a fear that one day the people of Theth will wonder if it happened too fast, and they lost the soul of their valley. It certainly hasn’t happened yet though, and I hope that the future will prove me wrong.
Up ahead, Control team 1 waited in the Razem wilderness, using ghillie nets, shepherd huts, and one of the many abandoned communist-era bunkers which dot the countryside like giant concrete mushrooms, to covertly photograph the first riders as they headed for Rrapshë, leaving intact their experience of the raw wilderness of the Albanian mountains. As he approached the ridgeline above Hot, where 360 degrees of panoramic mountain views greet riders who get there in daylight, Justinas was observed by the team to pause so that he could take in the pure majesty of the skyline, before continuing on his ruthless path at the front of the race.
Tomorrow we’ll see whether Christophe and the others can close the gap and make Justinas think twice before stopping to admire the view.
As night falls the top five consists of:
- Justinas Leveika (02)
- Christophe Dijkmans (14)
- Christian Dupraz (12)
- Andy Dodd (06)
- Daniel Perotti (15)
Scratch Report: Jackie Prosser (21)