TCRNo11 Day 4 // Dangerzone

Words by Jake Thorpe

Photos by Matt Grayson, Tomás Montes, and Yorit Kluitman

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A Very Dark Place Indeed

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​​The mountains woke drenched in a thick mist. This was, apparently, a hangover from the night’s conditions, where riders who chose to crest the Tourmalet, the end of the second parcours, were forced to do so with less than a foot of forward visibility. Dots inched warily onward. The inland advantage felt by the first riders through the mountains had, by nightfall, come out in the wash.

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Riders arriving at the second control through the night did so – according to the volunteer crew – in a very dark place indeed. Many had donned all available layers, which quickly soaked through, to brave the inclement descent to the valley floor. For a while, a warm welcome at the control’s hotel remained an option. Those lucky few quick enough to snap up a spot could sleep a while before enjoying the respite of the next ~600 km of flat riding better rested. But some, including Henning Fach (195), found themselves on the wrong side of fortune, arriving at the control to find no room at the inn. Christmas in Bethlehem. Instead, Henning turned back, soaked to the bone, to bivvy in town. Dawn must have come as sweet salvation. 

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Another rider saved by the dawn chorus was Mark Kowalski (278) who, having spent the first portion of the night in the little town of Eaux-Chaudes at the base of the Aubisque, set off at midnight to tackle the second parcours. Before long, however, Mark was once more in hot water as visibility collapsed and the mercury plummeted. With both brake pads and fingers fading on the descent – organic matter yielding to the callous conditions – a thin grey band of light shimmered on the horizon of the crepuscular sky, the first hint of the approaching dawn. Mark spotted a van loading up outside an industrial bakery for the day’s deliveries. Taking pity on the shivering cyclist, the baker green-lighted the sale of croissants straight from the oven, and accommodated Mark for a while inside the warmth of the bustling bakehouse to thaw. 

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Those now past the Pyrenees, however, were treated to a day of soaring temperatures and cerulean skies flecked with lily pad clouds. A sustained north-westerly eased them gently along the flats of Southern France towards the Alps. Any memories of mountaintop nightmares were, for a while, forgotten; the Alps not yet close enough to exert their gravitational field of foreboding on incoming riders.

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Drive By Stamping 

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One danger for riders of a slightly truncated parcours is overshooting the control. This has been a common occurrence at CP2 whose crew are growing hoarse with shouting down those making an unbroken beeline for flat ground. 

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One rider seemingly hoping for a drive-by stamping was Cynthia Carson (137) – 30th to the second control, 8 hours behind current fastest woman Jana Kesenheimer (001) – who almost missed the frantic waves of volunteers while motoring along the flats.

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Chasing down the two leading women was Lael Wilcox (112), another rider motoring by midday. Control Team 1 intercepted her through Saint-Élix-le-Château for a tracker cable drop. Head down, headphones in, there was no doubt about it: Lael was in race mode. When we spoke the evening before, on the Aubisque, Lael admitted she hasn’t been obsessive about tracker checks so far, favouring instead a l’aissez faire approach – glancing at the map once a day, at most, to get a feel for the spread of the field. Given her focus this afternoon, however, we wonder if the women’s round the world record holder has picked up the scent of riders on the horizon. There can’t have been too many times in the ultra-cyclist’s career where she hasn’t been at the head of the women’s field. It’s not a great leap to imagine being forced to lay chase has stoked Lael’s fire.

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Going on a Pair Hunt

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In an attempt to track down the leading pair the night before, Control Team 1 spent the early evening prowling the lower slopes of the Col d’Aubisque. Tracking their sporadic pings to a playground in Eaux-Bonnes, we half expected to find the duo balancing, prone, on either side of a see-saw. Unfortunately, the next ping looked to be coming from an abandoned building where, lest the crew engage in some treacherous urban exploration, the scent was lost. It seemed an early night was on the cards for the duo, who have held ground in the top 30 riders since the race’s start.

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By mid-afternoon on Day 4, the stars had aligned once more to intercept the pair, who were now travelling at pace through rolling French countryside. The Brits clearly had the carrying capacity of a camel, however, and were intent on making uninterrupted progress. At the fourth potential resupply staked out by Control Car 1, they flicked a jovial forefinger from their aerobars before sailing by the roadside ambush and off, over the horizon. The pair hunt continues.

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Rather easier to catch were Spanish pairs riders Juan Pedro Moreno (393a) Salvador Palomo (393b) who were, perforce, required to stop at the second control. The pair sounded in good spirits, despite having nearly rear-ended a herd of mountain goats on their way down the parcours. By evening, however, things had deteriorated and news came of the pair’s scratch.

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Dangerzone

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While the leading pack remained in close formation through the second control and along the Languedoc coast yesterday evening, following some scattered naps, the vanguard began to fracture. 

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Nicolas Chatelet (046), still maintaining a daily average of more than 500 kilometres, took a marginally more northern route than his two closest chasers across Southern France. Slipping beneath the shadow of Mont Ventoux – the first control of TCRNo3 – the current race leader stopped for less than an hour near Sault before continuing his storming charge at daybreak. His route was more direct than those feeling the pull of a flatter bypass along the banks of the Durance, so I’m sure you can predict the compromise. 

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Luckily, for Nicolas, a little extra elevation fails to touch the sides. Back in 2020, on the Pyrenean Plateau de Beille, the French amateur road racer spent the eve of his 26th birthday pedalling himself into the pages of the record books. The objective? To claim the world record for the most vertical gain on a bike in 24 hours. He took this title, having climbed nearly 70,000 ft over 314 mi. If we thought Nicolas’ pace might be slowed by the Alps, we might do well to think again. 

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By evening, Martin Moritz (297), fresh from a night’s kip beside the Mediterranean in La Grande Motte, had narrowed Nicolas’ lead – reducing the Frenchman’s advantage to just 50 kilometres, down from nearly 100 in the early hours. And now, Martin had been left a night up. As we’ve seen time and time again, burning the candle at both ends can be a risky strategy so early on in the race. The riposte from the chasers is simple and effective – patience. 

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One rider well-versed in such a strategy is consummate TCR professional, Christoph Strasser (002). While early leaders have been stretching their sleep, and others have scratched, Christoph has been quietly reeling in the front of the race. From 15th at the first control, to 5th at the second, should his trajectory persist, it won’t be long before the chase will transpose. Ratifying the race leader’s Alpine advance, Christoph also took the more mountainous approach to the third control, tipping his hat to the Beast of Provence on the way by.

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Another of the frontrunners, Justinas Leveika (023), remains unruffled by the vanguard’s vigour. Justinas has three clear goals for his race, and winning isn’t one of them. Instead, fun comes top of the list, followed by finishing, and finally – considering his self-styled sobriquet, The King of Chaos – avoiding disqualification. So far, all three goals are ticking along nicely; he’s avoiding banned roads, he’s moving in largely the right direction and, according to those at the opening controls, he remains in excellent spirits, taking the time to regale tales from the road with poetic cadence.

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Justinas – no slouch himself at 4th to CP2 – said of the leading riders, “It’s crazy how these guys are racing; it’s like there’s no tomorrow!” As fans of Kenny Loggins well know, “the further on the edge, the hotter the intensity.” And if the pace remains so obstinate, the tip of the race will soon find themselves on a ride into the dangerzone.

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Scratch Report

Robbie Jebb (253) – Rider scratched 11:14 CEST 31/7 via email due to injury to the Achilles.

Sladana Friedl (383b) – Rider scratched 11:43 CEST 31/7 via WhatsApp due to injuries sustained in a small crash.

Erik Olsson (141) – Rider scratched 10:58 CEST 31/7 via WhatsApp due to missing CP1 cutoff time.

Marco Stalder (121) – Rider scratched 10:14 CEST 31/7 via WhatsApp - no reason given.

Johannes Fritsch (213) – Rider scratched 10:12 CEST 31/7 via WhatsApp due to illness.

Eoghan Meehan (282) – Rider scratched 9:00 CEST 31/7 via phone call - this is following an accident involving a vehicle. Eoghan is safe and being cared for in hospital.

Jana Boesch (127) – Rider scratched 9:27 CEST 31/7 via WhatsApp due to mechanical issues.

Louisa Laetitia Wickenheiser (115) – Rider scratched 8:55 CEST 31/7 via WhatsApp due to missing CP1 cutoff.

Ian Lyons (366) – Rider scratched 8:30 CEST 31/7 via phone call due to illness.

André Bachmann (005) – Rider scratched 7:57 CEST 31/7 via email due to saddle sores.

Carl von Walter (135) – Rider scratched 6:19 CEST 31/7 via sms due to mechanical issues.

Hayden Chick (172) – Rider scratched 5:18 CEST 31/7 via WhatsApp due to illness.

Michael Meier (322) – Rider scratched 3:54 CEST 31/7 via email due to knee pain.

Yan Lhert (300) – Rider scratched 20:41 CEST 30/7 via email due to saddle sores.

Marcus Lange (129) – Rider scratched by handing his tracker back to race co-ordinator. 8:20 30/7.

Alexander Douglas (209) – Rider scratched 18:12 CEST 30/7 via email due to missing the CP1 cutoff - a result of mechanical failure.

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