TCRNo11 Day 8 // A Curious Equation

Words by Jake Thorpe

Photos by Chiara Redaschi, Matt Grayson, Michael Drummond, and Tomás Montes

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A Chase Transposed; A Chase Transplanted

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Sunday’s sprint boasted an allegorical conclusion; the riders boarded the ferry two by two. But on Bari’s ark, unlike Noah’s, space abounded. In the calm before the Balkan storm, the two riders – the only two to make the crossing – ate, traded stories, slept; a Christmas Truce. By morning, however, all bets were off. The race’s second movement – a 1000 km sprint between seas – had begun. 

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Martin Moritz (297), first to Bari’s port, had apparently been teetering on the brink of “self-pity” during the crossing. Often, the completion of such a singular goal produces, in its aftermath, a teleological vacuum – redefining one’s purpose can be a tricky task. Martin seemed to be suffering from a similar phenomenon. The only difference? The race was far from over; the goal, not yet complete. 

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Off the ferry, Victor Bosoni (232) – fresh from his longest sleep in a week – bolted. Leaving Martin in the dust of Albania’s Western Lowlands, the 23-year-old stormed up into the Krujë Mountains to claim his debut Transcontinental Race lead. 

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Arriving just in time to witness the new race leader descend the fifth parcours – a short stretch of Albanian balcony road that Victor tackled as an out-and-back – the team in Control Car 1, nestled in a rock-hewn tunnel, lay in wait for his chaser, Martin. The German had, since disembarking, been forced into pursuit of Victor – the flat, coastal chase of the previous evening transposed and transplanted, resuming on a stage better favoured by the young Frenchman: the mountains. 

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Stuck at the top of the parcours fixing his first puncture of the race, Martin sounded deflated. Already behind, and delayed by a mechanical, he appeared to have lost all hope of catching his rival. “No, no, there’s no chance”, he assured us, “he’s in a different league.” 

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But Martin, like all riders at the end of the fifth parcours, had a choice of approach to its floating control in Burrel. Continuing up the latter half of the climb, past the point at which the parcours ends, one possible route to CP5 – far more direct than its paved alternative – takes riders off the beaten track. The shortcut could, under the right circumstances, offer an opportunity to make up on lost time. And right now, Martin’s race seemed ripe for a roll of the dice. But the German was less convinced. Having recced this section of riding earlier in the year, he chose instead to stick to what he considered the safer bet. 

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A Balkan Lightning Rod

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At this point of the TCR, as the race enters the Balkans, riders are often burdened by oppressive heat. It can be the undoing of those not well acclimatised. Tales from the annals of TCR history prove that sun has the power to derail races and disrupt podiums – in both TCRNo3 and TCRNo4, it forced Bernd Paul to scratch from second position.

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During their first day on Albanian soil, however, it seemed unlikely the sun would give much grief at all to the two leading riders. As Victor made his storming progress in the Albanian mountains, dark, charged clouds swirled – the elemental persisting in its imitation of the human. In moments, the sky was awash. The temperature halved. A curtain of rain fell, textured later by hail, which struck the road like hammers in a forge. Lightning split the sky. Climbing ever higher on his steel steed, Victor defied the elements, avoiding electrocution to open the race’s fifth and final control.

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Mandated Sobriety

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Villa Bruci – a hotel in Burrel – is back by popular demand to resume its role as a race control, having made its debut in TCRNo9. 

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Its manager, Wesley, remembers receiving Andrew’s initial request. “At first, I thought it was a scam”, he admits. “Three hundred riders? You’ve got to be kidding!” His dad’s sage wisdom, having been consulted by his son for advice, was simple. “Make them pay upfront.” 

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A year later, with his kitchen at capacity, his floors carpeted with sleeping riders, and sandwiches being frantically made and sold by his mum through the night, Wesley quickly realised this was no joke. Having since become something of a TCR fanatic, he was delighted to hear the race would be returning, once more, to his doorstep. 

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And this year, Wesley’s well prepared. Aware of the proclivities of the modern ultra-cyclist, he ordered some cases of non-alcoholic beer in advance of their arrival en masse. Spotting the invoice, his dad chimed in, once more imparting some sobering advice. “If they don’t drink them, you’ll have to.” But it seems Wesley needn’t worry. Just a day in, he’s already a case down. At this rate, he’ll avoid his stint on the zero-percents.

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Stuck in Liminal Space

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Back across the Adriatic, in Western Europe, riders are converging once more on the port of Bari. Bar any major misfortune, there will be five on tonight’s midnight sailing. 

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Having abandoned his pursuit of Sunday’s crossing, Christoph Strasser (002) stopped for the night in Termoli. After weighing up his options, the Austrian chose to bed down for a recuperative rest, rather than resume his mad dash for Brindisi’s sailing – an alternative that would have required him to cover considerably more distance for a marginally earlier arrival in the Balkans.

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In the morning, he set off again for an easy day’s ride down the coast to Bari. Gracious in the face of foiled plans, Christoph was accepting of his situation, and sanguine about the future of his race – something that, more likely than not, would consist of a close contest for 3rd. “We knew before the race that the ferry would be a deciding factor”, he acknowledged, “we knew the timings, the schedule, and all the options.” And, while the Adriatic might well have elected the top two finishers, with five strong riders disembarking in unison, the race for the last podium position promised to be tight.

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Also readjusting his plans and refocussing his efforts, with the help of some significant rest, was Nicolas Chatelet (046). Long the race’s leader through Western Europe, Nicolas’ strategy of minimal rest drove him to exhaustion through Italy. Despite having arrived second to the fourth control, his route to Bari cast seeds on barren ground. While shorter, his Southern Apennine approach derived no benefit from the tailwind enjoyed by his coastal competitors. Abandoning the hunt, he was the first rider to bed down for the long sleep – the common response to the liminal space between sailings – hibernating in Isernia for nearly 14 hours.

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Schadenfreude

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For other riders, however, the misfortune of those stuck along Italy’s Adriatic hem spelled imminent opportunity.

David Tschan (006), having struggled for a while with the why of his third Transcontinental, quickly rekindled his racing spirit. Glissading the washed-out gravel of Siena’s strade bianche on Friday night, he stopped on the parcours in Buonconvento for a last long rest before a relentless push down to Bari. Joining David on the singular charge, both Jocelyn Roth (272) and Manu Rudaz (095) employed a similar strategy, forgoing a night’s sleep in favour of an earlier crossing. All were ignited by the same prospect: a race neutralised; a podium spot up for grabs. 

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For a while, it looked as if more riders might decide to make a similar trade. While the race for the ferry unfolded on Sunday evening, Peter Kronberger (026) and Justinas Leveika (023) briefly joined the ranks of the chasing pack, while Christoph and Nicolas slept off their fruitless efforts. Both, however, chose not to push on. 

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By his tracking, Justinas appeared hesitant in this decision. Stopping in stochastic increments while Peter bedded down near Rieti, the King of Chaos spent Sunday night neither making much progress nor getting much rest. By the fourth control, he seemed intent on restoring his priorities. Now aiming for Tuesday’s sailing – a ferry Justinas has dubbed “the Party Boat” – the Lithuanian is returning to the bedrock of his three goals, established back in Santiago. Returning to the top of his agenda is fun; so, suitably, Justinas has decided to stop for every gelato he sees. In Italy, that strategy spells slow progress. A Tuesday crossing may yet prove too ambitious. 

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A Curious Equation

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The next crop of riders, like Justinas, have already begun their Adriatic calculations. 

Maximising rest and minimising rush, all in pursuit of the earliest possible crossing, is now the prime objective. It’s a curious equation, and one unique for a race in which success is so often reliant on pushing the maximum sustainable pace. 

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Most interestingly of all, the equation’s results differ wildly per rider – it does not deliver a uniform prognosis. Thanks to the field’s dissipation over the course of the race so far, such discrete sailing intervals spell crescendos for some and diminuendos for others. 

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Jana Kesenheimer (001), for instance, now unable to make tonight’s sailing, has been forced to slow down, while Lael Wilcox (112), though nearly 8 hours behind at Pacentro’s control, will, by Durrës, have redressed the balance. Lael admits she’s had this ferry in focus since Day 2, which begs the question: has her pacing been a deliberate gamble? If she has indeed been restraining her ride, she’ll arrive in the Balkans with fresher legs than those who’ve extended themselves in pursuit of a missed objective. One thing’s for sure, the Trans-Am winner and women’s round the world record holder has no problem going long – as the race enters its later stages, Lael will only get more comfortable. 

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Cynthia Carson (137), another rider looking to board Bari’s Tuesday ferry, boasts a similarly strong palmarès. Her experience, however, doesn’t extend beyond the demands of a week-long race. Cynthia is now well into unknown territory. With her affection, like Lael, for the rough stuff, however, these two seasoned off-road riders may have an opportunity to leap ahead of Jana come the rougher terrain of the Balkans. Despite having put persistent pressure on the race’s top ten until now, and having held a comfortable lead over the women’s field to boot, Jana remains decisively bound to the tarmac. With a neutralised resumption on Albanian soil, routing may well take precedence over flat-out speed.

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Scratch Report

Radu Cristian (187) – Rider scratched 10:35 CEST 5/8 via WhatsApp - no reason given.

Peter Corkill (215) – Rider scratched 10:19 CEST 5/8 via email due to fatigue.

Wouter Oosterveld (147) – Rider scratched 10:05 CEST 5/8 via WhatsApp due to fatigue.

Silviu Martin (108) – Rider scratched 8:22 CEST 5/8 via WhatsApp due to saddle sore and knee pain.

Benjamin Vau (100) – Rider scratched 7:37 CEST 5/8 via WhatsApp due to knee pain.

Onno Zuidema (277) – Rider scratched 8:00 CEST 5/8 via email due to fatigue.

Tom Humphrey (333) – Rider scratched 7:33 CEST 5/8 via email due to sickness.

David Sjogren (037) – Rider scratched 17:54 CEST 4/8 via email - no reason given.

Tiia Päkk (335) – Rider scratched 18:40 CEST 4/8 via SMS due to fatigue.

Tom Barrow (185) – Rider scratched 15:44 CEST 4/8 via email - no reason given.

Amelia Linnett (359) – Rider scratched 15:47 CEST 4/8 via WhatsApp due to hand numbness related issues.

Thomas Chateau (022) – Rider scratched 13:16 CEST 4/8 via WhatsApp due to a crash resulting in injury.

Victoria Huszka (313) – Rider scratched 12:10 CEST 4/8 via email due to knee pain.

Peter Geldhof (102) – Rider scratched 11:53 CEST 4/8 via email due to fatigue.

Roberto Rubio Montalvo (397b) – Rider scratched 11:20 CEST 4/8 via email - no reason given.

Oscar Arias (379a) – Rider scratched 11:20 CEST 4/8 via email - no reason given.

Charlie van Waes (039) – Rider scratched 11:26 CEST 4/8 via WhatsApp due to Shermer’s neck.

Adam Jones (361) –  – Rider scratched 10:16 CEST 4/8 via email due to mechanical issues.

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