I rode the Dreilaender Giro on Sunday. As we entered late, only the B Strecke was available but it’s still a good challenge and is 120km/3000m. I was put in the second start block but Leonie was unfortunately put into the 4th.
Eruope was in the middle of a heat wave and the 6 am start was actually quite good. The race starts in Nauders and we headed over the Reschenpass and down to Prad am Stilfserjoch. Our average speed shortly before the township was 42.8 km/h due to the long flowing descent from the Reschenpass. After Prad the long long ascent to Stelvio began. It’s something like 1800 m. I was happy with how my legs went. I climbed at an ok pace not being passed by too many people. My heart rate remained reasonably low during the climb at around 160-ish which was probably good, although it means I could have ridden faster with the risk of blowing out later on. There was still snow beside the roads in patches but it was warm while riding up.
I rode over the summit and the start of the ride down as much cooler, almost a bit cold. There was much more snow on this side. I passed a few guys on the ride down and then I worked with a small group as we descended more gradually back into the valley. The final part of the race was the ride back up to the Reschenpass but on an old side road. The course turned onto a cycle way and by that stage I just had one guy who had better legs in front of me who towed me towards the top of the pass. We had a few people on the last downhill to the finish line and we worked together smashing along around 50 km/h. The finish was suddenly there and I crossed it without any need to sprint.
I waited for Leonie to finish but missed her crossing the finish line. She drove back to our bakingly hot camp site in Pfunds and I cycled back the 10 km downhill. She had placed again so we went to the prize giving in the afternoon. She had got 3rd place in her category and had won the cup trophy. Her boyfriend Christian had placed first overall on the short course.
Dreilaender Giro 2019
Time: 4:42:19.9 Dst: 120 km/3000 m Cat place 25/103 finishers. Overall 66/638 finishers.
Results:
Dreilaender Giro 2019 – Ergebnisliste (nach Klasse) – Netto – Vinschgau (mit ZW)
Dreilaender Giro 2019 – Ergebnisliste (Overall) – Netto – Vinschgau (mit ZW)