Pia Sundstedt

We have such a nice hotel here in Scuol. I also know that dinner will be good here. Scuol is known for taking good care of the Trans Alp riders.
Today’s race we wanted to ride easier, to recover a bit. I also knew that climbing up Idjoch will be hard even riding it easy. So for the first time during this stage race I used the granny gear and was spinning up the climb. We were the first mixed team on the top and we stopped to put on our windwests. It was a good decision because it was pretty chilly up on 2700 meters and the downhill was quite long. When the second climb for the day started we could see Milena and Heiko just half a minute behind us.
I was deciding the pace and I tried my best to keep up with some other teams. I knew for the last 30km that it would be good to have a group. After the downhill we were together with a team from Norway. It is sometimes hard for me to come over the small climbs with the men and I do have to fight every now and then not to loose contact with the group. My road experience for sure helps me a lot.
Now I will study tomorrow’s stage profile. I find that very important, then you don’t have to face any nasty surprises such as an unexpected 20% steep climb.