Stage 3

Rain in the morning in Mayrhofen, some snow later on on top of Pfitscherjoch, and sunshine in Brixen. Well we are in Italy so it is normal with sunshine. I hope this was the only rain we will have for the rest of the week. This morning there were rumours that the start would be postponed with one hour. The police decided otherwise and off we went at 9 o’clock. Rain gear on, a buff under my helmet, a rainwest and dry gloves in my pocket. With all this stuff with me I would survive the stage. I always just write about me and hardly ever mention my partner Carsten. I am not selfish, but it is all about how I am feeling and according to that we decide our pace. Today again I did not overdo it in the first and only climb of the day. Would have made no sense to ride 70km on our own. The gaps you might make on a climb won’t hold until the end. It always roles together again. So easy going. We were a hughe bunch for the first 25km until the single track started. It was a 4km long trail that you most of the time had to walk. Rain, snow, the cleats under the shoes was covered by ice. They froze. I could not get into the pedals at first, but managed to free the cleats from the icecover. At the top we stopped and changed gloves, put another jacket on the raincoat and down we went. We rode the whole day with team Vaude. It was a good day finshing in second place. Some moments today I really hated mountainbiking. Especially the ‘hike with the bike’ section and then the muddy forest roads that made you and your bike so dirty. Now I have forgotten everything and I do like cycling again. Hope I will recover well until tomorrow’s monster-stage from Brixen to St. Vigil. We have no less than 3500 meters of vertical climbing on a distance of only 71km. Think it must be steep!