By Marco Milesi
Adventure cyclist and long-distance travel writer
The month of June is officially over when all three leading riders are still sleeping: Florian in first position, followed by Jens and Ralph. Aero man is about to enter Valle d’Aosta, a mountain region in Italy full of ascents; while Jens has stopped before Oberalppass.
Ralph crosses Bregenz at 7am, while Jens is almost in Bellinzona, after St Gotthard pass. Aero man, meanwhile, surpasses the 4500km mark and stops briefly in Biella. Benoit Merchez, back in Czechia has now crossed the border with Germany, and he is speeding through the country.
At noon, we notice Florian slows down as he enters France, giving Jens a chance to catch up. Unfortunately, the veteran stops before crossing the border into France through the Petit San Bernard pass.
The day goes by, and the situation doesn’t change much. And when things do not look particularly interesting, we should look at the statistics to try forecasting the future. Jens has once again secured his sleep advantage over Florian, managing to sustain a higher average moving speed than aero man, bringing him just 180km from the lead. At this point it’s clearer than ever: the veteran will attack once Florian shows any sign of fatigue.
And, what about record man? Ralph is in a difficult situation. It almost looks like he deliberately chose to not push and remain in third position, which is an excellent strategy if the opponents in front of you push each other to premature fatigue. As far as we have seen, they are very patient. Yet, Ralph does not have extra sleep as Jens does, and he does not have the same average speed. Will he have enough energy to keep pushing to stay at the wheel of the veteran and aero man?