By Marco Milesi
Adventure cyclist and long-distance travel writer
During the second night of July, Florian goes all out and reaches Col du Galibier at 8:30am, setting once again a new record for the leg NorthCape-Col du Galibier. Jens seems to fly over the mountains as he is already attacking the Col at noon. Ralph, instead, is about to enter Valle d’Aosta.
During the day, Benoit Merchez covers a lot of terrain and gets to Bregenz in early afternoon, while his former companion is further North, near Stuttgart. Looking further back, April is performing a really interesting race: she will most likely get to Nice (her finish point) before most riders getting to Tarifa.
At April’s back wheel we find Jerome, a long-standing veteran of long distance recumbent cycling. Take in consideration that he is the 6th fastest rider overall, and he cycled from his home in Belgium starting on the 30th of May.
As the Sun gives way to the darkness, Jens gets to Col du Galibier, while Ralph still has to cross the border into France. Florian, meanwhile, as passed the 5000km marker and he is rapidly cycling towards Nice.
We predicted that aero man would have slowed down, but he hasn’t. Well, technically he has, but if we compare him to the other he is maintaining the advantage he built. Who will be the first to attack, and when?
