While you were sleeping...

“Holy. Baby. Jesus.”

If you had to summarise the final 200km of the Two Volcano Sprint in just three words, then you could do a lot worse than Andrew Phillips’ exhausted finish-line summary.

Race Director Juliana Buhring had speculated before the race that many riders could fall into the trap of thinking that, once they’d made the ferry crossing over to Messina, their race was pretty much over. She knew from personal experience, however, that it’s crucial to keep something in the tank for that final 200km push.

Last night – at 11:20 pm local time – Andrew Phillips became the second rider to make it home, having made the nerve-jangling final descent of Mt. Etna in the pitch black and sub-zero temperatures. When he finally made it down, he was frozen stiff.

This morning, Adrien Liechti arrived to complete this year's podium. Somewhat unbelievably, both Andrew and Adrien had climbed Mt. Etna with only two gears to choose from after snapping gear cables - considering the distances these two riders had travelled, this misfortune must have felt like a sadistic final twist.

At the current moment, Robbie Britton and Barry Scott are duelling out a fascinating contest for 4th position. These two riders have been neck and neck for nearly the entire race, exchanging positions constantly over the last 700km. Tonight, their race will come all the way down to the wire – and we find out who has something left to give.