Race Preview

Riders Ready, Watch the Gate, Beep Beep Beep 

James Hayden has Scratched

Lachlan Morton wins Badlands 2020

Christian Meier has Scratched

Sonia Colomo finishes Badlands 2020

Lachlan Morton

Hayden Mccormick

Óscar Pujol

Ashley Dennis

Bruno Ferraro

José Ángel Díaz

Hippy

Paulo Ferreira

Manuel Villalobos

Raúl Peralta

Marcus Nicolson

Daan van Meeuwen

Andrew Walker

Josep Maria Cabanas

Toni De La Torre

Víctor Bouman

Nils G. Kamminga

Víctor Peña

Sònia Colomo

Leo Andrione

Mel Richards

Osvaldo Navia

Duncan Mellor

Peter Force

Juan Garamendi

Pieter Bevernage

Edwin Díaz

Peter Gaskill

Ignacio Costales

Jacobo Sánchez

Michael Lane

Álex Grau

Gaizka Ortiz

Grant Douglas

Ronald De Graaf

Vicente Rivera

Juan Zapata

Yolanda Magallón

Yishuang Gao

Nadav Rindler

Hugo Díaz

Pau López

Pedro Muñoz

Raphael Grau

Álvaro Juan Menéndez

Jean-Patrick Mothes

José Madrid

Lissa Breugelmans

Paul Pawelzyk

Daniel Krug

Francisco Julio

Miguel Carrillo

Dani Ayala

José Manuel Dobado 

Toni Calderón

Manuel López

Andrew Rose

Liam Yates

Christian Meier

Pep Sánchez

Therese Sundström

James Hayden

Tom Williams

Víctor Poveda

Molly Weaver

Ronan Descy

Dennis Politz

Rob Meeuwessen

Christian Bel

Frank Van Der Veken

Michael Moser

David Hawkins

Joachim Marquardt

Ibai Fradejas

Justinas Leveika

Javier Noguerol

Christian Lay

Robert Lawrence

Media Car 1

Media Car 3

Media Car 2

David Rovira

Ricard Calmet

Carlos Conesa

Miguel Ángel García

Jason Paul

Mauricio Aguilar

Iñaki García

José Cabello

Ralph Birke

Tim Kremer

Santy Mozos

Diego Villas

Joseba Palacios

Arkaitz Prieto

Enric Burgstaller

Raül Racero

Nis Alps

Karl Krabbenhöft

Patrick Hough

Henry Partridge

Luis Linde

Cecilio Puertas

Tino Rodriguez

David Cubillos

José Carlos Muñoz

Alessandro Pace

Santi Barril

Rosa Mañosa

Mariia Ustymenko

Ihor Ustymenko

India Landy

Daniel Loftus

Alexis Willis

Wolfgang Haake

Jens Grebe

Sven Busse

Robin Mühle

Jurgita Lemesiute

Justinas Cerniauskas

Few have experienced the beauty of Spain's gravel backroads but 120 riders will soon be straight into the deep end. Brought to you by the organisers of TransIbérica and Transpyrenees, Badlands is about to light up the ultra-endurance world and leave dotwatchers in a cloud of dust.

![Badlands Peterofthespoon](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/jt0OTp87HyXeA5JY7RJrG/30ad20545f621cc84e0e678b3e40a6db/106211217_739226323478562_2149313815010322799_n.jpg)
📷 [Peterofthespoon](https://www.instagram.com/peterofthespoon/)

### The Route

At just 700km, it's one of the shortest events on the calendar but make no mistake, this does not mean it's easy. Riders will be treated to 16,000m of climbing with most of it in the second half of the route.

<iframe src="https://ridewithgps.com/embeds?type=route&id=34025456&metricUnits=true&sampleGraph=true&overlay=osm" style="width: 1px; min-width: 100%; height: 700px; border: none;" scrolling="no"></iframe>

Beginning and ending in the Spanish town of Granada famous for The Alhambra, a World Heritage Site and one of Spain's most visited monuments, riders have signed up for a grand tour of the Sierra Nevada mountains.

#### The Checkpoints
1. Hoya de Guadix - a geological wonder in the plains of the Sierra Nevada, it has the highest concentration of cave houses in Europe.
2. Gorafe Desert - think cliffs, sandstone and dolmens (monolithic tombs - I had to google it!).
3. Tabernas Desert - officially the only desert in Europe and the origin of the race's name because of the sand filled gullies a.k.a. Badlands.
4. Cabo de Gata - arguably Europe's most unusual landscape with its volcanic rock formations, fossils and barren landscape on the coast of Spain.
5. Veleta Pass - the TransIbérica races have a close relationship with this mountain having used it as a checkpoint in last year's TransIbérica event. Contrary to the off-road nature of the race, Pico Veleta is Europe's highest _paved_ road though riders will come at it from the depths of dusty wilderness.

### The Riders

I'm beginning to think a limited calendar makes for even better dotwatching since all riders have to do the same races. Let's take a look at the start line shall we? Brace yourselves.

- [Ingeborg Dybdal Oie](https://dotwatcher.cc/profile/Ingeborg%20Dybdal%20Oie): A veteran of the Transcontinental Race, Transpyrenees (Lost Dot) and FRTHR, Ingebord knows a thing or two about riding a bike a long way.
- [Bruno Ferraro](https://dotwatcher.cc/profile/Bruno%20Ferraro): fresh off the back of Transpyrenees and with a third place during last year's TransIbérica, Bruno is in fine form for Badlands.
- [Óscar Pujol](https://www.instagram.com/oscar_pujol/): just one of the former professional riders on this start list and we reckon he's still got the power.
- [James Hayden](https://dotwatcher.cc/profile/James%20Hayden): read his pre-race thoughts [here](https://www.jamesmarkhayden.uk/stories/badlands). He's won a bunch of races over the years even as recently as FRTHR where he beat Christian Meier by just seven minutes. Speaking of which...
- [Christian Meier](https://www.instagram.com/christianmmeier/): he may have scratched the Atlas Mountain Race but the lessons he's learnt since will put him down as a favourite for Badlands.
- [Hippy](https://twitter.com/firsthippy): There's no better rider for comedy value than Hippy. We'll take bets on how many beers he has throughout the race.
- [Sònia Colomo](https://www.instagram.com/soniscs/): A new name for us but by the look of it, she's raring to go with a history of cycling, running, yoga and climbing to take into the race.
- [Lachlan Morton](https://dotwatcher.cc/profile/Lachlan%20Morton): The Girona resident is up to his new tricks again. A GBDURO win and a successful Everesting record on his palmares, we're keen to see how he does against the other hitters on this list.
- [Hayden McCormick](https://www.instagram.com/haydenpmccormick/): the Kiwi rider who has represented his country and used to race on the European circuit has now turned his hand to ultra-endurance (they all do eventually, it seems!). He regularly trains with professional riders so he must be in some good shape.

## Over to you, Harry

Harry Griffiths will be bringing you regular updates throughout the race starting first thing tomorrow as the race gets going from 9am local time. Remember, if you'd like to commentate a race, all you have to do is get in touch.

Badlands 2020

At 9am local time, 81 solo riders and 20 pairs rolled out of Granada for the Inaugural Badlands 2020. The field is about as star studded as gravel ultra endurance racing can be, ranging from a World Tour rider to previous TCR winners. 

The route they’re facing is 700km with 15000 meters of climbing, 85% off road and taking in some stunning parts of this area of Spain with a 5 check points. The ride to the first checkpoint at Hoya de Guadix is shown below. It’s pretty apparent the amount of climbing there is in this race; within the first 45km they will have to ride over 1000 meters of vertical. To add to this, despite the weather looking good by all accounts, the roadbook of the race does point out that “you’ll ride through deserts at temperatures close to 40º but also you’ll probably ride through snowfields and overnight close to 0º”.

<iframe src="https://ridewithgps.com/embeds?type=route&id=34026537&metricUnits=true&sampleGraph=true" style="width: 1px; min-width: 100%; height: 700px; border: none;" scrolling="no"></iframe>

Bike wise, it seems that most are riding gravel bikes, which is in keeping with the organisers recommendation of 40mm tyres. However, James Hayden wrote in his race preview that having tried a gravel bike he is going to be sticking to his hardtail. You can read more here:

https://www.jamesmarkhayden.uk/stories/badlands

Here are a few bike set ups:

Liam Yates
https://www.instagram.com/p/CExB17NFcLh
Sonia Colomo
https://www.instagram.com/p/CEwTEiQAa_7/
Pep Sanchez
https://www.instagram.com/p/CEt-762qdE6/
Lissa Breugelmans
https://www.instagram.com/p/CExPOcKFslX/

A quick scroll through the socials shows that some riders have been out testing equipment and giving their bikes a final check over. Hippy has been having some tubeless issues and socially distancing at the riders briefing, Liam Yates has been out camping and Hayden McCormick and Lachlan Morton have been out for a short ride. 

https://twitter.com/firsthippy/status/1302280169680441346

With a ton of unknowns, a beautiful route and a loaded field, this race is set to be a corker. 


Lachlan Morton has just passed through CP1 at the Gorafe Desert. He has averaged just over 20kmh and has a time to the checkpoint of 7hr 24mins. 

Just behind him is Hayden McCormick at 145km and Christian Meier at 138km. 

Sonia Colomo is first women at 89km and in the pairs race, David Rovira and Ricard Calmet are up the front at 136km.

![WhatsApp Image 2020-09-06 at 10.11.37 (1)](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/5yKqkpE8uiDpx8YxLxzriv/ff73198c455fde90f8b9a2c79eb838a2/WhatsApp_Image_2020-09-06_at_10.11.37__1_.jpeg)

Lachlan climbing up and over the Collado Aguacil - thanks to the race organisers for the photo.


Lachlan reaches CP1

As I rode around a damp wood in Southern England today, a couple of thousand miles away some of the best ultra endurance racers in the world took to the Badlands course to do battle with high altitude, temperatures up to 35 degrees and a lot of gravel. 

![WhatsApp Image 2020-09-06 at 11.39.40 (1)](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/607G9zzDR2WYdv44WOj5zD/32499bc1983015ba0c0d11ee9760246e/WhatsApp_Image_2020-09-06_at_11.39.40__1_.jpeg)
                            Credit: @victorperezpl 

As is often the case with these races, the first part is always a period during which riders settle into a rhythm and as such, the lead of this race was changing hands constantly within in the first 30km. Hitting the biggest climb of the day spread the riders out, and it was Lachlan Morton and Hayden McCormick who were leading the way up the Collado Aguacil. Behind them Christian Meier and Toni Calderon were trading 3rd and 4th before Toni stopped around 80km, mostly likely to re fuel in La Peza. Further up the course, a lot of riders were stopping in Gorafe to re fuel, before tackling the final push to to CP1. From Gorafe to CP1 was the riders first taste of the Gorafe Desert. No doubt there were a lot of riders who had never rideen in this sort of area before, but from the pictures I'd imagine they're all having a hard time concentrating on the road. 

At CP1, the top 10 looked like this. 
1. Lachlan Morton
2. Hayden McCormick
3. Christian Meier
4. Ashley Dennis
5. Oscar Pujol
6. Toni Calderon
7. Jame Hayden
8. Daan Van Meeuwen
9. Liam Yates
10. Jose Angel Diaz

(There seems to be a bit of confusion with the tracking, this top 10 is based on the segment time)

![WhatsApp Image 2020-09-06 at 11.39.40 (2)](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/eNDg3jrxYxcRb0uKomIQL/d5eb977bbc304a390549db50ddfa320f/WhatsApp_Image_2020-09-06_at_11.39.40__2_.jpeg)
                          Credit: @victorperezpl 

At 100km in, Sonia Colomo was riding as the first female rider on the course, closely followed by Yolanda Magallon and Yishuang Gao, at 92km and 89km respectively. At the time of writing Sonia Colomo was still leading the way at 118km, with Yolando Magallon just over 10km behind her. Yishuang was at 97km at this point.

In the pairs race, David Rovira and Ricard Calmet reached CP1 after 9hrs 11 minutes, and at the time of writing were the only pair to have made it. We're unsure the details of India Landy and Daniel Loftus, but it seems they had to head back to Granada due to wheel issues. Hopefully the get it sorted and are back on the course ASAP.

Jose Patrick Mothes has posted on Instagram giving his account of the first part of the route.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CEy_jl0qCab/

With the top riders already into the ride to CP2, here is what they will be encountering. Riding back through the Gorafe Desert, they then head to Sierra de Baza, where they gradually climb to around 2000 meters. They stay at this height for around 50km, meaning that altitude will become a big factor, if it wasn’t enough one already, before dropping out of the Sierra De Baza to CP2 near Fuente Santa. At this sort of height at night, the temperatures will probably be close to zero so it could mean a very cold night for some of the front runners.

<iframe src="https://ridewithgps.com/embeds?type=route&id=34026539&metricUnits=true&sampleGraph=true" style="width: 1px; min-width: 100%; height: 700px; border: none;" scrolling="no"></iframe>

![WhatsApp Image 2020-09-06 at 11.39.40](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/1RooGj0SfwZTyerPLsEtiN/f05bedfc4eafd23ae87ed5c94e128135/WhatsApp_Image_2020-09-06_at_11.39.40.jpeg)
                             Credit: @victorperezpl 

Heading into the evening, Lachlan is still leading, around 10km in front of McCormick and, alongside the pair of David Rovira and Ricard Calmet, are the only riders to have left the Gorafe Desert behind. Will the pure ultra riders be able to catch Lachlan during the night or will he be even further ahead come the morning? Who knows, but what we do know is that we have a blinder of a race on our hands.


Into the Night - Day 1 Recap

Update 20:15 Local time 

Hayden & Ysihuang trackers are moving again so it would be assumed that they haven't scratched at this point. 

20:00 Local time

It would appear from the tracking that Hayden McCormick and Yishuang Gao have scratched. They were both last seen on the tracking 1 hour ago and both tracker icons have been faded out. This is unconfirmed at the moment but we will update as soon as we have more. 

Hayden was 2nd on the road, and Yishuang was the third women on the road. 

Update: McCormick is Moving Again

Overnight, Lachlan Morton has been having a stormer of a ride. He made it to CP2 at the Tabernas Desert and CP3 at Cabo de Gato and is currently heading along the coast towards CP4. We're not sure how much, if any, sleep he got,  as he has been riding for just over a day at this point and has only been stopped for around 15 minutes. He currently leads Hayden McCormick by around 100km. Lachlan is the only rider to have made it to CP3. 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CE0Df7jI5xo/

Others have used the night to thier advantage, with Hippy, who seems to have surpised himself with his ride, moving up to 6th and being one of a few riders who have made it to CP2. Somewhat surprisingly both Christian Meier and James Hayden have slipped back overnight, and are now towards the middle of the pack. 

https://twitter.com/firsthippy/status/1302707396440199168

David Rovira and Ricard Calmet are still leading the way in the pairs race, having passed through CP2 and currently heading to CP3. 

Sonia Colomo has ridden well overnight, moving up to 16th place, and curently leads the next women on the road, Theresea Sundstrom by over 50km.

In general, the riders are spread out evenly across the course, but the biggest concentration is still in the Gorafe Desert, with most people having made CP1 the aim for the first day, and then settled down for the night. 

With the exception of Lachlan, most riders are heading for CP2 or CP3 today. The route from CP1 to CP2 was in a previous post, so here is CP2 to CP3.

<iframe src="https://ridewithgps.com/embeds?type=route&id=34026541&metricUnits=true&sampleGraph=true&overlay=terrain" style="width: 1px; min-width: 100%; height: 700px; border: none;" scrolling="no"></iframe>

The checkpoint comes around the Cabo de Gato. An incredible mix of volcanic rock formations, adbandoned villages and and fossil beaches await the riders.


In the Morning - Day 2 

James Hayden has scratched Badlands 2020. He gives a bit more information on his instagram update below, but it seems that the cumulative fatigue from Further has taken it's toll. 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CE1ANCpFHO5/


A collection of photos from the first part of the race. Thanks to the [race organisers](https://www.instagram.com/transiberica/), [Víctor Pérez Pelayo](https://www.instagram.com/victorperezpl/) and [Juanan Barros](https://www.instagram.com/juananbarros/)

![Badlands](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/5e4IY0JqEvAa1xbVfKO1GI/09371894e1b84070b4a7fb6664184506/BADLANS-18.jpg)
Riders - @victorperezpl

![Therese@juananbarros](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/19FgCYcsc8w7w4LtwLxqut/80c32a84daa3e7614b91411f34d2ce51/WhatsApp_Image_2020-09-07_at_10.02.36__1_.jpeg)
Therese Sundström -	@juananbarros

![Sonia](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/4G5vsIbXUGLDGNuClNZ5bC/04139e384a7ab00f851f4ddc6bc73cd9/WhatsApp_Image_2020-09-07_at_09.58.56.jpeg)
Sonia Colomo - Race Organisation

![BADLANS-26](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/2N5DLefYDffZFfpqCfh6IO/f8d2b683b51574983b4f64f4da9bcb14/BADLANS-26.jpg)
Lachlan Morton - @victorperezpl

![Therese](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/1dVdnWB3Zpf84eIfWrTB0R/797ae00d3f5e04f2eec2a8f56dacdaed/WhatsApp_Image_2020-09-07_at_10.02.36.jpeg)
Therese Sundström -	@juananbarros

![Dust](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/fMBGx8uu39rR7zhpEyz6P/bb7ce7da7675279c151dd6f5349934c7/BADLANS-23.jpg)
@victorperezpl

![BADLANS-24](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/6HQIiB3u4JiGw0yB4lWNFB/c77b3122879e45c60ba4bce28d04189f/BADLANS-24.jpg)
@victorperezpl


Photo Collection - Day 1

Day 2 of Badlands presented the riders with sun and hot conditions as was to be expected. Most of the riders are making there way east towards CP2 and CP3. On the way they will pass through some stunning scenery. CP2 comes in the Tabernas Desert, the only official desert in Europe and the namesake for the race. After this they head towards CP3 in Cabo de Gato, a national park on the Mediterranean coast. 

![@juananborros](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/YQbKNpfBWvrxnIs1LtCAj/7db61197f1caafac3d69179aae93af0d/WhatsApp_Image_2020-09-07_at_10.02.37.jpeg)
@juananborros

At the pointy end of the race, they have already passed both these points with Lachlan Morton leading the way, followed by Hayden McCormick and the first pair, David Rovira and Ricard Calmet. At this point, Lachlan looks pretty unbeatable having stopped only briefly in the whole race. He is currently in the Sierra Nevada and only has 130km to the finish. Between him and the finish there are the highest climbs of the race, but, given he lives at altitude for a good part of the year, this is likely to only benefit him. Oscar Pujol had put a good gap into the riders who were vying for 4th and looks like he is going well, but the gap he has over 5th place has decreased in the last few hours. 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CE1ONw3B7X0/
Lachlan being Lachlan

https://www.instagram.com/p/CE1tyXRICMt/
A bit of perspective on Hayden's ride. To add to this, he has broken his seatpost and it is currently being held together with cellotape.

![Organiser](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/7Hx0hQJnVqmpEA90Og1dbS/1be4a8dffaace545882f5a8293a41cbd/WhatsApp_Image_2020-09-07_at_16.42.21.jpeg)
Carlos Mazon

![@victorperezpl2](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/KQNQZzOptosFN10cA8fJB/3a315d3a213e15a6d1238577153ce56b/BADLANS-21.jpg)
@victorperezpl

Sonia Colomo has a good gap in the womens field with Therese Sunstrom and Yolanda Mallagon over 70km behind her. Therese and Yolanda are separated by around 30km so the battle for second is definitely not decided yet. 

The battle for 5th to 9th is one of the most interesting parts of the race, with 4 riders having reached the Cabo de Gato checkpoint within the same half an hour. As we saw last night, sleep time for each rider varies hugely and plays a big part in who finishes were, so tonight is going to prove very important for all these riders.

![@victorperezpl](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/5tNNwAaWHCMsPgeTkIKqtE/dd8add5a1835a571e8ec20176e339ec2/BADLANS-17.jpg)
@victorperezpl

Today also saw the withdrawal of James Hayden, who decided it was best to give his body a rest after a tough few weeks. We look forward to seeing James line up at the start of his next race. 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CE1PqtYqLrs/
Jean Patrick Mothes is finding out what these races are truly about. 

Those looking for a bit of extra reading can follow this link, which gives you a look at 40 bike set ups for the race. 
https://bikepacking.com/bikes/2020-badlands-race-rigs/

![@victorperezpl3](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/2iXpU4f3gGptZUKF3PGziS/675da567960917ce2493b32d4cd95dfc/BADLANS-22.jpg)
@victorperezpl

With the sun setting on the second day of racing, it looks as if Lachlan is going to take the win sometime early morning tomorrow. It's not over yet though, and riding the Sierra Nevada at night would be a challenge in it's own right, let alone when you are sleep deprived. Keep watching those dots and we will see what has happened come the morning! 

Into the Night - Day 2 Recap

Around 4 hours ago, Lachland Morton finished Badlands 2020 and became the first winner of the race. He finished the race in a time of 43hr 50minutes and barely stopped. 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CE3IiGKBSDW/

Badlands 2020 Tracking + Commentary: Badlands 2020 is the inaugural gravel bikepacking event brought to you by the organisers of Transibérica and Transpyrenees. As a sprint event, we're expecting a real spectacle of fast endurance racing. Won by Lachlan Morton.

Badlands 2020 Tracking

Badlands 2020 is the inaugural gravel event brought to you by the organisers of Transibérica and Transpyrenees. As a sprint event, we're expecting a real spectacle of fast endurance racing.

Badlands 2020

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