Nico Valsesia wins the 2018 Italy Divide 

Is Bernd Paul's race over? His line on the race flow graph comes to a premature end, and his dot has been inactive for almost 2 hours. Has the German scratched after his nocturnal errors?

Analyzing Race Flow

Tough Going for Petervary

Day 2: Action at the Front

Insta Gallery: Start Line Scenes

12 hours in: Race update

Pro adventurer Nico Valsesia talks about his participation in the race (Italian)

Italy Divide: Race Preview

![bernd paul stopped](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/4tHruH5xRC80AkeAs6OUSe/e40b76c5ec9c2a10b03b15a8962640aa/bernd_paul_stopped.jpg)

Location and riders unknown.

Photo: Italy Divide

![31317825 967287170087602 7205612378472316928 n](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/4h1a6FFfXi2eAuqc0AEIEI/6b5a24fe828217a0328ff495de128e8a/31317825_967287170087602_7205612378472316928_n.jpg)

Exhaustion is blind to daylight

[[ instagram url="https://www.instagram.com/p/BiCy20-lJE2/" ]]

[#WYMTM](https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/wymtm/?hl=en) (What You Missed This Morning)

#WYMTM

'Race Flow' is basically the monitoring of rider progress over a certain period of time. On the graph, the X-axis represents time, and the Y-axis distance. From these two measurements, we can see each rider's progress - represented by the lines on the graph - in relation to the progress of others. And once that information is digested, we can begin to predict what might happen next in the race.

- Flat line = Stationary / asleep
- Steep line = Fast pace
- Lines crossing = Riders passing eachother
- Smooth line = Steady pace
- Erratic line = Lack of rhythm / probable fatigue

From this race flow graph, we can see that the top ten remained fairly evenly matched for the first five hours of racing, at which point the pace of a few began to drop off. "I had to back off after the first 5 hours as the pace was absolutly crazy," said 5th place Jay Petervary in an Instagram update this morning. 

Then, by and large, they all continued at differing paces for the next 20 hours, at which point Stepan Stransky (red line), and Thomas Taut (dark green line) stopped to sleep. A few hours later, Stefano Romualdi (gold), Jay Petervary (purple), and Bernd Paul (yellow) stopped. 

When Paul woke up, his line became very erratic, which we now know coincided with the time he went off-course. Perhaps he knew he had gone wrong? 
<iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fitaly.divide%2Fposts%2F967600596722926&width=500" width="500" height="443" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowTransparency="true" allow="encrypted-media"></iframe>

Meanwhile, those who hadn't slept started to lose pace rapidly, and there is little chance of these riders making a comeback now. They've misjudged their effort, and will now be losing time either through sleep, or a lack of riding pace, until the end of the race.

After his sleep, Stepan Stransky has upped the pace, and with almost ten hours rest in his legs, Thomas Taut will almost definitely finish strong. The only question is, with barely more than a few hours spent at rest, will Nico Valsesia be able to hang on for the 250km left until the finish?

On the tracker map to the left, just click the third tab along, "Race Flow" to play with the graph yourself.

Nico Valsesia arrives at Ostello dei Concari, where he's currently been static for 45 minutes. 260km to go for the race leader.

[[ tweet id="989811702614056960" ]]

Further down the field, where the pace isn't quite so high, the race atmosphere is quite different. Riders are out for the adventure as much as they are the race, and are able to take their time to meet other riders, enjoy the local sights, and digest their food without having pedal at the same time; Such are the varying experiences of ultra-distance racing. Here's an update from Jakub Dvorak, eating with some fellow riders in Volpaia this morning, with 361km ridden. 

![italy divide jakub dvorak](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/4AbgHUkcjue4AOUwMUUMcY/737134d55d1c677e3ff7f4514bb715b5/italy_divide_jakub_dvorak.jpg)

Race Life

[[ instagram url="https://www.instagram.com/p/BiClYgxBT_R" ]]

Race Photography from @muntagnin_citadin

Nico Valsesia. Leader for most of the race. Now 2nd on the road. Photo: Italy Divide

The race lead moves out of the Appenines and onto the flatlands of the Po river valley. 550km done, 350km to the finish.

The Italy Divide is a 900km unsupported bikepacking race, following a mixture of gravel roads and technical MTB trails through Italy's mountainous interior, from Rome to Lake Garda. The 2018 edition sees 88 riders, and one former winner, take on the challenge.

DotWatcher.cc

Italy Divide 2018

Total Racers

Distance — Elevation

Terrain

Website

Last Year's Winner

Leaderboard

Events Feed