Day 1 : Humid start!

Race Preview

Victor Bouscavet

Greg Clarke

Bruno Ferraro

Michael Wykes

Wojciech Bystrzycki

Romain Montamat

Andrew Dumbill

Daniel Burtscher

Manuel Villalobos 

Emilio Castro Crecente

Alejandro Serrano Arjona

Borja Gascon

Xavi Calvo Sánchez

Fernando Riera Jurado

Manuel Fraga

Gorka Nin

Oscar Brun Urzaiz

Thomas Cartier

Fabrizio Amorati

Dieter Champagne

Lucca Lanzara

Sergi Carbo Olivella

Anabell Orenz

Alfonso Bea Lazaro

Alexander Stramma

Martin Novak

Ángel Nicolás Moncayo Jiménez

Gedas Antanaitis

Raul Paez Vera

Gontzal Ayerdi Arza

Iñigo Ostolaza Permisan

David Pourrat

Joe Jackson

Enekoitz Elorza

Mikel Aristegi

Jorge Guede Barrio

Jesús Guevara Benito

Sam Chappell

Aleix Fontanals

Mathieu Gex

Lydia Iglesias Barés

Clement Janmart

Maxime Taurin

Per Arne Janssen

Christopher Cayford

Aitor Salgado Adeva

Jesus Noriega Martinez

Francisco Bravo

Sergio Garcia Ortiz

Fernando Montesinos Peñas

Miquel Pera Miras

Ellen Scherr

Sam Gorman

David Hawes

Kevin Foulston

Pablo Alonso Talon

Giuseppe Labriola

David Palmer

Sergei Haukka

Karim Nour Helgstrand

Federico Merlo

David Sebastian Lopez Restrepo

Marcel Mor Miró

Sergio Pulido Muñoz

Gonzalo Alzueta

Diego Villas

Tobias Teufl

Vasco Pereira

Juan José Miramon

Jason Wyatt

Ernesto Martinez Bucio

Guillermo Munoz

Alexandre Bertrand

Peter Graef

Adrian Merino Menendez

Florian Teillet

Raúl García

Néstor Jimenez Olite

David Riba Torrecillas

Hans Thomas Buch Lund

Jose Antonio Portillo Urlanga

Jorge M. San Emeterio Argos

Vicente Mendia Mauleon

Ivar Brouwer

Jorge Franco

Roberto Yugueros

Roberto Fernandez

Lucía Fernández García

Aude Samonini

Rubén Requejo

Tjeerd Bos

Kornel Martinger

Alejandro Perdigón Gaitán

Sebastien Pernet

Maialen Zabala

Joao Machado

David Washburn

Stefano Di Blase

Stephan Lopez

David Carbones

Valentin Garcia Mota & Gabriel Maldonado 

Valentín García Corredor & Miguel Ángel Díaz Rullo

Yoren Lievens & Dries De Smet

Yves Cazet & Arnaud Baudouin

Florian Rothe & Frank Uekermann

Martin Reichert & Melanie Muller

Sean Donevan & Mark Gilmour

Jochen Schumacher & Carlotta Schumacher

Jon Barredo Muro & Asier Uroz Geijo

Raquel Rodriguez Bernal & Antonio Verguizas Nieto

Arnaud Freyburger & Christian Ott

Yves Wyckmans & David Lopez Valero

Amanda Wishart & Rhys Wainwright

Nicky Boon & Thomas Kuijpers

Stephane Surroque & Poncy Hubert

Javier De Miguel Lancha & Oscar Javier Gonzalez Esteban

Sergi Cots Sotoca & Albert Cabra Samaniego

Spencer Long

Steve Behrendt

Wannes Nyckees

Cesar Soria Serrano

Pau Haro

Oleksandr Kozlov

Georges Wagner & Nicholas Ogilvie

Rafael Ortiz Ordonez & Marisol Moreno Gallegos

Patxi Plazoala

Car 2

Car 1

External Media | PNS


At the time of writing we've had more than 108 riders cross the finish line out of 198 with 40 DNF reported.
![Transpy@jacob kopecky-day3-1](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/1OLKKimKQrcKXloZjndtnd/4ecbefaf8eaa1c1477350533ea0a1b67/Transpy_jacob_kopecky-day3-1.jpg)
The first female finisher was *Cap 23 Anabell Orenz*, crossing the finishline in a very strong 23rd positon after 92hours and 15minutes on the road. Consistency is key in these races and Anabell definetely was. She always hovered around the top 20 position managing well her sleep and rest times. Chapeau on an impressive performance Anabell!

*Lydia Iglesias Barés Cap 107* was the second female finisher to make it in Llança. The Enough Cycling collective rider finished her traverse in 4days and 11hours with a 41st spot in GC! Well done Lydia!

 In the pairs race, we've had 13 out of 17 pairs make it to the finish! 
 *Cap 359 Valentin Garcia Mota & Gabriel Maldonado* taking the win in 107h11m, followed 3hours later by *Cap 319 Valentín García Corredor & Miguel Ángel Díaz Rullo*. *Cap 339 Yoren Lievens & Dries De Smet* closing the podium in 112h total time. Congratulations to all!!
 ![A741613](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/6pQcm1ynfsb9Br6qUZbrBJ/bb668924f9abe654039b79fd38aafc89/_A741613.jpg) 
 Riding as pair is difficult, you need to know very well your partner and fully trust eachother in order to perform well - or just to be able to take any decision. But when it all works out, it can bring alot of laughs and shared pleasure in good and tough moments. I would say pair riding is under-rated, but of course you have to find the right person!

We still have 43 riders on the road! They will have by now  spent almost two days and half extra on the road compared to the leaders... In the conditions that they got, its a tough ask. All the best to them and keep pushing the end is in sight!
![A741158](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/2Lm3pKxoZcTekus9fKXB7U/8976c71fad3f5ba95eb46003fa82187a/_A741158.jpg)

Pics by @Rodamundu and Jakub Kopecky

Day 4-5 : Finishline getting crowded!

__This edition of the Transpyrenees has its first finishers!__

*Victor Bouscavet Cap 182* arrived last night at 00:07 after 64h and 7min of total racing time. He truly opened up a big gap to the rest of the field. In his last insta stories, he disclosed that he had been suffering since the start of Iliotibial Band Syndrome - a form of knee side pain- and had to take breaks to relieve the pressure/pain during the race! Anyhow, a very impressive ride!
![Transpy@jacob kopecky-day4-10](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/6JnydBxkLJYyHVIeAB7zLQ/6349fbcedaf92797ed4c6e71e2677ba6/Transpy_jacob_kopecky-day4-10.jpg)
The battle for 2nd place got really heated last night as well! *Bruno Ferraro cap 55* chasing hard *Greg Clarke Cap 68* all night long, placing strategic powernaps along the final stretch. In the early hours of the morning, Greg edged Bruno by only a minute!! what a finish! Congratulations to both of them for a very entertaining and impressive fight!
![DSC08818 1](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/44fR6Lnd5kagwfBxsEkWaX/0ca00321d034a042bbe7120c10ece9e6/DSC08818_1.jpg)
One rider who has made also a strong finish is *cap 184 Wojciech Bystrzycki* after beeing in the lead pack in the early stages of the race than falling a bit behind, he finished very strongly, boasting the fastest time between the virtual CP Ax 3 domaines and the finish. In this final part, he went up 5 ranks in the leaderboard and managed to enter the top 5!

At the time of writing, we already have 14 riders who finished this hard edition of the Transpyrenees. Each of them with different stories and experience but all of them having completed the grueling 1048km and 27.000m elevation route.

Meanwhile, the vast majority of the riders are still out there in the mountains, pushing hard to make it to the finish and complete this epic traverse!

![Transpy@jacob kopecky-day3-22](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/79ekozSU4Cs29IUK51GGNJ/a607d9b94485dadcdfac03edc3e01791/Transpy_jacob_kopecky-day3-22.jpg)

Pictures by Jakub Kopecky and Carlos Mazon


Day 4 : First finishers are in!

We *-almost-* have a winner! At the time of writing *Victor Bouscavet Cap 182* has only 55km to go with a bit of climbing until the mandatory finishline beer in Llança! He should arrive tonight around 1am, if everything goes well!
He has increased his lead at 125km to 2nd place rider Greg Clarke.

Greg seems to have slowed down today and had multiple little stops (mechanicals? sleepyness? stomach issues?) and is beeing hunted down by a hungry *Cap 55 Bruno Ferraro* as it looks like!
![Transpy@jacob kopecky-day3-29](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/zyEvWrvuoMjP69kWf1OYE/be9b87f8bbd58b054ac5493b0c6ad8a3/Transpy_jacob_kopecky-day3-29.jpg)
35km behind them a battle is brewing between *Cap 119 Michael Wykes* and *Cap 150 Romain Montamat*. Those two battles will be interesting to follow in the last ~12-15hours of the race for them. Who will still be able to pull-off a last all-nighter at this stage of the race? I would go for the powernap strategy and aim for a finish tomorrow around breakfast time. Anyhow lets see how it pans out for them with 800km already in the legs!

In the pairs category, *Cap 325 Pau Haro Carabellido & Iban Riu Frigula* have taken over the lead of the pairs race since yesterday, with at the time of writing, an advantage of 37km. They are riding a consistent race and have been taking over positions in the leaderboard since the start. 

Another special pair who has made it over the halfway point in brilliant fashion are *Cap 357 Jochen Schumacher & Carlotta Schumacher*! The father-daughter duo is making steady progress amongst the parcours and eventhough i would assume the ranking is not their primary concern, they are doing very well in 10th pair on the road!! Chapeau to them!

![Transpy@jacob kopecky-day3-3](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/5b7eW1SVZ0EJZPsbYTrOji/8b9a1a47a2cf749af15612eccdaa2422/Transpy_jacob_kopecky-day3-3.jpg)


Day 3: Victor(y) within reach

__Alot has happened in this last 36hours!__

The humidity/rain has kept on hitting the riders, and this has started to really hurt the pack. 48hours of this kind of weather can hurt the most vaillant of riders. Now progress is much more dictated by the moral and resilience of riders than by simply their fitness. As very often after a couple days in these kind of races, it's becoming a race of attrition. 

Hours and hours of riding in the will also make skin soft and more prone to saddle sores, which I had reports of have caused some troubles to riders. 

Two reports of riders having to scratch linked to the harsh conditions:

Spanish rider, *Xavier Burgos Cap 186* abandonned after Portillon when he was riding in 4th place. He said that his performance was compromised because of the rain and saddle sores caused by wearing wet shorts the whole night.

*Marco Martins Cap 112* had to abandon because he  suffered hypothermia descending Tourmalet at 4:00am. Luckily, it was nothing serious… He was also in the top 5 in the early stages of the race.

*Cap 72 Harriet Gruen* - who was leading the race earlier - having also to abandon sadly, but kudos to her for knowing when to stop and listening to her body!
![WhatsApp Image 2024-07-02 at 11.26.12](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/HD2EcdqNU8gcJBsKJlKVB/79050a5a6fe6446b5f5f8e0a179eaaba/WhatsApp_Image_2024-07-02_at_11.26.12.jpeg)

So far, we've had 21 riders abandon the race, which is not abnormally high.

Meanwhile at the front of the pack, one rider which has been very consistent since the start of the race, and so far putting on a flawless performance is * Cap 182 Victor Bouscavet* ! 
Eventhough he has the least stoppage time of the whole pack, he also boast the fastest average moving speed! This is impressive, as usually if you rest less your moving speed will be slower compared to someone who is resting more thus riding faster in theory. Victor clearly wants it all!
![Transpy@jacob kopecky-day2-13](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/6lTMkXrDL3WvrhTmDrduNS/557046a756d6c47bc7338ca0ea4adb35/Transpy_jacob_kopecky-day2-13.jpg)

He has built a decent gap over 2nd placed Greg Clarke whos is also riding a great race on good spirits.
![Transpy@jacob kopecky-day2-22](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/3brC7j6gJzRzBY2Hl1MLpf/30d1c866894fe3c6cfabb777641e3140/Transpy_jacob_kopecky-day2-22.jpg)

Currently in third place is  *Bruno Ferraro Cap 55* , also riding a smart and consistent race, since the start, he has kept on moving up the field. Let's see how close he can get to Greg in the maybe final 24-36hours for him!

One rider who is also putting on the afterburners is *Cap 12 Anabell Orenz*! She's managed to enter the top 20 and by the looks of it doesn't want to stop there! She's built a sizeable gap of around 65km to 2nd place *Lydia Iglesias Barés Cap 107*.

Clearly this has so far turned into a tough edition of the Transpyrennes with this hard conditions. In the coming hours and night it will be about making smart choices of where to rest and how to manage the effort because for most of the riders, the road is still long - *and hilly* -  until the shores of the Mediterranean.

![Transpy@jacob kopecky-day2-11](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/2eJ32d4UmLioLkgiC7xiRH/742cb31f3817497640cfe8a17e745bad/Transpy_jacob_kopecky-day2-11.jpg)

![Transpy@jacob kopecky-day2-10](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/5gEvMX5Y8Qo8yoI96KJCrE/280df63eaf305ca2c5e345717ec18fc1/Transpy_jacob_kopecky-day2-10.jpg)

Pics by Jakub Kopecky


Day 2.5 : The attrition race begins

__And they're off!__

The start was given this morning at 8am from the shores of the atlantic ocean in San Sebastian. Our 196 riders all set off in the directions on first peaks of the Basque Country. The rainiest region of France welcomed them with its customary tradition : rain! 

![TPR24 Rain Day1](//videos.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/5Jk7GdjymZpbamrbfedtEl/9a1800958a64b68700133e7afcb0f421/WhatsApp_Video_2024-06-30_at_14.34.01.mp4)

In the steep ascents and descents of the basque country, riders have been forced to take it easier in the steep - but beautiful -  basque descents, unless risking a slip and nasty fall.

The organizers reported a few crashes, fortunately most of them without gravity except *Cap 131 Olaf Zenker* who sustained some broken ribs sadly. The rain and fog seems to be hitting riders on and off. 
Clothing strategy is key in these moments. Knowing when to put a waterproof layer is really important in order to avoid beeing to warm, thus sweating too much in the uphills and freezing in the descents. Or  beeing too cold causing discomfort and/or losing too much energy. Finding this sweet spot will be an added challenge during the constant up and downs of this parcours when facing rain and humid weather weather.

![TPR24: Day 1](//videos.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/1wvImr10QcxyTDof9dQ8DE/929727b63024169c4396afd2dc783aa4/WhatsApp_Video_2024-06-30_at_14.38.28.mp4)
![Transpy@jacob kopecky-day1-59](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/1ceDUZjWxSIIHIfS39QP4N/134513d154f91eae3be8e0314d7e33c0/Transpy_jacob_kopecky-day1-59.jpg)
![Transpy@jacob kopecky-day1-51](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/7vJomlEjK3DqNr8TLrKcqf/66714784ed70ad0b75a4ac87af380ea8/Transpy_jacob_kopecky-day1-51.jpg)
__Front of the race:__

Eventhough it is still very early to draw any conclusion a lead group seems to have built a small gap : *Cap 184 Wojciech Bystrzycki, Cap 68 Greg Clarke, Cap 182 Victor Bouscavet* and chasing not far behind *Cap 186 Xavier Burgos Rodriguez* and *Cap 112 Marco Martins*. These lead riders have already covered around 280km for about 10 000meters of elevation in 13hours, lets say that they are not messing around!

On the women side, *cap 107 Lydia Iglesias Baré*s is leading the field with a 10km advantage over *Cap 72 Harriet Gruen*, also distancing *Cap 12 Anabell Orenz* by around the same gap.

In the pair's category, we have pair *Sergi Cots Sotoca & Albert Cabra Samaniego Cap 151* already distancing their competitors by 17km! Their stats show that they are riding on average 1km per hour faster so far. Let's see if they can maintain this fast pace in the next days!

The sleep strategy tonight could already create big gaps depending if riders push through the night, which I expect some lead riders to do, or trying to capitalize on sleep this early in the race and pushing hard tomorrow during the day. Let's see how it all pans out tomorrow!

Victor
@theklund1


__Welcome to the 6th edition of the Transpyrenees!__

A now classic in the Ultracycling calendar, the Transpyrenees is one for the climbers with its elevation-heavy parcours. 

The last five editions, riders have always ridden west, starting from Llança to San Sebastian. This year though, *Carlos Mazon* (one of the two organiser) has decided to mix things up, and launch riders head eastwards! They will now start in San Sebastian and make their way to Llança tackling on their way 38 major climbs.

Previous winners include some of the biggest names in Bikepack racing including Ulrich Bartholmoes (2x winner) and Adam Bialek. The 2021 edition also saw a sprint finish (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QD-boHVt1hk) between Sofiane Sehili and Omar di Felice, with Sofiane arriving 20 second ahead after more than 50hours of racing. 

__Parcours__

This year’s parcours promises to be on the tougher side boasting 27000m of elevation in 1047km. Only the 2020 edition had a similar elevation gain, all the other ones had less. Quoting Carlos, one of the organizers : “This exquisite edition will bring back giant traditional climbs with some spicy connections and little surprises. The end will be completely different, and it includes a 2 km gravel road to pass the border to Spain.” Sounds veeeeery interesting!

__Who to watch for:__

We will have 185 riders for 23 women on the start on sunday with the level ever growing, i’ve tried to pick some riders to watch for:

__Mens:__ 

*Victor Bouscavet* cap 182 : Two time winner of the Desertus Bikus rally. Knows how to ride fast and efficient. Let’s see how he does in in a “more hilly” setting!

*Thomas Jacquelinet* cap 171: Former winner of the Transpyrenees No1 - lost dot. He has also raced offroad and has alot of experience, especially in this mountain range!

*Patxi Plazaola* cap 189 : Strong rider out of the Basque Country. Plenty of experience on the saddle racing cross country MTB, gravel and road. His notable achievements include a 5th place at Badlands 2023 and a strong finish at the 2022 GranGuanche road

*Marco Martins* cap 112 : Portuguese rider who was leading last year’s edition until the last night. He’s back for more! He also finished third in Basajaun. One to definitely watch out for.

__Women side:__

*Anabell Orenz* cap 12 : Strong ultracyclist back after a life threatening crash during 2023 transiberica, she will be again aiming for the transiberica later this summer. If you haven't seen it yet, i definetely recommend this movie (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMazM7DlFz8) about her road to recovery.

__Pairs race__

The pairs race looks to be pretty open this year at first sight!
A notable pair is cap 357 and 358 *Jochen and Carlotta Schumacher*. Jochen being father to Carlotta! Carlotta getting also the prize for the youngest participant of the whole field at just 18years old!! Pretty impressive stuff. A pair to dotwatch for sure.

I surely have missed some riders in this list but that’s also what makes this sport great, there will always be surprises! That beeing said do not hesitate to tell me who I missed in this list! 

I will try to do my best to commentate and bring you insights of the race here along the week.

__But i will also need you!__

So do not hesitate to send me messages on my instagram about stories happening or any relevant info that you might hear during the race :-)

It all looks set for a great one!!

Victor
@theklund1


Victor Eklund

Transpyrenees (TransIbérica) 2024 Tracking + Commentary: The fixed route of Transpyrenees takes riders from the Atlantic coast to the Mediterranean Sea, climbing some of the most mythical and challenging Cols of The Pyrenees such as Aubisque, Tourmalet, and Ax-3-domaines.

Transpyrenees (TransIbérica) 2024 Tracking

The fixed route of Transpyrenees takes riders from the Atlantic coast to the Mediterranean Sea, climbing some of the most mythical and challenging Cols of The Pyrenees such as Aubisque, Tourmalet, and Ax-3-domaines.

Transpyrenees 2024

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