DAY 3 /// VILLARS-COLMARS → GUILLAUMES → Distance: 39.21km
D+ : 1327m
D- : 3086m
Reprieve!!
By most people’s daily mountain bike ride standards if you’d just ridden 40km with the best part of 1500m of climbing you’d probably bandy around the word ‘epic’. If you’ve just survived the last two days of Mavic Trans-Provence, Day 3 seems like a recovery ride. A recovery ride with lots of down – just a tad over 3000m in fact!
Four special stages as always, but no grey earth this year as that has seen some demolition action in the name of a solar panel generation scheme, but a new stage two and four to make up for it.
It’s not all been plain sailing however, there’s been mechanicals, and then more mechanicals: blown shocks, bent mechs, and pinch flats galore. Blown tyres can mean a lost stage, and so we’ve seen the usual change begin, as some riders swap from more pedal-able all rounders to super tacky, heavier carcassed downhill tyres.
Today there’s been a little bit of wandering off track as well; the reminder to check your map first, and check your speed, sometimes gets lost as the timing chip contacts the belise, but that’s big mountain racing for you.
Day 3 Stage results
Overall Results after day 3
jono in slow mo!!!