Handlebar video from the stage is here.
Today we were gridded at the front along with all the pro men and world champions and with tv helicopters buzzing overhead we instantly turned into a mental descent down a steep scree slope. There was carnage with riders all over the place, some attempting to ride, others sliding at high speed on foot. We negotiated safely to the bottom and it was straight onto a flat 8km dirt track that required some good road racing speed.
Our target for the day was to keep up with women´s team leaders Sally Bigham (Topeak Ergon Team) and Kristine Norgaard (Hansens Flodeis). Into the first long climb we were perfectly positioned following their wheels and kept this up until halfway through when mechanical issues meant we dropped back. There was less of yesterday´s mental xc pace early on and my legs were feeling more recovered than I had expected. We climbed for ages up through cow meadows and pretty farmland before finally reaching the top.
Todays trails were mostly less technical, which although nice to give the body a break, meant our techncial skills brought less of an advantage. The sun was scorching but luckily we spent a lot of time in shady woodland and splashing through streams was good to cool off.
Just after halfway Josh´s bottlecage came loose and shortly after he got a puncture. The one disadvantage to big 29er wheels is they need more air to pump up and we lost a big chunk of time! All was not lost, once fixed we charged on, following some great twisty tight trails and fast descents before hitting the final climb.
The day ended with a long technical rocky descent back to the hotel – a lot of fun and I was pleased to feel far less destroyed than at the end of yesterday. We completed the 78km in 4hrs 26 and retained the leaders jersey for tomorrow (results here).
Well done Cait!