2023-STAGE 5 | CASTELO BRANCO - ÉVORA

530am the alarm rings and I crawl out of bed after possibly one of the worst nights sleep I have had in a long time, The AC in the room is pathetic… just like last year. I spend a very sweaty 5 hours trying to get some sleep before the longest day in the saddle for the whole week. I head for breakfast and force myself to eat but it is a real struggle. I feel a little nauseous but continue to shovel it in.

Race start for me is 732am and I line up with the guys and wait for the gun. They charge off in to the early morning sun and I decide the pace is just a bit too hot for me. At Km 3, I see one of the racing snakes thumping his saddle in frustration. His dropper seat post has failed so that is his day done. You cannot ride 196k sitting on a low seat like you were riding a child’s bike.

I pedal on as there is nothing I can do for him. It looks like it is going to be a long day. We have a strong tailwind and the temperature is not expected to go above 28C so that is all great news for me. The weather gods are on my side this week. Riding alone today is not such a big issue as if there had been a headwind. Solo riding into the wind for 200K would be abysmal. I hope to catch a few of the stragglers from my group as I am pretty sure they wont all be able to handle the pace. 

It’s a long day and so I break the ride up in my mind into chunks and give myself a little virtual pat on the back each time I do 50K. About 100K, I hear a voice behind me and it is one of the guys who set off with the racing snakes but couldn’t keep up. He has apparently been chasing me for a couple of K and we decide to ride together. He is a big guy with a big belly and clearly likes his beer and steak….I would have said Rugby rather than Cycling. He rides like monster with not much regard for pacing. Every time somebody faster comes past, he jumps on the back and pedals like a demon until a hill comes and blows up. Eventually, we jump on the back of a fast group and I stay with them but he drops off. I stick with the group for about 30 minutes until I realise that I am probably cooking my legs so I drop off and pootle at my own pace to rest before the next opportunity to get a free ride. 20 minutes later, the Swedish express comes past and I repeat the process. This makes the day go a lot faster (literally too). 

This when I notice the camera is gone, At dinner that night, another rider tells me they saw it splattered on the road, obviously run over by a car :-( My camera is roadkill…sadly there wont be any more pictures from the road. RIP Insta360 GO, you were a great little gadget.  This is now obviously an upgrade opportunity. ;-)

I close on the finish line feeling good. It’s been a good day at the office and I finish the course about 1 hour faster than last year, all courtesy of the tailwind. I place 25th on the day and Al comes in in 67th.  The leader (in yellow-right)  broke the course record by nearly an hour!

The stage video:

Some stage stats: