Day 6. Kaltern, Italy to Trento, Italy.
126km. 2,300m of climbing.
3hr47min. 7th in Masters on the day. 8th in Masters GC.
Been here before. Love Trento. Great Italian town. Excellent part of these events is experiencing places you would never visit otherwise. All time favourite Trento memory is Ribs rocking the air guitar and drums at the start line in the Trento main piazza before day 7 in 2012.
Our day started in Kaltern. We chose to start closer to the front of the pack due to the profile of the beginning of today's stage.
7km downhill neutral and then 26km hammer along a relatively flat valley. Lots of riders trying to be heroes early. Had to ride defensively. Treacherous roundabout to navigate 500m before the day's first climb. I went inside. Wilbur went outside. Big crash in front of Wilbur (he stayed up) but Wilf was caught out at a bad time. About 3minutes into the subsequent climb I realized Wilfred was nowhere to be found. Sat up and started looking around as teams passed me. Shortly spotted Wilf working his way through the field. We reunited and then started making up lost time.
Next two punchy climbs broke up the field of strong A-riders, but it kept coming back together into a large pack. Thought that would happen again on a climb at the 77km mark as it was followed by a 30km downhill, then flat, section. We crested at the front of our group and had dropped a lot of teams. Surprisingly, the pack never came back together.
Final 3km climb before 6km descent into the finish. We were with all the groups who are within a few spots in or out of top 10 Masters overall. Wilf and I both felt good and turned it up. Dropped the group, passed a couple riders up the road, and bridged on to the wheels of my Italian twin friends. Surprisingly, Tweedledee and Tweedledum were not too friendly upon our arrival and there was little teamwork as we worked to the finish to stay ahead from the chasing teams.
Hot now that we are out of the Alps. Over 30degrees. My tan management has gone by the wayside the racier this event has become. Former National Champ turned DJ showed me how to strip off a jersey and ride shirtless. Handy trick.
Met our Magic Places friends at the finish and were escorted through the cobbled lanes of Trento to our hotel.
Last day tomorrow. Big day. Can't really move up in placing as 7th has 9minutes on us. Can always go backwards. After Day 1, Day 7 is typically the hardest effort of the event. Also need to be aware of other teams taking risks. Plan as per usual is to ride smart, keeping heads up and rubber down.
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