With a lot of hype leading into the race, riders were intrigued to see what the Trans Rezia had in store for them. What they discovered was as diverse and varying trail platter, perhaps just a little more physical, leg and lung burning than some racers had expected!
After three days of racing perhaps the biggest story was that EWS champion Tracy Moseley was NOT leading the race…She fell foul to a puncture and lost a bucket load of time to the field, with Nathalie Schneitter seizing the lead who was already hot on her heels. James Shirley of Radon has a pretty solid lead in the men’s field after looking comfortable on every stage. Italian hopefuls Denny Lupato and Davide Sottocornola have had contrasting fortunes; unfortunately, Denny’s race was over on the first day after a wrong turning lost him around seven minutes, whilst Davide in second looks to hunt down James Shirley in the overall over the coming three days…
Nothing like some crisp mountain air to wake the riders in the morning!It wasn’t long before the ground frost on the first stage was quickly melted.
Spot TMO! The scenery is pretty mind blowing. What goes up must come down, Tracy on a charge to make up valuable secondsRacing blind left some riders hesitant to send this rather innocuous looking drop, no problems for Chris Kilmurray however.
ENDURO Mag racer Stuart Wilcox let’s say, took a ‘scenic route’ losing nine minutes on the very first stage of the race! Similar problems befell Denny Lupato who would have definitely been in the hunt for the win over the week.
James Shirley has been fast, efficient and most importantly kept it clean to take the lead overall.
The race steeds ready for the off.Despite using a mixture of shuttles, the race is very much pedal power reliant.
Meggie Bichard and her Fuji have gelled well with the Rezia trails and is sitting in a pretty comfortable top three position despite being hunted down by Tracy Moseley. You can’t help but feel rather insignificant in this landscape, Hope Tech’s Rachael Walker negotiates a fast open traverse.
Davide Sottocornola (pictured) and Simon Gegenheimer among others will look to have a strong closing the days to try and claw back time on James Shirley. Nathalie Schneitter has been full gas on all the stages and has been physically very strong as you’d expect, it will be interesting to see her approach to the close of the race.
Paul Aston attacking the Alpine meadows aboard his Pole.
It is Italy after all! Studying maps given the racers a much needed understanding of what they are undertaking.
Rolling into our first stop in SwitzerlandNothing hits the spot better than gelato after a mammoth day in the saddle.
NOTE: All results are still very provisional and based on the times from the end of Day 2, full results to follow! For more information visit the Trans-Rezia website.
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