Haute Route Dolomites Stage 4
Haute Route Dolomites Stage 4. The Individual Time Trial (ITT)
A much better day! Today was the first day that I actually started to feel human. With 10 stages already in the legs, I started to ride into some fitness. I started stage 4 early in the bunch. We were setting off with 20 second intervals. Bormio for a start and end town is amazing. It’s a cute little old ski town. The village centre is cobbled and traffic restricted.
Climbing the Stelvio is a must if you’re in this part of the world, it’s even worth making a special trip to do it. From the Bormio side, which isn’t the classic side, you climb 1500 metres over 20km. The gradient isn’t overly bad, but does ramp up severely for the last 3 km, getting to 10%. That’s a bloody hard finish.
So it’s back down to the village straight after the TT. Only stopping for a couple of quick photographs. I hooked up with Mark for some lunch and then into the village and managed to buy some bike bits. We got back to the hotel and undertook some bike maintenance. Cleaned and oiled the chain, this would have acoustic consequences for the next days stage.
Rinse, was, and repeat. Briefing at 6:30, snacks, dinner, and then bed. All in all, same as previous stages.
Haute Route Dolomites Stage 4 position: 194
Haute Route Dolomites Overall position: 177