Thursday's stage 5 was the queen stage of the Transcordilleras Rally, the eight-day race across the Andes Mountains in Colombia, with a "mythical ascent" to the finish in San Félix and Laurens ten Dam just 13 minutes back of race leader Peter Stetina.
The pair, familiar with each other as competitors in one-day gravel races as well as in previous careers on the road, had ridden most of the first four stages beside each other. Stetina had to battle sickness in addition to a combative Ten Dam to hold, then extend his lead.
"So this morning I still thought I had a chance of attacking him [Stetina] somewhere, in a downhill or when he was [sick], but he managed," Ten Dam told Cyclingnews about Stetina taking extra time after the queen stage to extend his overall lead.
"I think GC is gone. Like Pete said after my first attack, 'oh, the gloves are down!', like in hockey when they start a fight. It was a proper fight today and I fought with all I had. At the end, Pete won. That's OK, cool with me. I'm still happy with how I performed, of course. I was just suffering."
Trailing in the overall standings was Brayan Chaves Rubio, a Colombian who competed from 2018-2019 with BikeExchange, but the harsh conditions had him two hours down in third place. Such was the situation in this off-road endurance event, a back-and-forth battle that Ten Dam said turned into a 'hockey fight'.
"So the second time he stopped I upped the pace a little bit and put to put him under pressure, but he came back. He was a little angry but I said, 'hey, it's called a race, eh? And you have to earn it.' And then I attacked again.
"I was at the front and he came back to me and it was just like one time at the Giro, when [Denis] Menchov ditched [Danilo] Di Luca in an intermediate sprint and [Lance] Armstrong said to me, 'Menchov took Di Luca by the balls and pressed them on the table' and that's what Pete did to me today. I tried to crack him," Ten Dam admitted.
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"We were pushing 300 to 400 watts I think, at altitude, then he dropped me and I just went easy to the finish. I waited for my friend Thomas Dekker at the finish because he was third. But also Chaves, the winner from yesterday, came back. I don't know how far away he [Stetina] went from me but I went into 'enjoy' mode instead of 'race' mode.
"I think at the end he will be happy because I told him you have to earn it. It's called a race, not a ride. I don't know how much [time] he took on me, but enough to be safe for the GC for the next few days, I guess."
Secrets to success on final stages
Ten Dam laughed a lot about his mid-week experiences at this gravel race when talking to Cyclingnews. In between attacks and the racing are sometimes futile attempts to stay warm, keep equipment clean and get enough fuel for another long day in the saddle.
After the 157.7km ride from Honda with 5,386 metres of climbing in the central Cordilleras and the Samarian Forest, there wasn't much time to enjoy the scenery, a lush, green landscape filled with 70-metre-high wax palm trees, the national tree of Colombia and an endangered species. After Ten Dam said that Stetina 'called his bluff' in the attacks, it was all about do-it-yourself bike cleaning, clothes washing and refuelling.
"Now I'm just cold because we sleep at 3,000 metres and no house here has heating. I sleep under five blankets. We'll manage, you know," Ten Dam explained about more work to do after the race.
"Every morning it's a surprise if you have breakfast or not. So we have a little bit more rice the night before as a backup. Like two days ago, my breakfast was fried rice with a banana. This morning the breakfast was great because we were in Honda and it was a really nice house with a pool and everything. And now we are in a mountain village, it's cold but that's the event here.
"Yesterday we were in a big city, but now there are just maybe five streets where we are. I need to clean my bike [again] and there was supposed to be a car wash, but there is no car wash. I found a really nice guy who can clean bikes with a hose next to his house and a little bit of soap. It's all good," Ten Dam laughed.
It was no easy task leading up to stage 5, as Wednesday's stage was 138.7 kilometres and had 3,620 metres of elevation gain, Stetina and Ten Dam finished just behind Chaves, in seven and half hours. Stage 4 included a crash for Ten Dam.
"I took a little tumble in the downhill, some road rash you know. Then I suffered in the heat afterwards and I managed to stay with Pete. I was just not focused enough on a downhill. I was actually pissed off at myself, but it is what it is. I've had worse in my career, so no stress about that," he said.
"Pete and me were together for almost the whole day but then Chaves came back to us at 25k to go because we were having a rest stop, with potato chips and whatever. The guy who wanted it the most won [Wednesday]."
Stage 6 takes the riders, fewer than 40 competing in the eight-day stage race, on 146km with the descent of the central mountain range to the valley of the Río Cauca and crossing into Antioquia. There is still 4,000 metres of climbing and just 30 per cent on gravel. Stage 7 on Saturday has 800 fewer metres of climbing, but all the ascents are lumped in the second half of the 149 kilometres. The grand finale on Sunday is just 83km with mostly descents to Santa Fe de Antioquia.
"The experience here is incredible. Oh man, it was so beautiful today, all the views. It's hard, it's beautiful, the people are nice," Ten Dam said and noting one of his secrets to success was how to dry laundry for the next day.
"Man it's a land full of experiences. You know, most wash their clothes by hand over here still in sinks. At the finish line, you have to find a place to wash your bike, you have to wash the clothes in the shower, and always have to hope for a warm shower, stuff like that. And you have to find a place to dry your clothes, like behind the fridge, that's my secret trick because there's a little bit of heat. So you put your chamois over there, but don't tell Pete."
Jackie has been involved in professional sports for more than 30 years in news reporting, sports marketing and public relations. She founded Peloton Sports in 1998, a sports marketing and public relations agency, which managed projects for Tour de Georgia, Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah and USA Cycling. She also founded Bike Alpharetta Inc, a Georgia non-profit to promote safe cycling. She is proud to have worked in professional baseball for six years - from selling advertising to pulling the tarp for several minor league teams. She has climbed l'Alpe d'Huez three times (not fast). Her favorite road and gravel rides are around horse farms in north Georgia (USA) and around lavender fields in Provence (France), and some mtb rides in Park City, Utah (USA).
