Hours, not minutes, define Ten Dam's GC lead at Transcordilleras gravel race

Image 1 of 15

Race leader Laurens ten Dam likened the need for a timing system at Transcordilleras Rally Colombia to be more like a churchtower clock with two hands rather than a high-tech mechanism to track each second. That was evident once all finishers crossed the line on Thursday after stage 5, as the separation between the Dutchman at the front of the race was just over 24 hours, a full day, ahead of the last rider in 52nd position. 

It’s gravel, it’s adventure, and its measurements are immense. There is no time cut at the Transcordilleras Rally, which crosses the three mountain ranges in Colombia with a total of eight stages that add up to 852 kilometres and 21,000 metres of elevation gain.

As for Ten Dam's closest competition, three riders followed within an hour of the lead time of 25 hours and six minutes - Antonio Donado Calle in second  at 10:36 back, Brayan Chaves third, 32:07 back, and Óscar Tovar fourth, 55:12 off the lead. Janosch Wintermantel rounded out the top five, 1:18:52 back.

There is one woman in the field, Caroline Lamke, and her time through five stages was 52:37:32, 50th overall. 

In the non-stop ultra-distance division, the winners have been crowned,=. Julian Manrique of Brazil won the men’s division in 81 hours and Cynthia Frazier crossed the finish line six hours later as the first women’s finisher.

Middle stages

Organisers called Thursday’s route a “mythical stage”, as it crossed rugged terrain of the Palma de Cera forest and traversed the La Linea pass, which marks the top of the central Andes mountain range. Almost all of the 109.2km were dirt tracks and included 3,200 metres of elevation gain.

“Stage 4 was really rough. So the body was sore from all of the gravel,” Ten Dam said, who held a solid lead on the GC, barring any major mechanicals or deviations off the route.

It was Thomas Dekker who wanted his turn for glory, having left his concerns for the GC behind after a wrong turn on the first day that set him outside the top 10 by more than 4 hours. He made good on his target to win the only flat day of the week, Thursday. 

Stage 5 provided a 127-kilometre route that rolled downhill most of the day from an overnight stay in Ibaqué and only 700 metres of climbing, with the majority of roads on gravel and dirt across the Magdalena River valley.  

“Today, my roommate Thomas Dekker got the win. We went to the finish with eight guys. There were attacks in the final in traffic, and it was really crazy,” Ten Dam told Cyclingnews.  “I got into the last corner to pull the sprint for Thomas, which was a little dodgy in traffic. It was nice for Thomas to sneak in a win.”

He recounted that what is typically a leisure pace to the finish was amped up on pavement Thursday on the final few hundred metres in the tight streets of Melgar as the front group decided to sprint for the win. Dekker threaded his way around safety cones and one bus, to put enough distance on Janosch Wintermantel for the win, and the German settled for a spot on the podium with Ten Dam. 

“It was 50-50 [gravel to pavement] so that was nice, rolling to the finish. We finished at one o’clock and could lay in the bed and rest a while. Now it’s 5 o’clock and the bikes are clean, the laundry has been done by the hotel and all is good. Tomorrow is short, then the queen stage and the final.”

Short and intense stage 6

Stage 6 on Friday was only 65 kilometres, a short path into the eastern Andes range with 2,700 metres of elevation gain. With only one-third of the day on gravel, the route to Fusagasugá was all about setting up the approach to Sumapaz and the queen stage on Saturday. 

“Today was a really short stage, short and intense, so we went fast,” Ten Dam said. 

“The Colombians were really going, and there were five of us total at the top of the last climb. I managed to get Janosch solo in the downhill, and he won. 

“I think he deserved it, because he was second place behind Thomas [Dekker] yesterday, and one other time he was second behind me, so he deserved that stage.”

Antonio Donado finished in second, one minute back, and Ten Dam in third, 12 seconds ahead of Brayan Chaves. The fifth rider from the front group, Óscar Tovar, was 8:45 behind the stage winner if fifth. 

An early finish for the leaders got them into the densely-populated finish city before  heavy traffic on the roads, and gave them time to ride their bikes about 17km to overnight accommodations. The GC leader said organisers were considering an early start for the back half of the peloton, as riders like his friend Frank Epskamp, in 30th position, were 11 hours or more off the pace.

“Tomorrow will be hard. Maybe the first 10 or 15 guys in GC start at 7 a.m. [an hour after the early starters], so then we can catch everybody. That just makes it nice for them, otherwise they don’t see the other  people in the race all week. I think that’s the plan,” Ten Dam added.

“It was a mellow day [Friday]. I washed my bike at the gas station and was back for lunch at hotel at 11:30. It’s nice to be chilling before tomorrow’s queen stage.”

Saturday is the big climbing day, taking the riders through the eastern Cordillera and crosses one of the highest peaks, Sumapaz, with an elevation topping out at 4,000 metres above sea level.