TCR 10, Transcontinental Race

Abdullah one of the most interesting racers. Was a fairly heavy weightlifter, in a couple of years started distance cycling from scratch (being inspired from Mike Hall) and won IPWR, then TABR, now he's on most miles in TCR and ahead of Strasser.

curious to see how Omar Di Felice does in this

Me too.

I think it was in his book that Strasser mentioned him and was a bit dismissive. Apparently he was on the pro / supported / Raam circuit for a while but didn't really make the big league.

Yes, he's the time triallist (he has had a crack at Strasser's 24 hour record although didn't get very close) so will be seeking out the Hippy-friendly routes!

I'm really pleased to see him doing so well. I had worried he works come unstuck in the TCR as so much hillier than what he's done before

I am sure Omar will twist his plan soon and going full depriv sleep mode on 😅

Ooo forgot to say that for several reason I might be able to have a go on the Mangart pass late in August 😇 (legs feeling chickenish but don’t care!)

I know, I really enjoyed following his TABR. It seems so long ago now ...

You usually know Oliver 😁

Robin looks to be slowing a bit over the last 48 hours, could be he had harder terrain? He's dropped to third of the top three for pace for the first time properly in the race.

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hmmm.

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Very sad to see Omar DNF 😞

Bugger, birdman's out with knee trouble.

Great spirit Victor.

Victor Bosoni (232) is quickly becoming a TCRNo10 sensation.
The young French rider has displayed determination in the face of misadventure, and was met with cheers and heartfelt chapeaus today at CP1.
Race Reporter Hannah Larbalestier was on hand to get an update on Victor’s journey. Despite being disappointed with his extra 550KM mistake of leaving his passport and wallet behind him early on in the Race, Victor’s spirit remains unbroken as he asserts that he is now in a new race and that his only goal is to get to Istanbul. Victor credits Fiona Kolbinger’s win on TCRNo7 as the initial spark of inspiration which left him wanting to have his own TCR experience. With sentimentality, he told our team that it was a dream to be here and that he would simply do his best to achieve his goals.
Throughout the experience Victor has remained a humble character. Despite many messages of support and proclamations of his legendary status he continues to insist that he is just a normal rider who made a mistake, and that there are many others deserving of the attention.
We wish Victor well on this next leg of the Race, may his passport and wallet never leave his sight.

Strasser, Abdullah, and Robin very close together now.

ClingfilmBas still going strong https://www.instagram.com/p/C98GhPGMIfZ/

Strasser riding now while the other two sleep but looks like he has too much to do now, too far back unless they fuck up.

Abdullah might still have a small chance. I recall fast, fairly flat, main roads from Alexandroupoli, where he is sleeping, to Canakkale which should suit him.

I've not checked what the ferry situation is this year but do hope the race doesn't get decided by ferry choice. I just remember being too tired to think about alternative ferries when I was there.

This whole section from where Christoph is now, near Xanthi, to Canakkale brings back memories for me from 2016. It was 40+ degrees in Greece and I rode through most of the night mainly because I didn't want to have to ride through another hot day - but got confused through exhaustion and thought I could get from Alexandroupli to Canakkale overnight. Which I couldn't because it is maybe 250km, but had some interesting hallucinations on the way before I slept on a bench at a servo on Turkey. I knew it was time to stop when I kept imagining that the red reflectors and bollards at the side of the road on a descent was a bunch of other riders in front of me. I had tried to stop earlier on the way up the long, gentle climb, but what I thought looked like a good place seemed to be a military base with a big, angry dog guarding it, so I had to keep going a bit longer than ideal.
I was still a bit fucked the next day with heat and tiredness - at one point I decided I would just walk the last 50km as I CBA to pedal any more. Then I found myself checking that my shadow was moving its arm when I moved mine - as I clearly wasn't sure that was how it worked at that point.

I'd had way more sleep than those guys and my muscles had done far less work - and I was only racing Max Kraus and Emily Chappel for 32nd place, not for the win - so I can only begin to imagine how they are feeling, and my personal experience only increases my awe at them holding it together on the same roads under the massive physical and mental stress!

I've not checked what the ferry situation is this year but do hope the race doesn't get decided by ferry choice

Think they are much more regular than the one from Romania to Bulgaria so hopefully not going to play the biggest part.

Roughly about 565km from cp4 to the finish. Pretty lumpy stuff which you would think may suit Robin over the others but hard to know at this stage.

It's not an insignificant gap to close for Christoph so yeah not sure he's got enough time left.

Think they are much more regular than the one from Romania to Bulgaria so hopefully not going to play the biggest part.

Yes, not such a variety as that shit show but I recall there are three different ones and they have different first ferry times.

It was definitely proven faster to get the first one, if you could make the connection, but the risk was going off route into the town to get, it missing it, then missing the one you would have caught because you lost time trying!

This year they will probably all know the first one is fastest so will aim for that unless outside the time it runs. But in 2016 we didn't know that so was more open then.

I hope you're not feeling too bad to be missing out!

Definitely have a bit of fomo :(

Looks like Strasser is accepting his third place. https://www.instagram.com/p/C99VlwHIfAH/

They are not taking quite the same route as we did along the peninsula, E87 on the coast is banned now. You can see it on the same google map as before, they just update it every year.

There's a new bridge near Gallipoli, but it seems that's just a motorway, with some kind of maintenance walkways on the side, which are probably not open to use.

Rigs of 2025 TCR: cling film.

Interesting, looks like Robin is on the E87 now, maybe that bit not banned?

Abdullah looks like he's missed the right turn to head towards Gallipoli on E87. Now heading straight on towards Istanbul. Does he have to turn later to minimise time on the E87...?

I need to have a look at the Google map to see what they are doing!

Turn around AZ. 😧

Looks like there are lots of small roads parallel, and I think he must have walked/pushed down the drainage ditch and crossed on this footbridge https://maps.app.goo.gl/UHKGsrt74MuqdGQ57?g_st=ic

His track doesn't look as if he went north of the road, but it's hard to tell because there are few transmission points--maybe he just went along those field boundaries past the footbridge and then used the various paths and roads between the two motorways? As a mountain biker, he won't have too much of a problem with going off-road for a bit if it means a significant shortcut.