Transcontinental Race (London - Istanbul) - #TCRNo4

@skinny is now 49km ahead. His lead is increasing. They are both out of the mountains and onto the plain.

Just caught up with this thread...

@skinny MOTHER OF GOD!!! You are a beast!!!

Keep up the good work mate! Keep riding hard/fast!

Looking forward to seeing how the sleep strategies play out for the leaders.

Helps combat the Tour withdrawal symptoms.

Ultan Coyle doesn't seem to enjoy descending.
A few pics from the road
http://www.rifugioassietta.eu/category/video/

54km up and racing.

This is getting rather exciting.

And I should add 101 km up on third placed Coyle. Absolutely amazing. Hope he has something in reserve.

I'm flabbergasted. Keep it up Skinny!

Better than without lights...

yep

seriously impressive! go @skinny

#goskinny

You are a strong, inspiring cyclist.

Better than without lights...

To be honest, I would prefer not to descend that even in daylight.I would like to climb it one day but will have to find a way to get down that doesn't expose me to almost certain death.

Vokovar is the next control for the race leaders, its a straightforward control, and no parcour.
For @skinny, its about only 975km away.

I'm thinking @fluff and I might miss @skinny; we'll be manning the checkpoint in Montenegro from Friday morning, wondering if he'll already have passed through by then!

@skinny you've pulled...

Is it that bad? Must ride now...

Epic stuff from skinny.

I wonder if coyle is having mechanical problems? He is moving but only v slowly.
I guess inherent in an event like this mechanical issues striking at some point is a significant risk. I hope he gets back up to speed soon.

There are plenty of climbs/descents they'll have to do at night during the whole ride, Ventoux isn't that bad* in the grand scheme of things as it doesn't have as many sheer drops off the side, or hairpins, as some of the climbs they will encounter on the ride do.

* Saying that, the only time I've climbed Ventoux (from Bedoin) I saw a dead cyclist in the road who had crashed descending. Our descent (to Malaucene) was a lot more cautious than I would normally descend (and I descend like Thora Hird in a Stannah Stair Lift).

At the rate @skinny is going at, he'll be in Istanbul by Friday!

Two dead sidewalls

Coyle has never been above 4 km/h since the begining of the descent.

From the Refugio Casa Assieta(top) to the bottom,
Skinny gained 10 minutes on Josh.

From the TCR fb page:
The first three have made it through ‪‎control2‬ at Sestriere. James Hayden still has a sizeable lead but both Josh and Ultan both checked into ‪control1‬ with a better balance at the bank of sleep.

Its still all to play for.

(6 hrs ago, admittedly)

Steady queue up Ventoux now.

That's a killer.

Ultan, should have gone Continental. Hope he can sort something in Susa!