point of the road , the riders found an ageing concrete monument embellished with a red star , a relic dating back to Albania ’ s communist past .
But to reach the Adriatic coast there was still no direct road , so again the riders took to the mountain trails . These were stunning as always , and punishing , the rocks pounding the bikes , while sections of loose ‘ rolling ’ stones made several descents a test of technique , and nerve . By now many of the riders had run several cycles of blistered hands and fingers , painful and distracting , all adding to the growing fatigue .
The day ended with a beach resort , south of Himare , where the riders pitched their tents on the beach , time for a swim … of course linked to another ‘ special ’.
In the competition , in the male team category , Team South Africa not only closed the gap to the leaders , but joined them , tied on points with Team UK . With Teams Germany , USA , and China 2020 still within striking distance setting up for a real showdown over last days . In the female category , Team Mexico prevailed , Team Germany having their worst day ’ s results , but they still held the overall lead going into the final stages .
The penultimate day saw a long ride back to Kavaje , 250km in total with only 100km on the road , and in sweltering 35-degree heat and high humidity . It was certainly a case of riding the hard yards .
After a night on the beach at Himare , the riders were straight back onto the mountain trails , riding the now familiar rocky mountain tracks , skittering around on the loose stone , avoiding the washouts , searching for the safe line up and down the slopes .
Half an hour into the ride they came to a small plateau where the first ‘ special ’ awaited . Essentially blindfolded a rider had to negotiate a course through instructions relayed by a teammate through the helmets intercom . The instructing teammates meanwhile had to keep riding , not putting their feet down , as they instructed . Teamwork , tricky situations , and crazy moments .
The riders then took to a mix of roads and trails to the lunch stop , and the setting for the second ‘ special ’ test . High up in the hills , Amantia ’ s Stadium dates back to the third century BC . Created from carved rock slabs , this is a stadium where the ancient Greeks , and later Romans , enjoyed various forms of athletics . For the GS Trophy this was appropriately enough the setting for a form of tug of war , where teams had to run the length of the stadium then pull , with a rope , an INEOS Grenadier back to the start line ! Weighing 3.5 tonnes this was tough
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