the 5:30 time limit is a load of BS. They actually mean (or certainly it applied last year) that the cutoff time is 5:30 from the last rider group to depart which is 11:40ish for the saturday enduro.
I had an 11:30 start time, headed straight up the first climb into a 30min queue for stage 1. At the bottom of stage 1, the marshal radios were blasting out with info that the sweeper (guy K + daughter on his tandem) was catching, sending people back to the event village due to cutoff times etc.
That meant maximum pressure and a cycle straight past that pub and minimal resting before stages. I chatted to someone on the transition from stage 4 to 5 that had a start time of 7:30. This was at about 4:45pm – He’d had a lovely days riding with max stops, resting before stage attempts and a drink at the pub. The total opposite of my experience, I was fubared by the end of the day!
It’s all about early start times – I got 8:45 this year and am looking forward to more relaxed transitions and enjoying the race a bit more.