Day five, regardless of what old timers at the Trans -Provence may think, turned out to be the favourite by some degree with riders so far.
The combination of technical trails and the majority of climbing on roads gave the riders a little relief from the standard bike a hike and fire road climbs to the top.
First trail of the day Special stage fifteen definitely drops a long way but also has some hard pedalling sections combined with technical moves . To quote Chris Porter from Mojo “You need the trials skills of Danny Macaskill and the lungs of Indurain”. We couldn’t decide if that was a compliment or not!
A long road climb with opportunities for coffee and cake at the top (which most seemed to take ) led the riders in to Special Stage Sixteen a woodland epic that finally saw them fire through arable fields before reaching the feed station.
Another long road col gradually winded the riders to special stage three – a fast dusty trail that cuts along the edge of ravine and out and along a old road that leads to them through tiny villages and finally into a deep ravine which demands the only carry of the day!
Finally the Village of Roure is reached and another of the classic Trans-Provence trails. zig zagging across open hill side with a enormous sense of exposure on either your left or right depending on which way the trail was taking you held together with perfect switch back corners – faster and less technical than some of the other stages – it definitely has a bit more flow and speed to it.
A final uplift of the day saw competitors reach there camp for the night and much needed rest for day six , the only day that compares to day two in terms of duration.
Day 5
Start: Guillaumes (793m)
Trailhead: Bouchanières (1418m)
Finish: St-Sauveur-sur-Tinée (500m)
riding distance: 39.22 km
on-bike height gain: 977m
on-bike height drop: 1954m
no. of timed “special stages”: 4
highlight: long, winding, physical descent from Roure
Day Five results Overall
Place Dos Surname First Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Total Time
1 12 CLEMENTZ Jerome 00:28: 00:30: 00:27: 00:38: 00:24: 02:28:
2 35 VOUILLOZ Nicolas 00:28: 00:30: 00:27: 00:39: 00:23: 02:29:
3 6 BAREL Fabien 00:30: 00:30: 00:28: 00:38: 00:24: 02:32:
4 25 WEIR Mark 00:28: 00:30: 00:26: 00:39: 00:30: 02:35:
5 36 RYAN Matt 00:29: 00:32: 00:27: 00:41: 00:26: 02:36:
6 27 BEAUMONT Marc 00:30: 00:33: 00:32: 00:41: 00:25: 02:43:
7 30 SORRELL Rowan 00:32: 00:31: 00:30: 00:43: 00:27: 02:45:
8 20 RICHARDS James 00:33: 00:34: 00:30: 00:44: 00:28: 02:52:
9 32 JONES Steve 00:31: 00:34: 00:32: 00:46: 00:29: 02:54:
10 33 KIRKMAN Mick 00:34: 00:34: 00:32: 00:47: 00:27: 02:56:
11 24 MARTIN Sven 00:37: 00:33: 00:33: 00:45: 00:27: 02:57:
12 1 KIENAST Pascal 00:37: 00:35: 00:31: 00:45: 00:29: 02:59:
13 56 MATHEWS Iain 00:35: 00:39: 00:31: 00:44: 00:29: 03:00:
14 38 GRAVERSE Tim 00:34: 00:37: 00:32: 00:48: 00:29: 03:02:
15 18 MCLEAN Neil 00:35: 00:38: 00:33: 00:47: 00:30: 03:05:
16 42 BROOKES Rob 00:35: 00:35: 00:32: 00:51: 00:29: 03:05:
17 19 MOSELEY Tracy 00:38: 00:36: 00:34: 00:49: 00:29: 03:07:
18 41 HARPER Kevin 00:37: 00:36: 00:34: 00:45: 00:33: 03:07:
19 34 HESTLER Andreas 00:31: 00:43: 00:30: 00:43: 00:42: 03:10:
20 23 MARTIN Anka 00:39: 00:41: 00:35: 00:51: 00:32: 03:21:
21 31 PORTER Chris 00:36: 00:36: 00:36: 00:50: 00:42: 03:21:
22 10 ZIMMERMANN Joris 00:39: 00:42: 00:34: 00:56: 00:33: 03:26:
23 54 ALDER Matt 00:40: 00:41: 00:35: 00:55: 00:33: 03:26:
24 3 HOHERMUT Ingrid 00:39: 00:44: 00:37: 00:56: 00:33: 03:31:
25 57 GROGNUX Johann 00:42: 00:44: 00:38: 00:54: 00:33: 03:33:
26 2 SEVERINO Alessandro 00:39: 00:42: 00:42: 00:56: 00:33: 03:34:
27 16 THOMAS Alun 00:46: 00:41: 00:37: 00:58: 00:33: 03:37:
28 17 SHINGLER Guy 00:41: 00:43: 00:35: 01:03: 00:35: 03:38:
29 52 VELISS Lee 00:41: 00:40: 00:39: 00:54: 00:46: 03:43:
30 4 HYDE Jasper 00:40: 00:44: 00:36: 01:06: 00:37: 03:44:
31 14 WARRICK Ben 00:45: 01:07: 00:31: 00:48: 00:38: 03:52:
32 11 DE RUYVER Arno 01:02: 00:37: 00:37: 01:05: 00:31: 03:55:
33 58 FULFORD Giles 00:47: 00:55: 00:39: 01:02: 00:37: 04:02:
34 37 BOELEMA Kara 00:46: 00:49: 00:45: 01:02: 00:39: 04:03:
35 55 BƒCK Daniel 00:46: 00:52: 00:39: 01:06: 00:44: 04:09:
36 8 COULING John 00:45: 00:48: 00:42: 01:04: 00:51: 04:12:
37 50 ALLEN Dan 00:47: 00:50: 00:50: 01:11: 00:38: 04:17:
38 9 THOMAS Jason 00:49: 00:52: 01:01: 01:04: 00:38: 04:26:
39 28 MAURISSEN Mark 00:39: 01:09: 00:45: 01:07: 00:45: 04:26:
40 39 VAN Joost 01:07: 00:54: 00:43: 01:03: 00:39: 04:28:
41 5 HYDE John 00:46: 00:54: 01:12: 01:08: 00:40: 04:40:
42 7 THOMSON Fiona 00:57: 00:57: 00:50: 01:13: 00:45: 04:44:
43 43 VAN DURME Dietbrand 01:01: 00:59: 00:46: 01:12: 00:47: 04:46:
44 46 DARKE Andy 01:14: 01:29: 01:08: 00:00: 00:59: 04:52:
45 44 VAN DURME Matthias 01:07: 01:06: 00:47: 01:15: 00:44: 05:02:
46 45 VERKEST Peter 01:01: 01:14: 00:51: 01:18: 00:43: 05:08:
47 40 CRCEK Ales 01:00: 01:23: 00:48: 01:28: 00:43: 05:24:
48 29 ROJO Cesar 00:32: 00:37: 00:38: 03:08: 00:29: 05:26:
49 49 GUARITA Bernardo 00:53: 01:01: 01:18: 01:35: 00:47: 05:36:
50 47 PATTERSO Robert 01:04: 01:17: 00:58: 01:38: 01:00: 05:59:
51 48 PISSUERGA Clarkson 01:13: 01:22: 00:55: 01:42: 01:02: 06:15:
Be back with you shortly with day six and guest editor Steve Jones!
