- Alarms just gone off.
It's 4:30.
Let's do it.
(fast-paced techno music)
- So we're finally here on the start line of the Maratona,
10 minutes to go, Dan, I'm feeling a bit nervous,
but also pretty excited as well.
- I'm quite nervous as well,
but I'm really up for this today.
Just behind us you can see the front row,
which is full of very fast riders.
I have no doubt that most of them will overtake us
before we even get to the first climb,
but we're going to take it nice and steady, aren't we,
not get too excited.
- Save a bit 'til the end, the very end.
- Good luck.
- [Announcer] Due, Uno, (foreign term)
- Well that was a fast start.
I was briefly in the first group,
which you can see just up there.
And now I've been dropped.
Matt is still in the back of it,
and he's still very excited.
But I really need to set into my rhythm,
otherwise I'm not going to get through this.
- I've never seen so many hidden motors in one place.
- So, halfway up the Campolongo,
it started off basically like a race.
I'm in reasonable shape,
but nowhere near race shape.
And there's a very high amount at the top end
of pretty decent riders here,
but I averaged like 350 watts for the first 5K.
I know that's totally unsustainable
so I've knocked it off now.
Ride "tranquilo" on the first three climbs,
ride within myself, otherwise I will explode.
I will explode.
Just got to knock it off.
Sit in the wheels.
Here we go, I'm getting the wheels now.
- Top of the first climb of the day, the Campolongo.
We averaged 300 watts from the start to this point.
I think we might need to knock it off a little bit.
- I didn't, Matt did, Matt's just had to wait for me.
I averaged 247 watts up the Campolongo.
Exactly on my planned strategy, thank you very much.
All that's happened so far though, for me,
is I've been overtaken.
I've not overtaken one person.
I lost count at 680.
- These are early days though mate.
We're gonna overtake a few.
- Yeah we'll get some on the descent, let's go.
- Right, we're now about one third of the way up
the Passo Pordoi, which is the most used, (great videos guys)
thanks very much, the most used climb in the Dolomites,
at the dear Italia.
It's been the Cima Coppi a couple of times,
and it's very high up the top.
33 hair pin bends,
and you'll get a lot more information on this climb
on an iconic climb video that will be coming out shortly.
Now as well as picking up our Maratona numbers
from the exposition the other day,
me and Dan also had to undergo some health checks
before we were even allowed to ride.
- Yeah, before you're allowed to pick up your number
for the Maratona, you have to do a health check
which is signed off by a doctor,
to prove that you're healthy enough to take part
in what is quite an arduous event.
So we've come here to the dolomiti sportclinic
to do just that.
- Entrance.
- This way, well those stairs look a bit steep,
I'm going to take the lift.
- Lazy.
- Save me legs.
- Well we're done.
- Yeah, the big question is, Dan,
have you got approval to ride?
- Yep, all ready for Sunday now,
they've given me approval.
I'm healthy enough.
How were your results though?
- I'm in. - Yeah
- I'm riding the Maratona.
- Oh, nice one.
What I was particularly please about, Matt,
was my lung capacity.
- Here we go.
- Ready.
7.64 litres in these babies.
- That's elite isn't it.
That's elite standard isn't it.
- I'm very pleased with that.
Did it beat yours?
- Yeah but you're bigger than me.
- True.
Actually, yeah, I've grown a centimetre,
1 metre 88 now.
- But I'm officially 1 metre 83
which puts me in the 6 foot zone.
- That, wow.
- Yeah.
Oh yeah, cheers,
so here's where you offer me the contents of your bag.
- Let's do more training.
- Now we're at the Copi Memorial atop of the Pordoi.
I averaged 229 watts up there,
and I'm already starting to feel it a bit.
I'm just, I'm just strategizing to what's ahead.
- I think that's a good move.
I averaged 266 so far, but I needed to get to the toilet.
I think I can now back it off
now it's mission accomplished from the toilet perspective.
But no, I mean, we haven't, kind of, raced for a long time.
We've done a lot of miles,
but it just shows, doesn't it, you really have to pace it,
because we've still got a long way to go.
Only two climbs done.
But it's great.
I mean, a wonderful atmosphere, so many people on the climb.
But yeah, this is a real reminder
of what bike riding is about, isn't it.
- Yep, two climbs done, four to go.
Let's do the descent of the Pordoi to the Sella.
- Slight problem.
Inner tube changed, pumped up,
pump stuck on inner tube.
- I might need a roadside hack of some sort.
- That was a bit unexpected, wasn't it?
- Yeah, we've lost quite some time.
The good news is that we're now with people
a bit further back that are much more at our level.
So, onto the Passo Sella.
I've had a quick bite to eat,
a bit to drink.
We're all filled up and we're ready to go.
And the tyre is pumped up.
- Let's go.
- Well, that was rather crowded at the Sella, wasn't it?
What great fun to be amongst that many people in a climb.
- Yeah, it is.
It's 2,244 metres.
Climb number three.
How many have we got left Dan?
- Three.
I think.
- Okay, now we're back in Corvara.
The riders from the short route,
well they're rolling through the line.
They've finished.
But the riders in the medium and the long distance,
well they're heading up the Campolongo a second time.
- Yeah, we will be.
We'll be up there fairly shortly.
This though is a hive of activity,
as you can probably hear and see now.
But not just today, but also the last couple of days.
The excitement's been building as well.
And this is not just an event for adults on the Maratona.
There are also kids races, which we took part in yesterday.
Let's take a look at that.
- All right, this is the part
where you always get nervous before a race,
when you're sourcing out the competition.
I was hopeful of a top ten,
but I have 60 fellow kids that have turned up.
So wish me luck, we'll see how it goes.
(Kids counting down in Italian)
(Italian announcer)
- Well, I'm not that happy.
I thought we were doing two laps.
It got lost in translation.
I left, I left quite a lot of energy to be honest.
It was only one lap.
- Halfway up the Campolongo.
- Right, well we've just come off the descent
of the Campolongo for the second time.
Taking a left in Arabba at the bottom,
and this is the only bit,
where it's just kind of rare to be flat and undulating,
so Matt and I are taking advantage
of some slip streaming to save some energy.
We've got a nice group here.
- Well Dan, we seem to have reached a fork in the road.
- We do, yeah, this way is the long route,
we have the Passo Giau, which averages about 10 percent.
This one misses out the Giau
and goes straight to the Valparola.
- Do you know what, I think I've got an appointment
in Corvara in about an hour.
- Yeah, I think, yeah. - Yeah, yeah.
- Yeah we need to go that way, don't we really.
I mean, I'd like to go the other way.
- Love to do that but, should we?
- Yeah, we've just got no choice really have we.
It's unfortunate. - I've got an appointment.
- That's just the way it goes.
- Well, that's all the climbing done then isn't it?
- It is, yeah.
If you look at the profile it is now all downhill
to the finish in Corvara.
I think we've done pretty well.
I threw up on the last climb, from the gel.
I feel a little bit better now,
but I am thankful it's all downhill to the finish.
- The finish line is virtually on the horizon.
- Yeah, 19 k's to go, just so you know.
- Here we go, the Flamme Rouge, 1 kilometre to go.
Tell you what, I'm glad that's over,
but that was fantastic wasn't it.
- I have to say,
I completely forgot about that Mur dl Giat
at the top of the Valparola.
- I know, I thought it was plain and sailing all the way,
and then I say this wall in front,
and it literally is a wall, isn't it.
- I saw it on the descent and I thought,
yeah, I forgot about that.
You can't really see it in the profile,
but it's definitely there and you definitely feel it
at the end of the medium route as we've done,
and I'm sure even more so if you've done the long route.
- Ah, they've got beer.
Look at that.
- Okay, before we finish the video, Matt,
give us the stats.
- Well, 108 k's was the distance.
Ride times, because we did stop on quite a few occasions,
let's be honest, 4 hours 31 minutes.
Average speed 23.2kmph
Max speed 80 k's and hour.
That, I think that was on the descent of the Falzarego.
Average power for myself, 200 watts,
pretty happy with that.
Max power 675,
and I think that was up the Mur dl Giat,
and that was just to keep the bike going.
- I think my ride time is probably slightly longer,
because you had to wait for me at the top
on every single climb.
Right, well we thoroughly recommend
coming over to the Maratona
if you ever get the opportunity.
Either to watch with the crowd,
or indeed to take part with 10,000 other people.
In the meantime you might want to subscribe to GCN.
We're going to have loads more tips coming up for you
over the next 12 months
to deal with an event just like this.
But there's a couple more videos
coming up for you in a minute
which might be quite relevant.
First of all, subscribe by clicking on the globe,
then, just down here is how to prepare for the Maratona,
and down here are six tips for beginner sportive riders.
- Should we go for a lie down?
- I need to recover for the next few days, I think.