Recently, the official route for the Eighth edition of the Transcontinental Race was officially presented. You are a beauty and the same time, a beast. In advance of the presentation, I spend some pondering on the best possible route for my personal ambitions, hoping the organizers would read my mind. Thankfully, the route features a lot of climbing, amazing landscapes, and crosses south of Tyrol and through parts of Switzerland. Much of this course is just like riding on home roads. There will be breathtaking mountain roads like Col du Petit-Saint-Bernard or the gravel sections near Livigno.
The route begins in Brest, France, and heads to the legendary Roubaix cobbled roads before turning south to Col du Petit-Saint-Bernard and Bocchetta di Forcola and Pedenolo. The last checkpoint is in Italy (Gli Appennini) and the finish line will be in Thessaloniki, Greece. I am already thinking of the gyros I will enjoy post-race.
It is difficult to wrap my head around how difficult this race will be. Stating the obvious, it will be challenging and demanding and I’ve got a goal of sorts tucked away in mind. But a race that covers approximately 4,000km and with 40,000 meters of altitude will offer a lot of unknowns. I cannot wait to start the race on the 27th of July, 2021 in Brest, France.
If you caught my last post update, I am recovering from a broken foot, which is still garnering much of my attention. However, I am focusing on remaining calm, and allowing the healing process to take its course without hurry. Due to the injury, my usual pattern of activities over the Christmas break was altered, but it was very positive; making cinnamon for my mom and much-loved girlfriend, Christina.
We are now into 2021, do you have any goals for this year, barring Coronavirus altering plans?
In addition to the 2021 Transcontinental Race, I got the chance to enter the Badlands Bikepacking race in Spain – “Unsupported Ultracycling Gravel on the Edge of Europe”. This race is happening on the 5th of September, 2021 with a lot of gravel and climbing. Something else to look forward to! Perhaps some of the readers of this post will be there as well?
If everything goes to plan with my recovery, I will be back on my indoor turbo trainer by the time you read this article. With that said, I cannot wait to ride outside again. I don’t enjoy training so much in cold conditions, but during injury recovery, I really miss it a lot.
In my next article, I hope to be writing about being on my bike again, and my equipment for 2021. There will be some interesting changes, stay tuned!
Have a nice day and stay safe.
Sebastian – Please visit my Instagram profile (@Seb_Breuer).