The Lanzarote 4 stage XC race 30.1.2025
Peter Flick
Stage 1
Stage One at the Lanzarote 4 Stage XC Race brought a slightly different format for this year with the event kicking off with the hilly time trial.
20.5km climbing 800m to the view point at Ermita de las Nieves, starting at Famara beach.
The early part of the route was gravel road before switching to trails and some quite demanding uphill technical sections.
Riders were set off in intervals of 30 seconds. A notable rider in the elites being Luis Leon Sanchez, 5 x stage winner at the TDF, at the age of 41 he’s eligible for the M40 category but I guess he saw I was in it and fancied his chances elsewhere….
Chris Golightly was off at 10:58 with me a little earlier at 10:14.
Chris finished in a time of 1hr29m in 38th place in his category with a storming effort.
I completed the course in 1hr8m, finishing 7th M40. I thought I’d maybe gone out a bit quick after catching my 30s man in the first 500 metres however it still worked out alright!
The weather is quite a contrast from last years high of 27c with very strong winds in excess of 40mph and temperatures around 17c. The downhill sections proving quite tricky to keep the bike semi upright!
Tomorrow we move onto stage two and back to a mass start, the profile is 57km and about 900m of elevation.
It was great to catch up with ex Jaggie Luis Coutinho who is also racing in the M40 category.
Stage 2
Stage Two complete at the Lanzarote 4 stage XC race.
58km and 1020m of climbing, slightly over the advertised elevation.
The route was a mixture of gravel roads, technical sections and some very precarious exposed sections on ridges, ideal in 40mph winds. The tailwind was awesome but the headwind required savvy racing and to avoid getting isolated. Plenty sand drifts created hazards which stopped a few riders dead in their tracks!
I got gridded 2nd row (slight imposter syndrome) but managed to finish in 7th again maintaining my top ten placing for the M40 age group.
Chris Golightly improved on his time from last year finishing in 3hr03m and 33rd position. Sitting in 35th place for the combined stages.
Both our bikes are holding up well with no issues so far, unlike many other competitors with snapped valves, punctures and bashed mech hangers! Mind those pinging lava rocks 🪨.
Top tip also is to keep those teeth well protected and try avoid smiling 😆
Tomorrow is the queen stage at 87km and around 1700m climbing to contend with.
The legs will not be looking forward to it and the pace will need to be managed carefully in order to survive.
For those interested in the speeds, I averaged 23kmh for the stage.
Stage 3
The penultimate stage today was the longest and hardest of the event.
Clocking in at 87km and over 1700m of climbing.
It was advertised as 83km but you can never trust them on that front!
Imposter syndrome reared its head once again lining up just behind the M40 category leader and former Olympian (it was the last I saw of him!)
A very hard day with the wind and shifting sands to negotiate as well as a 8km K/QOM segment worth €300 for both male and female riders with the fastest times.
We had the added bonus of the weekend entrants (2 stage riders) joining us with very fresh legs.
Chris Golightly completed the course in a time of 5hr27m in 43rd position in the M50 category, a fantastic performance. Currently 34th overall after 3 stages.
I managed to finish 9th in the M40s today in a time of 4hr14m, also 9th in the KOM rankings (nae cash), moving up to 6th in category.
Former Jaggie Luis Coutinho riding for RCR also putting in a shift finishing in 19th place in the M40 category and moving to 14th overall.
Up tomorrow is the shortest stage at just under 50km and 800m elevation. However there will be some very tired legs to contend with!
Stage 4
The final stage and posting from Lanzarote.
The shortest but not necessarily easiest day, 52km and approx 700m climbing today.
Chris Golightly was looking to secure his top 30 position in GC, my goal was to nail 6th spot and fend off the 7th placed rider only 3 seconds behind.
Chris got in a good group that worked well though he was keen to hit the front on all the single track sections, to quote “the lads were as fit as f but backed off on the techie bits”
Looking at Chris at the finish line each day I can safely say he left it all out there. He was always moving forward and didn’t put a foot wrong.
His aim was to crack 2 and a half hours today and wasn’t far off, finishing in 2hrs32m and securing 35th on GC in the M50 category.
My race consisted of desperately hanging onto the wheel of the Spanish rider in 7th as he went about breaking me…. which he did!
At that point I thought my race was done so decided to compose myself, wait for the group behind and go again. Working with David a teammate of Luis at RCR we set about reeling in the riders ahead, slowly catching and dropping them.
With about 10km to go the appeared in the distance, alone and looking like his earlier exploits had taken their toll! We caught him with 5km remaining and I decided rather than risk sitting on to just go all in…. he duly cracked and that was that!
6th place on GC and a 6th place finish on the day in 2hrs08m average speed was 24.4kmh.
And that’s a wrap, a cracking event with riders of all abilities competing in 4 varied stages across spectacular volcanic terrain. Oh… and a paella and free massage at the end of the last stage!
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