1st Stage of the Neom Saudi Arabia
3rd day since we arrived in Saudi Arabia. Today, Tuesday 6th of December, the real adventure begins, 106km ahead.
We get up at 6am, get dressed and have breakfast. Once finished and before leaving, we have to load water canisters, prepare everything we need for the stage, go through signature control, take the suitcase to the truck, since we are changing camps, and go to the line of departure, where the starting shot will be heard at 8am
We position ourselves very close to the starting line. The first km will be a neutralized exit.
3, 2,1 Go! We all leave together, calm, until the neutralizing car comes out. Once it’s out, full throttle! Itó is leaving me a bit behind and I have to slow him down, since I can’t go faster; we have the wind in our face A few escape us, but around km 15 we are already in a group, at a good pace and me taking refuge from the wind between the wheels. It was difficult to advance, the track was good with hard ground, and a landscape with the sea on one side and small mountains on the other. Too bad we couldn’t enjoy the scenery, because of the strong wind.
We were in a strong group, me and 2 elite girls, with quite a few guys. Itó has led the group for a long time and I had to grit my teeth to be able to follow him. When we went out it was hard for me to keep that high pace, but I felt better afterwards. At kilometer 26 there was a water point, but almost no one in the group stopped. We couldn’t afford getting away from the group. Today if you had to go alone it would take a toll on you, even if you were in a group, we had significant physical wear and tear (we used up all the supplements we were carrying, agreeing with many runners who had the same thing happen to them).
Today the route was on tracks with a very curly terrain, which made it even harder, but during most of the stage we rode along the side of the Red Sea, which from the little we could see had spectacular clear colors.
At kilometer 64 we found the second hydration point. We did stop here, but just enough time to fill up our drums, drink and leave, as the group was already leaving and we couldn’t afford to be left behind. It was really being a very tough stage that we initially thought it should have been easy, because of the strong wind that has been blowing all the time from our face and side, having to exert a lot of strength in our arms so as not to be thrown to the ground, on more than one occasion the bike half on its side and having to shelter with boys because it was very difficult to pedal.
At kilometer 75, through a sandy area, the group broke loose and we had to do about 10km alone, but with the help of my partner, and I, giving my utmost, we were able to get back together.
We had been told that there was about 200 meters of elevation gain, but in the end it was 800, and although it is not much with so many kilometers, I assure you that today all the climbs were very hard, thinking about some moments of the race… if every day has to be like this… I’m not running tomorrow 🤪
The last 30km have been spectacular, by the sea, with the mountains in the background, although with that wind we only thought we would finish, and in moments of descent, I thought: look at this incredible landscape.
There were 15km left until the last control, which luckily would be the only ones we would go with the wind in our favor. Here I couldn’t give any more and we broke away from the group and loosened up a bit. Kilometers before we had been told that we were going first and that I was the third girl 🙀.
These last kilometers, despite having already cycled during 90, have been the best, crossing the finish line with just 6 hours and being the first classified in mixed duo.
