Transalp St.4 : St.Vigil-Falcade

Distance: 107.0 km
Vertical Metres: 2,561 m
Passes: Grodnerjoch (Passo Gardena) (2,116m), Passo Sella (2,234m), Passo Fedaia (2,054m)

This amazing stage goes through the centre of Dolomites with breathtaking mountain views and three of the most beautiful & challenging passes: Passo Gardena (Grödnerjoch) (9.5k at 6.3%), Passo Sella (Sellajoch) (5k at 6.8%) and Passo Fedaia (11.5k at 5.3%). These mountains are best in class in the the Dolomites.

Photoblog...

At the start in St. Vigil.  Our first day on Pen B:

The climb of the Grodnerjoch (Passo Gardena), the imposing Dolomites in the background:

 Descending Passo Gardena towards Passo Sella:

 The super-fast descent of Passo Fedaia - a new max speed for me at 86.3 kph (54 mph):

Chaingang off the lower slopes of Passo Fedaia to the bottom of the valley. 

Stats...

Totals ~ Duration: 4:20 ~ Riding: 4:17 ~ Dist: 107.3km  ~ Elevation Gain: 2561m
Averages ~ Speed: 25.6kph  ~  Power: 207w  ~  Heart Rate: 138 ~ Cadence: 75  ~ Temp: 23.3
Max  ~  Speed: 86.3kph ~ Power: 744w  ~  Heartrate: 156 ~ Cadence: 170 ~ Temp: 30.0C
Metrics ~ TSS: 255 ~ NP: 231w ~ IF: 0.769

Conclusions...
Stage 4 - Pos 227/667 teams (34th percentile).  Overall - Pos 267/695 teams (38th percentile).  Another great day, and we move further up the overall leaderboard.  We are now 267th, well inside Pen B (100-299), having moved up 23 places as a result of coming 227th on stage.


Tomorrow...
The 'Queen' Stage.  129 kilometres with three significant climbs - Passo Valles (2,032), Passo Rolle (1,972m) & Monte Grappa (1674m) - for 3,047 metres of climbing. And the forecast remains hot & sunny...

Stage 5 Route Profile and Preview