The Transcordilleras is arguably the toughest gravel stage race in the world. 900km long with 21,000m of climbing across Colombia. Everything from mountain passes up to 4000m to extremely hot and humid regions is thrown at the riders. It is a proper adventure in one of the most diverse countries on our planet. Elite gravel rider Janosch Wintermantel heads to Colombia in search of challenge and adventure.

I had been to Colombia twice before to explore the country by bicycle, so when I heard about this 8-stage gravel race crossing the three mountain ranges of the Cordilleras, I was instantly hooked. It was the adventure I was looking for and a great excuse to leave the European winter behind and travel back to Colombia. 

Colombians live and breathe cycling like no other nation in the world. Bogota is easily the city with the most bike shops worldwide. Patios and Palmas are the two most ridden climbs in the world according to Strava and are located in Colombia. You will find thousands of riders climbing up there every day on their commute to work. 

Even more impressive is the Ciclovia on Sundays. In all of the big Colombian cities, some of the main roads are closed for cars and cyclists take over the city. You find everything there, from professional riders on top notch bikes, to families riding with their kids, to people on old rusty cruisers. It is incredibly diverse, regardless of one’s socio-economic or cycling background, everyone seems to come out for it to enjoy cycling together. Colombians also love to follow racing. The passion they show for the sport when cheering for their stars such as Egan Bernal, Nairo Quintana, Rigoberto Uran or the ever-smiling Esteban Chaves is incomparable to any other nation.

This year’s edition of Transcordilleras started in Cali, the world capital of Salsa dancing and went over the three “arms” of the Cordilleras to the outskirts of Bogota. The race takes place in open traffic with huge potholes, dogs chasing you and cows standing in your way all on your daily menu. On top of this, Colombian gravel is not comparable to the smooth surface most of us are used to in Europe or the US. Participants have to carry all the stuff which they need during and after the stage and they need to clean/maintain their own bikes after each stage and find food for the next day. Riders could choose between the 8-stage or a non-stop format. I decided to go for the 8-stage format, simply as I love to sleep and eat well ;-)

I was excited to get started, but also a bit scared. Laurens ten Dam who finished second the previous year told me that the first stage of last year’s edition was the toughest day he’d ever spent on a bicycle. The guy is currently one of the absolute best gravel racers and previously finished top 10 overall at the Tour de France and Vuelta a Espana in the past, so he knew what he was talking about. It was clear, this race was no joke.

I don’t know what I was thinking before stage 1, but the idea to only bring nuts as my on-bike nutrition turned out to be costly on the last 15km of the stage. By that point I was leading the race with Brayan, the brother of Esteban Chaves, when I completely bonked. Losing 10 minutes on the last 15km. The tank was empty and another lesson learned. 

Colombians have an incredible amount of “grinta” which translates as pluck, grit, determination or resolve. They simply love to race like no one else. There was no holding back or saving any kind of energy for the next day during the stage. It felt like they were just thinking of the moment, not what was still coming on the rest of the stage or even the next days. They love to attack whenever they can. 

Stage two was one to forget for me. The hole I got in my tyre from the previous day opened up again, but this time I couldn’t properly seal it. As a result, I had to ride the entire stage on extremely low tyre pressure, stopped countless times to put extra air in and I lost almost an hour to Laurens. I was already out of the GC (general contender) rankings, but at least happily I made it to the finish line. 

Stage 3 finished in Salento, the coffee region in Colombia. Beautiful views of the coffee fields and low hanging clouds in the mountains made for an epic day. The stage got off to a blistering start. Quickly it was just Laurens, two Colombians, Antonio and Oskar, and myself left. We raced hard all day and I still felt good when we came closer to the finish. With 12km to go, I attacked and only found Laurens left on my back wheel. A few times I thought I had cracked him, but he kept coming back and then finally it was him who dropped me for good on a false flat with 2 km to go. Second place it was, but to be able to battle it out for the win felt like a victory in itself. 

Stage 4 started with a 20km climb up to Alto de la Linea, sitting above 3300meters. It was a tough climb with beautiful views on the Cocora Valley and its palm trees. I didn’t have my best day, the altitude and my tired legs made it a tough day in the office. Though the incredible views on the high mountains were a nice reward for all the suffering and the descents were incredibly long and fun. I made myself a name for being a great descender, but also as a shitty climber on the day, ha ha!  

Stage 5 was a hot and mainly flat one. We wrestled the field down to 8 riders before entering the last few kilometres. The last 3 kilometres were then a crazy hunt in open traffic. Mauricio Ardila attacked first. We passed cars left and right, sprinted in front of oncoming buses, cut off a police car to then sprint it out in the last meters. It was me left with three former Rabobank pros. Laurens led out his mate Thomas Dekker and I just came home a few centimeters short. Second place again, but most importantly we all made it home in one piece and had another crazy story to tell. 

Stage 6 was a short and very tough one. It got shortened by the organisers to 60km, but still included 2600m of climbing and we raced it hard from the gun. Quickly we were just 4 riders left and I had to dig extremely deep to stay with the first rider on the second climb. Just over the top of the last climb I attacked them on a false flat and kept the pace high on the descent. It was great to finally win a stage and to finish solo made it even sweeter. 

The queen stage waited for us on stage 7, a monster 139km with 4000m of climbing in the Paramo. The stage started directly with a massive climb up to Sumapaz from 1500m to 3850m. As a comparison the highest paved pass in Europe is the mighty Col d’Iseran at 2764m, more than 1000 meters lower than many of the climbs in Colombia! Heavy rain and cold temperatures greeted us at the startline and we knew it would become a day to remember for every single rider.

I couldn’t keep up with the pace of Laurens and Antonio and I crossed the first of the two 3850m climbs after almost 3 hours of climbing in third position. Luck then was on my side as Laurens punctured and I found myself back at the front of the race with them. When we crossed the second of the two Paramo climbs it was pouring down again with temperatures of less than 5 degrees Celsius at the top. Laurens managed to get a small gap on us on one of the rolling inclines, but I felt like the race was far from over. 

The sun came out and the lower altitude made me rediscover my strength. I felt great and was ready to attack the descent, when I suddenly got a massive hit in a rocky descent on my rear wheel. It was a miracle that I stay upright, but as a result my rear wheel was completely off set and my front and rear derailleurs stopped working entirely, which meant I was left with 1 gear and had 52km and more than 1000m of climbing left. I had no other option but to just keep going. I was lucky that the climbs were somehow doable with my gear of 33/19.

The last 10km were mainly flat and I had a huge fight to keep the pace somehow high with this gear. It felt amazing to have conquered this beast of a stage and I couldn’t believe no one came past me and I finished another day in second place. Some riders finished this stage at 2am, 18 hours after we left the start line and yet still somehow they made it back to the startline for the next stage by 7am. Simply incredible. 

The last dance on stage 8. In a local bike shop I re-aligned my back wheel and got the front derailleur running again, but unfortunately there was no way to get my rear derailleur fixed. The bike shop owner had simply never put his hand on any electronic gears before. It was a short stage, 47km long and 1700m of climbing and almost entirely on gravel. I went hard straight from the gun simply as my gear was too big to go slow. I didn’t even dream about going for the stage win that day, but as it turned out I had incredible legs, clearly the best of the whole week. 

The problem was that the stage had countless steep ramps. Usually I love them, the steeper the better, but not today. Every time the next ramp inclined up in front of me, I thought, “this time I have to walk to make it up to the top”, but I kept surprising myself grinding to the top and kept turning this gear. Finally, with 6km to the top of the climb, Oskar caught me and we crossed the highest point together. I knew I was the better descender of the two of us and my only chance was to try to drop him on the technical sections. 

With 5km to go I went for it and opened up a nice gap. The problem lay in the last 1.5km to the finish. It was straight and just slightly downhill. I was spinning my legs like never before as the finish line came closer and closer, but it was mission impossible to hold him off for the last meters with my gear. With 500m to go he blasted past me. Finishing the stage in second a few seconds down with this misfortune felt like a victory. It was simply an amazing feeling to finish this adventure with a special ride and then to see all the riders coming in one by one with a huge smile on their faces. 

It was incredible to finish Transcordilleras and take home one victory, four second places and 4th overall, but way more important was the whole experience. The adventure to race across a country as diverse and unique as Colombia. The stunning landscape from high peaks to jungles was something truly special and most importantly, all the people I met on the way. To race together like this created a special bond and ultimately made all the suffering worth it, because if not it would just be a crazy tough race! 

Images courtesy of Transcordilleras. For more information about the event, head over to their website