Stage 4 : Lom - Øvre Årdal

21. July 2009
Distance: 97 km (0-81 km)
Total ascent:

Todays stage sports some of the nicest climbing and views you can have from a bike saddle. Bøverdalen, Flåklypa, Galdesanden. Fannaråken, Fantesteinen og Turtagrø... From start to finish - all is ready for a great day of cycling.

The direction heading out from Lom is like last years; westwards -into and up the Bøverdalen valley. Just fifteen kilometres of easy riding lies between start and the sprint line. Hard fight for the points should be guaranteed. The sprint line is right newxt to the icy green glacier river Bøvra and gives excellent possibilities for nice photos. Actually the whole stage would be the perfect time to junp from racing to touring class if your overall result annoyed you...:-)

The valley gets narrower with every turn, proud old timber archtitecture almost hanging over the road. According to the local tourist office, the hillsides are so steep they farm the land on both sides here. K.O.M. is placed at 32 kilometer from the start and right at the first top to break the 1000m asl limit. Obviously the next summit at Sognefjell itself would have made for a more traditional climbing line, but we prefer to use this rare chance of tempting Newton-deniers with a self-destructive break away possibility.

After the short drop from the K.O.M. line we urge ou to pay attention - the lakeside road is very narrow and has several turns as blind as the average camper-van tourist..

Mt. Sognefjell is an ancient travel route between eastern and western Norway. It is also Northern Europes highets road pass. South of Trondheim, Norway is divided by watershedding mountains, running from southwest (Kristiansand) to north easte (Roughly Trondheim). The lack of threes and limited vegetation in these mountains probably explains well enough how big this dividing range has been through the centuries. Even nowadays one can experience winter days with a total road shut-down between east and west. More on Mt. Sognefjell is found here.

After passing th ehighest point at 1434 asl (Fantesteinen) Ingrid & co will have something warm for you at the nearby feeding station. We will be using the hospitality of Sognefjellshytta, a miniature summer ski "resort" where national teams from most of the world come to practice during high summer. There is a fair chance of meeting some well-known athlete running up the hill. Don`t ask for autographs - they should be asking yours!

Last summer we were haunted by all kinds of fauna and again we warn of sheep- reindeer- cow and sweede-danger. Crossing the plateau itself is no problem, just enjoy the speed, view and admiring looks from tourists. But we warn you of the 500 meter descent to Turtagrø!

This is the first time in three years we let the clock run on a down-hill stretch and you will find crew members wathing your behaviour well- We use the same rule as for the feeding stations: A group entering a station together also leaves together. You are not allowed to try to break away in this descent ! Not even if you wait for the others at Turtagrø. A signle lone rider that we find is descending unescessary slowly will not be counted as left behing by the group he/she started descending with. We will be using our best judgement and trust you to behave as VTers have been so good at all these years.: Safety and responsibility first - the wild riding speeds are kept strictly to the climbs and flats. We also remind you that VT is a cyclosportive on public roads. We are all responsible for our actions as we were on a private cyling holiday.

Further, participants arriving at the descent together will have fairly similar bike skills and with only some 400 effective meters of ascent, there would not have been many seconds to gain. Save that kind of action for the neutralized downhill from the timing line to Øvre Årdal. That one is is a great mix of weird hairpins, most suited to hangliding.

By turning left at Turtagrø crossroads we avoid the nasty descent towards Lustrafjord and instead we stay above the tree limit with the safety and tactical dispositions an open view offers. The hairpins are thrown out on both sides of Turtagrø hotell - perfect for a touring class cup of coffee at the porch. Whatch the others suffer :-)

Ciimbing the first of the Twin Peaks you find the gradient steadier than most VT-challenges: Seeing several turns ahead also makes it possible to adjust the speed and save some gunpowder. - Unless you have competition, that is. With the second peak being a short brutal kick in the face, there will surely be several riders trying to build up a little lead on this first one.

The timing line is rigged just as the worst climbing ends; you will see it well from the first peak and know excactly when you can start the sprint. -And someone else surely kicks it off earlier.. If weather does not make you wear it all the way from Lom, you can as on all stages leave a winbreaker etc. in the timing crew van. As mentioned, the descent to Øvre Årdal is both tough and long, so you will need to ear something more than a cycling shirt.

Like last time we visited Øvre, there is every chance we will get an agreement to use both pool and saunas...