After climbing Mont Caro, we can say that we have done 3 ports in 1
There are about seven kilometers to the top of Mont Caro, we haven’t even reached Portell, where Roglic gave an account of Evenepoel, and I no longer have crowns, Mont Caro gains height, offers better views, but the options were out.
They are, as the sign at the top says, almost 14 kilometers above 8%, a port in the middle of the microclimate of Terres de l´Ebre with large upload data and a major challenge.
For any of us it is almost two hours of variety and landscape that changes radically,
We left the center of Tortosa at 25 degrees, an imposing sun and increasing heat, and we ended at 10 degrees, with the threat of rain, clouds below and an infinite landscape at our feet.
All in 60 kilometers of route.
Multiple ports in the same upload
«The Mont Caro is up this street» they tell us at the SB Hotel Corona in Tortosa.
It is that, the same street that comes out of the roundabout that offers us several ports in one, cycling and climbing versions in a stretch of just over twenty kilometres.
The beginning does not announce what is coming, but it warms up the legs, long straight lines from Roquetes with a clear landscape and the wall, there in the background.
First slopes, not very demanding, but constant at a deceptive pace, because you feel good, fast and whole.
There is almost no rest, the road does not stop climbing, looking for the real beginning of Mont Caro, where you really play the quarters.
But the approach leaves its mark on the legsthe heat, the clearness of the landscape, the constant slope… all are ingredients that put the body in context.
The road goes uphill as soon as you leave Tortosa. When you cross the Parc Natural dels Ports sign, Mont Caro begins to peek through the clouds, up there @terresebretur pic.twitter.com/ivosRZsMM5
— JoanSeguidor (@JoanSeguidor) June 13, 2023
It all starts with a left turnnine kilometers after leaving Roquetas, the approach ends and the road looks at the sky.
There are more than thirteen kilometers to the top and a 10% ramp welcomes us to the Mont Caro festival.
We start the first part of the ascent, the road already climbs the mountain, not the buttresses that lead to it and you experience the changes in direction of the route and the wind, when you face north, the cool weather makes the weather more placid moment.
This first section is about four constant kilometers, the GPS marks you 9.10, 11, 12%, the breather does not come, it spends the fourth kilometer, in which the climb drops percentage for half a kilometer before facing the core of the ascension.
They are the next six kilometers, a little less hard than the previous four, but very little.
The landscape is below, you see everything you’ve doneYou can even guess the width of the Ebro looking for the Mediterranean.
The Portell area, where the Volta put the finish line this year, is a succession of curves that adds 100% cycling scenery to our challenge.
The GPS reaches 14% at some point, hydration is important, the heat is still intense and the altitude reaches 1000 meters.
After Portell, the final surprise
The landscape has changed, we are no longer talking about low and Mediterranean vegetation, now we travel through a dense forest that leads us to a more intimate part of the mountain, as if it were engulfing us little by little.
It’s a long kilometer before the final turn towards the antennas.
This already looks like Euskadi, green forest and narrow asphalt road punished by the remoteness of the place.
Intense green, the forest seems to open up to the rhythm of our stepswhich is already heavy here, since we have been climbing for a long hour before the final surprise, where Lucho Herrera, Perico and Indurain climbed more than thirty years ago.
This final slope is three and a half kilometers long, it is the third section of the ascent and it spares no effort, sometimes reaching up to 15%.
The arrival to the antennas is a much-awaited final prize after a challenge of almost two hours during which a thousand thoughts go through your head.
Mont Caro is the highest point in Tarragona and from it the views you can imagine do not leave you indifferent, we have gained 1400 meters, since we almost came out at sea level and we have swallowed a Tour port at the natural entrance to Parque dels Ports, an orchard of nature with the Mediterranean to touch.
2023-08-02 22:06:22
#cycling #played #Glasgow #World #Cup
