It’s an all French top three after day 5 from the tantalising Trans-Provence mountainbike enduro stage race.

Photo: Michiel Rotgans

Trans-Provence Day 5

Start: Guillaumes (793m)

Trailhead: Bouchanières (1418m)

Finish: St-Sauveur-sur-Tinée (500m)

Riding distance: 39.22 km

On-bike height gain: 977m

On-bike height drop: 1954m

No. of timed “special stages”: 4

Highlight: long, winding, physical descent from Roure

Day five regardless of what old timers at the Trans -Provence may think turned out to be the favourite by some degree with riders so far.

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Trans Provence Day 5 from Trans-Provence on Vimeo.

The combination of technical trails and the majority of climbing on roads gave the riders a little relief from the standard bike a hike and fire road climbs to the top.

Photo: Michiel Rotgans

First trail of the day Special stage fifteen definitely drops a long way but also has some hard pedalling sections combined with technical moves . To quote Chris Porter from Mojo ” You need the trials skills of Danny Macaskill and the lungs of Indurain” We couldn’t decide if that was a complement or not!

Photo: Irmo Keizer

A long road climb with opportunities for coffee and cake at the top (which most seemed to take ) led the riders in to Special Stage Sixteen a woodland epic that finally saw them fire through arable fields before reaching the feed station.

Another long road col gradually winded the riders to special stage three – a fast dusty trail that cuts along the edge of ravine and out and along a old road that leads to them through tiny villages and finally into a deep ravine which demands the only carry of the day!

Photo: Irmo Keizer

Finally the Village of Roure is reached and another of the classic Trans- Provence trails. zig zagging across open hill side with a enormous sense of exposure on either your left or right depending on which way the trail was taking you held together with perfect switch back corners – faster and less technical than some of the other stages – it definitely has a bit more flow and speed to it.

Photo: Michiel Rotgans

A final uplift of the day saw competitors reach there camp for the night and much needed rest for day six , the only day that compares to day two in terms of duration.

Day Five results Overall

Place Dos Surname First Day 1 Day Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Total Time

1 12 CLEMENTZ JÈrÙme 00:28: 00:30: 00:27: 00:38: 00:24: 02:28:
2 35 VOUILLOZ Nicolas 00:28: 00:30: 00:27: 00:39: 00:23: 02:29:

3 6 BAREL Fabien 00:30: 00:30 00:28: 00:38: 00:24: 02:32:
4 25 WEIR Mark 00:28: 00:30: 00:26: 00:39: 00:30: 02:35:
5 36 RYAN Matt 00:29: 00:32 00:27: 00:41: 00:26: 02:36:
6 27 BEAUMONT Marc 00:30: 00:33: 00:32: 00:41: 00:25: 02:43:

7 30 SORRELL Rowan 00:32: 00:31 00:30: 00:43: 00:27: 02:45:
8 20 RICHARDS James 00:33: 00:34: 00:30: 00:44: 00:28: 02:52:
9 32 JONES Steve 00:31: 00:34: 00:32: 00:46: 00:29: 02:54:

10 33 KIRKMAN Mick 00:34: 00:34: 00:32: 00:47: 00:27: 02:56:
11 24 MARTIN Sven 00:37: 00:33: 00:33: 00:45: 00:27: 02:57:
12 1 KIENAST Pascal 00:37: 00:35: 00:31: 00:45: 00:29: 02:59:
13 56 MATHEWS Iain 00:35: 00:39: 00:31: 00:44: 00:29: 03:00:

14 38 GRAVERSE Tim 00:34: 00:37: 00:32: 00:48: 00:29: 03:02:
15 18 MCLEAN Neil 00:35: 00:38 00:33: 00:47: 00:30: 03:05:
16 42 BROOKES Rob 00:35: 00:35 00:32: 00:51: 00:29: 03:05:
17 19 MOSELEY Tracy 00:38: 00:36: 00:34: 00:49: 00:29: 03:07:

18 41 HARPER Kevin 00:37: 00:36: 00:34: 00:45: 00:33: 03:07:
19 34 HESTLER Andreas 00:31: 00:43: 00:30: 00:43: 00:42: 03:10:
20 23 MARTIN Anka 00:39: 00:41 00:35: 00:51: 00:32: 03:21:
21 31 PORTER Chris 00:36: 00:36: 00:36: 00:50: 00:42: 03:21:

22 10 ZIMMERMANN Joris 00:39: 00:42: 00:34: 00:56: 00:33: 03:26:
23 54 ALDER Matt 00:40: 00:41: 00:35: 00:55: 00:33: 03:26:
24 3 HOHERMUT Ingrid 00:39: 00:44: 00:37: 00:56: 00:33: 03:31:
25 57 GROGNUX Johann 00:42: 00:44: 00:38: 00:54: 00:33: 03:33:

26 2 SEVERINO Alessandro 00:39: 00:42: 00:42: 00:56: 00:33: 03:34:
27 16 THOMAS Alun 00:46: 00:41: 00:37: 00:58: 00:33: 03:37:
28 17 SHINGLER Guy 00:41: 00:43 00:35: 01:03: 00:35: 03:38:
29 52 VELISS Lee 00:41: 00:40: 00:39: 00:54: 00:46: 03:43:

30 4 HYDE Jasper 00:40: 00:44 00:36: 01:06: 00:37: 03:44:
31 14 WARRICK Ben 00:45: 01:07: 00:31: 00:48: 00:38: 03:52:
32 11 DE RUYVER Arno 01:02: 00:37 00:37: 01:05: 00:31: 03:55:
33 58 FULFORD Giles 00:47: 00:55: 00:39: 01:02: 00:37: 04:02:

34 37 BOELEMA Kara 00:46: 00:49 00:45: 01:02: 00:39: 04:03:
35 55 BƒCK Daniel 00:46: 00:52: 00:39: 01:06: 00:44: 04:09:
36 8 COULING John 00:45: 00:48: 00:42: 01:04: 00:51: 04:12:
37 50 ALLEN Dan 00:47: 00:50: 00:50: 01:11: 00:38: 04:17:

38 9 THOMAS Jason 00:49: 00:52: 01:01: 01:04: 00:38: 04:26:
39 28 MAURISSEN Mark 00:39: 01:09: 00:45: 01:07: 00:45: 04:26:
40 39 VAN Joost 01:07: 00:54: 00:43: 01:03: 00:39: 04:28:
41 5 HYDE John 00:46: 00:54: 01:12: 01:08: 00:40: 04:40:

42 7 THOMSON Fiona 00:57: 00:57: 00:50: 01:13: 00:45: 04:44:
43 43 VAN DURME Dietbrand 01:01: 00:59: 00:46: 01:12: 00:47: 04:46:
44 46 DARKE Andy 01:14: 01:29: 01:08: 00:00: 00:59: 04:52:
45 44 VAN DURME Matthias 01:07: 01:06: 00:47: 01:15: 00:44: 05:02:

46 45 VERKEST Peter 01:01: 01:14 00:51: 01:18: 00:43: 05:08:
47 40 CRCEK Ales 01:00: 01:23: 00:48: 01:28: 00:43: 05:24:
48 29 ROJO Cesar 00:32: 00:37: 00:38: 03:08: 00:29: 05:26:
49 49 GUARITA Bernardo 00:53: 01:01: 01:18: 01:35: 00:47: 05:36:

50 47 PATTERSO Robert 01:04: 01:17 00:58: 01:38: 01:00: 05:59:
51 48 PISSUERGA Clarkson 01:13: 01:22: 00:55: 01:42: 01:02: 06:15: