Don't be late, the race starts at the side of the Clock Tower in the center of Bitola, so the departure time will be punctual. Legends says that the Ottoman authorities collected around 60,000 eggs from nearby villages and mixed them in the mortar to make the walls of the tower stronger.
The organizers decided to make this a climbers' race, sending the riders into the mountains near the Greek border. The first competi...
Read moreDon't be late, the race starts at the side of the Clock Tower in the center of Bitola, so the departure time will be punctual. Legends says that the Ottoman authorities collected around 60,000 eggs from nearby villages and mixed them in the mortar to make the walls of the tower stronger.
The organizers decided to make this a climbers' race, sending the riders into the mountains near the Greek border. The first competitors to drop are likely to come on the second climb, especially those on a bad day, but not everyone will automatically be out of the race, the good descenders have to fight their way to the top because there's a high chance they can come back on the descent bearing in mind that the second part of the race is more favorable to them.
Two climbs to go and they will change direction to Kavadartsi where the wind will start to influence the race, making it difficult to attack on the climbs. Anyone who tries their luck will probably be caught on the descent or even before. Since attacking is not a realistic option, certainly some teams will try to impose a strong pace on the climb demanding the maximum from the best descenders to stay in the group. Will the climb be hard enough to eliminate them from the race? Probably not, especially because some may try to anticipate by attacking, that is, some descenders will attack before the climbs to have some time to manage.
These conditions could mean that an attack on the final descent could be the last opportunity to avoid a sprint among climbers, a long descent will leave riders with just 15km to go.
Will it be a small group sprint or a single man on the line? What we do know is that the descents are the best place to make a difference in the race, but does anyone risk a high-speed attack? Will riders with these abilities be in the front group at the decisive moment or are they still suffering from the climbs?
People will wait patiently in the town of Kavadartsi, certainly sipping some wine, as the town is home to the largest winery in southeastern Europe.
