Coffee and Chainrings Podcast

Stage 7 | Valle del Chiese/Roncone > Arco

Distance
64,44 km

Altitude meters
2.138 hm

Level
4/5

Relaxation is on Sunday. Anyone dreaming of having made it after stage 6 will be shaken awake on Saturday. This final stage sucks in the grains once again and doesn’t allow any lethargy to set in, even on challenging trails.

This final stage has fewer kilometres and metres in altitude than the previous stages. However, it would be presumptuous and arrogant to label it „easy“. Day 7 is another tough test with all the characteristics of a Transalp stage. It begins with a final steep climb of almost 1000 metres in altitude up to Malga Ringia and on to Malga Pura. Above these mountain pastures, a narrow path begins in the steep meadows, winding its way northwards high above Lago di Roncone. Safe riding technique is just as important here as concentration, as roots and stones here and there demand a clever choice of line if you want to ride smoothly. All in all, this is a cool trail that is never brutally difficult, but always a little bumpy and challenging. Above all, however, it is a beautiful trail because it alternates between clearings and forest sections at the top and always offers uninterrupted views down into the Chiese valley.

And only later, when it disappears completely into the forest, does it become a descent. It is also a cool path because after a juicy five kilometres it finally spits you out on the forest path, on which you finally continue downhill. Back down in the Chiese valley, the comparatively relaxed middle section of this stage begins. From Pradibondo, we now have to quickly return to Zuclo, where we came from the day before, on tarmac forest paths. The Passo Duron, a 400 metre ascent, is also easy to master. It opens up the wide Val Lomasone, the farmland in the backstage area of Lake Garda, with the stage entrance to the last act – the Passo del Ballino in its far north. Forest paths, cart tracks and side roads lead through this valley without gaining many metres in altitude. And from Ballinio, the small hamlet below the pass, racing cyclists now simply roll down to Lake Garda. For all Transalp starters, however, the final act is now about to begin.

After the calm middle section, the tension increases on the way to the finish. A final climb of around 400 metres in altitude demands your muscles once again, especially on the steep, bumpy cart track from Bastiano up to Callino. And on the last few metres up on earthy forest paths to the start of the final trail descent. This is where the Bespana Trail starts in the sparse forest on the sunny side. The nature trail from the „everyone likes it“ category is great fun and only becomes a little more challenging at one step for a few metres. The Nomesino Trail, a rocky cart track typical of the Lago with loose rubble, stones lying around and the extra rattle factor, is much more challenging. On this last, approximately 1.2 kilometre long technical section of the Transalp, good line choice and full concentration are required once again. And once you have built up your concentration, it is advisable to keep it high right up to the finish line in Arco. This is because the tarmac, concrete and gravel roads through the olive groves and suburbs are peppered with crossroads and junctions that force you to ride with foresight. The Transalp 2024 is not really over until you reach Viale delle Magnolie, the magnolia avenue in Arco.

• BIKE Transalp - Etappe 7: Roncone - Arco | DKEVENTS — event.delius-klasing.de