Laurens ten Dam's Transcordilleras-winning bike & strategy for 1,000 Colombian gravel KMs in 3 days

Transcordilleras is a bikepacking gravel race in Colombia. There are 3 events: a 3-day stage race, an 8-day stage race, and the 1,000km non-stop, where participants can go as far as they can each day, sleeping wherever they decide. Former Tour de France top-10 finisher Laurens ten Dam came to Colombia with a Specialized S-Works Epic mountain bike equipped with a Shimano GRX gravel drivetrain, road handlebars and aero extensions - plus two Wahoo Elemnt computers, just in case...

He won the race in record time, sleeping just over 7 hour for the entirety of the competition that took races high into the Andes with some 66,000ft of climbing, and down into the sweltering lowlands.

I caught up with Laurens at the finish in Santa Fe Antioquia.

Still photos courtesy Transcordilleras and BikeRadar.

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