That's a wrap!

Top 3 pairs and your day 5 update

First three women have finished!

A day for milestones

First woman across the line

We have a podium!

We have a winner!

Tick, tock, tick, tock...

The power of the bicycle

While we were sleeping...

Andrew Phillips

Christian Englert

Gautier Bonnecarrère

Christophe Dijkmans

Steven Le Hyaric

Lukas Neubeck

Brendan Cassidy

Fiona Kolbinger

Julien Roissard

Cristian Auriemma

Thomas Ceyrowsky

Daan Marsmans

Leighn Chambers

Wim Verheyen

Eloi Miquel Arcarons

Jaco Wessels

Colin Smith

Fanny Bensussan

Jason Black

Thomas Jacquelinet

Julien Morret

Nicola Shaw

Dragomir Titei

Gerco Beekhof

Emiel Maelfait

Sarah Cinquini

Andrea Boscolo

Nicholas Mead

Markus Spieth

Frieder Backu

William Palmer

Paul Gannon

Niel Copeland

Niklas Hanses

Jakob Klaer

Marianne Thissen-smits

Per Arne Janssen

Jean-silviu Dupouy

James Armshaw

Frederick Aubry

Bryan Averre

Andrea Seiermann

Renato Caudiullo

Thomas Chateau

Frank Scholler

Robert Reinecke

Peter Boynton

Derek Gamblin

Nerijus Pudziuvelis

Douglas Migden

Hashim Hassan

Lisa Pfeiffer

Francesco Ruggiero

Philippe Ernst

Konstantinos Arvanitopoulos-darginis

Emanuel Matti

Joe Rass-court

Tolga Alpagot

Alexander Kopp

Thomas Boury

John Cooke

James Runnicles

Jonathan Sarkies

Omar Di Felice

Ulrich Bartholmoes

Filippo Nicotra

Giuseppe Colucci

Francesco Pizzo

Robert Britton

Kai Magne Barstad

Giulio Minniti

Ede Harrison

Ben Davies

Liam Lynch

Nick Underhill-day

Veit Köster

Patrick Doupe

Alfred Bonasera

Tomasz Rozmiarek

Martin Schneider

Christopher Greenan

Laurent Niederst

Iwan Runggaldier

Andrea Galanti

Leo Andrione

Julie Elder

Christian Bel

Car 1

Car 2

Sofiane Sehili

Adrien Liechti

Martin Waldenberger

Christoph Fuhrbach

Louis Rostren

Germain Omnes

Tom Bukowski

Simon Pope

Marek Polacek

Ian Appleby

Alex Armstrong

Adam Heyburn

Ad Mulders

Mike Janssen

The finishers party was last night and celebrations were in full swing. They certainly deserves a knees up!

The mayors of Nicolosi and Ercolano came to the party to formally thank riders for coming and supporting their communities during the race.

## Winners photo

![2VS Finishers](//images.contentful.com/6hyijb95boju/344wNv0FaW1eox2KwTwP6n/131e46482d446a4d4e66fe5a7e27d33e/246781842_965111194219992_9178884119913124448_n.webp.jpg)

*wipes tear from eye* so proud, so proud. The mayors presented plaques to the first man, first woman and first pair. In addition, riders and crew were treated to mountains (see what I did there?) of fresh, local food and wine. At the end, a Vesuvius-shaped traditional Baba sponge cake swimming in rum was brought out. The riders erupted in celebration (I'll show myself out) and everyone continued to share stories, laughs and the trials of the race.

## Andrea Seiermann finishes mid-party!

![Andrea Seiermann finish 2vs](//images.contentful.com/6hyijb95boju/2SgZwdYDJnNi9u9VbpXEjm/4e7c97bce01ae798948081f97e0917f9/246996774_461534522251869_1241213664820694932_n.webp.jpg)

I'd say that was perfect timing, wouldn't you? She rolled in at 2:23am and was greeted by revellers at the finish.

![Finisher's Party](//images.contentful.com/6hyijb95boju/4IA09GW4BMSqkdxNaRWaxl/d1738b875f854946186c27d4464bca3b/246685616_177636361122228_2716132164960956476_n.webp.jpg)

![moustache competition](//images.contentful.com/6hyijb95boju/6EjtVlDsL8yhapodjqvobA/ac1b968eea04077a11f0668c2eb09b28/246826539_847494292625564_1766073761026893396_n.webp.jpg)

Who wins the best moustache competition?

## Quick maths

The Follow My Challenge interface is really quite interesting if you tab over to the analytics tab. You can see current weather conditions, stopped time, percentage of DNF riders etc. It's certainly saved me hours slaving over a spreadsheet.

You can see a few riders' races on Strava now if you're interesting in delving into their personal statistics.
- [Fanny](https://www.strava.com/activities/6134801995)
- [Fiona day 1](https://www.strava.com/activities/6118164709), [Fiona day 2](https://www.strava.com/activities/6123129281), [Fiona day 3](https://www.strava.com/activities/6130163803)
- [Andrew day 1](https://www.strava.com/activities/6130469012), [Andrew day 2](https://www.strava.com/activities/6133118527), [Andrew day 3](https://www.strava.com/activities/6130388769)
- [Adrien](https://www.strava.com/activities/6131178120)
- [Cristian](https://www.strava.com/activities/6129409723)
- [Nicky day 1](https://www.strava.com/activities/6134455818), [Nicky day 2](https://www.strava.com/activities/6134455897), [Nicky day 3](https://www.strava.com/activities/6134454864), [Nicky day 4](https://www.strava.com/activities/6139573307)

Obviously there are plenty more athletes on there but I can't spend all day trawling Strava!

Just two riders have now completed all three editions of Two Volcano Sprint: Adrien and Andrew. Very few riders did the first edition, so it's quite a select group.

## Keep cheering
Eight riders are still making their way to Naples as I type. Some will finish today and others in the next 24 hours I expect.

## Thank you!
Keep your eyes peeled for 2022 entries in the coming months! I hope you've been inspired to take part in an event or ride your bike that bit further. DotWatcher will be covering many more races in the future and if you would like to get involved, get in touch with the team. Make sure you have plenty of coffee!

That's all from me. BIG BIG BIG thanks to Juliana, Celeste, Lily, Vito and Rory on the ground in Italy. [James Robertson](https://www.instagram.com/jprobertson/) and [Charlotte Gamus](https://www.instagram.com/charlottegamus/) for your wonderful photography throughout the coverage. Thanks also to Beccy and Kitty at DotWatcher for roping me in once again. I've loved it! And finally, thanks to you for joining me and following along.

Heaps of riders have appeared at Vesuvius today in varying states of health. On the whole, everyone's ok and they have a smile on their face.

## The pairs podium

Just a reminder, the top three pairs are 🥇 Sofiane & Adrien, 🥈 Martin Waldenberger & Christoph Fuhrbach, 🏅 Louis Rostren & Germain Omnes 👏

More pairs riders trickled over the line today. One rider who suffered a little more than most was Tom Bukouski (cap 96) who rode with Simon Pope. He arrived down from Vesuvius carrying his chin in one hand while his other hand operated his bike. Yes, folks, he is now recovering frmo Shermer's Neck.

## Sarah Cinquini singalong

![Sarah Cinquini](//videos.contentful.com/6hyijb95boju/UOcPHd1urZi1e2Jr1Ihs5/1e8b8c7ba91e8d3a9ac682bfac1c0dba/WhatsApp_Video_2021-10-19_at_12.52.05.mp4)

If you're wondering how those at the middle of the race are faring, I have good news. Sarah (cap 14) who finished earlier today was having an amazing time listening to some music and smiling her way up the final climb.

## The cobbles backfire on Andrea

You know how I said cobbles are not necessary yesterday? Well, Andrea now has hard proof. She went through an optional cobbled section and it backfired for her. Doh! She's currently at 1105km and will likely finish late tonight or in the early hours of tomorrow morning depending on her progress.

![Andrea Seiermann 1](//images.contentful.com/6hyijb95boju/1a1Y6trkzPaZLuANpFjMpy/c2aaa10df294edb69d6ef023081640b9/246893978_121493986940521_1131283773660924326_n.jpg)

![andrea seiermann 2](//images.contentful.com/6hyijb95boju/3ozWsS2rxbwUz87fPsQLqr/d8bf4735851a96b2675d27cadc65cb35/246260927_408040010996115_5320814304864079347_n.jpg)

Both Fanny and Nicky finished this wonderfully tough race since my last update.

**Fanny finished in 3D 17H 1M** to finish 18th in the solo category overall.

![Fanny 2vs finish with Sofiane](//images.contentful.com/6hyijb95boju/6Mh1Su5cofzQRDh3Zh88JO/b907ec531cccbfd18b6415ce2ec10728/2VS_D5-7510.jpg)

**Nicky Shaw** came in early this morning to finish in **4D 3H 13M** making her the 22nd solo rider over the line in Naples.

![Nicky Shaw finish 2vs](//images.contentful.com/6hyijb95boju/4bAyNTnx4rcb13P1UV6LoQ/3e91ab6e6a104133d6121d6a7e887f94/image0.jpeg)

Where do I start with today's action? Let's have a finisher's update shall we?

## Sofiane and Adrien finish in 3D 10H 5M

![Adrien Sofiane finish 2vs](//images.contentful.com/6hyijb95boju/4cXKnon750h2OdE3CDy5Df/c63360d7092047a20436896274f3d526/2021_1018_15053000_2_.jpg)

A feat that was as funny for fans as it was challenging for these two ultra-racing stalwarts. I'm looking forward to the lowdown on this pairing in the days and weeks that follow. Has it strengthened their friendship or do they never want to see each other again? 😂 It certainly looks like it's all smiles, which is great to see.

## Daan Marsmans finishes with one shoe

I wish I was making this up but this guy must get the award for most adventurous ride. First he turned himself inside out to sharpen the pointy end with Ulrich, then the storm wreaked all kinds of havoc and Daan found himself holed up in a hotel for the best part of 24 hours. Then early this morning, we heard that he had broken cleats and therefore couldn't pedal properly! He limped along the rest of the route using just one shoe. He climbed Mount Vesuvius with just one shoe, folks! 🤯

## Speaking of shoes...

![Fanny's shoes day 3 2vs](//images.contentful.com/6hyijb95boju/5XDC4P8KmH0AhTSDbaU6Nf/ffb9b22972e078853ba34101cbc723b2/WhatsApp_Image_2021-10-18_at_12.02.25.jpeg)

Fanny is one cleat down and she's now sporting a sexy pair of shoes for the rest of the ride. She left it to Mel Gibson (that's the Monte Gelbison for those playing at home) and has to ride without it from now on! She's just 50km from the finish now and I reckon she'll power up that last little hill in those bad boys!

## How bad is Monte Gelbison?

The race crew asked Nicholas Mead...

![Nicholas Mead Monte Gelbison](//videos.contentful.com/6hyijb95boju/5LKxaYuth2ezwQwLAFgNtU/86b7316fdbfc84e63c067a2873700ee5/Untitled__5_.mp4)

## Cobbles are unnecessary

The race crew caught up with Nicky shaw at the Monte Gelbison. She also had some polite words for Juliana however it turns out they're somewhat misdirected. Nicky went up the cobbled section of the climb which was no on the agenda for this race. No wonder she thinks Juliana's evil!

![Nicky Gelbison summit 2vs day 3](//images.contentful.com/6hyijb95boju/1pRXdIi0VphXqfVXLsYncX/4b42724fa08b24707557cfb687291052/WhatsApp_Image_2021-10-18_at_14.38.15.jpeg)

After recuperating somewhat, Nicky chowed down some food and set off in pursuit of the finish. She is about 200km from the finish as I type and her cough has improved over the last 24 hours thankfully.

She recounted her summit of the Christ statue at midnight earlier that night and confessed that she had the most wonderful sleep on a children's slide!

![Nicky Shaw day 3 video](//videos.contentful.com/6hyijb95boju/1KlbJ9tMXYCEvZfc4FyEfr/23ddc771fb22d65d56b8e329ca920b44/Untitled__4_.mp4)

![Nicky Shaw slide sleep day 3](//images.contentful.com/6hyijb95boju/38u4OHfaCixhCjuNScnjvH/2630c6cfec22f7573a559d9d6246bac7/245906039_383450590087498_7200320779999101723_n.jpg)

## Lost and found?

![Marek Polacek 2vs day 3](//images.contentful.com/6hyijb95boju/eomE31W2JHHMNoKJ8sSj6/84f00819c8e8100b6fd340f82ee7f8ea/WhatsApp_Image_2021-10-18_at_08.57.33.jpeg)

Marek Polacek and Ian Appleby (caps 42) lost each other overnight under quite distressing circumstances. A member of the race crew bumped into Marek at the Jesus statue only to find that he was solo. Turns out he stumbled upon some aggressive people dressed in camouflage clothing with scary dogs. He ended up running into the forest to hide and never found Ian.

After some discussion, we think they might have been hunters warning him that there is danger ahead but as Marek speaks no Italian, it maybe came across as quite threatening and he feared for his wellbeing.

They both look like they're still riding albeit separately with Ian trailling behind slowly. I'm not entirely sure each knows where the other is. Hopefully they can rendezvous in the next few kilometres.

## Leighn Chambers Sontos finishes!

After news broke of Leighn's crash overnight, I was relieved to hear he's finished just a few hours ago. He was quite worse for wear but is in good hands at the finish with a hot cup of tea.

I won't share the details but given what Carolyn has told me recently, this ride will mean a lot to both of them. I wish them both so much love and good health moving forward. 😘

Fiona Kolbinger is the first woman across the line in Naples in 3D 2H 15M 🥳

It doesn't look like she slept much/at all last night, presumably she was keen to get the job done. Can't blame her! To see sunrise up Mount Vesuvius would've been quite special, I imagine.

## Elsewhere in the race
I had a message about Leighn Chambers Sontos overnight. Unfortunately he suffered a crash but he's back up on his bike. He doesn't appear to have lost much time either. Hopefully he can take a break and make sure he is ok on his way to the finish. He has about 130km today, so he should be able to finish today if he's feeling ok.

Daan Marsmans has broken cleats and is a bit stranded trying to figure out how he's going to fix them while he can't pedal very well. I reckon he should be able to find a bike shop in Salerno, which is about 30km away.

## Sofiane and Adrien home in on Vesuvius

Our first pairs riders are just 60km from the finish line, which is very exciting! I'm looking forward to getting a debrief of their ride. Looks like they had equal amounts of fun and tough riding.

I'm back at the day job today, so my updates might be a bit slower. At the very least, I'll update you all at about dinner time tonight. See you then!

The solo podium is complete as Christian Englert and Gautier Bonnecarrère making it down to Naples.

Christian was on his way up to Vesuvius when he saw the crowds cheering in Andrew. He thought he was third or fourth after some routing erros but upon being told he was in fact second, he clipped back in and sped off up the mountain!

![Andrew finish Christian 2nd 2vs](//videos.contentful.com/6hyijb95boju/3WVsMKVzvZRYfWx0dKWzhU/0e23ae0f61ee271f9723992d0c422695/Untitled__3_.mp4)

## 🥈 Christian Englert finishes in 2D 18H 0M

![Christian Englert 2vs 2nd](//images.contentful.com/6hyijb95boju/1oMtRnLluMSlpxczuVBoMU/ecd910c58811ba7c212ae73014481605/WhatsApp_Image_2021-10-17_at_22.15.21.jpeg)

## 🥉 Gautier Bonnecarrère finishes in 2D 19H 35M

![Gautier 3rd 2vs](//images.contentful.com/6hyijb95boju/1OUvzVjJaqBgajEhsga6VW/3ad41412197b7ab4fe6bda04c77b29ca/WhatsApp_Image_2021-10-17_at_23.45.02.jpeg)

For a moment I thought Christophe Dijkmans (coming in for fourth position) was going to overtake Gautier on Vesuvius! Gautier's GPS stopped working properly and his dot wasn't moving very quickly. Turns out he kept stopping to check his route despite it being one road up and down. Ultra-racing is tiring not just on the body but also on the mind.

I'm signing off for tonight but Steven Le Hyaric is just coming up Vesuvius now. Barring any catastrophe, he'll be the fifth rider home in about an hour's time.

I'll do a full overnight update in the morning. What a day! What a race! I love it!

Andrew rode past the finishing party on his way to climb Mount Vesuvius. Waiting for him was comrade Ulrich Bartholmös who accompanied him all the way to the top.

![Andrew Phillips one last climb](//videos.contentful.com/6hyijb95boju/7nFjLHhq0J8eEirwqckL94/56dacd6e340bcff7c3cff6e48514810e/Untitled__2_.mp4)

When he arrived back from the summit, it was confirmed that he has indeed won the 2021 Two Volcano Sprint

## Andrew Phillips wins in 2D 17H 4M

![Andrew Phillips wins 2vs](//images.contentful.com/6hyijb95boju/3Eq4bfKsP62FzLUUeWR2L2/a9dd62f151090587d9360bcd4288a500/WhatsApp_Image_2021-10-17_at_21.14.14.jpeg)

This is of course a provisional time and subject to Juliana's approval.

Let's see who rounds out the podium in about an hour's time!

I'm just about to tuck into a Sunday roast (vegetarian style, obvs!) and I can't take my eyes off the dots. I mean, my roast dinner will be pretty good but these dots win my attention this evening.

Andrew has just 75km to go. Within those 75km is a 12km climb up Mount Vesuvius. The road has an average gradient of 7% but a maximum gradient of 14% in some sections. Granny gears may be harmed in the climbing of this ascent.

He's barely stopped the entire race, it's incredible really. The tracker says just 3 hours has been spent but I question its accuracy tbf given he's slept a little bit here and there and I'm sure he'd have needed the loo at some point?!

## Christian says hello to Mel Gibson

![Christian Englert 2vs day 2](//videos.contentful.com/6hyijb95boju/5cybWUnY2J1MSPFHgzgbYi/251f50082203a6f9f3e67ab206875c02/WhatsApp_Video_2021-10-17_at_14.32.40__1_.mp4)

"I've climbed a lot of mountains, but this is unbelievable. I've only done two ultras before and this is the hardest of them all. Such steep hills!"

He's closed the gap slightly between him and Andrew and it now stands at around 25km. 1 hour and 15 minutes according to the tracker stats! That's some shifting!

Less than an hour/18km behind Christian is Gautier at 1054km. I know I said it earlier but I'll say it again. A podium this close on a race this long is hard to come by (shout out to Pawel Pulawski during this year's All Points North who rolled in about 4 seconds after the winner!).

Right, this roast dinner won't eat itself so I'll be back in a couple of hours to welcome in our winner and podium. Could be a late night for dotwatchers tonight!

I'm sure we've all been there: someone finds out we're cyclists and we get treated differently. Sometimes the interaction turns from positive to negative but in Fanny's case, she's had the royal treatment because of the humble bicycle.

I received a voice message from Fanny earlier:

*Hi Grace! Hope you can hear me while I'm climbing. Funny story this morning: I slept outside again last night but for a little longer than the night before. I felt kind of dirty as a result and every morning I want my coffee and this time I decided I wanted a bathroom too. I saw there was a town around 32-25km away from where I slept, so I thought okay, it's 4:30am by the time I get there the sun will be out. I can put all my night clothes away, have a coffee and clean myself. Secretly, I was hoping to find coffee before that! It's Italy, I found one easily at 5 in the morning. People were at the bar having coffee, not a beer like in France!*

*Nobody was in the bar when I walked in, just this Grandma. I walked in with my toothbrush and bidon to fill up with water. I asked for a cafe and cornetto and I asked if I could use the bathroom and she was like "nope!" okay then...So my order came out and I guess I would have to ride some more. Then she saw I'm with my bicycle and suddenly she changed her mind, "oh you travel with the bicycle - get in, go to the bathroom!" So I washed my face, brushed my teeth and I feel great again.

*I came back to the bar and she asked what I want "cafe, cornetto!" and then there's a little room to the side that's a little more cosy and there's a couch in there with cushions...it's nice. And the lady says, "you sleep there, get some rest!" I think she thought I was coming out of a party on my way to work! But so suddenly she was so adorable, she brought me my coffee and she asked if I had enough water, said to let her know if I needed anything else, said to take my time.*

*She basically kicked me out earlier but now she wanted me to stay! I wish I'd been there earlier and slept on that couch instead of outside on the street!*

*I hope you're enjoying all the dotwatching, I'm sure it's very fun. It's not that fun for us on the road but you know! I hate Juliana and I kind of love her, I don't know, I hate her. I want to finish so bad! Cheers!*

Love receiving these little nuggets of info from the riders and I'm so grateful they take time out of their race to share not just with me but with the race crew on the ground in Italy too.

## Andrew inside the final 100 miles

I don't agree with imperial measurements but I'll use this one as it's a significant number. The countdown is on for Andrew to finish. After the Monte Gelbison, it's relatively flat...that is until it isn't.

![temples of paestum](//images.contentful.com/6hyijb95boju/3RPd6fxawxdzDZudGLQ5iE/0da7cd0ca1595a6667a076fe586ec2c2/temples_of_paestum.jpeg)

Andrew's just ridden past the very impressive Temples of Paestum which will be on his right hand side, while the beautiful Gulf of Salerno will be on his left. See, Juliana does spoil the riders sometimes.

Follow My Challenge's very helpful stats estimate his time of arrival at the finish in approximately 8.5 hours, however that probably won't include stopping time (not that Andrew's doing much of that anyway).

Christian is just a couple of hours behind him (40km-ish) and it would only take a mechanical for Christian to put some time into Andrew. 30km behind Christian, the battle for third place is heating up. Just 4km separates Gautier and Lukas, so when we add in some margin of error for the tracker, we can essentially say they're neck-and-neck.

Fiona continues to pick off riders and she sits in 8th place currently, however there's just 43km between her and the podium. Honestly, the top 10 is SO tightly packed and I'm so surprised it's remained like this for so long. So many challenges have stood in the way of the riders so far and they've all just taken on the challenge very steadily. That's the key: consistency will always win.

## Nicky struggling with a cough

![Nicky cough 2vs](//videos.contentful.com/6hyijb95boju/2Q8YFmpz7moX00j9KzWUxr/49c308df0e8f1d7ab65ea22c0f9aa9d1/WhatsApp_Video_2021-10-17_at_12.43.33.mp4)

I know you're all loving the battle between Fanny and Nicky as much as I am. Unfortunately, Nicky is facing a few issues and is coughing a lot. Obviously this doesn't help when you're in the middle of a race and she came close to scratching earlier. She's hoping to find an open pharmacy today. It's a Sunday in Italy so I have all my fingers crossed for her and hope she doesn't do any long-lasting damage.

## Ulrich back on the road

If you follow Ulrich on instagram, you'll have seen that he's back on the road. He's hoping to greet riders at the finish line in Naples later tonight. HOW NICE! It's a lovely 25ºC out there at the moment. By comparison, it's about 10 degrees where I am and I have the fire on!

## Still to come...

Let's talk about that finish line, shall we? Rory Kemper from Apidura will give us the low down as he awaits finishers up Mount Vesuvius. He's been awake since 3:30am having caught a flight just this morning, so if you're in the area, coffee and gelato would go down nicely!

Morning folks, did you sleep well? I certainly did. Freshly laundered sheets, winter duvet...so cosy. If anything, I was too warm and had too much sleep! How do we think the riders fared overnight?

I think we can safely say that **Andrew Phillips** is going for the win. He slept for the grand total of two hours in which time **Christian Englert** overtook. However it wouldn't last as Christian than gave in to sleep for a couple of hours and Andrew regained his position at the front of the race. **Lukas Neubeck** also managed an hour in Maratea before he began his ascent to visit old mate Jesus.

There's a new guy on the virtual podium right now: **Gautiere Bonnecarrère**. A couple of hours' sleep around the same time as Andrew has given him enough energy to sprint into third place. Meanwhile Christian Englert hasn't moved for another hour. Struggling with sleep dep, do we think?

**Christoph Dijkmans** and **Steven Le Hyaric** are now jostling for position and are mere minutes apart. Exciting to see who'll prevail, not least because it looks like Steven had a pretty wild night with the locals.

![Steven Le Hyaric partygoer 2vs night 2](//images.contentful.com/6hyijb95boju/4heRwSRMZJOBSw7ymkdiSd/211a3223d319bc31b8c96f1c881ec48b/Screenshot_2021-10-17_at_08.16.47.png)

Steven's instagram stories have been entertaining over the last few hours to say the least. He ended up listening to heavy metal and getting selfies with some partygoers. My French isn't great (reader, I can just about ask for croissants and coffee on a good day) but it looks like he's having an awesome time!

Luckily, Lily on the race crew has translated a few bits for me and perhaps the most important message to share is Steven saying words to the effect of "the real race is the friends you make along the way" and it's so true. These races are about experiences, about people, about community from both inside and outside the race. What good is it if you put your head down for 1100km, have no fun, no good stories to tell and walk away not having *lived* throughout the race? Know what I mean?!

## Jesus loves you and so does Juliana (deep down!)

![jesus statue 1](//images.contentful.com/6hyijb95boju/5kr1VS5oVaejZNTt0nzN6i/2451513dff97cd743862d68600c7295c/jesus_statue_1.jpg)

This is what I mean when I say there's a huge Jesus statue to visit. Riders had to climb to the top, say g'day and cycle down the exact same way they came up. Hopefully each rider received some blessings for the onward journey...or is that not allowed in the rule book? I guess he'll offer tips and encouragement to all riders so it's fair.

As I type, Fiona has just reached the top but she had an interesting night. She was less than pleased with a gravel section which she had to walk. She took to sending Juliana voice messages to voice her dismay at the rocky conditions under foot. 😂

## Sofiane announces he wants to scratch

![Sofiane night 2 2vs](//images.contentful.com/6hyijb95boju/7dESVgbeaXSB64IQqjO70t/7360a7a1ceeab32703aa7f76e1f011c8/Screenshot_2021-10-17_at_08.32.59.png)

Adrien and Sofiane are having a wild ride out there. Sofiane took to Instagram to update fans on his progress. He's waiting for Adrien at the bottom of a hill at this point. "We stopped around 10:30-11 in a hotel, grabbed a couple of hours of sleep, a shower, a bit of food...just to be able to have a strong night. I just finished the downhill gravel section. It's very steep here! Today was long with gentle climbs but since Acri it's been short, really steep stuff..."

He is then interrupted by a neighbour who heard him chatting away. The old man wanted to see if he was ok. Luckily Sofiane's multi-lingual skills sorted him out and the man wished him well.

"It's going to be a long race, we still have 450km or something like that. A long way to go...I don't know when we'll get there. It's a longer race with more climbing, so we'll see how it goes."

He then breaks out into song, which is exactly what we love about Sofiane's races. If he doesn't have a sing song at some point, there must be something wrong.

"This (singing) is my way of saying thank you to my followers! I not only like cycling, I also like to eat food. Sometimes I wonder if I only cycle in order to eat more food!!"

Then comes some bad news...

"It is with a heavy heart that **I have decided to scratch** from this year's Two Volcano Sprint. I am doing so for two reasons: the first is that I ate too much food it Sicily before the race and I got fat and I can't get my fat ass up these climbs and basically this race is all climbs. I am also scratching for a second reason. I feel the solo category had a lot of drama but the pairs? Not really. And I feel like the people want it. I hear you and I'm giving you what you want. Here I am and I'm delivering for you. However as you know, I'm racing as a pair and if I want to quit, I have to get my partner to agree with it. **Adrien is not ok with me quitting** - he doesn't want me to drop out which means that I have to continue. That's unfair, that's cruel. It's really cold and he has gloves and I don't. So I'm going to keep going...BUT...as a matter of protest, if we win the pair category, I have decided to ask Juliana to only play the French anthem and not the Swiss anthem. **This is my final decision, it may seem harsh but I do feel that such cruelty deserves to be punished**."

You know when Juliana said riders shouldn't take themselves too seriously? This is what she meant! A round of applause for Sofiane and Adrien keeping it real in the midst of an incredibly tough challenge!

## More sleeping arrangements revealed

![stormtrooper gnomes](//videos.contentful.com/6hyijb95boju/7qQbOkWq6ouIq5CZjPjudp/ad95f3e717ac6447dd445ba3cf26cba5/WhatsApp_Video_2021-10-17_at_06.58.10.mp4)

Elsewhere in the race, pairs riders (caps 33a and 33b) Adam Heyburn and Alex Armstrong managed a solid six hours' sleep in a hotel last night. They hope to catch up with a few other pairs and climb the leaderboard today. Alex spoke to a member of the race crew and said, "yesterday night was the worst day I've ever had doing any sport at all!" Dramatic, much? To be fair, I can believe it! Then, it gets better. Alex was hallucinating - watch the video above to find out what he saw - sounds terrifying! He said he also thought barriers in the road were cyclists due to the reflections.

![Sleeping arrangements 2vs](//images.contentful.com/6hyijb95boju/3Ln94Id6rPUwsWXyv8fmbi/29a3565bb9e89e044477bd8b45df8a40/WhatsApp_Image_2021-10-17_at_06.58.59.jpeg)

Celeste then bumped into three other riders who shared their overnight exploits. Derek Gamblin (cap 35) chose a delightful toilet block in a children's play area for his night's sleep. Hope it wasn't too smelly and cold, Derek! Per Arne Janssen (cap 41) has a good sleeping bag apparently so just took himself a few metres off the side of the road and got cosy for a couple of hours.

Then we heard about the generosity of fellow humans. Emanuel Matti (cap 54) stumbled across a taverna and when he explained to the guy what he was doing, the guy offered him his couch in the workshop for the night. FAITH IN HUMANITY RESTORED!

## Leighn forges to the front pack
I want to send big tailwinds to Leighn Chambers Sontos today, who has put in a mega shift the last 24 hours. His lovely wife Carolyn had her name down to race but she was unable start. It was at this point Leighn stepped in a took her place. It was a last-minute decision and as such Leighn hadn't really had time to train! As a token of their partnership and love, Leighn is wearing Carolyn's jersey and helmet and also riding her bike, and it seems to be doing the trick! He's just outside the top 10 *for now* but I reckon he's got the strength to pick off a few riders ahead of him. The TCR veteran is no stranger to a hard bike race, so watch this space!

## Mechanicals and stomach problems stop play

![Sarah Cinquini 2vs](//videos.contentful.com/6hyijb95boju/6p0auXKWW7TgIL69p0spyI/d28f3d9bc1fcb127e6e79a1594dff821/WhatsApp_Video_2021-10-17_at_07.47.11.mp4)

Sarah had a mechanical last night which forced her to get a lift to a bike shop to try and fix it. She returned to the place she went from to continue her race some hours later. It looks like she dinged her rim and the tube/tyre wasn't holding in place. She managed to get five hours' sleep in a hotel and she'll continue on.

Lisa Pfeiffer (cap 24) has suffered some stomach problems overnight but she's still rolling along. She slept in an open-air chapel last night and plans to find somewhere this afternoon for a bit more rest. She had a puncture and sidewall tear yesterday, which she managed to fix with tape she carried with her. It's also worth noting that she came into this race with a saddle sore that's causing a bit of discomfort, so she really is a trooper.

![Peter Boynton mechanical 2vs](//images.contentful.com/6hyijb95boju/5Q2Rlm1Yyp76R6TR4tHf29/93e17f792502b46e5083364c57d90fbf/WhatsApp_Image_2021-10-17_at_09.05.49.jpeg)

Peter Boynton also suffered a puncture overnight and fell off his bike grazing his knee in the process. The pump he carried decided not to work properly, so he was really tested mentally at this point. Luckily, it worked enough to get him rolling again but he's hunting down a better pump today.

## Joe Rass-Court scratches
Another victim of the storm calls it quits. Joe's lungs haven't recovered since that epic first night (I'm sure we'll be talking about this night for years to come) and he's making his way back home.

## Coming up...

Monte Gelbison, the most savage climb of all. As I type, the first two riders have just summitted. I'll be back later with an update!

Grace Lambert-Smith

The riders of Two Volcano Sprint are about to erupt into a display of power and endurance.

Two Volcano Sprint 2021

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