Laurens ten Dam rode 1,050km through the Andes in a record time of 72 hours, 55 minutes and 10 seconds to win the Transcordilleras.
The self-supported bikepacking race runs from Paipa, in central Colombia, west to Santa Fe de Antioquia, 60km from Medellín.
Accumulating 20,000m of elevation over three mountain ranges, the “hellish” race takes place from 11-18 February. At an altitude of 2,000-3,000m, temperatures reached 40ºC.
Averaging 20km/h, Ten Dam rode about 290km a day for the first three days, sleeping for 3.5 hours a night in hotels.
But on the third night, with second-placed finisher Rob Britton hot on his heels, ten Dam slept for only 1.5 hours.
He got up at 2am to ride the remaining 180km in nine hours, to win by 48 minutes.
Laurens ten Dam’s Transcordilleras Specialized S-Works Epic World Cup
Ten Dam retired from the WorldTour in 2019, after 13 years as a road professional. The Dutch climber finished ninth in the general classification of the 2014 Tour de France, riding for Rabobank.
Post-retirement, the 43-year-old has switched to gravel racing, coming second to Ian Boswell in the 2021 Unbound Gravel.
The Specialized-supported rider tends to ride the brand’s S-Works Diverge STR Expert or Crux in gravel events. But he chose the S-Works Roubaix SL8 at the 2023 UCI Gravel World Championships.
There was a mix of gravel bikes and mountain bikes at Transcordilleras, which mostly runs along dirt roads and rougher gullies.
Ten Dam told BikeRadar his coach said to him mid-race that “it must be hell out there”.
“And that's exactly what it was because it was so hot,” said ten Dam.
Despite his “improvised setup”, he said: “I’m really happy with how it turned out.
“I’ve done a few ultras, but only 500s [kilometres]. This is the first 1,000 I’ve done and I won, so it turns out I’m pretty good at it.”
Full-suspension with drop handlebars
Ten Dam experienced back pain the last time he raced an ultra-endurance event on his Diverge.
After Further Elements in October 2023, a 450km race in Scotland, ten Dam said: “I was so thrashed I almost couldn't ride home from the boat to my house because my back was hurting so badly.”
Explaining his decision to choose a Specialized S-Works Epic World Cup this time, he said: “You ride parts of the night and spend 18 hours a day on your bike, so it's good to have some more comfort.”
Ten Dam said the terrain at Transcordilleras was “really rough”.
“There are some roads, but Colombian gravel is not like Steamboat [a fast, US gravel race].
“It’s a loose surface and there are rocks on descents you might go down in the night.”
He fitted a mix of MTB and gravel components to the full-suspension mountain bike from his partners Specialized and Shimano and their in-house brands.
Most notably, the former road professional chose a 40cm-wide Pro Discover gravel handlebar with a 20-degree flare, a matching 80mm stem and aero bars.
Mismatched drivetrain
The majority of the drivetrain is the new Unstoppable version of 12-speed Shimano GRX, including a 10-51t cassette.
But ten Dam made a last-minute decision to switch the 42t GRX crank for a 36t XTR ring.
“I'm so happy. I changed that the day before the race,“ he said.
“Last year, I did it with a 40-46 [smallest gear] on my Diverge STR, but I was more happy with the 36-51 – it was sufficient, I didn’t need any more gears.”
Heavy-duty tyres
Ten Dam said the “really rough” terrain at Transcordilleras influenced his decision to fit sturdy 29x2.2in Specialized Renegade Grid mountain bike tyres to his bike’s Roval Control SL wheels.
“On every downhill, I was confident I wasn’t going to flat, so I was really happy with them.“
Ten Dam didn’t puncture, but rode the last day with two broken spokes in the front wheel.
“Somehow, the wheel stayed straight, even though I was sending it on the downhills because Rob [Britton, in second] was chasing me,” he said.
A 142mm-wide Pro Stealth Offroad saddle finished off the build.
Two Wahoo Bolt computers
Ten Dam brought two Wahoo Elemnt Bolts to avoid a repeat of his experience at Further Scotland. His bike computer running out of battery left him without navigation for the final 50km in that event.
He brought a 2,000mAh power bank and fast charger to top up the batteries of his head unit and Exposure head torch and Toro Mk7 front light.
The desire to conserve battery caused him to dim the light beam on ascents. As a result, he is weighing up whether to fit a dynamo hub for the Tour Divide.
A bike shop’s worth of spares
Ten Dam said: “I took more than most of the competitors over here because I really treated it as a test ride for Tour Divide.”
This meant the Dutchman’s list of spares read like a small bike shop’s Monday morning order: two spare tyres, tyre boots, 100ml tubeless sealant, two derailleur hangers, chain links, a multi-tool, an electronic bike pump and a Leatherman knife.
He also brought a bivvy bag and some spare clothes he didn’t end up using.
All this went into Restrap top tube and handlebar bags, and an Apidura saddle bag.
He carried a hydration bladder on his pack. But for the Tour Divide, he’d like to source a custom frame bag to hold the bladder.
Thanks to the regular resupply opportunities in villages on the route, ten Dam said he didn’t need to carry much food. He fueled off a combination of bocadillos, pizza and Haribo.
