Trans Madeira is a 5-day blind enduro stage race on the beautiful island of Madeira. Since the first edition in 2018, I was really hoping to take part in this race, and this year it finally all came together. With more than 30 timed stages across the whole island, Trans Madeira is really challenging in terms of terrain variety, condition changes and physical demands. On top of that this, there is the “blind” racing format, so there is no practice before the actual race and we have to react on the terrain on the fly. This way of racing really shows the ability to read the trail and to react quickly.
The actual race started on the 1st of June and ended 5 days later, after taking us through the most beautiful places on the island as well as the toughest weather conditions I have experienced in my racing career. Racing an event this long requires a really high level of consistency and motivation. As I had some technical issues in the first day loosing almost a minute, it was mentally tough to keep pushing. However, I managed to improve my position every day and eventually climbed to a 5th place overall. Considering the level of competition on this race I am really happy to reach this result. There were EWS pro racers present, such as Lewis Buchanan, Jono Jones, Christian Textor or Joe Connell, all racing at unbelievable paces.
Racing aside, this race was such a huge experience and journey and I cannot thank my sponsors enough for their support, which allowed me to race this beautiful event.
-Vojtěch Bláha
Photo Credit: KIKEABELLEIRA