I wonder where Matt is aiming to stay this evening? Quite late now local time and still seems largely in the middle of nowhere.
Found a hotel in Tutin.
That was a long day. Started with parcours and lots of gravel. When on Tarmac, my route was great.Looking at the tracker, recon I passed around 10 people.
As ride goes on I am feeling stronger, I am also affected much less by heat… today max was 41.6 degrees
Lots of dogs on the road tonight, some barking but no chase
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Good going Matt! Time to sleep 
That’s where I thought you might be aiming for. Seemed the only reasonably sized place in the loose vicinity and could already see others having clearly stopped there. When I posted, you were a good long way from it though, with what seemed like a climb up to 1500+ m to go, in the dark! Must have arrived quite late!
Epic Matt. Keep it up!
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I reckon Matt’s got past more than 10 yesterday and a few just of him ahead going into Kosovo.
He’s leapfrogged Sarah who was quite a way ahead yesterday morning and the guy he was very close to when their routes diverted (#35, he took the direct route through Montenegro) is about 30-40 miles behind.
Looks like the Serbia route was a big winner over the more direct option, even though it was initially slightly in the wrong driection.
Also looks like it will get flatter once over the current ridge and into Kosovo.
Edited to add that the tracker shows 4:29 stopped time overnight so Matt’s thoughts about pushing harder are now a reality.
Nice work! 
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Who’s tail-end charlie at the moment? There appear to be some active riders still in the German speaking countries.
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No232 has nearly caught up with Matt again … he’s the guy who was up near the front but had to go back c200km for his passport.
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It was 270km each way!! (maybe you did mean one way re reading)
Utterly mental that he did that. From the insta, I took it he only just made CP1 but now is charging through again
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I couldn’t remember exactly, hence the c200 …
He was in the top 10 when he turned back so unsurprising that he’s charging through the field.
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Matt currently at a control.
Looks pretty hilly to get over the border into North Macedonia.
Christoph Strasser up into P2 but Robin Gemperle looks to have a comfortable lead now…
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Yep, Matt is now 53rd, so +14 places since CP2.
He came in just behind 10 other riders. Six of those are still at the control with him and 4 have only just left … so plenty of opportunity to get up into the top 50.
Brilliant stuff, not quite at the Pidcock level of excitement but not far off 
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Kill or Cure, Adapt or Die!
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Where he’s kipping this evening are about 10 others in the same town. From what I can tell, all bar 1 was ahead of him at CP3, so easily a chunk more places up for grabs.
This latter part of the race should really be where his strategy of sleep should pay off. Only one of the group is ahead of him on downtime (by a single hour), yet many of them have half a day or a full day less moving time. That has to bite with still so far to go
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Parcours 4 looks truely awful. Ruined Abdullah’s race and Strasse just got away with it. I think I will walk the 22km of gravel as the time to repair bike could be massive. Prob buy shoes in Canakkale
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Got hit by a motorbike yesterday. Me and bike are still working…. But really pissed off
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no damage to either you or the bike hopefully??
Ouch, fingers crossed everything keeps working
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Sounds like Matt is OK from his morning update.
Working on his bike this morning explains why he’s still at the back of the group he’s caught up. Had to replace some part of a shifter damaged in the crash and straighten the hanger.
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Ah shit, hope it’s all sorted soon. Too much drama in this race!
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Which begs the question about the Organisers just doing this stuff to fcuk people about. It’s a bike race right?
Hope you’re feeling more relaxed now after the incident!
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