VIDEO: Stage-Racing in the Pyrenees

The Pyrenees Stage Race runs 240K through Spain’s Pyrenees mountains, featuring 15,000 meters of vertical gain over the course of its seven stages. The race is the brainchild of Spanish ultra runners Tomas Llorens and Jordi Vissi, who modeled the race after the the Gore-Tex Transalpine Run, which travels through the German and Italian alps.

In its first edition last year, the race had 22 participants, who tackled the course in the required teams of two (or three). At 50K, stage three, captured in this video, is longest of the stages. The climbs look tough, but the sweeping views and happy company seem to make up for it.