X-adventure Raid Series

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Les Arcs – Quechua win again

Raid Organisation / 13.07.2003

COURMAYEUR/ITALY - 13/07 – Of the 42 teams who raced in record temperatures on the second stage of the X-Adventure Raid Series, only three made it through all the 14 different sections. It’s an indication of just how demanding the course and the weather conditions were and a tribute to the endurance of all the teams who took part. But none deserve greater respect than the indomitable winners of this gruelling 2nd stage, Les Arcs-Quechua (Fr), led by the supremely serene Helene Rochas.

Mont Blanc, resplendent in the dawn\'s rosy blush, greeted the sun as it climbed into the clear early morning sky above the starting arch of the 2nd stage in Les Arcs. Moments later, at 06:00, the starting tape was dropped and the 42 teams sped away from the line for an opening MTB section covering 18kms of bone-jarring, high-speed pedalling and with a height gain of 1000m. Barely minutes after tackling the first uphill portion, Helene Rochas and her team mates of Les Arcs - Quechua (Fr) were already setting the pace but, after this fast start, the current leaders on the overall ranking of the 2003 X-adventure Raid Series, made a costly orienteering error. \"It\'s the first time I\'ve ever seen Rudy Gouy make a mistake\", exclaimed Christophe Faure. “He was poring over the map and eventually admitted that we had to turn around. We will have to make up the lost time on the trek.�

At the end of the first section, Xa Harrier (Fr) was a few seconds up on Elix (Fr) and in 3rd place was Vsd-Eider (Fr), keeping pace with the race front. Cognac Extreme Aventure (Fr) pulled in almost immediately afterwards in 4th and last year’s winners, Salomon Suisse (Fr), despite the absence of Bettina ERNST, filled 5th spot. Les Arcs-Quechua (Fr) was sitting in 7th just behind the youthful Equilibre Attitude (Fr). Further behind and notably absent from the top 10 was Saab Salomon (Gb), in 29th place after dealing with serial punctures on Helene Diamantides’ front wheel. Human Link (Se), runners up in the Raid Gauloises last month, were also further back in 17th.

As the teams came out of the toughest section of the first day, a 21km high altitude trek, Quetchua-Les Arcs (Fr) was holding onto the lead just ahead of Sybelles Renault Esf (Fr) and Xa–Harrier (Fr). Most teams left the female member behind on this gruelling trek, where the mountaineers easily held sway. \"Whenever there is a mountaineering section at the start of the race, we will be ahead\", Christophe Faure, Les Arcs-Quechua (Fr), proclaimed.

Xa-Harrier (Fr) threw away an excellent early start to the race when they encountered problems on the rappel just after climbing to the Bellecôte pass. \"One of the team fell on the ropes section and was a little shocked\" explained Yves Bilodeau. \"That slowed us down a bit but now we are hoping to move steadily up to the head of the race. The main problem is the heat…\" he said leaping into his canoe for the first white water section of the race. See All Event Posts