Ajay Chhetri Maintains his Lead on the Road

Yak Attack

Ajay Chhetri Maintains his Lead on the Road

Phil Evans (Extreme World Challenges) / 10.03.2011

The cloud had cleared and the sun was back at full strength again as the riders left Gorka and headed for Besi Sahar and the trail leading into the high mountains.

For the first time during the race and for the last time for the next 7 days the day kicked off with a downhill start. 8 km of rapid descent saw numerous riders take a fall and there were at least 5 punctures as the riders headed down from over 1000m to below 400m.

As ever in Nepal, what goes down must go back up and a hot and steep climb from a suspension bridge river crossing allowed the local boys to once again make their mark on the event. After 30km of off-road the trail joined a sealed undulating highway for the final 30km into Besi. In last years race international rider Phil Hystek was able to take advantage of pushing some big gears and produce a stage win, but this years stage was taken once again by the ever consistent Ajay Chhetri (Genesis/Torq), with the equally consistent Narayan Gopal Maharajan finishing in second place just 3 minutes later.

Stephen Rysdale recorded his first "international victory" finishing in 7th place overall, despite breaking a chain, with John McGillivray 5 minutes behind him, whilst Mike McCabe, recovering from a stomach upset, bought home the field in a little over 4 hours.

With Ajay Chhetri (Genesis/Torq) now over 25 minutes ahead of his closest rival, Padam Sabenhang, the 2009 champion threw down the gauntlet. "The mountains are now coming and this is where I am at my strongest, so the gap will definitely be closing soon"

Further down the line veteran French rider Andre Deplechin and MTB Himachal category winner quipped "OK, I have made it to the mountains with body and bike intact, I am very happy just for this small mercy"!

With over 200km and 5000m of cumulative climbing already accrued the race heads into the mountains proper tomorrow, with the destination of Taal at 1700m above sea level.See All Event Posts