Le Grand Raid
A prologue under crystal clear skies
Anne-Marie Dunhill / 23.06.2010
Racers kayaked around the fortified walls. A kind fireman took this journalist out on a quad early in the morning on a reconnaissance of the prologue race route. Journalists and teams were pleasantly surprised by the beauty of the site. According to Mike Kloser of team Le Grand Raid Out There USA,� There was some beautiful country side�.
When the race whistle sounded teams took off at a rapid pace for a 5km trail. The top international teams jockeyed for position and at the arrival some racers further down in the ranking were close to hyperventilating. The kayak section of 2,5 km allowed them to recuperate somewhat.
Lead teams Wilsa,Out There, Buff and Thule played leap-frog for the top positions and tensions started to show already in some of the French teams. Listeners smiled as they heard one team member yell, “Put your paddle in the water and go, you’re not even trying!� As a lot of the teams have been formed specifically for this race, it will be a learning curve in team work.
Once out of the kayaks there was a quick transition to the mountain bikes and the teams barreled through the last 12 km to the prologue finish. Wilsa had started the trail in first place but lost their lead to Thule in the kayak section. The final ranking of the top five teams for the day is as follows:
1) Thule 58:18
2) Wilsa 59:00
3)Le Grand Raid Out There USA 1:00
4)Buff Thermocool 1:00:25
5)Speleo Team 1:03:14
In view of this ranking, tomorrow Thule will be wearing the yellow race bib with Wilsa sporting the blue race bib.
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