Le Grand Raid
The French take the lead on the first stage
Anne-Marie Dunhill / 24.06.2010
Phillipe Chod of Issy Adventure predicted last night that the race would be decided today as there were 9 sections with extremely tight cut-offs. The roadbook stated that the first and last sections were mandatory and teams that didn’t make the cut-offs on these two critically important sections will continue the race unranked.
The race started this morning on the beach of Gravelines with a short trail run followed by a kayak section on the nearby canal. Support crews were forbidden to provide assistance at the transition from kayak to the trail leading to the mountain bikes yet two teams were dealt penalties by Benjamin Midena as their support crews were waiting with the team’s maps in their pockets, the teams having forgotten to take them!
Teams mountain biked along Calais plage with ferries crossing the channel to England in the background. Those who forgot to let a bit of air out of their tires on the sand were in for a nasty surprise and several teams in the middle of the pack had punctures to deal with. The clock was stopped for a time to allow teams to safely travel through a city centre leading up to the roller blading transition.
The three lead teams at this point, Thule, Wilsa and Out There USA stopped several meters before entering the transition and starting the race clock again. They joked in a friendly fashion as they took their mountain bike shoes off, doing the last stretch barefoot in order to gain precious seconds in the transition.
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