Le Grand Raid
Third day of racing
Anne-Marie Dunhill / 26.06.2010
Today’s section started at 09:00 in the town of Courrieres with a bike and run of 10km. As the orienteering section initially announced in the roadbook was cancelled due to lack of proper authorizations at the last minute, stage three offered few technical options and teams pushed through the stages with several transfers in their support vehicles.
Thirty-one kilometers of mountain biking followed from Courrieres to Rieulay, through a national park. According to Sebastien Sxay of the overall lead team Wilsa, it was, “Incredibly frustrating to go through a magnificent national park on a paved road and not use a compass once. “ A two kilometers trail lead the teams to a rope works section with two members doing a tyrollean from the fortified walls in Le Quesnoy.
As the slag heap park on the 2 km trail is a protected area, teams had to push their bikes upon entering it all the way to the transition to the trail. The checkpoint on the trail was on top of the slag heap and teams had a difficult time running up the steep black path.
After collecting the mtb’s at the end of the trail teams did a transfer to the kayaks, Aulnoye Aymeries to Pont sur Sambre on a bucolic canal with one kayak portage. A final mtb section led teams to the end of the third stage in Maubeuge with its fortified walls created by Vauban in the 18th century.
Stage three covered a total of 88,5km with nine sections. Tomorrow is the final stage and teams said that they are looking forward to finishing the race after three days of fast paced racing.
Today’s stage was marked by the withdrawal of the American team Out There USA who had previously been in second place. Monique Merrell had a serious fall from her bike during the first kilometers of the mountain biking section. She was transported to the hospital in Arras and the race doctor has confirmed that she is under observation, in stable condition with a broken wrist and other contusions. An official press release is available on the race website.
With the withdrawal of team Out There USA the second place position is being fought for by OSDirect and Buff Thermocool. Rankings and times previously published by the organization were incorrect due to confusion with the tracking system and Wilsa continues to be the overall winners with Thule in second place, wearing the blue race bib for the final stage tomorrow.
The final stage will take place over five sections and 56,5km.
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