The longest race and the longest trek in the history of the Wenger Patagonian Expedition Race are to be cut short as the Race Director has taken the decision to shorten the course and move teams forward on the course.<br />
<br />
With the race moving into day eight, and only 7 the 14 starting teams remaining on the course the race had already divided into two with the leading group (adidas Terrex/Prunesco, Gearjunkie.com Vancluse Aventure Evasions & Ad Natura) reaching PC11 which is less than half way through the 191km trekking stage from PC9 to PC13. With boat access to PC11 this was the point Stepjan Pavicic had to make his call to stop teams and arrange to move them on to PC13, from where they can complete the final cycling stage to the finish at Pali Aike. (Though the transfer will not be easy.)<br />
<br />
He commented, “There is a mix of two things that has caused us to make this decision. First we lost time in the first day when we had winds in the kayak section and now we have had very strong rain.<br />
<br />
“With the current conditions the teams have been slower and there is more probability for hypothermia while the height of the rivers will increase and could make some of the crossings in the section between PC11 and PC13 too difficult and dangerous to complete.<br />
“I do not like to change the course, particularly as it means we cannot complete our record longest trek this year, but for the safety of the teams it is necessary to do this. They faced particularly difficult conditions over the last 77km of trekking from PC9 and this change to the course will allow them to eat and recover while still allowing the race to continue on all the way through to Pali Aike.�<br />
<br />
In competitive terms this means the top three positions will be decided on the final 188km cycle stage with positions for the restart showing adidas Terrex leading by 6 hours 19 minutes from GearJunkie.com, and Vancluse Evasions a further 14 hours back and Ad Natura another 2 hours 28 minutes behind them. <br />
<br />
These 4 teams are already being moved and the remaining 3 teams – East Winds (Japan), Roadrunners Adventure (Denmark) and Perdido en el Turbal - were airlifted to PC10 yesterday, when they were unable to make a river crossing between PC9 and PC10 due to the rising water levels. From here the teams will trek to the end of the fjord, located a short distance before PC11, where they will be picked up by boat and transported to PC13 for the final bike leg. (This might be the same boat trip the leading 4 teams are making, in which case the whole race will restart together – but its not clear if that is the case.)
SleepMonsters
