A Close Contest at the Front of the Race

German Cuevas (Translation by Google) / 13.09.2013

The day started early yesterday for the top teams after their break in the Valley of Núria.

First out of the transition were Grifone, though they were very tired and they arrived at Queralbs around 3:30 am followed an hour later by Absolu Raid Rodez. Third and half an hour later came another French team, Aquitaine Safety.

After Queralbs teams started a cycling section of 10h that would take them to the River Sau to the kayak.This stage was exciting given the high pace set by Raid Absolu Rodez, which cut Grifone’s lead time, thanks to a mistake that they made ​​on the early checkpoints. These two teams extended their lead and look like the contenders to take the win.

The kayak section started five hours later than planned by the organization and the majority of teams paddled all night, but the leaders were on the wáter during the first part of day. This was once again an interesting stage as Raid Absolu Rodez pulled ahead of Grifone, who made a small slip, not realizing that CP33 was on the next cycling section. Yet the Catalans were able to come back and get along with the French in the transition.

This transition from the kayak to bikes was taken slowly by both teams; Grifone because they had eaten before the kayak and wanted to regain strength after the night stage and Absolu Raid Rodez to recover from the cold as they came in shivering.

From here the two teams, which were just a minute apart, chose the same starting point, but totally different routes from that the organization had planned.

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