Saturday, 12 April: Frenchman Teddy Pons took a comfortable victory in stage 2 of the Karujet to win by 1:38 seconds from yesterday’s stage winner Lucas Granger, with Chris MacClugage coming home in third spot for the second time in two days, just five seconds behind Granger.
The win puts Pons up into second place in the overall classification 16 seconds behind Granger and ahead of MacClugage.
In the first of the legs from Viard to Saint-Francois and back to Viard run in difficult conditions with big seas and poor visibility, Alexandre Barret led almost the whole way. Behind him the battle was between Pons, Jean-Bruno Pastorello, Davy Vaitilingon and MacClugage.
Craig Warner picked up his pace and at about 66km into the stage moved into fourth behind Barret, Pons and MacClugage, with Medori fifth and Lucas Granger sixth. But Warner hit trouble, the American rider eventually retiring.
Approaching the end of the first leg Barret broke down, handing the lead to Pons with MacClugage ahead Granger and yesterday’s stage runner-up Ugo Fidelin.
Francois Medori was in the lead group for most of leg one but then had an ignition problem, his engine cutting out every time he hit a wave, eventually finishing in 17th place 27 minutes off the pace.
Pons was quickest in and first out after the pit stops and never looked back, and went on unchallenged to win by 1:38 seconds.
MacClugage looked set to follow Pons home but Lucas Granger made a late attack as the two went head-to-head in the closing stages with Granger nabbing second place by just five seconds, with Ugo Fidelin finishing in fourth.
MacClugage said after the stage that “his age was catching up with him and that he really felt all his 40 years of experience, and his knees, which have gone through a few operations, were really hurting. But that he's having a lot of fun out there and in a good position.”
Pastorello, who was running in the top three in the early stages, then had problems with his bike and struggled, ultimately retiring.
Karam Vincent picked up his best finish over the two days coming home in fourth, with last year’s winner Marc Forbin putting himself right back in contention, finishing in fifth ahead of Fidelin.
Today’s two leg 144km stage [3] from Viard to Les Saintes and back, arguably the toughest of the event, starts at 14.00hrs (local / 18.00hrs GMT).
Karujet – stage 2 results
1. Teddy Pons (fra): 01:52:17s
2. Lucas Granger (glp) + 1:38s
3. Chris MacClugage (usa) + 1:42s
4. Karam Vincent (glp) + 2:37s
5. Marc Forbin (glp) + 2:46s
6. Ugo Fidelin (mtq) + 2:59s
Overall classification
1. Lucas Granger (glp): 02:37:46s
2. Teddy Pons (fra) +16s
3. Chris MacClugage (usa) + 1:11s
4. Ugo Fidelin (mtq) + 2:08s
5. Karam Vincent (glp) + 3.23s
6. Marc Forbin (glp) + 5:26s
For the complete classification go to results section in aquabike.net
For further event information go to karujet.com
Photos: Nicolas Defaux