*Alex Barret extends overall lead
Saturday, 4 April: Francois Medori bounced back after his tumble on Thursday to put himself right back into contention in the 18th Karujet after winning yesterday’s Stage 3, a 68km haul from Viard to Marie-Galante and back, and moves up from 24th to 8th in the overall standings. “I had a great start with Botti, Pons and Barret. I picked a really good path early on and I kept up a good speed. It was a tough battle between us all, The sea was very difficult, navigating was a real challenge. There was a lot of pressure at the end, and I was afraid that I’d lose my direction, but I got here in the lead and I’m happy.” said the rider from Ghisonnacia in Corsica.
Overnight leader Alex Barret extended his lead at the top of the standings finishing in third behind Jean-Baptiste Botti, with 2011 Champion Teddy Pons completing a lockout of the top-four spots by the French quartet of UIM-ABP tour regulars.
Two-time Karujet winner Davy Vaitilingon was the first Guadeloupe rider home in fifth and is looking a real threat, with Alain Tarzia again in the mix in sixth.
Medori, Botti, Barret and Pons dominated the stage from start-to-finish as the lead group, with the lead constantly changing between them.
Medori led Botti and Barret to the all-shot buoy with Pons further back. Pons then followed a very straight course rather than the mild bend that most riders took and cut through the field from the outside to move up into the lead pack.
Stage 2 winner, Craig Warner, had problems throughout with his turbo switch and was forced to run a conservative race, eventually finishing down in 21st spot.
Behind the lead four a second quartet of riders led the chase, Vaitilingon, Kevin Carlini, Ugo Fidelin, and Tarzia. Early on Yann Ponama, Vincent Karam and Lucas Granger were also up there, but eventually fell back.
The lead four got to Marie-Galante with little problems, but after the first Marie-Galante buoy other riders were confused and spent some time figuring out how to find the second buoy to head back to Viard.
Pons led most of the way back, but then had trouble finding his way and fell back to fourth and was clearly not happy. “I had a great start and I caught up with Barret, Medori and Botti. I was leading the way back, but then just 5 km from the finish I had a problem finding my way, and I dropped back to fourth. It’s hard for me to accept fourth place. I should have won it”
Coming around the yellow buoy and into the final 100 meters to the finish line Medori headed Botti and Barret in a close run to the chequered flag.
Botti: “It was a great race. I started well and held second mostly behind Medori. But there was confusion when we got to Marie-Galante because they’d told us in the briefing that there’d be a yellow buoy and a red buoy but instead there were two red buoys. So I found myself looking around confused as Barret and Pons passed me by. Then on the way back I passed Alex and Francois and was back in second, but this time behind Pons. That delay at Marie-Galante cost me a lot of time, but in the end I managed to come in second, and that’s a good result.”
Barret: “I had a great start and found myself between Botti, Fidelin and Medori. Then Teddy Pons joined us a little later, picking a great line to cut right through the field, so congratulations to him. I kept a good rhythm to Marie-Galante and went through the buoys there in the top four, although I was confused when I didn’t see the yellow buoy there. I congratulate Medori on a great race, a good result for me too in third.”
Vaitilingon: “It was a fast paced race and I found it extremely challenging physically. The first four riders were very very fast, it was tough to keep up. There was a lot of wind hitting us at the end, which made the going even tougher. I stayed in contact with the top four as well as I could till the end. I’m happy to come through well with no mechanical or physical problems or injuries so fifth place is good, I’m happy I didn’t let the gap get too big.”
Stage 3:
1. F Medori 2. JB Botti 3. A Barret 4. T Pons 5. D Vaitilingon 6. A Tarzia
Overall:
1. A Barret (fra) 2:3:12.175
2. JB Botti (fra) + 46.660s
3. D Vaitilingon (gua) + 3:38.418s
4. A Tarzia (fra) + 6:24.295s
5. T Pons (fra) + 7:26.022s
5. K Carlini (fra) + 8:24.639s
Results:
http://aquabike.net/results/2015/france-guadeloupe
For further information:
Photos: Yann Couvrand