*Barret leads Botti and Medori going into final day
Sunday, 5 April: Francois Medori kept the pressure on his two French rivals Alex Barret and Jean-Baptiste Botti, taking his second stage win in two days to move into third place in the overall standings.
Medori overcame back pains to win the 102km Viard-Ste Marie-Gosier-Viard stage by 3.262seconds form Barret, Botti a further second behind crossing the line in third, with last year’s winner Ugo Fidelin at last putting in a good performance in fourth. “The return from the Saintes was quite hard, and I had a bad back. I was chasing Barret and Botti, about 15-20 seconds behind them, trying to keep up going into the pit stop and then after the pit stop as well. But then they made a couple of mistakes. They got confused looking for the buoy out at Sainte Marie, losing five to seven seconds, then they also made an error coming down for the final stretch which gave me the lead and I kept that to win race four.” said Medori.
There was bitter disappointment for 2011 Champion Teddy Pons who was lying in fifth overall at the start of the day, stopping after just one kilometre with a broken compressor. Craig Warner’s race also ending early after suffering the same turbo switch issue he endured yesterday.
Botti, Medori, Kevin Carlini, Fidelin and Davy Vaitlingon made up the lead group after the first buoy, Carlini eventually dropping back as Barret, Fidelin, Medori and Vaitilingon traded the lead, behind them Alain Tarzia, Yann Ponama and Vincent Karam.
On the run back to Viard Vaitilingon was out front when he took a tumble, but managed to get back to the beach where his quest for a third Karujet crown all but ended.
Barret and Botti led throughout the second leg of the stage, Medori chasing them, but the lead two lost ground after struggling to navigate their way at Sainte Marie allowing Medori to close the gap and eventually pass them to take the lead.
The run to the finish line was again close with Medori holding on, just four seconds separating the lead trio, Fidelin coming in in fourth.
Bruno Claret produced his best showing so far finishing in fifth ahead of another top six outing by Alain Tarzia.
Barret: “The race was really tough, I’m really glad I got through this one and finished second. I was up there with Botti and Medori the whole time. I tried to stay in contact with them the whole race, thinking I could attack in the final stretches. But then I came off a big waves and I damaged my hull. That scared me, I thought I might not be able to finish this one, but it all held together. The bike really took a beating today, but it should be ready tomorrow, the crew’s going to work on it and fix it.”
Botti: “It really was a great fight between me and Alex. To the Saintes and on the way back it was a group of four, me, Barret, Medori, and Vaitilingon. I opened a small lead going into the pit stop and I held that after in the second part of the race, but at Sainte Marie I got confused with the buoy and my direction. Medori had no problems, he passed right through. Coming down, the sun was right in our eyes, it was just hard and by that time you’re really tired. So now I at least maintain my second position behind Alex, Medori is probably right behind me now with this win.”
Vailingon: [his left arm in a sling] “I was in third position behind Barret coming back down from the Saintes. I accelerated and passed both Barret and Botti, but then I came across some nasty waves, I lost control and came down hard, injuring my arm. I barely made it back in, unable to accelerate, and I was out, unable to finish the race. That pretty much ends my chance at a top three podium result this year.”
Stage 4:
1. F Medori 2. A Barret 3. JB Botti 4. U Fidelin 5. B Claret 6. A Tarzia
Overall:
1. A Barret (fra) 3:48:04.437s
2. JB Botti (fra) + 47.721s
3. F Medori (fra) + 9:18.563
4. A Tarzia (fra) + 13:46.670s
5. K Carlini (fra) + 16:04.680s
6. B Claret (fra) + 19:09.378s
Results:
http://aquabike.net/results/2015/france-guadeloupe
For further information:
Photos: Yann Couvrand