2h00 : 35°C
3 checkpoints (CP) (km 9, 21 et 31,5).
774 competitors at the start Today’s rankings : Men
1. Lahcen Ahansal (1) 2h55m44 / 2. Mohammed Ahansal (2)
2h56m40 / 3. Mustapha Ait Amar (4) 3h12m59 Women
1. Simone Keyser Diederich (Lux) (785) 4h36m27 /
2. Virginie Thevenot (FR) (190) 4h44m41 /
3. Chantal Langlace (FR) (269) 5h10m59
It’s no exaggeration to say this was a mammoth stage...
37 kilometres across hilly, rocky ground took a heavy physical
toll
on everyone. Right from the start, Hassan Oulmyr (3) lays down
an incredible pace. Along with fellow Moroccan Mustapha Ait Amar,
he rapidly increases the gap, ahead of the long line of runners.
Only the Ahansal brothers manage to keep up. Frenchman Gilles Diehl
(281), a few minutes behind the leaders refers to « crazy
speed ». But this madness comes at a price. Hassan Oulmyr,
throws in the towel a few kilometres before CP2, stricken with
pain. Doctors think it may be a fatigue fracture. The race has
lost one of finest and nicest competitors. The Ahansal brothers
arrive on their own at CP3 and attack the day’s « plat
de résistance » : a sand-covered mountain more than
800 metres high, a wall of sand and stone, with a slope factor
averaging 25%. Competitors I climbed up on all fours, using hands
and feet and would even have used my teeth are left to climb whichever
way they can. Lahcen Ahansal, far from a beginner, comments: “.” In
Arabic they call it the climb that cleanses you of your sins. Once
over the mountain, the runners are confronted with an even more
difficult descent. A hard, rocky peak where any slip would really
hurt. Gilles Diehl falls and picks himself up; the same for the
Italian Marco Olmo who at the age of 56 is a lesson in courage
itself. At the foot of the descent, the runners have a series of
small dunes to get over before crossing the finish line, exhausted.
Today’s winner, Lahcen Ahansal, wastes no time in cooking,
and shamelessly shovels down handfuls of raw pasta …
On the women’s side, Simone Keyser from Luxembourg, winner
in 2004, is the first woman in today thanks to her skill in pacing
herself and her race : « today’s itinerary was ideal
for me. I love slopes, uneven terrain… I feel much happier
than when I’m on the flat” . Virginie Thévenot
from France takes second place and it’s only her first MDS.
No one is more surprised than she is: « when I started I
was hoping to come in the top twelve ».
Competitors will need all the sleep they can get tonight to recover
from this monumental stage… and the course has only just
started.
