The 25th Corsica Raid
The Italian Teams Race Into The Lead After The Mountain and The Night Stages
Rob Howard / 07.09.2020
For the first two stages of the 25th Corsica Raid the teams were all on foot, with the high mountain stage followed by the night stage, and so far it is the Italian teams who have been fastest.
The timing of the stages was moved around due to the weather forecast, so the mountain stage, which should have been on Monday, opened the race yesterday. This was a 28km run through the heart of the Corsican mountains in the Ritondu massif. The stage included 2500 meters ascent, passed turquoise lakes, followed dramatic ridges and racers climbed to the summit of Ritondu peak for views all around the island.
Race spokesman Yann Bicaïs said the racers were star struck at the beauty of the stage and the island and all enjoyed the run. The descent took place in the middle of a huge pine forest, by which time the teams were tiring, before reaching the stage finish in Tattone.
In the 2 + 1 category it was the Italians from Nirvâna Raid who lead after stage one, finishing just ahead of the Corsican team, while in the 4+ 1 category it was the Slovenia Adventure Race team who were fastest, finishing in 06.46, and with a 37 minute lead over team Team Trail.Pl.
The teams did not get a night’s rest after the big opening stage, as next up was the night stage, starting at 22.00, and this too was a running stage. It was 25km in the Vizzavona area, with an assistance point just after the middle of the stage.
Now the Italian teams got into their stride and won both categories by a good margin. In the 4 person race the Freemind team finished in 4 hours 38 minutes, and maybe the Slovenian team paid for their pace in the day as they were 72 minutes behind them. The Nirvana Raid team extended their lead in the pairs, winning in 4 hours 59 minutes.
Stage 3 is now underway and the teams finally got onto their bikes. This 78km stage starts and finishes on the bikes, with a trekking and canyoning stage in the middle.
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