Spain’s IKER Ozkoidi- Garcia takes the lead

For the 4th stage of La Grande Odyssée VVF, the sun, the public and the beautiful snow were all there. The competitors set off across the village of La Toussuire to the applause of a large and enthusiastic crowd. As soon as they reached the end of Rue Principale, the slope forced the mushers to push the sled to relieve their dogs’ efforts. After all, they had to give it their all throughout the 22 km of this La Toussuire-Le Corbier stage, which included a 1,200 m climb. Spaniard Iker Ozkoidi Garcia won the stage, crossing the finish line in Le Corbier in 1 hour 04 minutes at an average speed of 20.6 kph. He was 3 minutes ahead of Cindy Duport, while the day’s podium was completed by Lukasz Paczynski, who was 9 minutes 42 seconds behind the winner. This fine stage victory enabled the Spaniard to don the Suzuki-sponsored leader’s jersey at the expense of Elsa Borgey, who finished 5th in the stage in 1h 16 min 17 sec and dropped to 3rd place overall behind Cindy Duport.

In the Nordic category, event leader Jean Combazard continued to extend his lead over his pursuers, completing the trail in 1 hr 21 mins 16 sec, 13 mins 59 sec better than Gaël Brossette, 2nd in this category. In the overall classification, Matteo Fossati maintained his 2nd place ahead of Cécile Durand.

Today’s route was a beautiful loop through the Plan de l’Oullaz and the Pointe du Corbier before descending to La Chal and then climbing back up to Le Corbier. It was a beautiful route, as mushers like to find on this half-distance event, which is highly reputed in Europe.

Among the day’s supporters were around twenty children aged between 7 and 14 who had come to discover the mushers and their harnesses thanks to the ‘Rêves de gosse’ association sponsored by Suzuki, which has also planned an introductory session in a few days’ time.

See you tomorrow, Thursday 16 January at the start in Les Karellis for the fifth stage of La Grande Odyssée VVF.

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