Elsa Borgey wins the stage and reduces the gap

An intense day of racing for this 6th stage presented by Zolux on the Aussois domain. This stage welcomed not only the competitors of La Grande Odyssée VVF but also those of the first stage of the Allianz Trophy, in which 11 mushers, including Swiss and Italians, are registered.

It was a beautiful sunny day, with a start at 3 p.m., and Elsa Borgey did very well, clocking the fastest time over the 27 km covered at 20.4 km/h in 1 hr 19 mins 17 secs. This was 6 minutes and 14 seconds faster than event leader Iker Ozkoidi Garcia, who had put in a very good performance the day before. Cindy Duport, who completed the course in 1 h 27 mn 55 s, finished 4th on the stage and relinquished second place overall to Frenchwoman Elsa Borgey.

In the Nordic category, Mattéo Fossati had the luxury of spurning Jean Combazard, the undisputed leader of these first stages, at the finish line. However, Combazard set the fastest time of 1 h 38 mn 30 s, 3 minutes and 58 seconds faster than his runner-up. Cécile Durand and her beautiful team of huskies were more than 13 minutes behind, but remained on the podium.

In the Allianz Trophy, Rémi Desoutter won in 1 h 37 mn 47s at an average speed of 16.5 km/h, ahead of Cyril Kaluszynski who was 1 minute 41s behind, with Lisa Bonato completing the podium in 1 h 42mn 50s.

The day’s stage had only 1,000 metres of ascent (as much as descent, which also presents difficulties for the teams when the slope is very vertical). Two very steep climbs at the start, facing the snow front, forced the mushers to put their feet down to help their dogs. This was followed by a 4km climb to the Arponts plateau, followed by a track to the Monolithe de Sardières and the hamlet before repeating part of the loop. ‘It was very technical but a lot of fun’, commented Lisa Bonato at the finish, who is returning to the Allianz Trophy for the 3rd time, while the day’s winner, Elsa Borgey, described the race with a broad smile as “a bit rock’n’roll but a lot of fun”.

Rendezvous tomorrow, Saturday 18 January at the start of Bessans for the first part of stage 7 presented by Francodex of La Grande Odyssée VVF.

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