Raid Caneo Nature

The real threat: Net zero by 2050 & coming energy crisis – Alex Epstein

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Gold bull market is just getting started, silver has even greater upside, and Bitcoin ETFs will flop - Peter Schiff

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Gold bull market is just getting started, silver has even greater upside, and Bitcoin ETFs will flop - Peter Schiff: Gold bull market is just getting started, silver has even greater upside, and Bitcoin ETFs will flop - Peter Schiff While gold has backed well off the all-time highs it set two days ago and Bitcoin ha...

Gold, silver weaker as USDX rallies

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Gold rallies to daily high on short covering, Powell remarks

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Investors wait for CPI numbers but the bearish sentiment remains on Fed's narrative

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Gold bull Peter Schiff regrets not getting into bitcoin, and now its too late as its days are numbered

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Gold and silver trade lower overnight leading into the European open

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2012-06-02T08:31:00.001+08:00

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Raid Caneo Nature 27th July - 8th August 2008

2008-09-30T16:36:00.001+08:00

The second Raid Canéo Nature from 27 July to 8 August 2009

The preparations for the second Raid Canéo Nature are already under way.

The holding of the first Raid Canéo Nature demonstrated the interest of its race concept. The
crossing of France without motorised sports, relying only on nature-sports equipment, makes
it without doubt the biggest new adventure in recent times. After Versailles-Marseille in 2008,
next year’s contestants will be crossing France from East to West. The reconnaissance of the
course will be starting very shortly and the types of sport on the programme will be
announced as soon as possible.

The first edition was magnificent and heroic. 20 teams finished out of the 34 teams that
signed up, but almost everyone reached Marseille eventually, which was a real exploit in
itself.

In 2009, the principle of the three categories: Extreme, Raiders and Adventure, has been
kept, but with a greater difference between the itineraries. The Extreme contestants do
not want to see the level of difficulty reduced, but the other two categories would like
more time to recuperate. So the 2009 event will be less intense to allow a greater chance
for newcomers to the world of endurance adventure racing.

The Raid Canéo Nature obtained the best media coverage ever achieved in France with –
notably – a daily report on TF1 (the most popular TV channel). We can already say that the
2009 competition will satisfy even more than this year the innumerable fans of exciting and
exemplary human adventures in multisport competitions in a natural setting.
Registration is now open,

The End Of The world

2008-08-13T00:23:00.001+08:00

Raid CaneO Day 1 007

Day 10 Sea Kayak delayed by headwinds

2008-08-07T00:42:00.001+08:00

The Winners of the first CaneO Nature Adventure race were expected to
arrive in Marseilles tonight having travelled 1100 from Paris, where
they started ten days ago with Horse Riding.

The final stage included another leg of horse riding, mountain biking
and Kayaking, however when teams arrived at the sea a force 4 wind was
blowing onshore and as some of the teams had only sit on top kayaks
the Organisation decided to postpone the section until tomorrow, when
they would move the start nearer to Marseilles and restarting.

The Ride and Run on local Camargue horses, saw teams starting at one
minute intervals in reverse order. There was little need to trot as
the teams had plenty of time to complete the section. The horses
tended to group naturally together, so this was a relaxing non
competitive stage. Only one team MARINE NATIONALE - LATTITUDE 55
appeared to have a problem when the changed over, as their mount
wanted to catch up with the others without waiting to be mounted. All
the teams exceeded the minimum two hour time limited so had to wait at
the end of the leg before they could enter transition.

The next leg was ride a run using mountain Bikes, and here its was
noticeable that teams who had competed previously in The Oman Bike and
Run Adventure. Had an advantage, so it was no surprise to see MARINE
NATIONALE - LATTITUDE 55 who are unclassified leading the teams onto
the beach, WILSA SPORT HELLY HANSEN posted the fastest time and HELLY
HANSEN UK were seen to be running at race pace despite the heat. They
consumed between 10-12 liters of water during the six hours they were
racing.

Tonight the racers will camp on a beach with their support crews
before setting off in the early hours of the morning for a short 30K
paddle to the finish at a Beach to the East of Marseilles.

A Number of teams were given penalties in stage 5 for leaving the
canyon by an unauthorisd road and werr spotted by the GeoPointer
tracking system, on of the teams caught were HELLY HANSEN UK and they
have dropped to sixth posisition in the ranking

Barring accidents the lead in the three classes is not likely to
change during the final leg. WILSA SPORT HELLY HANSEN will be crowned
winners tomorrow night by The Mayor of Marseilles at the prize giving
in the town hall.

A Day in Camargue

2008-08-05T22:35:00.001+08:00

All teams were held up by dark zone in the river Gardon, some had more
rest than others and a few at the back no rest at all.Helly Hansen UK,
were one of the teams who had little time to sleep as they had been
held up at the cave the previous afternoon and then lost one hour when
a member of a team ahead of them panic which delayed them a further
hour.

The pace of the race has been very demanding and all the support crews
are suffering as they rush from one transition to another to support
their team. Today proved to be especially difficult with a short Kayak
of 7 K followed by orienteering and then mountain biking bfoe a 56K
kayak leg down the river Rhone.

The early morning restart saw teams departing in race order and only
team 6 made a mistake when they capsized 20 seconds prior to their
start. All the teams found the orienteering difficult as the final
checkpoint was at the entrance to an old Roman aqueduct tunnel, the
GPS position brought teams onto a high rock above the tunnel when they
needed to backtrack to a hidden entrance. The leading teams were close
together with Wilsa Sport Helly Hansen running safely in 3rd place.

Gerard Fusil stated earlier this year said there would be no sailing
leg, however a favorable wind blowing down the Rhone for the Kayak leg
saw many teams trying out sails with good results. Helly Hansen UK,
had planned to use K2's on this stage but changed to sea kayak with a
sail in front and an umbrella at the back to bake best use of the
following wind. One team did use a k2 and Vaucluse Aventures Evasions
were first away using a sail followed a few minutes later by Wilsa
Sport Helly Hansen, who used sea kayaks without sails.

Various sailing devices were used from off the shelf products to
custom devices and last minute DIY using trekking poles and shirts.
LES FOUS DE BASSIN TDR BX probably had the biggest sail at 2Sq meters
a square sail mounted in the middle of their sit on top kayak, Lieues
aventures used a small spinnaker on mast forward, but it meant the
front person could not paddle.

Wilsa Sport Helly Hansen tactics proved to be the best as they
finished the stage ahead of Vaucluse Aventures Evasions with WILSA
WCUP CHTI Raid in third place. The sails had worked on the Rhone but
once the teams turned into the lesser Rhone the direction was wrong,

A Hot Day on The Ardeche For Raid CaneO Nature Teams

2008-08-05T00:20:00.001+08:00

Another day of kayaking, bit with a difference as it was down the Adeche River and passed through a gorge with sections of rapids. Teams set off at 1 minute intervals in race order, so WILSA SPORT HELLY HANSEN was first away shortly after six. Most teams usd sea kayaks but a couple of teams used K2, which they had to portage them around the rapid. A few of the teams got caught out in the rapids and had a early bath.

Once again HELLY HANSEN UK had a excellent start and were in 2nd place at the first transition Saint-Martin- D'Ardeche, but then once on mountain bikes they lost their way allowing all but one of the extreme teams to overtake them. Extreme and Raider classes spent the afternoon underground in the 2 K Fees Cave, around Thaaux.

WILSA SPORT HELLY HANSEN took longer than expected to complete the caving as they had to backtrack when they went the wrong way. The team are pacing themselves as thre of the mebrs have a race in China in a few weeks time.

Tonight the teams will doing orienteering, Mountain biking and along kayak of 51K.

There have been no further changes in ranking at mis stage of this leg, and due to limited internet access there will be no further news until tomorrow

Rest Day and results of Stage

2008-08-04T02:47:00.002+08:00

A rest day is a new concept for Gerard Fusils' races, but looking at the teams most are need a break to refresh themselves. As dawn broke however, only a few times had arrived. The first two team were from the Adventure class as they missed out on the second cave.

WILSA SPORT HELLY HANSEN seem to have a firm grip on the race and once again won the stage, but they were chased home by COLUMBIA Lozère Sport Nature who were only a few minutes behind and then ABSOLUE RAID Décathlon St Orens. The UK challenge failed when HELLY HANSEN UK misread the route and as a result took them on a track which caused many punctures, it is a question if they will retain 5th place overall.

The Raider class is led by SOFERMI - RAID NATURE 46 once again stretching their lead over the other teams, RAID NATURE 09 and PIC ST LOUP AVENTURE.

The Adventure class were led in by SPORT-OUTDOOR.COM, who are now fighting back to regain the overall lead in the class which is held by BAYER - Vet Adventure Team who arrived in 3rd place this morning, the two teams were separated by Petit Casino.

The caving caused some controversy amongst the Raider and Adventure teams. When they were given a choice of a shorter route due to a long queue at the entrance, team already in the cave had not had a choice and as a result lost some three hours of daylight, which slowed them down.

The overall lead in Extreme is still held by WILSA SPORT HELLY HANSEN but WILSA WCUP CHTI Riad has lost 3rd place having lost time in the caving. HELLY HANSEN UK still remains in 5th place as a result of a bonus for fixing the damaged rope in the cave.
Raider classification is still led by SOFERMI - RAID NATURE 46 but Flying Avent'Hure Palfinger has dropped from 2nd to 4th place as a result of the caving.

The Adventure class has a completely new look again as a result of losses and gains in the canyoning and caving sections, those teams caught at the back loosing time with slower teams ahead of them blocking process in the cave where passing was impossible
.

Race reflections from HELLY HANSEN UK the best parts of the race on the canal with all the portages and yesterdays canyoning. The worst memories so far was the 14 punctures yesterday when they passed along a road where the hedge had been trimmed leaving many sharp points to puncture tyres. The team only had one spare tyre and after this had to resort to patches. They worked together as a team on the assembly line to save time, however at one point Nicola could not find her blue handled tyre lever. A few minutes later another puncture solved the mystery, the level was inside the tyre and caused a new puncture.

The worst part of the race for Nicola was, the Dragonnairr cave, crawling though tight passages with your nose in the mud over stalagmites' and banging ones head against stalactites in an underground traffic jam. Her constant complaining caused the rest of the team to request ear defenders for the next cave!

A Good Start To the Day for the British

2008-08-03T01:34:00.001+08:00

Nat's-Colla del Matí – Bombers de Lleida withdrew from the race
yesterday having had difficulties understanding the race instruction
since the beginning of the race.

All teams spent the night with their support teams near LA GARDE
GUERIN the site of a 12th Century village which has been partly
restored. The enforced stop was because the canyon had a dark zone and
teams were forbidden to start until 5.30 in the morning. Many teams
made full use of this time to get much needed sleep, before 10 k of
canyoning, 37k mountain biking, 19K of caving hiking and ropes,
followed by more biking, caving canyoning and orienteering.

HELLY HANSEN UK started the day in fine form having at last had a good
four hours of sleep, they were the first team to reach the start of
the canyon, minutes ahead of the other Extreme teams. WILSA SPORT
HELLY HANSEN made a navigation error and took the wrong track as a
result of which they lost around 10 minuits.

The canyon was quite slippery and a few teams had unexpected early
baths although they did have wetsuits to protect them from the cold.
One member of LYS AVENTURE fell off a boulder in a dry section of the
canyon and bruised his hip, the team withdrew from the stage but may
continue as an incomplete team.

LES FOUS DE BASSIN TDR BX had been fighting the sleepmonster since the
start of the race and finally succumbed in the Canyon dropping down to
Raider classification.

All teams enjoyed the canyon especially those that were incomplete or
out of classification.

The second leg of the day consisted of 38 k of mountain biking and the
British team lost their lead when they incurred 14 punctures which
allowed WILSA SPORT HELLY HANSEN, COLUMBIA Lozère Sport Nature and
ABSOLUE RAID Décathlon St Orens to slip past them prior to the 1st of
two caving sections.

WILSA SPORT HELLY HANSEN entered the Dragonnière de BANNE cave during
the late afternoon via a small hole in field but had to wait in a
queue for Adventure and Raider classes who had arrived ahead of them
directly from the canyon.

The results of first three stages show WILSA SPORT HELLY HANSEN, some
four hours ahead of COLUMBIA Lozère Sport Nature who have a one hour
buffer over WILSA WCUP CHTI Raid.

The Raider classification is much closer with SOFERMI - RAID NATURE 46
around one and a half hours ahead of Flying Avent'Hure Palfinger who
incurred a penalty of 1 hour along with a number of other teams for
missing equipment, but they still are ahead of OAHU.

The Adventure class is very close with thre teams in contention BAYER
- Vet Adventure Team, EMSA: RAID'EPERNON and INTERSPORT LIEGE

Ten teams are out of classification including LATTITUDE 55 as they
missed a section yesterday but thy ar still enjoying themselves.

As this press release was issued the latest leaders of the day are
WILSA SPORT HELLY HANSEN, SOFERMI - RAID NATURE 46 and
SPORT-OUTDOOR.COM as they entered the first cave so it is possible
that the lead in Adventure might change.

A Day of Multi Sport

2008-08-02T00:13:00.002+08:00

One team The Fous de Bassin TDR BX barely made it to the start of stage 4. In fact the start was delayed to allow them to quickly change to restart the race.

The pace of the race seemed to pick up today wil a short 6k Kayak across lake Naussac, then on to mountain bikes. The Adventure teams had only a short ride before being transferred to the start of trekking stage, whilst the other teams cycled the full 46K, before setting of intothe mountains for a 35 K hike.

Once again favorites WILSA SPORT HELLY HANSEN were in the vanguard but The Fous de Bassin TDR BX was in close contention even though they had had no sleep. British team HELLY HANSEN UK, had a bad night taking the wrong route twice and Nicola MacLeod cracked her elbow as a result of falling off her bike some many times as the team raced to stay in the Extreme classification.’

Team 16 LATTITUDE 55 in Adventure are enjoying the race without stressing themselves and even found a way to save time on the river section, using a tactic I myself used in in the Elf Authentique Adventure.

At CP 19 the end of 1st leg of Mountain biking a SPORT-OUTDOOR.COM in Adventure class was nck and neck with WILSA SPORT HELLY HANSEN and the leading Raider team SOFERMI - RAID NATURE 46 one minute behind, Little had changed at the end of the second leg zprt from the fact that adventure teams arrived via support vehicle so some were on the course ahead of the other classification, however WILSA SPORT HELLY HANSEN opened up a lead of 5 minutes over Columbia Lozère Sport Nature and ABSOLUE RAID - Décathlon Saint-Orens, further down the field HELLY HANSEN UK had gained a six place but was loosing ground on the leaders.

The trekking is expected to take teams all day as they orienteer across the mountains, thankfully the heat of the last few days has abated and provided the rain holds off the conditions are pretty good.

A full classification will only be available later, but it is not expected to change the overall leaders in any class. Many teams are incomplete or out of classification but racing for fun, which Gerard Fusil encourages all to do , it’s the taking part that matters not the winning.

A Long Day on The River

2008-07-31T17:47:00.002+08:00

Yesterday one of the leading teams TEAM SPORT 2000 LAFUMA VIBRAM
abandoned the Raid CaneO Nature ,at CP 8,due to a team member
suffering severe dehydration which resulted in provided a three hour
buffer for leading team Wilsa Sport Helly Hansen. At this stage the
race order for the section in Extreme was WILSA WCUP CHTI Raid, Helly
Hansen UK, Wilsa Sport Helly Hansen, Columbia Lozère Sport Nature and
The Fous de Bassin TDR BX.

The Raider classification overall was being lead by OAHU clearly ahead
of chasing teams Les Mureaux –Défis Sports Aventures and Flying
Avent'Hure Palfinger.

The Adventure class Valmo Raid Pink team - Décathlon Sequedin were
one hour ahead of Lys Aventure with Intersport Liège a further hour
behind.

The first of the adventure teams arrived at the abseil ahead of the
overall leaders as they followed a shorter route, however Wilsa Sport
Helly Hansen was once again in the lead at this CP.
.
A storm during the night forced the closure of the Abseil at "the end
of the World ", resulting in an extension of time of some two hours
for closing of the CP's , it also made the skating sections a bit
more difficult .The ropes section proved to be a bottle neck and Helly
Hansen UK,, took advantage of the situation to get an hours sleep with
the clock stopped, whilst in a queue..

Thursday proved to be a day of waiting with slow progress kayaking on
the river Saone as the river was flowing slowly teams expected to take
between two to four hours longer than planned, with mountain biking
and inline skating before finishing the stage in the evening.
..
One of the International teams Nat's-Colla del Matí – Bombers de
Lleida from Spain competing as a Raider had a problem interpreting the
rules and arrived at CP 12 missing out the Roller Blading section in
order to keep within the cutoff time and were given an option to
continue if they took 110% of the time of the last team in the class.

A Hard Night on The Bougogne Canal

2008-07-30T22:38:00.001+08:00

It was a hard day's night for all the teams as they struggled to
portage some forty locks, as dawn broke the first team WILSA SPORT
HELLY HANSEN transferred to Mountain bikes for the final leg of the
stage, some 4 hours later than expected. Behind them teams with sea
kayaks were struggling, team ABSOLUE RAID Décathlon St Orens abandoned
the race halfway through the kayak leg.

The Raid CaneO nature organization was forced to make contingency
plans for teams in classification Raider and Adventure to ensure all
teams were ready to start Stage 3 later in the day..The order of
arrival in Extreme class was WILSA SPORT HELLY HANSEN, around an hour
ahead of TEAM SPORT 2000 LAFUMA VIBRAM who had had a good day, then
team WILSA WCUP CHTI Raid, showing on the leader board for the first
time arrived some 15 minutes later. HELLY HANSEN UK arrived in 5th
place around 3 hours behind the leaders and Nicola MacLeod said it was
the hardest kayak leg she had ever done, the team had stopped for a
ten minute cap nap, and headed strait to camp to eat and sleep before
the 1330 start of the next leg
..
The first two days of the Raid have been a little confusing with
problems of horse riding and the lack of time to finish stage 2 which
effected some 15 teams, details of the Raider and Adventure
classifications are not yet available.
.
Having taken into account all adjustments to date the overall race is
being lead by WILSA SPORT HELLY HANSEN who have a lead of around a one
and one half hours, over TEAM SPORT 2000 LAFUMA VIBRAM. Second place
is secured by over a two hour gap to a group of three teams chasing
teams. WILSA WCUP CHTI Raid, COLUMBIA Lozère Sport Nature and HELLY
HANSEN UK who are fighting it out for 3rd place and are at present
separated by a few minutes. (all above subject to confirmation)

The first withdrawal of the race came from team DENY in the Raider
classification and they are now unclassified MARINE NATIONALE -
LATTITUDE 55 also lost a team member and two members are continuing
unclassified., VESALIS, FUN EVENTS and VALMO RAID PINK TEAM -
DÉCATHLON SEQUEDIN are also out of classification.

Stage 3 had an interesting start, as the kayak leg started with the
passage through a tunnel, so that whichever team gets tot the entrance
first would have a great advantage as it was very hard to overtake,
this maybe just what current leaders need to consolidate their
position.

WILSA SPORT HELLY HANSEN took their customary lead from the restart,
but hit the side of the canal entering the tunnel and had to stop at
the exit which allowed WILSA WCUP CHTI Raid to go into the lead for
the first time, HELLY HANSEN UK started carefully and lead the second
group into the mouth of the tunnel

Later this evening there is mountain biking, abseiling, and inline
skating which will be reported tomorrow.

The Field Divides

2008-07-30T00:30:00.002+08:00

The first Cut off's took place during the night, with some 16 team
maintaining the Extreme Class. The race is being led by WILSA SPORT
HELLY HANSEN, despite the fact that they lost their tracking system
yesterday and suffered a 1 hour penalty last night they still finished
the stage at 6:15 this morning having built up a lead of some 45
minutes during the mountain bike stage. They commented that the stage
was longer than expected.

The Raider Classification and second team to arrive was OAHU who
walked into the stadium just before 7 AM having missed out on the
final mountain bike section.

Many teams are requesting time adjustments for the Ride and run stage
where the behavior of the horses affected their progress. British team
HELLY HANSEN UK had lost more than 50 minutes on two occasions during
the first half of the ride and run stage, The first stop some 8 k into
the race when one horse panicked and only calmed down following three
injections from a vet, some 12K later the second horse stopped and
would go no further , so all the team had to run to the compulsory
stop to start the second leg with a new horse which was the reason
they became tail end Charlie and had to race against the clock to
continue in the Extreme classification..They have appealed for redress
which might bring them back into contention with the top 5 teams.
Results of pending appeals will be announced tomorrow, prior to the
next stage.
The overall classification is still close at the top with 5 teams
still in contention and allegations were rife concerning possible
contraventions, during the night where some teams may have taken a
short cut to avoid the route which required bike carrying over and
around boulders.
One member of team IMI Groupe complete the stage with a leg injury,
but will continue on as they can still kayak and bike and hope their
leg will recover before the next running event in Stage 3.

Teams were relieved to hear that the start of Stage two had been
delayed by three hours, until 1500 hrs which allowed them time to
sleep for a few hours before they had to leave for a road transit to
the start of the next stage, which starts with nearly 100K of Kayaking
followed by mountain biking

Teams following the Adventure route headed directly to the start of
the next stage and this class is being led by a team of vets - BAYER -
Vet Adventure Team.

This afternoon the race transferred to the boat basin at
Saint-Florentin Teams lined up for a start between two buoys, racing
upstream toward a narrow bridge hole, first to reach the bridge was
WILSA SPORT HELLY HANSEN, Many teams had nervous moments with a few
collisions, some teams with fragile racing boats hung back to stay out
of trouble.

The kayak leg has many locks, where teams have to lift their boat out
of the water below the lock and carry them uphill to the next level
and this is where teams with lighter boats have an advantage, One team
with heavy sea kayaks carried a trolley to help with the transition
around the lock. The order at the first lock was WILSA SPORT HELLY
HANSEN, VAUCLUSE AVENTURES EVASIONS and ABSOLUE RAID Décathlon St
Orens, other teams with K2 kayaks, such as HELLY HANSEN UK were
moving swiftly through the field which also included sit on top
kayaks. The teams at the back of the pack with heavier kayaks such as
LATTITUDE 55 were at a definite disadvantage and seemed to be
struggling even at the first portage, so it is expected they will be
very tired by tomorrow morning.

Day 1 Ride and Run Chaos

2008-07-29T02:29:00.002+08:00

Once again in an Adventure Race, animals played a major part in the
success or failure of teams during the first stage of the race. Some
teams had little time to get to know their horses for the Ride and
run. A collection of ponies and horses of various sizes were
distributed to the teams according to their riding ability. The
British team Helly Hansen UK, were allocated one large horse and once
medium, but they were one of the last teams to start. The first six
teams were started just after 9:30 AM followed 30 seconds later by a
second group, immediately a couple of horses lost their riders. During
the first circuit of the lake at the Palace of Versailles at least
seven teams lost control of their horses. Team DENIV was the final
team to leave the Palace grounds after waiting for a replacement
horse.

Once on the true course a group of five teams broke away and by the
time the time they reached the compulsory rest stop, Team WILSA SPORT
HELLY HANSEN had a 20 minute lead despite Karine Baillet, falling off
in a rocky part of the course and having the horse step on her.

VAUCLUSE AVENTURES EVASIONS lead a pack of four teams separated by a
few minutes followed 10minutes later by TEAM SPORT 2000 LAFUMA VIBRAM.

Teams continued to arrive in groups or singularly and it was noticed
than many of the horses were suffering from the heat and some teams
such as LES FOUS DE BASSIN TDR BX resorted to leading their horses.

Georges CAUCHOIS of Lattitude 55 the oldest competitor finished the
first leg in the middle of the field and the team had no problems and
were happy with their progress.

During the rest stop teams were also treated to a meal and had time to
attend to minor injuries whilst their mounts were inspected. A
Decision was then made to change the format of the second part of the
ride and run with each team departing with only one horse. Cutoff
times were also adjusted with teams allowed to take 3 hours on the
second half without penalty. Subsequently cutoff times for extreme and
adventure have also been extended by 3 hours.

At the time this report goes to press all teams have competed the
initial run and ride with Helly Hansen UK in last position.

Teams face a hard night of racing once they finish the second stage of
the ride and run with some 96K of mountain biking and 15 K of
Orienteering before reaching the end of the stage at Fontainebleau.

The second stage starts at midday tomorrow at Saint-Florentin with
Kayaking and team will either make a road transfer from Fontainebleau
or else will head there directly having dropped to a lower
classification.