DAY 12 <-> DAY 10
Checkpoint after checkpoint at the head of the race, after Rabat it’s on to Oualidia and soon Taroudant via the Tizi Ntest pass. This is the first time on a major Sun Trip that we’ve offered so many compulsory checkpoints so close together..
The idea was to offer a real loop around Morocco, with a diversity of landscapes and routes, to give our adventurers an eyeful and also to make this Moroccan episode adventurous.
Here we are! After two days along the Atlantic coast, the leaders plunged towards Marrakech, without stopping, and reached the first ramps of the Tizi Ntest pass on Monday April 22. The pass, which rises to 2100m, will be reached after traversing a road that was largely destroyed by the earthquake of September 2023.
However, participants had the choice of either going over this difficult face or bypassing it to the south and climbing back up the pass. This southern route offers a more conventional route, but is 150km longer! On paper, you’d think that Jean Marc Dubouloz and his velomobile would take the southern route, but then… “Jack Butler is going north, so I have to follow so as not to lose 150km! The reigning champion tells us. “I’m not at the top yet…tomorrow’s another day…”. For his part, Jack Butler stopped earlier today, at around 6pm, after a difficult start to the climb. “I was tired and being chased by dogs… So today was the day to stop early, and we’ll see tomorrow…”.
For the other participants, no one passed a Checkpoint on this day.
The highlight was the announcement that Patrice Plozner, who was in last place at the time, would be retiring.
“In view of my performance yesterday (155 km even if there was 2100 m of positive ascent but a lot) my panels don’t provide enough energy for my bike in the spring to continue the adventure more serenely. The weather forecast for the next few days discourages me from continuing. I’m heading back to the Landes via Pamplona. I wish all participants a safe journey”.
Thanks Patrice and see you soon.
Another highlight is the rural itinerary chosen by Belgians Géry & Baudouin and Vivien Dettwiller:
Race positions on day 11
1. Jack Butler
2. Jean-Marc Dubouloz
3. Kilian & Jonas
4. Vivien Dettwiller
5. Géry & Baudouin
Live Map : https://suntrip.sollow.live/maroc-2024/
Stories of the day
Vincent Lauga: “Proud of my personal kilometer record, everything went well… with the extra hour following the passage through Portugal!”
Richard Defay: “An entire village crossed by a unique PAVÉE street that turns the bike into a shaker!”
Bertrand Goudenhooft: “My trike spends the night in a 5* hotel”.
Luciano Trumpler: “I was able to repair my suspension”.
Michael Polak: “Frost on the tents in the morning for the fourth day in a row. The forecast was still above zero. I also prepared dinner and spilled half of it.”
Jiri Strupl: “We were explaining in Spanish on the square: Nosotros lados amperos!”
More pictures
