D21 - "The Taroudant Band"

DAY 22 <-> DAY 20

The Sun Trip has the particularity of being both a solitary and a collective adventure, including for the frontrunners who, even if they don’t ride together (except for the time it takes to overtake each other…), are still connected via the networks and the project’s internal discussion thread.

But the collective dimension of the Sun Trip is obviously much more embodied by the participants, who aren’t out to win, and what’s happening in Taroudant at the moment is a perfect example of this. We had promised our Moroccan partners that a small group of solar-powered bikes would pass through during the adventure. We just didn’t know exactly who it would be or when it would happen. It happened yesterday, with the formation of what we’ll call “the Taroudant group”!

Richard Defay, Vincent Gallego, Luciano Trumpler, Herman Segers, Bertrand Goudenhooft and Jean-Philippe Maurice (the surprise guest of the Moroccan loop), 6 men who were grouped together for the obligatory break in Taroudant and who became friends. Yesterday they had a relaxed day, well guided by Paul Bermejo (former SunTripper and Sun Trip referent in southern Morocco), which ended with a reception organized by the town of Taroudant and a local cycling association. A great combination of forces, for a great moment of sharing!

Vincent Gallego’s summary: “The welcome was warm and enthusiastic. We explained in great detail the various elements required for an autonomous solar electric bike. An incredible welcome and a long parade of selfies and photos around my trike. I was finally able to extricate myself after many questions from the various Moroccan cycling groups“. See also this video in Arabic and French:

According to our information, the 6 men have decided to ride together for the rest of the adventure, so we’ll be hearing about the happy “Taroudant group” again!

Further south in Morocco, the Belgian (Géry & Baudouin) and German (Kilian & Jonas) teams are engaged in a desert chase. For the moment, the Germans hold an advantage of almost a day’s driving, but they’re having major problems with their rear wheel… “We’re losing a spoke every 40 km” Kilian tells us! “We need to get to Spain to repair our wheel properly… we have no choice…“. The two teams will have to cross the Atlas Mountains again in the coming days, so we can expect some new twists and turns!

Further north in Morocco, Michael & Jiri are in Rabat, Jean-Louis has passed Oualidia and Vincent Lauga is the first to make a stopover in Marrakech, even treating himself to an evening show! Well done to them, we’ll be reporting on their adventures in the coming days!

THE LEADERS

It was another crazy day, starting with Jack in the lead, then marked by Jean-Marc overtaking him with a smile on his face. The two men engaged in a constant battle, showing mutual respect: “you are a king” said Jean-Marc as he overtook his rival:

A few kilometers later, the two passed the last checkpoint (“The Magic Tree” at Molina di Aragon) with a 10-minute gap between them!

In the evening… Jack was back on the same level as Jean-Marc! Both were sleeping in the same town. The battle would continue on the 22nd day of the race, and certainly right up to the final day. All it takes is one puncture for either of them to lose the Sun Trip 2024!