Onboard Express
The sea lift was due to be completed by late afternoon on Wednesday. In a lascivious progression since the start of the day, the 32 skippers of this 54th edition of the Solitaire du Figaro were chomping at the bit at snack time while waiting for Éole to blow his blunderbuss. In full swing. It was indeed necessary to arm oneself with patience to complete the 610 miles of the course of this first stage. Something to indulge in contemplation or pareidolia for the most dreamy. But now was not the time to waste time on trifles. You had to hold on to the slightest pouillème de mille swallowed. The wind was finally going to swell his jowls and pecs at the end of the afternoon, in the last miles of the course between Caen-Ouistreham and Kinsale which will host the race for the 21st time. The record for stage cities since the creation of the event in the last century.
At the bottom of the wave in his aspirations since the start of the stage, the Swiss Niels Palmieri (TeamWork), his ass between two chairs because between the two most extreme groups since the passage of Scilly, was asking himself questions as to the end of the course: “Fortunately we have the current pushing us a bit. But with the swell, it’s not very pleasant to live. I progress slowly towards the goal. I’m waiting for the southwest wind to come in. I’m a bit alone and I wonder where they all went. They must have gone a little further west than me, who chose to take a more direct route. It’s a bit worrying. But I am in good shape and ready to attack the end of this stage.”
For fans of the west wall of the ascent to Erin Green, the expectation was the same. Ready to jump during the acceleration of the anemometers, the group of leaders was once again to be jubilant. Finally some raw action. The leaders at the start of the race, the Guillaume Pirouelle (Normandy Region), Basile Bourgnon (Edenred), Corentin Horeau (Banque Populaire) or Gaston Morvan (Bretagne Region-CMB Performance) hoping to regain control when their edge was going to be more favorable according to the expected wind. Above all, take over the leadership from those who had chosen the North route from the Scillys. Tom Dolan (Smurfit Kappa-Kingspan) and the two rookies Benoît Tuduri (Capso En Cavale) and Julie Simon (Douze-YCLB).
Just on the edge of this group of hunters, Maël Garnier (J’️ Garnier), the most Northerner of the Southerners, was also on the lookout: “I think I got back in the right package. I got a good rest. Now I’m going to equip myself to be nice and dry in my dry suit this evening. Drink well and eat well to keep me going until the end.”
The sea does not ask to think but to act. Who will cross first on the road to the Fastnet? Response this night, in the rain and gusts at 30 knots. There will then remain 40 miles of galloping to reach Kinsale and its colorful houses. And a well-deserved rest at the end of the morning.
