A masterly stage
Despite his two hours of penalty, it was head on that Yann Eliès (Groupe Quéguiner âeuros Leucémie Espoir) covered this stage. And so it is as a winner that he arrived in the port of Roscoff in the Finistère. The one who can no longer hope to win the 2014 Solitaire Race is chasing stage victories to beat the record held by Jean Le Cam, ten in number. With the one in Roscoff he has already accumulated nine, so only two more to overtake Le Cam.
It was at 1:26 am, in the middle of the night, that Yann Eliès arrived after three days and three hours at sea. His average speed was 7.13 knots over the almost 1,000 km (535 miles) of the journey. With an 11.2 km lead over his rivals, Eliès dominated the race, taking the lead as soon as he reached the Celtic Sea and widening the gap in the final stretch after the Sorling Islands. "I would like to dedicate this victory to all the guys who put the mast back on the boat and allowed me to leave with a clean boat. My strength is the mental side, making a boat go fastâeuros¦ I heard my mast creaking a bit when there was a bit of sea after the Scilly. I am a bit traumatized, I think I will watch it all the time on La Solitaire. It's the first time I've lost a mast like that, I thought that a Figaro didn't give up (...) I often need to fall to the bottom before bouncing back. It was hard to take, afterwards I am never as good as when I am at the bottom of the wall. I'm not surprised, I left thinking I was going to win, I believed in it" explains the brioche player on his arrival.
At forty years old, Yann Eliès is proving to the other participants that despite the damage that can happen to him he remains the leader of this 2014 Solitaire du Figaro. The 3rd stage Roscoff âeuros Les Sables d'Olonne (Vendée) will start on Sunday June 22 for a course of 926 km.
Arrivals in Roscoff
In 2nd place we find Corentin Horeau (Crédit Mutuel Performance) at 2h24 followed by Jérémie Béyou (Maître Coq) at 2h25 and the 4th, Fabien Delahaye (Macif) at 2h26. Alexis Loison (Groupe Fiva), winner of the 1st leg, came in 7th place at 2h37. The arrivals followed one another all night long with some arrivals at less than five minutes intervals until the arrival of the last participant, Gwenael Gbick (Made in Midi) at 6:54 am, Joan Ahrweiller (Région Basse Normandie) having given up following a damage.
Despite the best time on this second leg, Yann Eliès remains 34th out of 38 participants. The first place is occupied by Fabien Delahaye (Macif 2012) followed in 2nd place by Jérémie Béyou (Maître Coq) and Alexis Loison (Groupe Fiva) in 3rd place. However, nothing is certain given the small gap between the three competitors.
