Nicolas Lunven almost made a clear round on this 48th Solitaire Urgo Le Figaro. After two leg victories (the 1st to Gijon and the 3rd for the 24 Hours of Cornwall) the skipper of Generali clinched overall victory. Arriving in Dieppe in 4th position consolidates his first place in the general ranking and wins this 48 e Solitaire Urgo Le Figaro ahead of Adrien Hardy (Agir Recouvrement) by 34 minutes 32s, and Charlie Dalin (Skipper Macif 2015) by 57 minutes 01s.
He thus marks a second overall victory over the Solitaire Urgo Le Figaro, after his victory in Dieppe in 2009, with a total of 9 participations in the race. A victory that he owes to two years of hard work" I worked my ass off!" he confided upon his victorious arrival in Concarneau on the third stage.
We'll remember a faultless course, an insolent speed, an intelligence in the trajectories... in short a perfect navigation which bluffed its opponents. Nicolas scored two leg victories on this Solitaire 2017: Bordeaux-Gijon in stormy conditions (up to 50 knots of wind) and the 24 Hours of Cornwall, a 150 mile express loop from Concarneau. There was also an incredible duel with Adrien Hardy (Agir Recouvrement), a devilishly catchy sailor, who undoubtedly pushed Nicolas to the limit!
" It's a great relief, it's years of work, I think about it every day, I'm very moved. It's probably my greatest victory because there's been so much upstream work since 2010. It feels good to cut the line! Adrien was equal to himself with all due respect, he tried every shot that came through his head with an unusually high success rate for a human being. He made one too many on the approach to the Isle of Wight, he lost a bit. All victories are difficult, it takes energy, time, investment to get there... This one I'm going to savour more than my first one in 2009. I win two stages, I do 3rd and 4 e on the other two. This is the greatest moment of my athletic career." said the skipper upon his arrival in Dieppe.
General Podium of La Solitaire URGO Le Figaro
- Nicolas Lunven - Generali
- Adrien Hardy - Agir Recouvrement
- Charlie Dalin - Skipper Macif 2015
Credit: Alexis Courcoux
