Armel le Cléac'h won the second leg of the Solitaire du Figaro 2020 this Tuesday 8th September at 16 hours 20 minutes and 34 seconds, at the end of a 404 mile speedway, which was completed with a good result. The skipper of Banque Populaire took 2 days 5 hours 20 minutes and 34 seconds to reach Dunkirk from the Bay of Saint Brieuc and thus takes the lead in the general ranking.
Seven years after his 6th stage victory between Porto and Gijon, the skipper from Finistère wins his 7th stage victory in the race.
In the lead from the first crossing of the English Channel towards Eddystone, to the south-west of Plymouth, he was able to find a small wind shift to the right of the race zone, an option that his rivals did not follow.
"This choice, several routings gave it, but there was a risk of falling into a soft spot, Armel went there, not the others", admires Christian Le Pape, the boss of the Finistère Course au large pole in Port-la-Forêt where the figarist trains.
"I was determined, quite certain of my move, I really wanted to position myself in the north of the fleet to anticipate the wind shift. It went well and that allowed me to pass Eddystone in first place and, behind it, to escape. When I felt that it was starting to get a little bit too much from the front after Start Point, I took the opportunity to put in some coal and I steered a lot, because I knew that those metres were going to count double" explains Armel le Cléac'h.
This option enabled him to widen the gap on his pursuers, with the skipper of Banque Populaire sailing alone on the second Channel crossing towards Antifer, then on the climb back up to Dunkirk, under the DST at Calais.
Xavier Macaire, winner of the first leg with a lead of 10 minutes and 20 seconds over Armel le Cléac'h, has left the reins to the skipper of Banque Populaire. The skipper of Groupe SNEF arrived a good forty minutes after the winner and finished in 2nd place overall.
