Nick Gracie leads the British team Adidas Terrex/Prunesco in the final kilometers towards Fiordo Obstruccion check point after completing a 77 kilometer trek during the 2011 Wenger Patagonian Expedition Race. (Photo: Tony Hoare)
British team adidasTERREX/Prunesco has claimed victory in the 2011 Wenger Patagonian Expedition Race, completing the tough 10-day course with two days to spare.
In the third win in a row for the team, the racers were ecstactic to cross the finish line in the Pali Aike National Park at 4.22pm this afternoon after cycling for almost nine hours today.
British team captain Bruce Duncan said: “To have won this race once is something special, to win it three times is simply amazing. This is the ultimate race and this one was a tough one. The weather really made a difference to the course, and I am both relieved and delighted to have reached the finish.”
AdidasTERREX/Prunesco racers Duncan, Mark Humpfrey, Nick Gracie and Fi Spotswood pushed hard during the early stages of the race, only sleeping between one to two hours each night to gain a commanding lead over the other teams, none of which could catch the leaders.
US team GearJunkie.com has taken second place, crossing the finish line at 4.55pm. The team was awarded a 10 hour penalty for missing PC10, but still managed to finish ahead of the other teams.
This year’s race proved to be one of the toughest and most spectacular in its history as weather conditions turned from sparkling sunshine in Torres del Paine to heavy rain in the western fjords. The course involved a total of 248km of mountain biking, 131km of trailless trekking and 105km of river and sea kayaking in the wilderness of Chilean Patagonia, from the tourist hub of Torres del Paine to the remote Pali Aike National Park between the towns of Puerto Natales and Punta Arenas. Teams passed through complete wilderness, navigating by map and compass alone, where they encountered unnamed glaciers, trekked through spectacular Avatar-style landscapes and paddled past icebergs in high-sided fjords.
The two trekking sections proved to be the most challenging parts, and the second was shortened by 114km after rain turned the forests into treacherous slippery obstacle courses, covered rock faces with endless waterfalls and, crucially, caused rivers to rise to the point where the course became un-navigable.
Vaucluse Adventure Evasions (France) and Ad Natura (Croatia) are currently tackling the final 188km cycling leg and are expected to cross the finish line in a few hours time.
Tomorrow, teams East Wind ( Japan ) and Perdido en el Turbal (US, UK ) will race to the finish line, in a fight for fifth place.
The remaining eight teams, that did not finish the race, are gathering in Punta Arenas for the official closing ceremony.
