Top adventure racer Mike Kloser believes the battle for victory in the 2010 Wenger Patagonian Expedition Race is still wide open - but admitted Team Helly Hansen-Prunesco’s strong lead puts them at a significant advantage as the battle continues through the majestic and challenging Darwin range.
Kloser, who has raced for 20 years and is filming the competitors throughout the toughest sections of the course for the TV show on this year’s race, followed Helly Hansen-Prunesco into the Darwin range at first light on Thursday morning and believes they must play a careful strategy to maintain their lead.
“The guys have been going pretty much non stop,” said Kloser at PC8. “They got a few hours rest here, for what it’s worth, and now it’s a long push. If they’re smart, the will get a few rest stops in the middle of this, a couple or three hours of sleep each would be wise for them to do – but we will see what they end up doing.
“My guess is they’ll probably end up doing this, if they average four or five kilometres an hour, in 40 hours or so. There’s a good couple of days worth out there, so a lot of racing left, but once you get ahead and get a chance to sleep in a race like this, that sleep can be a huge component in the race because everybody else has to race your race from behind.”
Helly Hansen-Prunesco pushed on relentlessly through the night to build a healthy lead in the long mountain bike section after arriving at PC6 with a lead group of three teams. Kloser, a former mountain biking world champion, was impressed but also believes that section is only one of the potential turning points in this year’s race.
Teams will race through the Darwin range in an effort to arrive at the Beagle Channel when darkness falls in, probably, two days’ time. If they make that, they will rest during the enforced ‘dark zone’, which stops the clock at night to prevent kayaks from taking to the water in the dark.
“I think that bike there was a pretty big factor in how this race is going to pan out but then there’s the cut-off to making the kayak push and that could be an even bigger factor,” said Kloser. “From what I could see watching the racers, seeing how they were and hearing their strategies, I think it’s a three or four team race right now.
“There is still a lot to go, and I think with the Canadians, who came in second when these guys were sleeping, it will be interesting to see what plays out. It will be important how much sleep they take, as Kelly Hansen-Prunesco are a few hours ahead with their rest, but that’s not much.
“When you’re talking about the big amount of racing that’s left, there is all to play for. I think navigation wise the Darwin may not be so bad, but so many things can go on out there I think it is going to be a lot down to how the terrain goes and if these guys get tired it could change things. There’s a lot of racing left to go…”