Riders have already taken the plunge, making up the field of 22, gracing the start line of AlpacAttack in Alumine, Argentina, on April 13th. It's not the biggest field to ever launch a race, but what it is, is a group of like-minded adventure driven athletes who are looking to expand their boundaries and test their mettle in new environments and terrains. The starting line-up consists of riders from 13 different countries, USA, Canada, Australia, UK, Poland, Hungary, Uruguay, Brazil, Argentina, Korea, Japan, New Zealand and Portugal and for many, AlpacAttack is their first experience of Patagonia.
The first 2.5 stages are taking place in Argentina before crossing the border and continuing on through Chile for a further 3.5 stages. Along the 700km course riders will encounter a variety of terrains and surfaces, including Aruacaria (Monkey Puzzle) forests, windswept steppe, volcanic lava fields, lake hugging gravel tracks, river crossings, mud, sand and rock.
On April 13th, the riders of the first ever AlpacAttack could have been excused for their complacency towards stage 1, which was billed as an easy introduction to Patagonia, with just 106km of rolling gravel to navigate. Mother nature had other ideas, however, and the infamous Patagonian wind had grown in strength during the night and was gusting from the direction the riders were headed, Villa Peheunia.
With adrenalin pumping and thoughts of a first AlpacAttack stage victory on the riders minds, the field was ripped apart within the first kilometer, with Brasilian riders Nuno Miguel Mano Jorge and Eduardo Bispo opening up a 2 minute lead on the chasing pack of 8 riders, by the first feed station at the 20km point.
Yuki Ikeda, of Japan, who was in the chasing pack, suffered a major setback when he punctured at around 60km and was left without a working pack to catch the front riders who were steadily increasing their lead.
The rolling terrain and increasing wind, however, split the chasing pack and Yuki was able to pick them off one by one and, with a massive display of determination, fought his way back to the 2 Brasilians, eventually pulling away from Eduardo and crossing the finish line 1 second ahead of Nuno and 3 minutes ahead of Eduardo.
Sonya Ewonus held her own with the men and finished strongly in 7th overall and first in the female category. Wendy Lyall and MireilleMontminy finished together, 2nd and 3rd respectively, 34 minutes after Sonya.
The men’s 50+ category was a close fought battle with Jorge Vidart of Uruguay, ZbigniewWizner of Poland and Pablo Rodriguez of Brasil finishing in that order with only 5 minutes separating them. Stay tuned for stage 2!
Photos: © Monica Arruda
Source: http://www.theyakattack.com
