After a postponed start and eight hours of motoring along the Normandy coast, all 12 M34s met at 5.30am off Saint-Adresse to begin the third leg of the Tour de France a la Voile from Dieppe to Deauville in more wind. After a 6.20am start, Bretagne Crédit Mutuel Elite went on to master the shifty conditions and win the leg.
“We are getting better and better,” confessed the skipper of Bretagne Crédit Mutuel Elite Nicolas Troussel after the finish in Deauville. The team from Brittany picked the right side of the racecourse and sailed in more breeze than their competitors. They raced right next to Groupama 34 until the finish line.
Courrier Dunkerque 3 raced well also, taking second ahead of Franck Cammas’ team. Daniel Souben says that “Groupama rounded the offset mark first and it was tough to come back on them” but Dunkerque skipper succeeded.
Right behind Cammas, Normandie amateurs are delighted with their 4th place. They now lead the amateur ranking and are tied for points with the German team, Iskareen.
It’s a different mood onboard Sodebo today. They placed 10th in Deauville after a series of tactical errors and a bit of bad luck.
But the Tour is a long race and today’s changes in results are all the proof. In-port racing resumes tomorrow in Deauville.