Today’s stage includes a lot of mountains, with a stretch of big dunes just before getting to the bivouac, and it promises to be harsh. And hot. Last night, many had to open up completely their sleeping bags so as not to soak them with sweat. It makes for a comfortable sleep but doesn’t bode so well in terms of day temperature, even if the sky is overcast at the start of the stage, at 8.30.
The two small climbs in Jebel Amessoui, between kilometres 4 and 5 tame the enthusiasm of some who happened to be over optimistic in their choice of pace. Going down on a goats track allows the most ambitious runners to demonstrate their skill out-outdoing the traps of such a rocky terrain.
Check Point 1, at kilometre 11.4, is set in the midst of a flat zone covered with locust trees, giving runners a chance to discover a new facet of this Saharan area.
This CP opens to a classic route amongst local jebels, with yet another climb, Hered Asfer, leading to a crest track.
Most of the competitors, whatever their level, already know by the time they reach CP 2 (km 20,3), over half-way through the stage, that the hardest is yet to come – at least judging from what is written in their road-book.
Fording the Rheris wadi brings a little freshness, but at kilometre 22.6, the view over the vast plain heading South West announces the next difficulty. The looming crests of jebel El Otfal are over 7 km away. And it’s easy to guess it will be a horribly hard climb, with an average 25% slope factor, walking on rocks and sand.
Just after CP 3, at the foot of the mountain, hell starts.
Even the dunes seem easy at the end of this harsh moutainy stage.
I'm sure he will be devastated, but if anything like last year he will stay with the camp to cheer everyone else on.
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