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Nokia Adventure Wins in Counter-Coup
Saturday, May 6, 2000

The suspense lasted until the end of the night, until the last kilometer preceding the finish line. An incredible series of developments punctuated the final sprint leading to a podium contradicting most predictions.

The conclusion of this 10th Raid Gauloises was an unpredictable night for the leading teams. Team Salomon/Land Rover, up until then the leaders of the pack, discovered, to their disappointment, that their assistance crew did not make it in time to CP39 to deliver the bikes. This checkpoint marks the beginning of the final mountain biking section (138km), where the support teams were supposed to meet their athletes with mountain bikes. The team, led by John Howard, soon found a solution to their quandary by departing on borrowed, local bicycles.

	click for race photos

Nonetheless, this ill-fitting equipment cost them four hours. Thus, they did not win of the 10th Raid Gauloises. Thirty minutes into the course, having found their assistance crew, the American team returned to CP39 to take an accredited start. Meanwhile, three teams passed them.

The assistance crew of Salomon/Land Rover made a reclamation to the jury, arguing that it was impossible, according to them, to make the trip from HQ3 to CP39 (HQ4) in time to meet their team. However, they retracted their complaint when they saw that the assistance crew of Ertips/Salomon (38) had not encountered any problem arriving punctually.

Hard-fought Victory
At CP42, Ertips/Salomon France checked in ahead of Nokia and Intersport. This lead was short-lived when Ertips was stopped by the local authorities, forbidding their nighttime progression (a safety measure due to the Maoist groups roaming the area). By the time the situation was clarified, Ertips/Salomon's lead had evaporated. At the next checkpoint, Nokia was in front, followed by Intersport. Ertips was now in 3rd place.

At the start of the final trekking section (four kilometers to Jamakpur), Intersport was only three minutes behind Nokia, having made a remarkable recovery. The competition was fierce. The two leading teams covered the four final kilometers in only 17 minutes, a true performance considering their accumulated fatigue and the weight of their equipment. The Finnish team Nokia Adventure arrived at the finish 1st at 6:47am, followed by Intersport three minutes later, and by Ertips 30 minutes later. Salomon/Land Rover arrived at 7:52am, after having witnessed, within a few hours, the disappearance of their hopes for a second consecutive victory.

— Provided by Raid Gauloises

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