Saturday, 12 April: Frenchman Teddy Pons took a comfortable victory in
stage 2 of the Karujet to win by 1:38 seconds from yesterday’s stage
winner Lucas Granger, with Chris MacClugage coming home in third spot
for the second time in two days, just five seconds behind Granger.

The win puts Pons up into second place in the overall classification 16 seconds behind Granger and ahead of MacClugage.

In the first of the legs from Viard to Saint-Francois and back to Viard
run in difficult conditions with big seas and poor visibility,
Alexandre Barret led almost the whole way. Behind him the battle was
between Pons, Jean-Bruno Pastorello, Davy Vaitilingon and MacClugage.

Craig Warner picked up his pace and at about 66km into the stage moved
into fourth behind Barret, Pons and MacClugage, with Medori fifth and
Lucas Granger sixth. But Warner hit trouble, the American rider
eventually retiring.

Approaching the end of the first leg Barret broke down, handing the
lead to Pons with MacClugage ahead Granger and yesterday’s stage
runner-up Ugo Fidelin.

Francois Medori was in the lead group for most of leg one but then had
an ignition problem, his engine cutting out every time he hit a wave,
eventually finishing in 17^th place 27 minutes off the pace. 

Pons was quickest in and first out after the pit stops and never looked back, and went on unchallenged to win by 1:38 seconds.

MacClugage looked set to follow Pons home but Lucas Granger made a late
attack as the two went head-to-head in the closing stages with Granger
nabbing second place by just five seconds, with Ugo Fidelin finishing in
fourth. 

MacClugage said after the stage that “his age was catching up with him
and that he really felt all his 40 years of experience, and his knees,
which have gone through a few operations, were really hurting. But that
he's having a lot of fun out there and in a good position.”

Pastorello, who was running in the top three in the early stages, then
had problems with his bike and struggled, ultimately retiring.

Karam Vincent picked up his best finish over the two days coming home
in fourth, with last year’s winner Marc Forbin putting himself right
back in contention, finishing in fifth ahead of Fidelin.

Today’s two leg 144km stage [3] from Viard to Les Saintes and back,
arguably the toughest of the event, starts at 14.00hrs (local / 18.00hrs
GMT).

Karujet – stage 2 results

1. Teddy Pons (fra): 01:52:17s

2. Lucas Granger (glp) + 1:38s

3. Chris MacClugage (usa) + 1:42s

4. Karam Vincent (glp) + 2:37s

5. Marc Forbin (glp) + 2:46s

6. Ugo Fidelin (mtq) + 2:59s

Overall classification

1. Lucas Granger (glp): 02:37:46s

2. Teddy Pons (fra) +16s

3. Chris MacClugage (usa) + 1:11s

4. Ugo Fidelin (mtq) + 2:08s

5. Karam Vincent (glp) + 3.23s

6. Marc Forbin (glp) + 5:26s

For the complete classification go to results section in aquabike.net

For further event information go to karujet.com

Photos: Nicolas Defaux

Sunday, 13 April: Teddy Pons leads the overall standings in the 17
edition of the Karujet going into today’s fourth and final stage.

The French rider, who won the Karujet in 2011, is within sight of
second title and heads into the fourth and final stage with an 8:51.785
second advantage over Martinique rider, Ugo Fidelin, after finishing in
second place in yesterday’s gruelling and dramatic 144km stage, with
Alexandre Barret becoming the third different stage winner, Pons’
biggest rival for the title Fidelin taking third.

The majority of the riders agreed stage 3 was the hardest yet,
especially along the Canal Des Saintes and around the Island with 1.5
metres waves coming from both sides, and saw a reshuffle in the
standings with title hopefuls Lucas Granger who won stage 1 and led the
standings after stage two and third-placed Chris MacClugage both having
problems, Granger breaking after 20 minutes in, MacClugage going out at
the start.

Fidelin moved out to an early lead ahead of Francois Medori and Barret
but conceded position to both, with Barret hitting the front, Frederic
Roussel running in fourth.

 

  

At around the 85km Barret dropped to fifth with engine issues, Medori
and Fidelin taking advantage to run one –two ahead of Cedric Ramassamy,
Teddy Pons running strongly in fourth. But Medori’s lead was short-lived
breaking down and going out, Lucas Granger suffering the same fate,
followed almost immediately by Jean-Bruno Pastorello’s exit.

 

Pons hit the front and led briefly before a recovering Barret stormed
passed him to lead into the pit stop ahead Kevin Carlini, Pons, Fidelin
and Yann Ponama.

 

 

Barret was first back out on the course followed by Pons with Carlini
stranded in the pits and retiring, and never looked back carving out a
4km lead to take the win from Pons by 6:52.146 seconds.

Fidelin made a late charge to pass Karam to take third with Roussel and Ponama completing the top six.

 

The final four-leg stage to decide the outcome of the 17 edition of the
Karujet is 126.4kms from Viard to Saint-Marie, Le Gosier and back with
the first start at 11.00hrs (local / 15.00hrs GMT).

Karujet – stage 3 results

1. Alexandre Barret (fra): 01:59:44.00

2. Teddy Pons (fra) + 6:52.1s

3. Ugo Fidelin (mtq) + 12:36.9s

4. Vincent Karam (glp) + 14:02.1s

5. Frederic Roussel (glp) + 14:16.0s

6. Yann Ponama (glp) + 16:15.6s

Overall classification

1. Teddy Pons (fra): 04:43:08.146s

2. Ugo Fidelin (mtq) + 8:51.785s

3. Vincent Karam (glp) + 11:47.006s

4. Alain Tarzia (fra) + 24:43.416s

5. Vincent Thomas (glp) + 31:50.086s

6. Franck Arnoux (glp) + 49:40.253s

For the complete classification go to results section in aquabike.net

For further event information go to karujet.com

Photos: Nicolas Defaux