Approaching Lake Tekapo the trails again became
rough and rocky as they again climbed mountains. As
with the previous day a few riders came off and were
grateful when they reached the blue waters of the lake,
in fact a reservoir built in the 1970’s. Lake Tekapo, along
with the hydro scheme it forms part of, provides 85% of
New Zealand’s energy. The country is proud of the fact
that the lake along with geo-thermal sources provide
almost 100% total renewable and sustainable energy.
The day ended after almost 11 hours of riding, yet no
one complained as the spectacular scenery provided
welcomed distraction from the tough conditions.
“The views were like we’ve never seen before,” an ex-
cited Jorge Osorio (Team Middle East) explained. “And
then we came to this amazing off-road route where we
crossed glacial rivers and were riding up really technical
climbs, it was amazing.”
South Africa retained the lead over France and while
Italy remained in third the points deficit grew. Australia
dropped a position to find themselves in 9th as did the
USA who dropped to 11th.
Mountain passes, river crossings, and a history of
mining ( jade and gold) greeted riders as they headed
further south for the penultimate day. Leaving Lake
Wanaka, the competitors found their first challenge,
one where they were required to ride a track that was
part gravel and part steep inclines that tested riders with
inclined turns. Many riders fell as they battled the clock,
yet South Africa and France took a conservative course
that saw them through with little errors.
They continued on the Hakataramea Pass towards the
Southern Alps and with it Aoraki (Mount Cook), New Zea-
land’s highest peak, before reaching the Danseys Pass;
tight and twisty with plenty of sheep thrown in. Every-
one was thankful to reach the Danseys Pass Hotel, said to
be one of the remote hotels on Earth.
The afternoon took the course through numerous
historic gold mining communities and the history that
comes with them, then came the second test on the high-
est point of the day within the Thomson Gorge.
This test required riders to bump start their bikes
in the shortest possible distance before performing an
emergency stop. The braver teams, like Russia, were
able to complete the challenge in less than 5 metres
while the teams at the top of the table took a more con-
servative approach.
“Being in second place in the competition we’ve had to
concentrate in the tests today,” explained Team France’s
Aurelien Szulek. “We want to do well but we have to be
careful so we don’t make a big mistake, and we are still
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