Paris-Dakar post race thread

No I'm not mistaking the PdC for a motorized cross website. It was done. Riding 7193 km from the Eiffel tower to Senegal. ON A BIKE! It's actually been the third edition this year. I stumbled upon it on a Belgium website (thanks to a cyclingnews.nl link on my phone). Read on and I'll show you what I managed to find about the race.

via www.nieuwsblad.be

The intrepid pioneers started out on September 6 and after 10 weeks of doing stages every day (excl. 11 rest days) they finished last Saturday in Senegal. The overall winner in the men's category was Eric Voutaz from Switzerland with a 52 minute lead on compatriot David Imboden. 47-year old Belgian Dirk Franckx was the third man on the podium. The overall winner did not step unto the top step of the podium in a yellow jersey but in a traditional Mauritanian costume. Toos van Beijsterveldt from the Netherlands was the first woman. She was podiumed in a colourful Senegal dress with Swedish Betty Otterstedt as runner up and the Dutch Maartje Knoop as third.

The race saw some serious climbing. Not only around Andorra but also in the Atlas mountains. It is organised by the Dutch company Bike Dreams. Read all about this great adventure (and see some pictures) on the race website.

This is so on my try-before-I-die list!