Their hands are tingling, it’s time… for the big explanation.The sun rises over Mende on Friday May 17. The riders set off on the first circuit of the Trèfle Lozérien AMV, heading for the Gorges du Tarn. The day’s program included a 209 km course with 5 special stages.
The story of the day, of course, is the wave of Jeremy Tarroux… Aggressive and twirling, the Frenchman, 2nd last year, put in a faultless performance on this first day, or almost… Faced with two enduro world champions, he took four podiums out of five special stages, including a victory in Scratch 2… But if Tarroux dominated the day on a regular basis, he suffered a sad 10-second penalty for crossing the 20m line at the start without the engine impulse. He dropped back to 4th place overall.
From 10th to 8th place, the drivers were all within two seconds of each other. Alexis Beaud, 10th at the end of the day, preferred to keep his foot on the gas. The race lasts 3 days, and he didn’t want to make any mistakes. In 9th position, Luc Fargier, 1st day on the Trèfle Lozérien AMV, 1st day in the classic and a first top 10. A good start for the Junior 2 (2022) world champion. Jérémy Miroir, in 8th position, super satisfied with his new bike, the 310 Fantic, a fine day for the 31st-placed rider on the last Dakar…
Last year’s winner, Till de Clercq, wanted to do too well and made a series of small mistakes. He finished 26 seconds off the lead in 7th position. Hugo Blanjoue, number 14, was dreading this Friday. But the Honda rider found his rhythm at the end of the day and finished sixth. 4th in the Val de Lorraine, 2nd in the Grappe de Cyrano, there’s plenty of room for the policeman.
In 5th position, Killian Lunier was 21 seconds behind the leader. Light rain in SP4 nearly sent him to the ground twice, and a rebellious peg stalled him in the final scratch. Day 2 should suit him better.
In 4th place was the unfortunate Jérémy Tarroux.
Ahead of him was another surprise. Valérian Debaud finished 3rd on what he described as a magnificent day that will remain engraved in his memory. The Val de Lorraine winner dominated Verona twice and Garcia twice in the special stages.
Garcia, the Enduro 1 world champion and runner-up in the standings, got off to a good start with wins in SP1 and SP3, but crashed out in SP5.
After Tarroux’s retirement, Andrea Verona ended the first day in first place. He had finished strongly, taking the last two special stages. The Enduro 2 World Champion is in contention for his first success in Lozère. Only two seconds separate Verona from Debaud. Tarroux is more than eight seconds back. Lunier and Declercq were again in a tight group from 5th to 7th place, less than five seconds apart.