With the ferocious, highest peaks of the Pyrenees at their backs, and a few hours of well deserved sleep, fifteen teams set off at first light on day 2 of Raid in France to navigate the short distance to CP 8 and the start of the Raft section. In the lead at the end of Day 1 was 400 Team Naturex with Seagate close on their tail.
The spectacular raft course on the River Aude is the pivotal section of the race, around which all the other sections are arranged. The section started in the Saint-Georges Gorges, and with the voluptuous release of water from the Hydroelectric facility included some challenging and exciting rapids and beautiful scenes through the Birch-tree lined river. The cool water and spectacular course was a delight for the teams, giving them time to freshen up and rest their aching feet for an hour before switching to their bikes for the 91 km ride. Starting off the ride section 400 Team Naturex was still in the lead, but relented to Seagate early in the section. At the end of the day, moving into the 37km trek section through the Carança gorges and the Fossa del Gegant peak, Seagate held the lead by 45 minutes. Issy Aventure Absolu Raid 1 and RaidsAventure.fr hold third and fourth position at this stage. The leading teams will spend most of the night trekking through the section to end back at the start of the trek at Thues entre Valls, while many of the teams further back will only reach the stage tomorrow.
