When he was first to cross the finish line of Stage 3 of the 54th La Solitaire du Figaro Paprec off Piriac-sur-Mer at 03:08:30 hrs local time this Friday morning French rookie Benoît Tuduri (CAPSO en Cavale) made amends for a fundamental rules transgression which lost him the Stage 1 win into Kinsale.
Benoit Tuduri after the finish line
The 29 year old from Montpellier who trains out of Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie with Team Vendée Formation followed a bold, but pre-prepared strategy to stick close down the Vendée coast. Passing inside the Ile de Yeu, finding a stronger thermal, sea-breeze saw him along with provisional runner up on the stage Jules Delpech (ORCOM) pass the most leeward turn of the 470 mile course in first and second place. Tuduri made a similar move on Stage 1, Caen to Kinsale via the Fastnet and crossed the finish line first into Ireland. But he was penalised 30 minutes for having stacked material outside the guardrails of his boat. He dropped to fourth, but with a sixth on Stage 2, 3hrs 22mins behind winner Basile Bourgnon, and provisional winner into Piriac-sur-Mer, Tuduri should win the BÉNÉTEAU Bizuths Trophy. His elapsed time for Stage 3 is 3d 12h 25m 30s.
Second across the line was Delpech at 03:22:59hrs and third - reprising her Stage 3 podium finish into Saint Nazaire last year - was Elodie Bonafous (Queguiner-La Vie en Rose)