MTB Mission to Mars - Andes Pacifico Day 2 Race Action

Day 2 of the Andes Pacifico proved to be a grueling combination of heat, dry conditions, high altitude, epic hike-a-bikes and incredible, worthwhile descents. It's all part of the adventure as Sven Martin, Gary Perkin and Dave Trumpore document this intense MTB stage race in Chile.

Los Andes mountains continues to show off the impressive trails here. Day two in the Andes Pacifico race really showed the area has amazing trails for Enduro riding. With only three liaison and three special stages the race was still harder than yesterday.



The riders were transported to 2,600 m altitude where they began the longest special stage of the race with over 1,500 vertical meters featuring all kinds of landscapes and terrains. From the steppes to the wonderful mountain range forests mixed with cactus and rocks. Jerome Clementz had previously told us that he likes long stages and he took this stage by over 20 seconds ahead of compatriot François Bailly-Maitre . In the women’s category Anka Martin extended her leads with a time of 28:45.



The second special was much more technical and featured many loose turns over a total of a little over 8 minutes. Here again Frenchman Jerome Clementz took the stage win with 8:11 followed by Chris Johnston on 8:31. For the women, Anka Martin again overcame nearest competitor Pauline Dieffenthaler.



The third stage came after a long liaison that ended with a walk that left sweat marks on the dusty soil. This SS was a surprise to everyone because a special kind of very sandy soil turned the stage into a kind of SX track. Paul Smail came down saying that this on this special he took almost every turn with the foot out as if on a motorcycle. Here again Clementz demonstrated his supremacy taking the win with a time of 7:13 and a margin of 20 seconds over Lars Sternberg (whose run was followed by the chopper, shooting a video for Smith Optics).



So The Andes Pacifico day 2 ended again with Jerome Clementz on top followed by Nico Prudencio, François Bailly-Maitre, and Chris Johnston. Anka Martin strengthens her lead in the women’s category ahead of Pauline Dieffenthaler.