From the start, the Trophy BPE split into the "Northerners" and "the Southerners". At first, it looked like those who'd opted for the north had got it right, then the southerners took over, now - with just 800 miles to go, there's not a lot in it, though the southern group still has the advantage.
The one to watch could be Liz Wardley (Sojasun) who ignored the manoeuvres of some others, trying to make up places, and has turned off the southern motorway to head straight for the finish in the third place.

Has she got it right? Well she's worried a few front runners. Leader Thomas Rouxel (Challenge Musketeers) said this morning "This makes it complicated. The weather is getting more uncertain and now I need to keep an eye on Liz to the north of me and Nico 'Nicolas Troussel on Financo) who's now south of me. It's worrying, especially as Papoue (Liz Wardley) isn't going to do the same mileage as we are. She's taken a gambol, but it could really pay off. Then I'm also wondering about Nico, who's taken a radical move, which could pay off and the Northerners could come back into it. So ….. pouf!"

Charles Caudrelie, in second place on Bostik, said "The options are multiplying and Liz has opted for the 'all or nothing' option and we still have to be wary of the Northerners. They've been put in what should have been catastrophic situations, again and again, and each time it's worked out for them. Then there's Nico, who took that plunge down south and has now also tacked for the finishing run. What is great though is that I'm still 'match racing' with Thomas Rouxel. It is incredible; we have the same ideas at the same time. After each tack, I get the binoculars to check what trajectory he's on and, every time, he's tacked too. I'm not too worried about Liz, I want to win this race and I'm sticking to my own routing, but we'll all have a clearer picture by tomorrow morning.

04/11/07