Shortly before noon on Day 5 of the 2001 Ukatak Raid International, Team Finland crossed the finish line at the Auberge des 3 Canards, high on a hill overlooking La Mal Baie. With one final push on its bikes, the team claimed 1st place.
After leaving their cross-country skis in the Mont Grand-Fonds Park, Pasi Dkonen, Eero Jäppinen, Iiro Kakko and Ingrid Stengard spent only a few minutes at CP21 before climbing on their bikes to embark on the final leg of the race.
Stengard, who has been battling a fever for the past day, was helped along the course by her teammates. Stengard's teammates helped her physically by pushing her bike and mentally by cycling around her, making her laugh and taking her mind off the pain.
The Finns appeared to be in no hurry to cross the finish line. Jappinen spent as much time staring up at the scenery as he did watching the road ahead, smiling at spectators who cheered the team on, slowing down and speeding up on his bike at will.
Wet and tired, the team still managed to maintain a good sense of humor. "Does anybody know where we are going?" asked Kakko. "I think it is a hotel somewhere up the road."
"Somewhere up the road" was in fact somewhere up a big hill. The Finnish pushed their bikes the last few hundred meters of the race, with one final push to the finish line, where locals, media and race staff waited to greet the winners of the first ever Ukatak Raid International.
Kakko was pleased with the team's strategy at CP15 to let the French team blaze the trail ahead of them, "We let them go for a while, then when we did not need them anymore, we let them go."
A few hours later, France's PlaneteAventure followed in the path of the Finnish. At PC21, team captain Loic Goharel showed a tremendous amount of energy, especially considering he had to walk 25 kilometers of the 40-kilometer trail.
On the final push up the hill, Jean Baptiste Calais not only stayed on his bike, but also towed teammate Sophie Deudon's bike up the hill — not bad for a man who spent the night hallucinating. "I was skiing and I kept seeing these houses and these people on the trail," Calais said, as he waited for his teammates to catch up to him. "I knew that they were not really there, but I kept seeing them all the same."
Samuraï Spirits and Peak.com may finish the race by nightfall. Le Yetï remained several hours behind but still on track, and the unranked DurandSports will also finish the race within the next 24 hours.
Race Organizer Martin Nieto said all seven teams that entered this first ever Ukatak will always be welcome at every successive Ukatak, "They helped us to make this race possible, so there will always be place for them here."
– Susan McKenzie, Ukatak Raid International Correspondent
