Stage 5 - Alnif - The Mummy

The Mummy, Morocco – Friday 7 October 2022

The queen stage of Roc du Maroc didn’t disappoint with 151 kilometers through the desert and another duo of winners. The riders are getting more and more tired, both physically and mentally, so team spirit was key today.

After a beautiful sunset in the bivouac of Alnif yesterday evening, this morning 264 participants left for the longest stage of this Roc du Maroc at an equally stunning sunrise and to the tones of 'Die Sonne' by Rammstein. A stage that instilled some fear in many participants beforehand, as could be heard from the comments at breakfast:

- “I've never ridden this far on a mountain bike!”

- “With those long stretches straight ahead, it becomes a challenge not to lose focus… and not to lose motivation, haha.”

- “I'm just going to let it get to me. Keep pushing the pedals and realizing that each pedal stroke will bring me closer to the Mummy.”

How the race was won

After the first part of 25 km over twisty and somewhat hilly roads, with oasis and stony oueds, the riders arrived in the desert and the race became a mental, on top of a physical challenge.

Sven Driesen and Vincent Meyvis came over the line as winners (all-round and category MEN) of this stage: “We will never experience this again, I died at least five times today,” exclaimed Vincent Meyvis. His teammate, Sven Driesen told the story of the stage, tired but satisfied: “Vincent was much too strong for me today, he took the lead for almost the complete stage. All credits go to him!”

“Today the pace was really irregular at first. With a few sharp attacks, more and more teams dropped until eventually we were left with three teams and two challengers. So early on, the 8 of us were alone and stayed together for the entire ride. This was a very tough stage; the sun and the wind were hammering us down and the landscape is indeed endless. You slowly lose power, so it is a matter of dosing well, but that was not easy today.”

“I loved it and really enjoyed every inch of it, but I had the impression that our companions on the road thought differently,” Driesen laughed.

“You can say that,” Simon Stevens of Grandfondo Team 1 agreed. He and his teammate crossed the finish line in third place but they remain leaders all-round and in the MEN category. “I was sick of it after 2 hours. I really suffered today. Beforehand, Michaël (Ossieur, teammate of Stevens, ed.) had said that in a stage race he normally gets better day by day. I felt that today, I can tell you that much."

The MASTER category also had different winners today, with Davy Blancquaert and Kris Hendrickx from team Mace93. They crossed the line 35m and 27s behind the winners, closely followed by the leaders in the MASTER category, Benoît Hustinx and Pascal Leplae. Winners in the GRAND MASTER category were again Chris Maes and Alex Moonen, in 6:23:49. Vaast Bogaert and Diederik Libbrecht, leaders of the GRAND MASTER, had a mechanical and lost some time, but remain firmly in the lead in their age classification.

Results Stage 5 – Roc du Maroc 2022

1. Sven Driesen and Vincent Meyvis in 5:48:08 (all-round and MEN winners)

2. Bart Hoornaert and Dieter Verhaeghe in 5:48:20

3. Michaël Ossieur and Simon Stevens in 5:42:42 (leaders all-round and MEN)

4. Davy Blancquaert and Kris Hendrickx in 6:23:35 (MASTER winners)

5. Benoît Hustinx and Pascal Leplae in 6:23:41 (leaders MASTER)

6. Remco Veerkamp and Frank De Bakker in 6:23:41

7. Korneel Monbailliu and Peter Van Praet in 6:23:47

8. Chris Maes and Alex Moonen in 6:23:49 (winners GRAND MASTER)

9. Sébastien Kestelyn and Paul Winnock De Grave at 6:23:52

10. Ronald Boers and Jan-Willem Huising at 6:24:06

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