(21-07-2013) Heroic finish to the 2013 Red Bull X-Alps 2013 Adv3nturTrav3l

Sunday, July 21, 2013

(21-07-2013) Heroic finish to the 2013 Red Bull X-Alps 2013 Adv3nturTrav3l

Heroic finish to the 2013 Red Bull X-Alps 2013 Jul 21st 2013, 08:53

Monaco welcomed its tenth and final athlete on Friday morning, just hours before the Red Bull X-Alps c2013 ame to an end at 12:00 local time.

It is perhaps fitting that on the ten-year anniversary of the first Red Bull X-Alps, it should be Toma Coconea (ROM) to arrive in 10th place as he has competed in every edition of the race since 2003.

The 37-year-old, perhaps more than any other athlete, embodies the spirit of the race with his determination and never-say-die attitude. Famous for the Herculean distances he's able to cover on foot — in both 2011 and 2009 he hiked over 900km — the last day saw him hike 130km to Peille. He reached the final turnpoint at 22:52 to be greeted by cheering crowds and blaring horns. He had hardly stopped since starting at 5:30am that day.

"He is crazy," said a friend of Coconea's who was running with him.

Along the way, his supporter Daniel Pisica, a Colonel in the Romanian army, smoking a cigar and with AC/DC blaring out of the van's stereo, shouted commands at him to keep him going. "Come on soldier, fight!" he yelled.

Paul Guschlbauer (AUT1) arrived in 9th place on Thursday, a few hours before Coconea. Having placed third in 2011 he was looking for big things in 2013 but his result is a reminder that with the Red Bull X-Alps, it's an adventure first and anything can happen. He reached Peille at 17:17, in a very respectable time of 11 days, five hours and 50 minutes.

Race director Christoph Weber says it was one of the best editions of the race: "It was amazing for a number of reasons. The weather and flying conditions were really good making it a very fast and dynamic race. We also had a lot more teams reaching Monaco, which makes it special. When Coconea arrived they all gave him a warm welcome. It was an incredible atmosphere. The race has a very special spirit. Another reason that made it special were the mini-battles that went on — like the fight for 2nd and 3rd place and 4th and 5th place. It was a very close race for the athletes and very exciting to watch."

The preliminary results and timings can be seen below. But for the best highlights, stats, route analysis and more, explore the additional features to be found on Red Bull Mobile Live Tracking (http://www.redbullxalps.com/live-tracking.html).

The 2013 Red Bull X-Alps results:
1. Christian Maurer (SUI1): 6d 23hr 40m
2. Clement Latour (FRA1): 8d 16hr
3. Antoine Girard (FRA2): 8d 16hr 30m
4. Jon Chambers (GBR): 9d 5hr 12m
5. Peter Gebhard (ITA2) 9d 7hr 40m
6. Ferdinand Van Schelven (NED) 10d 9hr 27m
7. Aaron Durogati (ITA1): 10d 10hr 28m
8. Martin Muller (SUI2): 10d 21hr 43m
9. Paul Guschlbauer (AUT1): 11d 5hr 47m
10. Toma Coconea (ROM): 11d 11hr 22m
11. Honza Rejmanek (USA1): 101km*
12. Victor Sebe (FRA3): 113km
13. Thomas de Dorlodot (BEL): 153km
14. Evgenii Griaznov (RUS): 154km
15. Pawel Faron (POL:) 154km
16. Kaoru Ogisawa (JPN1): 168km
17. Andy Frötscher (ITA3): 182km
18. Shoichiro Tadano (JPN2): 184km
19. Michal Krysta (CZE): 229km
20. Max Mittmann (GER3): 261km
21. Mike Küng (AUT2): 379km
22. Raul Penso (VEN): 385km
23. Max Fanderl (CAN): 411km
24. Lars Budack (GER2): 428km
25. Pil Pyo Hong (KOR): 430km
26. Pierre Carter (RSA): 553km
27. Iñigo Gabiria (ESP): 588km
28. Stephan Haase (USA2): Retired
29. Thomas Hofbauer (AUT3): Eliminated
30. Babu Sunuwar (NPL) Eliminated
31. Claudio Heidel (ARG) Eliminated

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