The sun seems to be back for good, and the riders had to endure the heat at the end of this very long day.

They began today's ride with a nice warm-up: 60 km of winding paved highway. They hit the gravel road near San Ignacio and headed for the mountains, where some serious climbing awaited them. They crossed nice pine forests on logging roads featuring long climbs, insanely fast descents and hard rocky sections. The main pack of about ten racers exploded when they hit the first hills. Gilles Morneau, the canadian sitting at second place, got a gap on Walker Ferguson and Roger Troyer, and tried to maintain it for a while, but the Belizean rider catched him shorly after the feed zone. Both riders were later joined by the young american rider and the trio stayed together for the last grueling climbs, leading to the historic site of Caracol. They finished the day pretty much stoked after 5 hours and 15 minutes. The next riders came one by one, some taking as much as 10 hours to cover the 120km. In the woman's race, german pro rider Kirsten Roesen So far the longest and toughest day, but the most interesting.

The riders are now more accustomed to the race routine and they get the most out of it. The non-racers, now dubbed as "tourers", check out each day's course, and choose to do the parts that fits them best. The sag wagon picks them or drops them where they want, so they can enjoy their ride.

The group camped right near the vast archeological complex of Caracol, which was a busy mayan city 2000 years ago. This was the first time that overnight camping was authorised on these premises. Riders had the opportunity to visit the ruins, explore the jungle and hear and see many species of birds.After a session of yoga under the stars at the base of the great pyramid, they went back to the campground, lit by thousands of fireflys. They were kept awake for a few hours by the strangest concert ever heard: the scary sound of the howler monkeys, which live in little troops and defend their territory through the use of their loud voice, the loudest of the primates. All the riders will confirm that, and none of them will forget that special night.

Today's winners:

Roger Troyer (Belize)
Walker Ferguson (USA)
Gilles Morneau (Canada)
all s.t. 5:15:30

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