Soft sand and greater elevation gain were on the menu for stage two of the Marathon des Sables Legendary.
The distance was up to 40km and the height gain over 600 metres – here’s what happened…
Women’s race – Early daylight
Maryline Nakache of France, the 2023 winner, extended her lead over reigning champion Aziza El Amrany (MAR) with more than a 30-minute gap on day two.
Although Aziza was still leading at CP2, Maryline accelerated from CP3 and broke away from the rest of the field.
In the overall standings, Maryline now has a 40-minute lead. Aziza is still in second place, but closely followed by Ragna Debats (NED), currently third and just ten minutes behind.
Men’s race – Close between brothers
The men’s race is shaping up to be just as close as last year, when just seconds separated the El-Morabity brothers.
Rachid El-Morabity was behind until CP2 on stage two, but overtook his rivals to finish ahead of Mohamed El-Morabity, Ahmed Ouikhalfen, and Hamid Yachou.
Rachid now leads the general ranking, one minute ahead of his brother.
All of which means the 85.3km stage on Wednesday / Thursday is looking decisive.
