Not more than 10 meters from the Curepipe Starlight Sports Club are women crop pickers hauling, peeling and washing sweet potato in the fields. Straw hats and oversized water sodden shirts are in stark contrast to the bikers lycra on show. They are oblivious to the 2 km prologue that is taking place to kick-start the MTB Tour of Mauritius 2009.

From the plateau high above the manicured hotels and beach blonde kite-surfers, the rough and tumble mountain bikers were twitching in the starting gates. One minute intervals would separate the riders in the solo sprint around the sports club. Riders from France, Germany, South Africa, Mauritius and the Reunion Islands all waited nervously to unleash their fast-twitch muscles on the volcanic landscape.

The prologue was a lung searing 2 km, with the main obstacles including a collar-bone twanging 7 step concrete staircase and waterlogged single track.

German rider Dany Vogel set the early best time. He slipped to 4th place in a time of 3:24.

Yannick Cornille of Reunion Island pinched 9 seconds from Yannick Lincoln to take a narrow lead in a super-quick 3:12. The two Yannick’s topped the podium on the opening day of the multi-stage tour ending on Sunday. Christophe Gerard showed that Cape Epic experience counts as he maneuvered into 3rd place, 11 seconds adrift of Cornille.

 This short course was a form-checker; it was never going to unearth the actual winner of the tour. It was designed for the powerhouse rider. What the overall tour GC contender demands is a rider with a more complete skill set, with a bias to endurance.

Cornille took the yellow jersey displaying the qualities required, including dare-devilish cornering. He revelled in the twisty-turny bits, “I knew I could do a good time, but I didn’t know how the other riders would do.” Showing his aptitude for technical sections he enthused, “I hope for the rest of the tour there is a lot more.”

Senior Men
1 Yannick Cornille 0:03:12
2 Yannick Lincoln 0:00:09
3 Christophe Gerard 0:00:11
4 Dany Vogel 0:00:12
5 Georget Burel 0:00:15

Veteran Men
1 Georget Burel 0:03:27


Junior Men
1 Jean Phillipe Tyack 0:03:33