The mood in bivouac was incredible after stage 1. Many happy runners felt relaxed with the race started and one completed stage. With nerves and anxiety settled, everyone was eager to continue the journey with stage 2.
With 40km’s and 614m+ the day was going to be a considerably harder challenge with 8km’s extra and almost double the vertical of stage 1. For the front of the race this would equate to one extra hour, for those towards the back, considerably more time on the feet.
Wiyh an 0700 start and a slight wind from the east, the runner’s were treated to cooler temperatures for the first 3-hours and then heat started to rise and by mid-afternoon, the temperatures hovered around 30-degrees.
Early action came from Mohamed El Morabity for the men and Aziza El Amrany for the women. Of course, the main protagonists were not far behind.
Maryline Nakache, Ragna Debats and Gemma Game followed Aziza.
For the men, Hamid and Amed ran side-by-side and then Rachid was in 4th just a minute back.
Passing through the early CP’s it was between CP2 and CP3 that Rachid made a move for the front and he pulled away.
Behind, Hamid was in a Mohamed and Amed sandwich, he was marked constantly and of course, Rachid continued to move ahead, reclaim lost time from stage 1 and win convincingly to provide enough margin to lead the race.
With 2-stages covered, the top-3 men are ranked:
- Rachid El Morabity 05:54:35
- Mohamed El Morabity 05:55:53
- Hamid Yachou 05:59:40
Maryline Nakache is on fire this year, the 2023 champion started slowly but once in gear she was on fire, so much so she dominated the stage for the women and finished 6th overall and is now 6th on GC too – impressive.
Aziza El Amrany, the 2024 champion, battled hard, but it was impossible to match the pace of the French woman.
Previous MDS champ, Ragna Debats was in 3rd place ahead of Annelies Brak and Gemma Game.
With 2-stage complete, the women’s top-3 is as follows:
- Maryline Nakache 07:07:27
- Aziza El Amrany 07:48:31
- Ragna Debats 07:58:51
Full results are HERE
Men ranking HERE
Women ranking HERE
Tomorrow, stage 3 is 32.5km’s and no doubt, for the majority, will be a day to move easily and efficiently saving as much energy as possible before the intimidating long day for stage 4.
Marathon des Sables Website HERE
Instagram – @iancorlessphotography
Twitter – @talkultra
facebook.com/iancorlessphotography
Web – www.iancorless.com
IAN CORLESS 
Pingback: MDS THE LEGENDARY 2025 : RACE SUMMARY | IAN CORLESS