The epic race of the Enduropale du Touquet Pas-de-Calais is known for its extreme conditions but the wet and sticky sand did not hold back a trio of Yamaha riders from claiming all three spots on the podium.
The Yamaha riders led the way for much of the race but it was multi-time winner, Adrien Van Beveren who raced his YZ450F to his third Enduropale win in a row. “I am so happy, you can’t imagine what I am feeling now,” commented Adrien Van Beveren. “This Enduropale race was probably the hardest one to win but also the one I wanted the most to win… and that made all the difference.”
The Yamaha Racing Yamalube Drag’On Tek rider just returned from his first attempt at the Dakar Rally, where he finished sixth overall and was the highest finishing French rider. It is the first time in the races history that a Dakar rider won the Enduropale du Touquet Pas-de-Calais. “I competed during 10 000 kilometres on the Dakar Rally; here I needed to stand firm for only three hours on Le Touquet’s sand beach. When you come back from the Dakar Rally, you are not exactly the same any more; the way I am dealing with the difficulty and my ability to go beyond myself completely changed.”
Axel Van de Sande has been trained by the same coach as Adrien Van Beveren, Sébastien Sagot, the Belgian rider was mentally strong enough to keep the tempo and shadow his fellow Yamaha competitor to ultimately finish second in the race.
For the young Camille Chapeliere it was his first podium ever at the Enduropale du Touquet Pas-de-Calais. Chapelière took hold of the 2015-2016 French Sand Champion title as well as the third place on the Enduropale podium.
