There is a race report up on Sleepmonsters adding a bit to the understanding ... and adding still more to the confusion around how many CPs teams have collected and thereffore what position overall teams are in. You can read the full report at: http://sleepmonsters.com/racereport.php?page_action=rep&race_id=7511&article_id=6226
There is also now an incresing amount of conflicting information to try to sort through. Here's my current take on it all (remember to bear in mind that this is just a best guess based on my understanding - such as it is - of how this race works and what has been happening out on course) ...
Nike/Beaver Creek are still in the lead despite sounding very tired and a bit fragmented in reports. Making the midnight cut off to enable them to attempt the full course on Stage 5 has kept them "confortably" ahead. They had a buffer over chasing teams going into the Stage as they had collected more CPs and bonus(es) during early sections of the race. They are still collecting all the main CPs and Karyn was able to confirm this directly with them while they were on the last trek (the one immediately after the 2pm cut off at the conclusion of the mountain bike after the final kayak of the race). So I think we can assume that this is fact based on it being a directly reported conversation! It's reported that they are going to forget going for any bonus points from this point on which seems a good decision and should ensure that they make it through the remainder of the course in good time. Barring any major mistakes (which as we know from our own teams experience are always possible!) they should take the victory.
Helly Hansen Prunesco are in second place based on some reports! They are definitely doing very well and came in strongly after the kayak leg by the sounds of things - having collected all/most of the points available on that leg. They are racing smart and sound like they are physically coping with the demands of the race better than most teams. They have got to be in contention for a top 3 result.
Strangely Lundhags now seems to still be in the picture ... this is based on Twitter reports. I had understood that they missed the midnight cut off at the start of this final Stage so had imagined that they were not able to do some sections of the race. Twitter reports are still mentioning them as being in the top three (even 2nd) though which is very confusing. I don't really know what to think on this one ... if they missed that midnight cut off they should be out of the running ... but maybe the penaly of missing that cut off wasn't as "catastrophic" as missing cut offs usually is?!
Spanish team Buff Thermocool have been lurking around in the top five most of the race. Earlier on they made some decisions to move ahead on the course by dropping time consuming CPs so they have been out of the top 3 for a while. There was the potential for them to come right back into contention as things started to go a bit haywire for teams in front of them but from a recent Sleepmonsters report it appears that they had to do a section without their lights so missed all the CPs as it was all they could manage to just make it from the start of the leg to the finish of the leg, They are still "around" but this mistake will have hurt their chances very badly.
French team Quechua had also taken a similar approach to Buff but I haven't heard of them making any serious errors so presumably they are comfortable top five contenders. There hasn't been much news of them though so it's hard to tell.
Now for Orionhealth.com ... this is a tricky one and possible results range from being disqualified to finishing in the top three including all the possibilities in between. This is because of the disaster on the first Stage 5 trek mentioned over night when Wayne has become separated from the rest of the team. It seems highly unlikely that they will escape penalty for this completely but that will depend entirely on the race rule book and the decision of the race adjudication. Assuming for some strange reason that they are not penalised their position is the hardest to determine of the current contenders. It sounds like they have been missing quite a few CPs but there is no information available to help understand this in comparison to other teams in and around the top 5. Ultimately this race is about how many CPs and bonuses you collect so to make a full assessment you need to know what "everyone" has been doing, which (without an active Leaderboard) is well nigh impossible for us "cyber space spectators"! Potential good news for Orionhealth.com is that they may have made the 2pm bike to trek cut off (there seems to be some conflicting reports around that) so that will make more CPs available to them for collection in the run to the finish.
There are still plenty of teams in the hunt and it is going to continue to be a challenge for everyone right through to the end with the final results not being clear until all the tallying up (and no doubt protests and rulings) have been completed.
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