Final placings for the 2013 Northface Yak Attack

1 - Narayan Gopal Maharjan (Nepal) SB Ed Menzies 21:24:51

2 -  Ajay Pandit Chhetri (Nepal) SB Ed Menzies 22:02:49

3 -  Aayman Tamang (Nepal) SB Northcentral University p/b Nepali Tea Traders Cycling Team. 24:53:14

4 -  Zbigniew Mossoczy (Poland) Wertakyl bikeBoard 25:07:13

5 -  Roan Tamang (Nepal) SB Team New Zealand, Gene Colon + friends 25:13:04

6 -  Keith Green (UK) 25:51:04

7 -  Robert Burnett (USA) SB Northcentral University p/b Nepali Tea Traders Cycling Team 26:01:14

8 -  Mangal Krishna Lama (Nepal) SB Keith Green, Jeremy Soawyer 26:27:49

9 -  Sonya Looney (USA) 26:42:27

10 -  Jeremy Soawyer (Australia) 27:07:41

11 -  Thor Loechell (USA) SB Northcentral University p/b Nepali Tea Traders Cycling Team 27:27:33

12 -  Steve Hammer (Australia) 27:31:50

13 -  Tyler McMahon (USA) 28:16:19

14 -  Kerry Oxenham (New Zealand) 28:18:25

15 -  Des Hendry (Uk) 28:22:21

16 -  Jon Sturman (UK) 28:24:11

17 -  Rajan Bhandari (Nepal) SB Northcentral University p/b Nepali Tea Traders Cycling Team. 28:27:34

18 -  Santosh Rai (Nepal) SB Zoltan Keller, Peter Butt 28:50:37

19 -  Stephen Edwards (USA) 30:00:45

20 -  Andrew Pellowe (New Zealand) 30:31:25

21 -  Uwe Schoenberger (Germany) 35:19:29

22 -  Richard Williams (UK 35:21:52

23 -  Richard Parks (UK) 36:21:00

24 -  Zoltan Keller (Hungary) 36:40:30

25 -  Andre Deplechin (France) 37:49:08

26 -  Matthias Schneider (Germany) 37:50:00

27 -  Laxmi Magar (Nepal) SB The Darren Holloway Young Athlete Fund, Miizuho Fujihara 37:56:10

28 -  Steve Edwards (UK) 39:10:12

Peter McUtchen (Australia) DNF

Brian Sweat (USA) DNF

Eric Secher (Sweden) DNF

Neil Cottam (UK) DNF

Yuki Ikeda (Japan) DNF

The 2013 NorthFace Yak Attack has reached Manang (3540m above sea level) and a rest day after 7 action packed days of racing.

Of the 33 riders that left Kathmandu on March 2, only 31 now remain in the competition. Yuki Ikeda was first to retire after contracting a viral infection with his last stage of racing being stage 4 in which he finished second. His condition deteriorated from then then on and although he made it as far as Chame, the race doctors deemed it unsafe for him to continue to a higher ansd more remote location and he made the difficult decision to retire from the race and return to Kathmandu.

The second casualty was Neil Cottam on the Chame to Manang stage. Trying to avoid some hikers and a tree lying across the trail on a fast downhill section, Neil slammed into a rock face and dislocated his shoulder. Unbelievably, before the medics could reach him, Neil managed to pop his shoulder back in himself and whilst unable to continue by bike, he decided to continue on foot, reaching Manang at approx 5.30pm only 3 hours after the last rider !

Back at the top end of the race, after 7 stages the race is being dominated by Nepali riders, with the 4 top places being filled by Narayan Gopal Maharjan (Sponsored by Ed Menzies), Ajay Pandit Chhetri (Sponsored by Ed Menzies), Aayman Tamang (Sponsored by North Central University p/b Nepali Tea Traders) and Roan Tamang (Sponsored by Team Kiwi and Gene Colon and friends). First placed international is Zbigniew Mossoczy of Poland in 5th place overall and first female is Sonya Looney in 6th place overall.

All 6 stages of racing, (Stage 5 had to be run as a group ride due to safety concerns over rock blasting by the army along the route), have been won between Narayan and Ajay, with the score being 4-2 respectively. International riders mixed it up a little in the early stages, with Jeremy Soawyer finishing 1 second behind Ajay for 3rd place in stage 1 and Yuki Ikeda finishing 3rd and 2nd in stages 3 and 4. Jeremy Soawyer was in a strong posistion for a second place finish during stage 2 but missed the route markings, making a 5km detour, and punctured late on, thwarting any chance of a podium finish.

Aayman Tamang has been very consistent, finishing 3rd place on Day 2,6 and 7 and Roan Tamang, the youngest rider has also ridden very consistently to leave him in 4th placw overall.

The quality of the racing in 2013 has been exceptional with stage records being broken in all but 1 stage for both Nepali and international riders. The exception to this was stage 7, with the course seeing the most lying snow since 2007, but even then the fastest time was only 9 minutes down on last year.

With 3 stages to go it looks unlikely that 2013 will see the first international winner. The battle royale is now between Narayan Gopal and Ajay Pandit Chhetri. Narayan has a 30 minute lead over the current Yak Attack champion but with the unpredictability of the Thorong La pass crossing and a bike battering 60km last stage, anything could happen. Further down the field there are also battles going on. Eric Secher of Sweden is set to be the first rider to finish on a fully rigid bike with canti lever brakes !!. Andre Deplechin looks set to conquer the pass, after returning for a second time due to illness ruining his first race in 2011. The good hearted inter country rivalry between Australians Peter McCuthen, Jeremy Soawyer and Steve Hammer and New Zealands Kerry Oxenham and Andrew Pellow will continue to the bitter, whilst Jon Sturman and Keith Keith Green battle it out for the top UK placing. Zbig, Sonya and Rob Burnett are still all eyeing a 1st international place and Laxmi Magar looks set to be the second Nepali female to ever complete the race.

The 2 toughest stages are yet to come, but with all the riders in good health in Manang, expectations are high and theres a definite buzz around the race.

No race reports are likely yo be published after stage 8 due to a lack of internet connection (this is the high Himalaya), but normal service should resume in Kagbeni for Stage 9 .

Stage 1

Stage 2

Stage 3