Charlie Dalin has every chance of crossing the finish line of the Vendée Globe on Wednesday evening.

But due to the compensation granted to some of his main rivals, who participated in the rescue of Kevin Escoffier, the skipper of Apivia may not be the final winner of this 2020-201 edition.

DECRYPTION

The arrival of the Vendée Globe could well have the appearance of finishing at the Lemond-Fignon on the Tour de France 1989. At the time, the American cyclist had to wait until the arrival of his French rival on the line of arrival of the last stage to be declared the winner of the event.

All things considered, the scenario promises to be similar to Sables d'Olonnes on Wednesday evening.

Charlie Dalin, who should logically cross the line at the top at the helm of Apivia, will have to wait for when some of his rivals will imitate him to know his real final ranking.

Because the compensations granted to some participants, who participated in the rescue of Kevin Escoffier, add further uncertainty to a finish whose suspense is already historic.

Explanations.

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- Follow the arrival of the first skippers live

4:15 p.m. compensation for Jean Le Cam, 10:15 a.m. for Yannick Bestaven and 6 a.m. for Boris Herrmann

Back to last November 30.

Kevin Escoffier, one of the Vendée Globe participants, triggers his distress beacon.

His boat is sinking, and he is forced to take refuge on his rescue raft.

Immediately, the race management routed three sailors to help him: Yannick Bestaven, Boris Herrmann and Jean Le Cam.

It is ultimately the latter who will manage to recover his sailor colleague on his boat.

Logically, the organizers allocate time compensation to the three competitors, who resume the race: 4:15 p.m. for Jean Le Cam, 10:15 a.m. for Yannick Bestaven and 6 a.m. for Boris Herrmann.

However, these three are currently in the Top 10. Let's face it: Jean Le Cam will not be able to play the final victory.

He will just be able to hope to gain a few places and be in the Top 5 by crossing the line - when the final ranking of the first will be definitively known.

But his two fellow sailors can still believe it.

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- Charlie Dalin's logbook

Quite playable for Hermann

This is especially true of Boris Hermann.

At noon Wednesday, the German was 88.8 miles behind Charlie Dalin.

In six hours, it will therefore have to go at a little over 14.8 knots on average to win.

Quite playable, considering that the average pace in a Vendée Globe is a little over 15 knots.

Yannick Bestaven will have to whip a little more.

It has a wider time mattress, but is further away.

At noon, he was 190 miles behind Charlie Dalin.

She will therefore have to sail at a speed of 18.5 knots to win.

The race direction will therefore have to be very precise on the clock, because victory will be played out in any event.

The record for the smallest gap - 3h17'14 '' difference at the finish between François Gabart (MACIF) and Armel le Cléac'h (Banque Populaire) in 2012-2013, even has every chance of being beaten.