At 25, Tom Laperche has just written his name at the top of the prize list of the prestigious Solitaire du Figaro.

The sailor won the 53rd edition on Wednesday after crossing the finish line of the 3rd and last stage first, between Royan (Charente-Maritime) and Saint-Nazaire (Loire-Atlantique).

The skipper of Région Bretagne-CMB Performance crossed the finish line at 6:54 p.m. and 48 seconds.

This stage victory allows him to take first place in the provisional general classification before verification by the jury, said the race organizers.

The performance of Elodie Bonafous

"I'm super happy that my efforts paid off on this last leg," said the navigator, all smiles on his boat after his arrival in Saint-Nazaire.

Le Breton won for the first time in this race which saw the birth and hardening of the greatest sailors.

He succeeds Pierre Quiroga on the list.

"When you see how much you have to hurt yourself and how hard it is to be in front, it's wonderful," he said, shortly after crossing the finish line.

Laperche won the last stage in three days 6 hours 54 minutes.

He finished first overall in a cumulative time of 10 days 20 hours 20 minutes.

On this third stage, he is ahead of Gaston Morvan (Région Bretagne - CMB Espoir) by 29 minutes and Elodie Bonafous (Queguiner La Vie en Rose) by 48 minutes.

At 26, the one who was one of the five sailors in the race, is the second woman in the history of this race to stand on the podium of a stage after the Englishwoman Clare Francis in 1975. In the provisional general classification, Guillaume Pirouelle is second (10d 21h 26 min), and Achille Nebout 3rd (10d 21h 55 min).

Tom Laperche, originally from Loudéac (Côtes d'Armor) and from the Bretagne CMB sector which has trained big names in sailing, was the big favorite in this race in which he had already participated in 2020 and 2021, finishing each times in 3rd place.

The skipper has also already won the solo Maître Coq, Le Havre Allmer Cup and the solo Concarneau in 2022.

The navigator, who had only finished 9th in the 1st stage between Nantes and Port-La-Forêt (Finistère), had made up part of his delay by arriving 3rd on the 2nd stage in the Bay of Biscay.

On the 3rd, “the boat was well trimmed and I sailed well, with a wind that was undoubtedly favorable to me.

It's the stage where I gave the most and I'm super happy to win this year.

It's crazy, it's extraordinary.

Last night, I slept very little, three times twenty minutes, ”he summarized.

Thirty-four competitors took part in this 53rd edition, which started on August 21 from Saint-Michel-Chef-Chef (Loire-Atlantique).

For this great summer classic, the sailors all had an identical boat, this year a Figaro Bénéteau 3, a 10.85 m long monohull fitted with foils, these appendages which allow them to take off from the surface of the water.

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