2024 Africa Eco Race: Botturi Wins Stage 5; Cerutti Leads Overall

The top three riders continue to set themselves apart from the pack.

07:40

Janaki Jitchotvisut

By: Janaki Jitchotvisut

Jan 8, 2024 at 3:47pm ET

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If Stage Four of the 2024 Africa Eco Race was the longest stage on this year's route, Stage Five was thankfully much shorter for the participants. The stage ran and wrapped on Saturday, January 6, with Sunday, January 7 being a designated Rest Day for all participants before they head from Morocco into Mauritania.

Amazingly, Stage Four of the 2024 AER saw both the top bike and the top car in the field complete the stage in exactly the same amount of time: three hours, 31 minutes, and 53 seconds.

For the bikes, it was Alessandro Botturi who came out on top once again, sealing the stage victory for himself and the Yamaha factory racing team. His teammate, Pol Tarrés, came in second place once again. As for Tarrés' right foot, it's apparently still bothering him, but he's more interested in toughing it out than in finding out for certain what's wrong with it. This is probably relatable content for some of us.

What about Jacopo Cerutti and his Aprilia Tuareg 660? He finished in third place for the day, but he and the two Yamahas basically stuck together and set a blistering pace throughout the entire stage. Cerutti's teammate, Francesco Montanari, finished the stage in fifth place behind KTM rider Alexandre Vaudan.

Here are the times for Stage Five:

Rider	Team	Time
Alessandro Botturi	Yamaha	3 hours, 31 minutes, 53 seconds
Pol Tarrés	Yamaha	+01:57
Jacopo Cerutti	Aprilia	+03:57
Alexandre Vaudan	KTM	+10:50
Andrea Gava	Beta	+14:24
Giovanni Gritti	Honda	+14:26

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The time difference between the top three riders on Stage Five and the rest of the field isn't quite as dramatic as the overall time differences currently stand. There, you'll see that the top three riders (Cerutti, Botturi, and Tarrés) are all at least two hours ahead of their nearest competition.

Here are the overall 2024 Africa Eco Race Standings after the first five stages:

Rider	Team	Time
Jacopo Cerutti	Aprilia	20 hours, 23 minutes, 59 seconds
Alessandro Botturi	Yamaha	+04:15
Pol Tarrés	Yamaha	+04:45
Guillaume Borne	Husqvarna	+2:14:02
Giovanni Gritti	Honda	+2:16:13
Alexandre Vaudan	KTM	+2:59:17

With five stages already in the history books for the 2024 Africa Eco Race, just seven remain before we see who will win this year's event. Things might look a certain way right now, but anything can happen between now and the finish line. Stay tuned for the latest here at RideApart.