The race lasts one mile. At 3:45 PM on August 10, "Allagrande Mapei" sets off from Kiel harbor in front of an enthusiastic crowd. Two minutes later, at high speed on the fjord waters, a collision occurs with «Holcim PRB»: a side-by-side clash, at over 20 knots of speed. Both boats immediately return to the dock. No injuries, but the damage is severe.

On the starboard side, everything needs to be redone: the J0 exploded on contact, the mainsail torn, the outrigger to be replaced, the D0, D1, and D2 stays to be changed. The composite chainplate requires an ultrasonic inspection by architect Antoine Koch and GSea Design before being cleared for navigation.

Within hours, a chain of solidarity is activated: «Paprec Arkéa» donates the D0 cable, the TR Racing team provides the outrigger from their second boat. The parts leave Lorient and arrive in Kiel the following day. In the four days that follow, the team works tirelessly. The possibility of resuming the race often seems to fade. On August 14, the boat is repaired. Thomas Ruyant plans the transfer to Portsmouth through the Kiel Canal: 48 hours of navigation, a mandatory pilot on board for the three-meter draft. On August 17, "Allagrande Mapei" is on the starting line for the second stage.

The first real stage. With double points at stake and the most variable conditions of the course, Portsmouth–Cartagena is the longest and most tactical leg of the entire race. "Allagrande Mapei" starts with an unfavorable tack out of the Solent channel and finds itself at the back. The crew takes advantage of the easterly flow in the English Channel, reaches speeds exceeding 30 knots, and regains contact with the leaders. A daring attempt through Fromveur is cut short by a calm in the Iroise Sea.

In the Bay of Biscay, the boat finds ideal conditions: downwind sailing, sustained wind, showing the full potential of the Finot-Conq project. The decision to deviate from the direct route pays off: for a brief moment, "Allagrande Mapei" is leading the fleet. At the Matosinhos fly-by, off Porto, the delay has increased to 112 miles.

The turning point comes at the Strait of Gibraltar: «Malizia» gets caught in a fishing net, and the race for fourth place reopens for Ambrogio. The passage through the Pillars of Hercules remains memorable, with a run at over 35 knots for almost four hours. In the Mediterranean, Almeria Bay traps the boat for hours with no wind. At dawn on August 23, "Allagrande Mapei" crosses the finish line in Cartagena in fourth position, after 5 days, 18 hours, 28 minutes, and 25 seconds of racing.

The first true Mediterranean leg. An extended course compared to the direct route: the fleet passes Formentera and heads up to the Giraglia rock, a historic passage for Mediterranean coastal races, familiar to Ambrogio for years. Abby Ehler, with four circumnavigations under her belt, joins the crew in place of Manon Peyre.

The race is a long exercise in patience in the calms of the Balearic Islands: continuous tacks around Ibiza and Mallorca, forced reversals, a tight duel with "Malizia" repeating itself as in the previous leg. "Allagrande Mapei" remains in the leading group but falls thirty miles behind the "Biotherm" – "Holcim PRB" duo.

Off Porquerolles, the wind changes and the boat closes in on the leaders. Not enough to challenge for the top two spots, but enough to hold third against constant pressure from "Paprec Arkéa". The arrival in the Bay of Angels in Nice, at the end of a final light and uncertain tack, gives Ambrogio his first IMOCA podium: third place, after 2 days, 17 hours, 32 minutes and 19 seconds.

The leg of a lifetime. Six hundred miles from Nice to Genoa, via Corsica, the Strait of Bonifacio, and La Spezia. The course passes a scoring gate off Monte Carlo, descends along the western coast of Corsica, crosses the Strait with its currents and accelerated winds, then ascends along the Tuscan archipelago with waypoints at La Spezia, Gallinara island, and off Livorno, before the final sprint into the Gulf of Genoa.

In the early hours of the race, "Allagrande Mapei" positions itself in the leading group, about ten miles behind the leaders. Exiting the Strait of Bonifacio brings the first thrills: 20 knots upwind, the boat flying in flat seas. In Sardinia, friends and boats come to greet from the sea.

Then night falls, and the situation changes. Off the island of Elba, everything goes out: a complete electrical blackout, no instruments, no connection, no power. Ambrogio steers in the dark, by instinct. Morgan Lagravière disassembles the alternator and repairs it by hand, in the darkness of the boat. More than an hour passes. When the system restarts, "Allagrande Mapei" is in first place.

The lead grows to twenty miles over the chasing "Paprec Arkéa". The last breaths of wind in the Gulf of Genoa slow everyone down, but change nothing. At 01:41 on September 3, "Allagrande Mapei" crosses the finish line at the Old Port: first IMOCA victory, at home, in the city where Ambrogio built his Class 40 in his Liguria where he lived and studied.

The final leg is also the longest and most Mediterranean: 1,800 miles from Genoa to Boka Bay in Montenegro, passing through Sardinia, Sicily, the strait south of Pantelleria, the Ionian Sea, the Gulf of Taranto, and the Adriatic.

The start from the Old Port is incredibly warm: the Genoese public still celebrating the victory. But immediately the conditions become complicated: very light wind in the Gulf of Genoa, then branches stuck in the keel to be removed by hand. Off the Balearic Islands, gusts exceed 20 knots and the fleet accelerates beyond 30. An early tack towards Syracuse brings "Allagrande Mapei" back into the leading trio after over a thousand miles.

In the Ionian Sea, the situation becomes complicated: "Biotherm" finds more favorable conditions and opens a margin. Ambrogio and Thomas choose a risky route in the Gulf of Taranto, convinced they can recover. It doesn't work: the delay increases to forty miles behind the leaders. The leg ends with a duel in the last kilometers against "Paprec Arkéa", won by "Allagrande Mapei". Fourth place at the finish, after 7 days, 12 hours, 25 minutes and 37 seconds.