Joe Wang and Heidi Wang get eliminated from 'The Amazing Race'

The "Married Couple" team of Joe Wang and Heidi Wang became the fourth team eliminated from The Amazing Race's sixteenth season during Sunday night's broadcast of the CBS reality competition.


"My wife impressed me so much.  I gotta admit, she was always leading, helping me along.  I had to depend on her for everything.  I feel very, very proud of her," Joe, a 42-year-old software salesman from El Segundo, CA, said following their elimination.

"I have no problems walking away today [and] being eliminated... I have Joe in my life," added Heidi, a 37-year-old stay-at-home mom.

"We never thought it would end this soon but we had a great time regardless," they said together.

The Amazing Race's fifth sixteenth-season episode began with the eight remaining teams leaving Hamburg, Germany and boarding a bus for an overnight "mobile Pit Stop" ride to an undisclosed location.


During the bus ride, Joe and Heidi appeared to frustrate some of the other racers when they boasted about their team's chances while being interviewed about Joe's injured left knee, which he elevated and iced throughout the bus ride.

"I've been having a nagging knee problem, the Race has put a toll on my leg," he said.  "These teams around here, they're not gonna hinder me at all.  I've been running with one leg, imagine when this thing improves."

"Even with the bad leg we've been placing in the Top 3 these last couple of legs, so I think we're doing great," Heidi added.

"Detectives" Louis Stravato and Michael Naylor didn't appreciate the comments, which they overhead while sitting in their own seats.

"Come on," Michael vented.


"I need some quiet please!" Louis shouted with a smile.

"Joe sees himself bigger than he is.  He's a confident guy.  I like the confident guys to go," Michael explained afterwards.

The following morning, the team's arrived at their still unknown location: Les Monthairons, France.

"We believe we're in France, we know we're south and southwest of Germany so we'll find out soon enough," Michael said.

Since they had been the first team to arrive at the previous Pit Stop, Louis and Michael were the first team to depart at 9:35AM.


They were then followed by "Father/Daughter" Steve Smith and Allie Smith at 9:55AM, Joe and Heidi at 10:11AM, "Brothers/Cowboys" team of Jet McCoy and Cord McCoy at 10:36AM, "Dating Couple" Carol Rosenfeld and Brandy Snow at 10:44AM, "Brothers" Dan Pious and Jordan Pious at 10:57AM, "Dating Models" Caite Upton and Brent Horne at 11:36AM, and newly dating former Big Brother houseguests Jeff Schroeder and Jordan Lloyd at 12:17PM.

Upon opening their departure clues, the teams were instructed to drive themselves to the town of St. Menehould and find the Boulangerie Defontaine bakery.  Once there, they would have to buy a fresh baguette to receive their next clue.

All the team's appeared to find the bakery without too many issues.  After buying bread, the teams had to determine that their next clue had been baked inside the bread -- something everyone but Jeff and Jordan seemed to figure out pretty quickly.

"Where's my clue?  What do we have to do?" Jeff asked the baker.

"Oh!" Jeff shouted after tearing the bread in half and finally discovering the clue inside.


The bread clues told the teams to "find La Main de Massiges" and park their cars "in the designated area" but gave the teams no other details about their next location, resulting in a couple of teams -- Brent and Caite as well as Jeff and Jordan -- getting lost and needing to stop for directions along the way.

Once they arrived at the La Main de Massiges, the teams learned it had been a strategic hill in a World War I battle between the French and Germans and received a clue which told them it was time to complete one of two Detour tasks: "In the Trenches" or "Under Fire."

"In the Trenches" required the teams to go down into a World War I trench and use a field manual to translate a Morse Code message.  Once a team had correctly translated the message, an officer would attach it to a carrier pigeon and then give them their next clue.

"Under Fire" required the teams to crawl 100-yards through a muddy field booby-trapped with barbed wire.  Once they got to the other side, they would get a message from a soldier and then have to crawl back through the field and deliver the message to an officer who would attach it to a carrier pigeon and then give them their next clue.

All eight teams selected "Under Fire" and managed to complete the task in about the same order they arrived despite some struggles with the conditions, which also included shells exploding nearby and biplanes flying just feet of the ground overhead.


In addition, Jeff and Jordan also had to complete a extra Speed Bump task before they could begin the Detour due to their last place finish during the Race's previous leg.

Dubbed "Reinforce Trench," the Speed Bump task required them to build a small part of the retaining wall one of the battlefield's dirt trenches by weaving tree branches through support stakes.  Once the task was done properly they were given a clue which allowed them to move on to the Detour task.

After completing the Detour, the teams received a clue that told them to "head south" to receive their next clue.  Most of the teams had no problem finding the right road and locating their next clue box, however Brent and Caite weren't sure what "south" meant and ended up heading down the wrong road.

Once they traveled south and arrived at the clue box, the teams were instructed to walk into town and find the Church of Massiges.  In addition, the clue box also served as the site of the first blind U-Turn opportunity in which one team could opt to force another team to complete both Detour tasks before being able to continue in the Race.

Even though they were comfortably in first place, Louis and Michael decided to use to the U-Turn on Joe and Heidi.

"I'm sorry just and Heidi, but you're good competition," Louis said after the pair made their decision.


"While we were on the mobile Pit Stop we overheard Joe talking and saying he had no fears of any of the teams here," Michael explained afterwards.  "This is a cutthroat game for a million dollars and I didn't come here to make friends.  I came with a friend and I'll leave with a friend."

"He needs to be knocked off his pedestal.  He needs to be humbled," Louis added.

"Somebody got you! So sorry," Steve shouted to Joe and Heidi after he and Allie arrived at the U-Turn stand in second place moments ahead of the married couple.  "Hang in there."

"Mike and Louie are the only people in front of us," Allie added.

Louis and Michael's decision appeared to shock Joe and Heidi.

"I never even imagined we would be U-Turned," Joe said.


"I always thought that Louie and Mike were these nice cops.  I really thought we had a good rapport with them," Heidi said.

"I can't wait until when it's my turn to give them some difficulties on the Race," Joe added.

"Come on, we can do this, let's go," Joe told Heidi as the couple entered the trenches to begin the "In the Treaches" Detour task.

After walking into town, the teams received clues them which instructed them to recreate 1903's inaugural Tour de France cycling race by donning historical riding gear and riding antique bicycles four miles to the leg's Pit Stop location.

Louis and Michael continued to maintain their lead and were the first team to arrive at the Pit Stop.

Meanwhile, Joe and Heidi began to struggle with the Morse Code task.


"It's probably exactly what that note is," Joe told Heidi, referring to the "Vive La Liberate" note the teams had received during the "Under Fire" Detour task.

However Joe was incorrect, forcing the couple to begin what would be the first of numerous unsuccessful attempts to correctly decode the Morse Code message.

"There's no way we're ever going to get this honey," Heidi vented.

"We'll get it.  Trust me, we'll get it," Joe replied.

Steve and Allie were the second team to arrive at the Pit Stop and were followed by Jet and Cord, Dan and Jordan, and Carol and Brandy -- leaving Joe and Heidi, Brent and Caite, and Jeff and Jordan left battling to not finish last.

However although they were the sixth team to arrive at the Pit Stop, The Amazing Race host Phil Keoghan told Brent and Caite they had completed the leg incorrectly and walked into town and found their final clue without first locating the prior clue that instructed them to go into town.


"You did not pickup your clue after the Detour so you need to go back and pickup that clue before I can check you in," Phil explained.  "There was no clue that send you to the bicycles, correct?"

"No," they replied.

"Okay, that's the clue you need to get," Phil said.

"Let's hurry, if we're going to get eliminated for something this stupid," Caite vented as the two pedaled back.

"That sounds so stupid, south from what?  I headed south the actual direction south," Brent replied.

But despite their mistake, Brent and Heidi still managed to bike back to town, walk back to the correct clue box, get their clue, and then walk back to town and ride all the way back to the Pit Stop and maintain their sixth-place position.


Jeff and Jordan then managed to complete the "Under Fire" Detour task and get to the Pit Stop in seventh place as Joe and Heidi continued to struggle with the "In the Trenches" Morse code task.

After sunset, Phil finally left the Pit Stop and came out to the trench and informed Joe and Heidi that they had been eliminated from the Race.

"I figured that," Joe told Phil after he told them the news.

"The code that you were looking for was "We will prevail, 'Viva France,'" Phil told Joe and Heidi.

"Yeah, we would have never have gotten it," Heidi replied.

"I'm not happy with it, but that's part of the game, that's part of the competition," Joe told Phil when he asked how he felt about Louis and Michael using the U-Turn on the couple. 


"The first time you think it's a 'T,' then you think it's a 'V,' then a 'W.'  We're not stupid people," Heidi said afterwards.






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