Revelations about the race

IMG_0914Proud of the work accomplished during the year of preparation of Raid in France’s 8th edition, Pascal Bahuaud, race director, opened racers’ briefing mentioning a “return to the roots of Raid in France, with a Fier du travail accompli pendant une année pour préparer cette 8ème édition de Raid in France, Pascal Bahuaud, route going from the mountains to the sea”. The whole spirit of Raid in France is contained into these words: to offer a race that allow racers to enjoy the nature and landscapes crossed in the best way possible. He also really insisted on racers’ responsibility during the competition, as users and as territories ambassadors.

After that, he introduced the new elements of this edition. Firstly, 11 mandatory hours of sleep are to be taken on the Check points (CP) and Transition Areas (AT), by periods of 2-hours minimum and 5-hours maximum, at the racers convenience. Secondly, teams no longer will be out of ranking in case they miss a kite. Instead, they will be given a huge penalty but they still will be able to carry on their race in the ranking.

This year, the route of 430 km and the 16.000 meters of vertical gain will consist, firstly, in a trekking section in high mountain, with a summit at 3.000 meters, followed by a raft section on the Aude river (which will take place on Monday, September 5 since the river is forbidden at night), then a long mountain VTT section rolling along beautiful forest tracks, a mountain trek loop following by a new VTT section in medium mountain and to finish with this first part of route in the Pyrénées, a canyoning, speleology, a small trek and a rope section.

With the objective of joining the Méditerranean sea by Saturday, September 10 for the last teams, the route will go on a VTT section, then a very technical section of ropes and canyon following by a new and last long rolling VTT section in the Corbières before the final kayak section on the Aude river and a finish line through the sea on the Saint-Pierre la Mer beach.

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