Rif Connect results
09 Jul 2021
Team Panthères, composed of Axelle Vallet, Thomas Rosset, Hugo Cailhol, and Yann Rivallant, have won RIF Connect 2021 and have been awarded a free place for Raid in France Savoie-Mont-Blanc 2022. They have crossed the Northern Alps and the Savoy on a very technical course of 156 km, completed in 26 hours. The French team […]
Rif Spirit is coming...
01 Jul 2021
In response to the ARWS’ desire to create an European Series, Pascal Bahuaud and his team have decided to launch RIF Spirit, the French leg of the Adventure Racing European Series. Join us from 1-3 April 2022 for this new adventure race which will be held in a mountainous region, and the destination will soon […]
RIF Connect: an international spirit
21 Jun 2021
Ten teams will take part in the Rif Connect 2021, which will be held from July 1 to 5: 3 teams from France, 2 from Belgium, 1 from Spain, 1 from Canada, 2 from Poland, and 1 from South Africa. This new event aims to federate racers, who have been deprived of wide-open spaces for […]
An adventure at least...
26 May 2021
Live the “Rif Connect” from 1st to 5 June 2021. Our goals: gather teams around a common project, share an adventure in an unusual way and promot the Back to Nature spirit. Teams must register before June 20, 2021. Raid in France will then produce a final movie.
Congrats XPD ans its winning team. #arws #arworldseriesWinning Doesn't Come Easy
Team ''Resicon Thought Sports’ came into XPD-Rivers of Gold as one of the favourites and they won by a big margin. So everything is true to form, but let’s not take it for granted because it’s what we expected, or think it’s easier for them than for other teams.
They were popular favourites as 3 of the team finished 3rd together at Eco-Challenge Fiji and Rob Preston probably has more expedition racing experience than anyone in the field, but there was strong competition. Alpine Avengers had 3 of the team who won the last XPD, so if anything they were defending title holders, there were lots of past winners in other teams too, and Chipesti proved there is always an up and coming team who can shake things up.
Every kilometre they put in front of other teams was hard won and they could only get in front of them as a result of dedicated training, requiring a high level commitment and some personal sacrifice.
For Tim Boote and Angus Rodwell it’s a first XPD win, while Rob and Kathryn Preston are past winners, but not in the same team. (Rob has won 3 times before and Kathryn once.) There’s a good reason for that, it’s really hard for both parents of young children to take time out to race together, let alone put in the hours of training, which they have to do separately most of the time.
They won by a big margin in the end, and that will only have happened as they raced as a strong team, supporting each other when morale dropped or they were hurting. They bounced back from losing time on the Mitchell River when their maps disintegrated, and showed fantastic grit in the final stages to go without sleep and push hard to beat the dark zone and secure the win.
They won in 4 days of almost non-stop racing across 472km of ocean and outback, a sporting achievement which should be national news, but will largely go unnoticed as it’s beyond the comprehension of most people.
However, those within the adventure racing community know what a remarkable feat it is and can appreciate and applaud it. And they’ll do the same for every team that crosses the finish line at XPD Rivers of Gold.
🇫🇷Notre cadeau de l'été, quelques images pour rêver. Rendez-vous en septembre pour programmer 2022 : une année faste pour Raid in France avec 2 événements au programme. Rif Spirit en avril et RIF Savoie-Mont-Blanc en juin-juillet.
🇬🇸Our summer gift, some pictures for dreaming. See you in September to plan 2022, a magic year for Raid in France with 2 events: Rif Spirit in April and Rif Savoie-Mont-Blanc in June-July.
