400TEAM NATUREX winners of the Raid in France Savoie Mont-Blanc

Sébastien Raichon, Sandrine Béranger, Matthieu Bajard and Jean-Noel Poméon have crossed the finish line in Aix Les Bains for this 11th edition of Raid in France, french leg of the Adventure Race World Cup. Having left Bourg Saint Maurice on Saturday, they have done the 400 kilometres and 16,000 of ascent in 92 hours and 22 minutes. A good performance considering the difficulty of the course and the high altitude mountain section.

For 4 days and 4 nights, the 3 male members of 400Team Naturex and the incredible female member of the team, admired by the entire race circuit, have progressed between Bourg Saint Maurice and Aix Les Bains non stop, in orientation and in complete autonomy (except for the 8 hours of sleep imposed by the organisation).

On the finish line, crossed at 11h52 this Wednesday 29th June, the team expressed that they were happy to have resisted as a team of four, expressed their love of nature and this endurance sport which pushes them to their limits.

Sébastien Raichon, smiling but with a tear in his eyes summed up the adventure with a big thank you message having participated in Raids all over the world but who has a particular liking for the Raid in France races, his team have also won four of them in the past. He talked about the glacier section and the climb up the Petite Aiguille des Glaciers where a crevasse opened but luckily the team were roped together and were guided by the high mountain guides of the Raid in France.

This victory is extraordinary considering the time difference with the following teams expected only during the night or early in the morning : AbsoluRaidaventure.fr, Bim Bim Team and the Estonians SeiklushuntHoneypower, of which the female member is the victim of a tire fracture.

By Friday luchtime all the teams will have crossed the finish line : they are at present progressing in the Bauges region and in the Pont du Diable canyon and the magnificent Chéran gorges. They then need to cross the Revard plains on moutain bike before finishing by packraft on the Savières canal finally the lac du Bourget, France’s largest natural lake.

To see the teams tomorrow : on the finish line at l’esplanade du lac, port du Tillet at Aix-les- Bains where the teams will arrive in succession.