Huairasinchi Adventure Racing World Championship 2024
AR World Championships - The Winner's Story
Sebastien Raichon / 11.12.2024
What better way to start this story than with an anecdote? We're 2024 Adventure Racing World Champions, and that's no mean feat. You have to find a good opening line so that the reader doesn't stop after 4 lines!
On Saturday evening, after our podium finish and our Marseilleise, 2 of us were dancing our hearts out among the volunteers and other participants, drinking tequila at will. I was the oldest winner of a World Championship (52) and Benji was one of the youngest (29).
And that's a symbol that appeals to me and represents 400team well. We've always tried to develop our sport among young people, and in recent years we've integrated them into our teams. And here we have a young super-powered rider bursting with qualities, combined with 3 old hands, and there you have it!
But that's not always enough: you also need the world's best orienteer, the world's best female orienteer and maybe even a captain who always pushes them to go on and on and on and on. But sometimes that's still not enough. The planets have to align, or at least a bit of luck...
On Saturday November 30, 2024, at 7am, after a short week of acclimatization in the company of our friends Carine, Pierrot, Rémi and Raphael from the Argo Nantes team, we were at the starting line in Cuenca Ecuador with all the best teams in the world.
Section 1: MTB 75kms
We set off on our mountain bikes through the city on a neutralized start. It's a bit of a neck-and-neck affair, though, to get into position behind the opening car. We arrive at a park to collect our maps and get the official start. The horses are unleashed and things start off very fast. Too fast, in fact - I feel like I'm shattering my heart rate record on the first steep climb, which immediately sets the tone for what lies ahead.
We're in a group of around fifteen teams, some of whom make mistakes out of haste. Adri's fluid steering kept us in touch at first. But after about 1 hour, we let a dozen teams go and set our own pace. A magnificent technical passage on a ridge allows us to catch up for a while.
Adri asks us to slow down a little and Benji hooks him up to bring down his temperature. The Brazilians overtake us and drop us off after solving a mechanical problem. I can't help thinking that we're not up to scratch and that we may have to scale back our ambitions.
We reach the first transition much faster than expected. Our spirits are lifted by the fact that the 10 teams ahead of us are still in the park, preparing for the next trek.
Section 2: Trek (trail) 70kms
After a very quick transition, we set off as hunters, knife between our teeth.
In our walking plan, we had planned to attack hard on this section. We put the plan into action! We're over 3000m up in the Andes, on a narrow roller-coaster trail. We can see the teams ahead of us and, more importantly, we can see that we're closing in on them.
Our comeback is galvanizing! We overtake Romu and Guillaume's team, their two Brazilian team-mates seem to be in trouble and just after 's Swedes. Altitude seems to be a problem for them.
The exit from a canyon through a muddy vertical passage in the jungle creates a slight traffic jam. We recover a little as it's impossible to overtake. At 3450m, we join a pretty trail along a canal and then a track. We're in a leading group of 5-6 teams.
It's time to attack and get into trail mode. Only 2 teams stick with us, the Ecuadorians from Imptek and the Estonians from Tactical. I give Sandrine a little help with the leash to make it easier for her to follow us.
After a few kilometers of trails, we're back on a nice path. We send off hard on a steep descent and the Estonians lose contact. A mano à mano with the locals ensues. The Ecuadorians let us go, but a dog decided to keep an eye on us. He doesn't let us out of his sight and clearly enjoys running at night too.
We don't hesitate to turn on our headlamps to make sure we're fast on the technical downhill sections. Benji is complaining about his stomach and can't eat, so I reassure him as best I can by extolling the virtues of lipolysis!
We've descended in altitude and the vegetation is changing as we enter the wetlands. The kingdom of the forest. The sounds are magnificent too. The trail is very long and difficult. It's just perfect for us. From time to time, we come across a tent with volunteers or a village where the welcome is very warm. Just after this village, we made a small orienteering error, finding the wrong trail and passing the beacon without seeing it, which cost us a good 5 minutes round trip.
On this raid, no flag was used as a marker, but a photo had to be taken corresponding to the image printed in the road book.
We finish this section still in trail mode and with our dog at around 2am, 4 hours ahead of the organization's fast schedule. The Estonians were 45 minutes behind and the rest of the field, including , 1 hour 20 minutes behind. Morale is high.
The organization announces some changes due to high water levels on the river. We had hesitated to embark at night, but given the time, we can't wait. The guides give us the instructions for certain rapids. We're expecting easy rapids ...
Section 3: Packraft 50kms
We set off and soon realized just how much work was involved. There are a lot of rocks and you can't see much! We'd been on the water for barely 5 minutes when, at the last moment, I spotted a rock ahead of us. I shout to Adri, “To the right, to the right, to the right!”
Too late, we impale ourselves on it. Sandrine and Benji, who are following too closely, crash into us. The 4 of us tip over! We hang on to our paddle and the boat as best we can. We're in a parade of rapids, corkscrewing, swallowing wate, banging our legs on the rocks. It takes a long, long time before the river calms down.
At last, we reach the side of the river. That was hot! A quick breath and we're off again. We continue our descent with extreme vigilance, sometimes on class 3 rapids, and it goes pretty well until Sandrine tells us she's noticed her bag has disappeared ... Noooooo!
Turning back, we search into the night, hoping to see a floating orange object miraculously coming towards us, but no of course ... We decide to set off again, thinking that we've got all Sandrine's stuff in duplicate in our crate. But we forgot that we also had the rope gear with us on this section, and we didn't have a spare!
Morale takes a serious hit, and the ghost of 2023 resurfaces, especially as the next spot to be photographed is ... CP26, the very one we didn't find in South Africa!
It's on a summit and we have to deflate our boats and pack everything into our 3 bags instead of 4 (boats, paddles, life jackets plus everything else). We don't talk much, having decided to celebrate CP26 when we find it, but we're not in the mood! We head back down to the river to put down the boats and navigation equipment, as the organizers had the bad idea of making us do a 12km round trip on the track to point out a marker on the original course.
We're trying to get back into running mode as soon as possible. We stay focused on moving forward as quickly as possible, despite a penalty hanging over our heads. Adri is complaining about his thigh following a blow when we hit the water.
This return trip allows us to see our rivals and see where we stand in relation to them at that moment. The Estonians are less than 1 hour behind, with , the young Kiwis, Brazil and the other Estonian team around 1 hour 15 minutes behind.
It's starting to get very hot and Adri can't run too well when it's time to collect the boats. A new problem: we've lost the tube from our main pump and we're fiddling with our mini emergency pump to inflate in the heat. We lose another 10 minutes on this one.
We're back on board, but it's not going smoothly, our boats are under-inflated, my seat won't hold and I'm sitting like a sofa! What's more, the puncture repair on Sandrine and Benji's packraft isn't holding and hes having to re-inflate regularly while sailing. In short, nothing went right and we lost time again and again. In spite of everything, the river is fun and we're having a blast this time during the day navigating these beautiful class 1 to 3 rapids. It's really hot under the helmet and we're drinking the river water.
As we pass close to the spot where we lost the bag, we decide to look for it during the day and try to get back up the river in the morning. The photographers and supporters present wonder what we're doing! The current is too strong, impossible. On foot, too, it turns out to be a very hazardous mission. So we're forced to rejoin the AT with our missing equipment and suffer a penalty.
We pass a few more nice rapids before having to get out for a big 2km portage with our boats inflated under the sun. Hot, very hot! The transition area is very close and we meet up with the organizers, Pascal and Nancy, the Raid in france organizers, and eternal volunteer José Pires.
We immediately go and see the referee to inform him of the loss of our bag and the fact that we can't replace the ropes. He tells us to think about the situation and invites us to prepare for what's to come in the meantime.
Sandrine retrieves my 2nd rucksack and reconstitutes her mandatory equipment. He comes back and tells us that the best solution is to ask another team to lend us their rope equipment, and that a team of 3 who have lost a team member and are not doing the whole route are due to arrive in the area shortly. He also explains that we'll have to pay a penalty, which will be notified to us shortly.
Our bikes are ready, and we get some sleep in the meantime. First the Swedes from arrive, then this team of 3 (bib 57 Legends, muchas gracias). I go to see them and explain the situation, and they don't hesitate for a second to lend us their equipment. What luck! The planets are aligned again ...
Section 4: VTT Ropes, 200kms
We set off again in 1st place, just a few minutes ahead of the Swedes. But we've got new momentum. We set off on the only flat part of the 10-kilometer raid. We follow in Benji's footsteps before a very long climb of 700m d+ on the road leading to the canyon and the ropes. It's still very hot and we're trying not to get too hot.
The Swedes aren't coming back, which is good news. We set down our mountain bikes in the park at dusk on Sunday around 6.15pm. Adrian, the referee, is there to tell us that we've been given a 1-hour penalty. We feared more. More motivated than ever, we run downhill to the rope challenge. It's very busy and fun. We quickly grab our gear and head for the canyon.
The path is steep, leading to the 50m pendulum abseil that plunges us into the bowels of the earth. Benji leads the way and we all do it without a hitch. We then head back up the canyon, alternating between swimming and easy climbing. The scenery is grandiose, even at night.
The water refreshes us. We soon find ourselves at the foot of a cliff, which we have to climb on a fixed rope using two jumar handles. I'm the first to go, but although the start goes well, I soon find myself having trouble getting past a ledge blocking the upper handle. I'm hanging in the air, looking for solutions with exhausted arms. Incidentally, we discovered at the briefing that we'd be doing rope ascents!So, without any training whatsoever, I take my feet off the pedals to try and find a foothold to pull myself away from the cliff and pass the blocked handle. I finally manage it and finish the last few metres with some difficulty. I can now rest while waiting for my team-mates to do the same. Sandrine also has a hard time, especially as her rope equipment is not set up for her. Adri and Benji do it express, so we set off again with only one Swede at the top of the cliff.
We make our way back up to the bike and cross paths with other teams. We set off again, thinking that at the first suitable place we'll stop to sleep for the first time. At the 1st village, we see the Swedes lower down - they're back!
At the second village, a covered sports esplanade beckons and we settle into our concrete bed for 1h30. Dogs are howling next door - they're already aggressively chasing us at every village, so we can't take it anymore! We wake up a little chilled, especially Adrien who forgot he had a bivy bag in his bag!
No worries about warming up, as the slopes are so steep, we push our bikes hard. We assume the Swedes are ahead. Adri is not at his best and throws up for the first time. Benji and I take it in turns to help him over the passes, but it's getting harder and harder.
On a long descent towards the Amazon, he stops moving and can't see a thing. We decide to stop immediately and let him sleep for 15 minutes in the middle of the road. We divide his bag into 3 so that he leaves with nothing and light. To be honest, I'm loading Benji most of all - he's an unshakeable rock!
Monday dawns and we set off again at a normal pace. Our navigator has regained his sight! We discover lush vegetation. The tree ferns are immense, the sounds of the forest enchanting. We cross a huge bridge in an unlikely spot over a very wild river. What a sight!
The climb back up the other side is another story, as we push on and on, and I pause to put on my sneakers to better pull Adrien's mountain bike. We arrive at a mini village where we find fresh water, then another where we find sweet drinks. The sun starts to heat up, and the descents put a strain on our brakes. It gets so hot that I momentarily lose my front brake! Miraculously, it comes back to life ...
We cross our river again and enter an oven. It's 50 degrees under the helmet. We push or ride at slow speed, but it's still just as steep. We bathe in a river, Adrien in every drop of water he can find. This story goes on for a long time, until we reach a new village where we settle down on a bench while Benji goes in search of drinks.
A team arrives, who is it? The Swedes !!!! Great, we thought they were way ahead. They're probably wondering what 3 of us are doing on this bench! Benji returns with 5 liters of drinks. The pass isn't over yet, and the Swedes can be seen in the distance. A villager offers us sugar cane to suck.
We finally pass over. In the village of the next CP, a school offers us a glass of Coke, they're too kind, like most of the locals we've met during this race. We then arrive in a small town where the organization has provided a 3-star welcome. We're in a gymnasium and there's a lot of young people and a great atmosphere.The Swedes have only been here a short time. The organization offers us pasta and coffee. Benji and Adri are having trouble eating so it's not going down well!
We set off again, stopping at a shop for ice cream and yoghurt. We've still got 40kms to go in the middle of the heat, more on the road. We're struggling, the boys keep stopping to cool off and I'm almost overheating too. I end up lying in the water for 2 minutes. Sandrine, on the other hand, is boiling over from our lack of rhythm and continuity!
As best we can, we reach the end of this section and the transition after 24 hours of mountain biking. The Swedes have been here for over 30 minutes. There's a little restaurant above us and we take it in turns to go there. The Estonians and Brazilians arrive 15 minutes after us. So it's a big grouping of 4 teams. Nothing's done, we're into the money time!
Section 5: Trek 60kms
We set off on this jungle trek in 2nd place at around 5.30pm. In the same spirit as always; i.e. to run as soon as we can. We find ourselves on a technical trail and try to link up well. Adri is a little hesitant, but we reassure him by taking a look at the map for once. He throws up again, and so does Sandrine! We carry on regardless, and see the Swedish headlamps in the distance, and those of the Estonians behind them.
We garden for 10 minutes to find a new trail. The path becomes muddy and really difficult to walk. We come across the 1st shelter. We carry on half-asleep, but a lively discussion about how long we're going to sleep wakes us up completely. The boys want to sleep for 1h30, we prefer just 20 minutes because a 1hour penalty awaits us at the last transition at the end of this trek and we'll be able to sleep again.
We arrive at a second shelter, a volunteer is there and tells us we're first! The Swedes are either lying somewhere or lost. We split the difference and sleep for 40 minutes. Benji gets told off for making noise while eating. Go to sleep kid!
We wake up pretty well and set off first. Adri gets off to a slow start, then gradually accelerates. I hook Sandrine, who's still vomiting and can't eat or drink. But that's obviously not a problem! The day dawns and we discover some magnificent scenery as we climb to the summits. We swallow a ridge in trail mode, as does the long descent that follows. We need to extend our lead before serving our penalty.
A new climb in the sun puts us to the sword! Etienne, the referee, takes a few photos and we arrive at the last transition at around 10:45! We try to get ready as quickly as possible so that we can get to the penalty zone ready for the next section. It's 11.12am when we start our penalty. After swallowing some food, we lie down, but it's noisy!
I'm on the lookout for the arrival of the other teams. The Estonians come in first after 30 minutes, but they too have a penalty to serve, so it's less of a nuisance. The Swedes arrive after 45 minutes. I'm wide awake now. Nancy and Pascal are there too and they have very encouraging looks on their faces.
I wake everyone up 5 minutes before the time. Adri and Benji are on the gas and obviously not really ready to go! We hurry them along, but it's only 5 minutes late that we leave transition at 12:17. The Swedes finish getting ready (they'll start 12 minutes after us), the Estonians have just entered the penalty zone.
Section 6 MTB 110kms.
I'm in mission mode, Benji doesn't quite know where he is and asks me for a race report. He confides in me that he forgot to take water! Sandrine flies over her bike on 20% gradients. Adri isn't awake and grumbles that I'm towing him and pushing him up an impossible climb.
“Adri do you want to be world champion or not!” We have a good argument, but this time it's good: we're 4 in warrior mode, with fire in our legs and in our eyes! We ride to a first CP and back without crossing the Swedish. We get back on the flat and attack the superb single descents, one of which has a negative vertical drop of almost 1000m. We stop for 5 minutes in a small shop to drink a litre of yoghurt each and set off again for an interminable climb of over 1000m, again very steep.
I have a feeling that at this pace, they won't be coming back, and emotion regularly overwhelms me. I cry as I pedal. At the end of the pass we turn on our headlamps for the last time. We're back on the descent at full speed, with Adri steering like the master he is. A final monstrous ascent takes us to the rope challenge, where we're greeted like heroes because few thought we'd be able to outrun the Swedes on pedals!
The rope challenge consists of a short caving passage followed by a roped climb up a beautiful mountain. Our legs are worn out from the previous efforts and we drag ourselves a little. From above, we can see the Swedes arriving about 45 minutes after us.
We get back on our bikes for the last 30kms, but not without a quick drink break at the grocery store! We've lost our rhythm a little and we're starting to worry about a possible comeback by the Swedes. We pick up the pace on the final climb before descending to Cuenca. There are 3 checkpoibnt left in a maze of streets, supported by a 1:50,000 scale map. Not ideal and tricky!
Adri leads us into a cul de sac, starting to worry and unable to get back on course. Benji hasn't followed the map and can't help him. Adri's eyes are bulging with stress; I've never seen him like this. He confides in us that he doesn't know where he is! It takes a long time, but he finds a road he knows and starts again.
Phew, we've reached the river at CP60, now we just have to find it. Benji the hound dog finds it. Only two more to go, but the question on everyone's mind is: Did the Swedes get past us?
We arrive in the 61 zone, the Lozerian flair still working!
Only 62 left, but it's in a large park and the map is no help. We're looking for a group of rocks, but there are plenty. Search Benji search! After too many long minutes, Benji sees it on a signpost...
Heading for the finish, we haven't seen any bike tracks in the grass towards the marker, but we still have our doubts! It's 1 a.m. on Wednesday December 4, we've been racing for over 90 hours, and there's no traffic in Cuenca. As we approach the stadium, Pascal is at the entrance, and I ask him if we're 1st or 2nd?
Of course you're first! We have just 30 meters to realize that this time we're world champions! Campion del mundo!
A crazy dream come true for the 4 of us, for 400team, for LSN, for the French raid.
I cried all summer watching our French champions win medals at the Olympic Games. I think some of us in France are also crying this morning as we cross that line in victory. Sport has the magic to provoke emotions in those who practice it and those who observe it.
During this championship, I thought a lot about my loved ones and my team-mates of the last 20 years. Even more so during this last mountain bike, and this victory is also theirs:
My faithful friend Thomas Gaudion, with whom I raced 15 ARWS, but also Nicolas Seguin, Audrey Ehano, Cyril Cointre, Nicolas Moreau, Romuald Viale, Sonia Furtado, Jino Poméon, Adrien Grataloup, Quentin and Matthieu Bajard , Rémi Heritier, Marc Perrot, Stéphane Grandin, Fabrice Baverel, Guillem Turc, Bertrand Pailleux. Would I be here today without you?
Denis Merlin, this title is for you, you who accompanied Sandrine for years and with whom I raced and won my first Raid in France.
Bernard Durand alias BD07, of course this title is for you too, you who raced with Adrien for ten years and taught him almost everything!
Benj Monier and the whole of Lozère, this title is also for you, this Benji is a concentrate of all your qualities, a nugget, the piece of the puzzle that was missing to reach the grail!
Hervé Simon, this title is also for you, who has devoted part of your life to structuring adventure racing in France, and who has always supported us. You'll be leaving your job with the cup at home!
To conclude, I'd like to thank Santiago, Roberto and the whole organization team, because it wasn't easy for you, but the result is worthy of a World Championship. Well done!
A huge thank you also to Heidi Muller and ARWS, who are working hard to grow our sport.
Finally, a big thank you to our partners, without whom everything would be much more complicated.
@400team @altore.trailrunning @stootsconcept @naturalolifestyle @tsloutdoor @cicada.concept @runnig_conseil_avignon
Hasta la vista! I'm not retiring!
