RAID IN FRANCE ARWS
400 Team Win Raid in France for the Fifth Time
Press Release / 03.07.2024
400Team crossed the finish line as heroes of this Raid in France 2024 in Nouvelle-Aquitaine. They imposed their tempo from start to finish, as the almost undisputed leader, even if their pursuers never gave up of catching them.
In 2007, Sandrine Béranger competed in her first long raid and the first Raid in France, in the Pyrenees. Since then, this mother of three children has always been there, except for the birth of her daughters and her youngest.
She was the one who convinced Sébastien Raichon to embark on the Raid in France adventure in 2009. She is very often the one who restarts the machines when they jam, not hesitating to pull her teammates or carry their bags to relieve them for a moment.
This "ultra" never gives up; with Sébastien Raichon, she has been the soul of the 400Team for 15 years. Today, alongside him, she has won her fifth Raid in France victory, at the end of a race that exudes experience, passion and enthusiasm.
Early in the morning, in the humidity and drizzle, Sandrine Béranger, Sébastien Raichon, Benjamin Fayet and Adrien Lhermet crossed the finish line of Raid in France 2024 Expedition Nouvelle-Aquitaine as winners, after 96 hours of non-stop racing. They covered the 466 kilometres set through Corrèze, Creuse and Haute-Vienne at breakneck speed, leaving their direct pursuers around fifteen hours behind and securing their ticket to the Adventure Racing World Championship, scheduled for the end of the year in Ecuador.
"We have never had such a serene and fluid race," declared Sébastien Raichon. "It was a pleasure to see my two teammates-orienteers head to the right or left to put us on the right path." Highlighted at its true value, the quality of the work of the orienteering duo filled Benjamin Fayet, the young member of the team, with joy, who had dreamed for years of running Raid in France in a big team.
At the end of the afternoon, while predictions were going well on the arrival timing of the two other potential candidates for the podium – 400Team Bis and Absolu Raid Aventure.fr XTTR – the rest of the caravan progressed by mountain bike in the Xaintrie Blanche region, navigated by packraft on the Maronne, a river tributary of the Dordogne alternating waterfalls and rapids, or prepared to enter the Monédières massif, a 6,000-hectare area of the Millevaches Regional Natural Park composed of remarkable dry moors.
Two more days of racing will be necessary to reach Bugeat, and the finish line.
For all the teams, the discovery of the Tours de Merle, where several checkpoints were set out, was a pleasant moment of recreation, between historical immersion and the breathtaking view of the Maronne. The Tours de Merle constitute a unique and unmissable mediaeval city of Xaintrie, dating back to the 12th and 16th centuries.
RUNNERS' WORDS
"We prepared well before the race, but the level of Raid in France is very high. We lost a lot of time in orientation and in managing transitions, which penalized us today in respecting the time limit of cut B. We will redouble our efforts to cover the entire course to the finish. Raid in France is an engaging and demanding event, a real expedition race in total autonomy. We did not expect to carry our packfrats during the treks, but we learn as we progress."
Guerric Masson, Team Foch (4), France
"Last night was complicated. I fell into the water at the start of the section on the Maronne. After three hours of rest, taken at AT 10 in Port de Vaurs, morale is high again. The team is ready to resume its progression. We did not expect to discover such a beautiful region, especially the Tours de Merle… and so deserted."
Gloria Sobrero Munoz, Budinoraid (24), Spain
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