RAID IN FRANCE ARWS
Day 6: The cocktail of rain, fog, and mud stirs up the race finale
Press Release / 09.07.2024
As of 6:30 pm only three teams had crossed the finish line in Bugeat, even though the race is supposed to conclude tomorrow afternoon. The poor weather conditions have severely complicated the progress of the teams at the back of the pack. New time limits will be introduced to ensure everyone reaches the finish line within the allotted time.
As the podium for the 2024 Raid in France, the french stage of the Adventure Racing World Series, was completed from Wednesday night to Thursday, the mid-pack teams faced persistent drizzle today. They made progress throughout the longest trek of the race - 41 km with a 1,400-meter elevation gain - leading to the La Valette-Marcillac lake. They traversed a 7 km stretch of this lake in packrafts before tackling the Monédières massif by mountain bike, known for its heathlands, coniferous forests, and vast meadows.
Along their route: the summit of Puy de Sarran, at 800 meters altitude, notable for its triple calvary. These teams are expected at the Espace 1000 Sources in Bugeat tonight and tomorrow morning. Most will complete the entire 466-kilometer Corrèze course, an extraordinary sporting achievement.
The Corrèze region did not spare the racers. Rain, fog, cold, humidity, muddy paths, and a particularly demanding map orientation have severely complicated their progress and sometimes dampened their determination. In these situations, it is invariably the teams at the back of the pack that suffer the most: they lose more time at transition areas, are less alert, and sometimes less combative due to fatigue.
"The spirit of Raid in France is to allow as many teams as possible to cross the finish line as a team of four, after a full sporting exploration of a territory," explains Pascal Bahuaud, race director. "Therefore, we will implement time limits at certain points near the end of the route to keep the racers in this adventure they have shared for a week and for which they have trained extensively."
To ensure everyone reaches the finish line by 4 PM tomorrow and depending on the teams' positions, the crossing of La Valette-Marcillac lake may be eliminated, and the last mountain biking section in the Monédières massif (75 km with a 2,000-meter elevation gain) will be shortened.
WORDS FROM THE RACERS
"The last major trek of the race felt like it lasted for days. With the rain, our endurance is wearing thin; we ended up sleeping in a barn. We are still determined to complete the full course, so we are putting pressure on ourselves to avoid missing the time limits. This race is truly extraordinary; we absolutely want to experience it to the end.".
JérémySeyssaud, Baragnas Raid Team (14), France
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