The Raid World Championship 2005
A High Alpine Challenge
01.09.2005
After the Andes Cordillera in 2004, this year the Massif of Mont Blanc will represent the principal obstruction placed between the world’s top raiders and the accolades of victory on The Raid World Championship 2005. After having battled hard all season on the X-adventure circuit of The Raid World Cup, the 36 selected teams will have to overcome the steep and pitiless slopes that characterise the \"Roof of Europe\".
\"On a physical level, this race will no doubt be the toughest ever,\" warns race director Sylvain Thuault, well aware of the truism. \"But the mental drain cannot be underestimated either. Sometime during the race, the goal will no longer be the traditional struggle against fatigue but against sheer, physical pain\". As they cross the French, Italian and Swiss Alps, the athletes will be required to scale a height equivalent of climbing Everest three times from sea level and more than twice that of last year’s race in the Andes.
Starting from Annecy, for an opening canoe section across the second largest natural lake in France, the mixed teams of four athletes will, after 580km of racing, reach the finishing line in Gstaad, a peaceful, Swiss town located in the Saanenland.
In between there will be 19 sections and seven sporting activities, all designed to push the technical and physical versatility of the teams to the limit: adventure running, MTB, rope-works, inline-skating, glacier crossing, canoeing, and sea kayaking.
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