Le Grand Raid
Kick-off in less then 12 hours
Anne-Marie Dunhill / 22.06.2010
The Grand Raid,which starts tomorrow, is an ambitious project piloted by the internationally recognized French adventure racer Karine Baillet. The race partners include the region of Nord-Pas de Calais and with 70,000 dollars prize money to be split between the first 25 teams on the elite adventure race there is substantial incentive.
Twelve different nationalities are gathered in the hotel ibis with their room doors wide open and gear spread everywhere. French teams are gathered around the television in the lobby and their dour faces speak volumes about the World Cup match currently underway. It is not the time to greet familiar faces.
Amongst the international teams is The Grand Raid Out There USA, captained by the American Travis Macy, racing with Mike Kloser, Monique Merrill and Mark Macy. Richard and Elena Ussher have made the trip from New Zealand racing with their team captained by Martin Flinta, Thule Adventure team. A Chinese team is here as well, captained by Wei Jun.
Marcel Hagener who has raced both with Karine Baillet and Richard and Elena Ussher (taking first place in the 2009 edition of the Abu Dhabi Adventure Challenge) will be racing with Wilsa this time in a team composed of Sebastien Sxay along with Jacky Boisset and Myriam Guillot of Lafuma. (Myriam confided that she had eaten something that didn’t agree with her and had had to find the nearest pharmacy). Going through the team list was a bit like reading the who’s who of adventure racing at the moment.
The race starts tomorrow with a prologue at 16:30 consisting of trail,kayak and mountain biking for a total of 20 km. In view of the quality of the teams present, this stage race promises to be a hard, fast battle for the top position.
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