The route is out, but how will the athletes and supporters navigate it? Where are the crunch points? What airspace and restricted areas might impede and divert them? What are the most wild, roadless and flyable areas of the route? And why select these turn points?
In this video race reporter Ben Hodgson gets the inside info from meet director and route designer Íñigo Redín. If you want to understand more about the athlete’s decisions during the race and what to look out for, this video should help you understand the tactics.
What you have all been waiting for! Where are the athletes going this edition? Over mountain and through valleys, the 528.8 km route covers seven turnpoints before the fly-down to goal at el Port de la Selva.
As usual the start is on the beach at Hondarribia. Once the athletes have departed they are obliged to run/walk to TP1 at Larun. They may not fly until the sign-in board has been signed. Then they may go to the take-off area and are free to continue in the air.
Getting to TP2 at Villanúa will see the athletes cross to the Spanish side and set them on course to the “Highway” along the southern side. The TP is a sign-in TP, located in the village in the valley. Before they arrive at TP3 (Aneto), they have to navigate a complicated bit of airspace. Look out for some strange dog-legs in the pilot’s tracks.
Aneto is the highest peak in the Pyrenees and has been used as a TP in the race previously. The 3000m radius provides the opportunity to reach it flying or walking, depending on the prevailing conditions.
After TP3, the teams will have to turn NW to cross the main ridge and touch the 13 km radius around the Pic du Midi de Bigorre. The distance between TP 3 and 4 looks short, but will be some of the most remote and difficult to negotiate, most of the way being above 3000m.
The closest place to hit the radius is the mountain of Arbizon (near Saint-Lary-Soulan), which is a well know flying site and also a main thoroughfare for the support teams when crossing the Pyrenees from south to north.
TP 5- Pic des Trois Seigneurs is a new turnpoint for the race. There are few roads between TP 4 & 5, so may actually present more of a logistical challenge to the support teams. After leaving this very popular flying area, they head back south to Spain, crossing (or avoiding) Andorra. The route then passes the famous Cerdanya hanging valley en-route to the next sign-in TP in the Catalan town of Sant Joan de les Abadesses. Then they have many choices of how to reach the end of the timed section at Santa Helena de Rodes.
Once they reach the last turnpoint they can relax and all that remains to do is complete the fly or walk down to the beach at the goal in El Port de la Selva and the welcome swim in the Med.
In preparation for potential bad weather there will be a Plan B route, which will be announced the day before if necessary. In the last edition this tactic was used for safety and to ensure athletes did not sustain injuries on the ground.
In this edition there has been a rule change to allow the route of the race to be changed. The only reason for this would be if the weather was bad and there was a risk that pilots would have to walk for several days. This situation is bad for the athletes as it is hard on the body, soul-destroying and for the and spectators at home it is extremely boring to watch a small dot moving slowly across the screen. Athletes were consulted about this rule change and the response was very positive.
For this edition of the X-Pyr, the weather looks sufficiently bad at the beginning of the race, to justify invoking this new rule.
This makes the X in the middle of the route much smaller and the total optimised distance is now 486.9 km, some 80km shorter. The longest leg of the route is now 143.7 km.
The teams have been informed and are busy updating their instruments and plotting a new course. The race starts on Sunday at 10am (CET), come rain or shine!
Finally, we are able to publish the route for the forthcoming edition of the race. There are a few exciting features to this route and it will not be an easy edition. For the 2024 X-Pyr, there will be the following turnpoints covering a distance of 592.5 km:
Start: Hondarribia
TP1: Larun
TP2: Val d’Azun
TP3: Boí Taull
TP4: Monte Perdido
TP5: Pic des Trois Seigneurs
TP6: Vall de Núria
TP7: Santa Helena de Rodes
Goal: El Port de la Selva
You can have a look at the route in detail here here.
As in every edition, after leaving the beach at Hondarribia, the athletes need to hike to Larun, a trip of 15 Km (23 km hiking really) with an altitude gain of 870 m. This is the first point where the athletes can take their equipment out of their bags and can finally fly.
From then on it is a back and forth zig-zag between France and Spain. The first long leg (the largest in this edition) is the 122.2 km trek to Val d’Azun. Last time rookie and third-placed pilot Pierre Remy will have a pleasant surprise, the second turn point is in the famous flying area where he lives. From there they go South East into Spain and visit the Parque Nacional de Aigüestortes, the waypoint Boí Taull.
Crossing back to the west, they go to the edge of the Monte Perdido in the Ordesa National Park. Since flying is restricted there, there is a large cylinder (7 km) around this turnpoint.
From there the race heads North East to the Arriege, Pic des Trois Seigneurs, north of Andorra, which may be the most complicated part of the route. After this more complications await the teams… they will head to a sign-board, where they have to land (or arrive on foot) – there is no turnpoint radius. The special thing about the Vall de Nuria is that it is in a hanging valley at 1962 m which can only be reached by rack and pin railway. Teams supporters have a free ticket to ride, as there is no access road to the monestary which will be the turnpoint. From there is is “only” 75 km as the crow flies to the end-of-race point at Santa Helena de Rodes.
Who will get there first? You can see all the competing teams here.
Race start is at 10am on Sunday the 23rd of June, on the beach at Hondarribia. See you there!
The “X” of the X-Pyr, and of our 10th anniversary, and of course, of Munich, our main sponsor since the first edition (and, without whom, the X-Pyr would not exist).
Here is the new route for this fascinating edition.
Longer, more complex, more international, more… challenging!
A route of 605.5 km, with 8 turnpoints. With distances between each averaging around 80 km, and altitudes of more than 2800 metres, and maximum free distances of almost 100 km.
A traditional start, with the now famous Larun turnpoint (come and join us to see the take-off of all the teams). 94 km later, they will reach the famous Accous flying area, on the north face of the Pyrenees. Then, 83 km further on, they will arrive at a much visited turnpoint, the Peña Montañesa. And here we start our “X”. With stretches of about 75 km, they will progress from the Peña Montañesa to another well-known flying area, Arbas, in the French Pre-Pyrenees. From there, they turn back west to the imposing mountain of Midi de Bigorre. And back again to the Spanish side, entering the Corronco, a well-known cross-country route in the Pyrenees. After the Corronco, a visit to the famous Font Romeu area, to the Pic del Moros turnpoint, and then directly to the longest stretch of the race, to reach the Santa Helena de Rodes goal, where the individual time will be stopped. This will be followed by a pleasant glide to the raft on the beach of El Port de la Selva.
605.5 km with a multitude of options, flight exclusion zones and very, very different weather in the different areas.
A route that, for sure, will not disappoint. Now let’s hope that the weather helps the teams.
