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.
