Raid Gallacecia Expedition Race
The AR World Series Returns To Spain
Rob Howard / 06.05.2015
Spain is preparing to welcome round 3 of the 2015 AR World Series, hosted by Raid Gallaecia, from May 12th-17th.
The race has been established for many years and is highly thought of by leading adventure racers, with several former World Champions endorsing its organisation and planning, which is undertaken by the Club Gallaeica Raid led by Race Director Pablo Lopez.
This year is the first time the race is part of AR World Series and it has attracted some high profile entries, including current World Champions Team Seagate, who will travel from New Zealand for the 550km race. The team have already won the Godzone Adventure Race this year, and will be the favourites. They may not have their ace navigator Chris Forne with them, but Albert Roca is taking his place, so they are replacing one World champ with another, and gaining a Spanish speaker too.
The other most recognised team on the world stage in the start list are Haglofs Silva from Sweden, who are currently ranked 15th in the world, having dropped out of the top few places after MTB accidents forced them to withdraw in the last two World Championships. Their fortunes have not improved either as it’s just been announced that team Captain and navigator Bjorn Rydvall has been diagnosed with Type1 Diabetes, so the team line up will change for this race.
In total there are 23 teams, with racers from 12 different nations taking part, and other visiting teams come from Finland, the UK, France, Belgium, Colombia and the Czech Republic. Among these teams are some very experienced racers and the Finnish team, Arctic Circle Adventure, has an AR World Series race winner, Tor des Geants finisher, Yukon 1000-race winner and even a WRC champion in their line up.
All the visitors will face strong local competition, with up and coming Team Sport HG tipped to do well and the most experienced Spanish team being Adventure Addicts, including Fran Costoya and Monica Aguilera.
The teams will take on a course which the Race Director promises will surprise them. “Yes they will be surprised,” he said. “Sometimes even we ourselves are surprised by what we find when we are planning the race. The places will be quite different from those we have visited in other races. The route is spectacular and I think sometimes we are not aware of the potential of this land in Galicia. We live in a place where all adventure sports have a place and it is an ideal setting for them all. Sometimes it is very difficult to select what you want to put in the race because there is so much choice. Hopefully we have chosen well and will have a successful race.”
The competitors can expect a varied course with numerous transitions and challenging navigation throughout. They will be racing in a province which has over 1000 miles of coastline, numerous hill and mountain ranges and a rich cultural heritage. Teams will fly into the regional capital Santiago de Compostela, which is a famed pilgrimage destination and a Unesco World Heritage site, with the old city described as one of the world’s most beautiful urban areas.
They will gather at the venue in the town of Cuntis next weekend, ready for the start of the race, and will assemble at the race HQ at the Hotel Balneario Termas de Cuntis, the largest thermal baths spa in Gallaecia.
The race will be covered live by SleepMonsters’ Editor Rob Howard, and you can find out more about it at on the event website and Facebook page.
The team information is on the Track The Race website, who will be providing the race tracking so you can follow the race live from home.
SleepMonsters
