It was 4:30 am yesterday, on the night of Auroise, when Sylvain Andrieux, the last Ultra 160 rider from Bordeaux, reached the final straight stage, after 47:32:35 of the race. And if he took nearly twice the time of Portuguese winner Guilherme Lourenco, who cares, he finished the 2023 Grand Raid des Pyrénées.
Until then, while you wait, the Place de Vielle-aure has been transformed into an open-air discotheque. And Robin Thomas, one of the speakers at GRP 2023, was ready to blast the final round in a row for the last time. For this last final, to pay off the queue who will live the last meters of this grueling 2023 edition …
The whims of the weather lady…
Because on Thursday, it was too hot for the Mudang Tour which saw Gerois Julien Lacome win in 7:36:59 ahead of Alexandre Bofils and Marceau Vaguet. Among the girls, Aurore Dassier continued her record of 8:53:45, ahead of the Wong sisters, who crossed the finish line side by side after more than 10 hours of racing.
But the next day, with the start of the Ultra 160, Tour des Cirques and Néouvielle, conditions changed the situation somewhat. After the sweltering heat, the rain came to invite itself to the party, bringing wind, hail, and even a little hail.
At the Tour de Neuville, Portugal’s Thiago Vieira, who flew over the event in 4:05:05, would have been more worried about having cows out on summer pastures than about the pain of time. The winner saw Alexandre Fuel (4:19:32) and Yves-Marie Lensitor (4:28:03) complete the podium when victory in the girls’ category went to Tarbaez Milen da Costa Reis (4:57:12), who was leading in the race. . Descheemaeker (4h59’50) and Laura Vignot (5h08’39) joke line.
Aboard the Ultra, after a great start, and over 133km in the lead, Loan Le Rohelec had to retire, leaving Portugal’s Guillerme Lourenco to take victory on the Vielle-Aure line in 23:54’16, ahead there of Mathieu Durand and Hugo Huberdeau. Among the women, the victory went to Celine Vinas (in 31:33:25), ahead of Marta Puretti and Jessalyn Ferrer.
The Ultra 160 race returned to the men’s quadruple ASEC La Pommeraye in 20:22’25, and to the women’s RAPV in 32:32’13.
At the Tour des Cirques, after 16:59’04 into the race, Baptiste Hagnère was the first to cross the line, beating Aurélien Jacoutot and Robin Coinus (last year’s Ultra winner). Among the women, the victory went to Aurelie Morisot, who completed her cycle in 24:36:31 ahead of Lauren Bouaidat (25:10:19) and Delphine Alice (26:16:48) on the line.
La Gela stopped our tour of the lakes without Pic du Midi
On Saturday, however, bad weather would complicate things even more. The Tour de la Géla was due to be stopped after the 8.8km loop (see box), and the Tour des Lacs was cut from the round trip to the Pic du Midi. In Dantesque conditions, it was Maxime Casagos who won this Race of the Lakes in 9:14:45 ahead of Mathieu Colzato and Paul Eratzuky, while in the women’s class, victory went to Virginie Allaud in 12:07:23 in front of Pauline Gradel and Sophie Barrier.
Yesterday, after the awards and podiums at the Place de Vielle-Aure, the ceremony, which was transferred to the Saint-Lary ice rink, was beautiful… The Grand Raid des Pyrénées 2023 is now over, and even if the weather is right to play after the festivities Turmoil, this 16th edition will have fulfilled its promises, everyone has already set a date for 2024. And us too, by the way!
The Tour de la Géla 2023 (43km – 3382m D+) had to be stopped at the end of the Piau loop (at the eighth kilometer – first aid station) due to weather conditions (winds, numerous thunderstorms, lightning effects) and a similar weather event announced in Early afternoon with runners on the rise. Following this cancellation, Grand Raid des Pyrénées has decided to offer all participants of the Tour de la Gela 2023 a 30% reduction in their registration amount, for priority registration in 2024.
A loyal partner, Piau-Engaly Resort is also associated with the GRP by offering 5 days of skiing (nominal and individual) valid for the 2023-2024 season for each of the 2023 beginners.
The conditions for the implementation of this double offer will be specified in
runners involved, before registrations open in 2024.
