Get into gear for the L’Enduropale du Touquet and find out what brings a quarter of a million petrolheads to a sleepy seaside town in the middle of winter.
Le Touquet-Paris-Plage
While famous motorcycle manufactures such as Harley-Davidson were kick starting their existence, the French seaside town of Le Touquet-Paris-Plage was already doing a roaring trade. The coastal resort on the northern tip of France has been a popular tourist destination for well over a century. The bulk of visitors come to Le Touquet-Paris-Plage in the summer months but L’Enduropale attracts tourists for one winter weekend.
Endurance
Many of the top bikers arriving in Le Touquet for the weekend of L’Enduropale will be coming straight from the 2012 Dakar Rally. One similarity the bikers will find between South American and northern France is sandy terrain. The big difference between the Dakar and L’Enduropale will be the weather. The average temperature during the recent Dakar was 40 degrees Celsius, in Le Touquet it will be below freezing. That’s why they call it Enduro!
Thierry Sabine
It’s nearly 40 years since Thierry Sabine first brought Enduro biking to Le Touquet and the event has grown and grown ever since. Four years after establishing the beach battle at Le Touquet, the race’s creator went even further and organised the first ever Paris-Dakar desert classic. Widely regarded as the Godfather of Enduro, Sabine died in a helicopter crash during the 1986 Dakar Rally.
Oh La, La!
It’s over 100 years since French architect Louis Quetelart gave the town of Le Touquet its signature buildings. While the petrolheads attending L’Enduropale will marvel at the mechanics of the machinery on display the architecture of the seaside town also provides many examples of engineering expertise.
Undisputed champion of the world
Guest of honour at this year’s L’Enduropale du Touquet will be Cyril Despres. The Enduro superstar was born close to the Le Touquet and is always a huge crowd favourite at the event. Cyril has just picked up his fourth Dakar Rally title and is sure to mobbed by autograph hunters on his return to his homeland.
Q uad race
The bike race featuring over 1000 competitors is only half the fun this weekend of Enduro riding has to offer. There’s also the quad race that takes place the day before L’Enduropale. Over 800 quad bikers will take part as the discipline continues to establish itself within the world of Enduro. It’s only a few years since quads were first admitted to the Dakar Rally, now the category is going from strength to strength.
Under My Wing
The weekend of L’Enduropale du Touquet will be particularly memorable for 38 young riders after they have participated in a very special Red Bull Under My Wing workshop. Four-time Dakar Rally champion Cyril Despres will run a sand session on the race circuit. Cyril says, “I’ve already received some letters from the kids telling me how excited they are about the lesson I’ll be giving them. I’m going to take them out on the actual race circuit and see how they adapt to life in the dunes.”
Enthusiasm
The sleepy seaside town of Le Touquet is normally home to no more than 6,000 inhabitants. For one winter weekend each year that figure is blown out of the water as over 250,000 Enduro enthusiasts descend on the town to watch L’Enduropale.
Track
The rules of L’Enduropale are simple enough to follow. The winner will be the biker who has completed the 15.6km lap the most times after three hours of riding on the beaches of Le Touquet. Understand the rules? Well then, lets get racing…
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