Enduro
Welcome to the Enduropale du Touquet, the world's biggest beach race
Covering over 13km of sand in northern France, the Enduropale du Touquet is the world's biggest beach race and the original inspiration for the Dakar. Here’s everything you need to know.
This weekend, well over 1,000 riders and hundreds of thousands of fans will descend upon the picturesque seaside town of Le Touquet in northern France, providing some much-needed respite for enduro and quad fans already missing the daily thrills and spills on offer at the Dakar.
Although the terrain may be similar, the bikes equally capable and the riders every bit as tough, that’s where the similarities end, as the Enduropale du Touquet starts and finishes on the same day, and is a race for riders only, with no steering wheels in sight.
What’s it all about?
The Enduropale du Touquet is an enduro bike – and now quad – race that’s taken place on the beach at Le Touquet every year since 1975. It was the brainchild of adventurer, racer and founder of the original Paris-Dakar, Thierry Sabine, who was approached to develop an event to bring people to Le Touquet during the off-season, and its success provided Sabine with some of the motivation to create the Paris-Dakar Rally in 1978.
Sabine was inspired by mass endurance dirt bike races in the USA, with the very first event open to all and attracting 286 competitors. Since then, it’s gone from strength to strength, with over 1,000 professional and amateur enduro riders taking to the sands on Sunday, and 800 more quad bike riders racing the day before.
Where can you watch the action?
You can watch the race live right here on Red Bull TV from 12.30pm CET (11.30am UTC) on Sunday, February 2 :
What’s special about it?
The inspiration for Enduropale du Touquet may have come from existing dirt bike races, but the event has gone on to become a record-breaker in its own right. Lasting for three hours, and taking in a circuit of 13km (and more, in previous years), it’s now the world’s longest sand race and the biggest enduro race in Europe.
The organisers have also thrown waves, chicanes and velodrome-style turns into the mix to liven up the action, with the final ranking established according to the most completed laps after three tough hours of racing.
Don’t forget the atmosphere!
The atmosphere at Enduropale du Touquet is also simply amazing, with a staggering 250,000 passionate fans making their way to the seaside town of Le Touquet from France, Benelux, Germany and the UK. In a town already known for its lively nightlife, there’s a true party atmosphere throughout the entire weekend – think Le Mans by the sea (for bikes) – and you won’t be far off.
Don’t expect everybody to stay on their bikes...
© Attila Szabo/Red Bull Content Pool
