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044The start of the 10^th edition of L’Echappée Belle will happen on Friday, August 19th at 5:00, in Domaine de Vizille in Isere, for the 700 runners who will set off for the whole track of 149km / 11300m uphill till Aiguebelle in Savoie. They will be joined on Saturday 20th by the trailers from the 2 other races: the North Crossing (84 kms) and the Ridge Track (64 kms).

The White Rock Skyrace® du Rocher Blanc runners will start on Friday August 19th at 9:30 from Fond-de-France for a 2000m uphill till the Rocher Blanc.

This 10^th edition of l’Echappée Belle offers an original alpine track: the Du’ô des Cimes ; a unique crossing of 120kms and 11000mD+, no marks, quasi-autonomy, mixing adventure and technicality, reserved for 50 pairs. The route will pass through all key points of the 4 other tracks and will only be fully revealed to competitors 10 days before the start.  

The party promises to be great for this anniversary year with numerous animation activities during and around the race. 

The starts 

• Echappée Belle Integrale: Friday, August 19th at 5:00 in domaine de Vizille.
• North Crossing: 84kms starting from Fond-de-France on Saturday, August 20^th at 5:00.
• Ridge Track: 64kms from Allevard on Saturday, August 20th at 8:00.
• White Rock La Skyrace®: Friday, August 19th from Fond-de-France at 9:30.
• Le The Du’ô des Cimes: Friday, August 19th at 7:00 from Arselle.

The Integrale and the Du’ô des Cimes are fully booked. Some bibs are relaining available on the 84kms, the 64kms and the Skyrace®. Registrations are still open, till August 10th. 

An exceptional gathering for this 10^th edition

Nobody wanted to miss the opportunity of this exceptional 10^th edition. Numerous excellent runners will be to follow during this Echappée Belle, which already promises to be full of suspense:

On the l’ intégrale

In the men category, Jean-Marie Thévenard, Jonatan Tejada Ocedo from Spain, Stéphane Eveque-Mourroux, Aurélien Jacoutot, Matthieu Durand, Nicolas Perrier, Camille Verrier, Yoann Lecauchois, Radek Chrobàk from Czech Republic, as well as Christophe Anselmo, winner of the 2018 edition will be on the starting line.

In the women category, we will follow Sarah Vieuille, Marta Wenta from Poland, Estelle Patou, as well as Silvia Ainhoa Trigueros Garrote from Spain, Stella Petric from Netherland, first woman in 2021, Juliette Blanchet, first in 2020 and Patricia Pensa from Italy, first in 2016 (who comes back on the race for the 6^th time!).

On the North Crossing, other former winners are back.

In the men category, Florentin Le Provost (winner in 2015) should beware of Jérôme Vanderschaegh from Belgium, of Théo Le Boudec, Roberto Alberio and Fabien Feutrier. And we’ve the honor to welcome Dawa Sherpa on this race.

In the women category, Manon Benoît, who won the Skyrace in 2021, is making an attempt this year on the 84km race, as well as Nadège Capri who had won the Ridge Track in 2019. Agathe Lebel will also need to be followed closely.

On the Ridge Track, 64kms from Allevard to Aiguebelle, the favorites among men are Ludovic Colomb, Benoit Amiot, Jérémy Pieau, Pierre Bonbonny, Clément Desille et Joffrey Ginoux. In the women category, Camille Guy, Anne-Laure Roux and Nathalie Faure should perform well.

On the White Rock Skyrace®, Gédéon Pochat, a Dynafit runner, Paul Jay, Pierre Reygade, Paul Burette (3rd last year) and Sanna et Lina El Kott Helander from Sweden are among the favourites.

The Du’ô des Cimes challenge, proposed for this 10^th edition, is a mix of the 4 existing tracks with must-see passages of the Belledonne mountains. Its technicality and its mostly unmarked track require mountain experience. A finisher at the Intégrale race should must be part of the pair. We will therefore find on the starting line, among the selected 50 pairs, a large field of former winners of the Intégrale, and in particular:

• François D’Haene (winner in 2019 and current Intégrale time record holder in 23h55) who will team up with his brother-in-law Alexis Traub,
• Sandrine Béranger (first in the women category in 2013 and 2018) in pair with Sébastien Raichon (2^nd at the Intégrale en 2018),
• David Quelhas and Guilherme Lourenço from Portugal,
• Antoine Guillon (Traversée Nord winner in 2016) and Cédric Chavet (winner of the Intégrale 2020),

And as well Renaud Rouanet and Sébastien Gérard (winner of the Intégrale 2016), Joris Botton (winner of the Traversée Nord in 2014), Mélanie Rousset (first in the women category of Intégrale 2019), Edouard Laudier (winner of the Parcours des Crêtes in 2019 and of the Traversée Nord in 2020) and Luca Papi.

An adventure to live with family and friends!

The public and everyone accompanying the runners are welcome to come and see the runners at various points on the races, and take part in the activities, in particular at the aid stations in Arselle, Fond-de-France, Le Pleynet, Super Collet, Bourget-en-Huile and Aiguebelle.

Concerts and live, introduction to rock climbing and orienteering running, kids run, etc., the activities are numerous, free and open to all. It is possible to eat at most sites, and thus wait for the runners in a festive, warm and friendly atmosphere.

Shuttles to access the sites are set up between Allevard and Super Collet, Allevard and Le Pleynet, Pinsot and Gleyzin.
> Full program of animations : www.lechappeebelledonne.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/ProgrammeEB2022-web.pdf

To follow the race online

To follow the runners and get information over the 3 days: www.lechappeebelledonne.com/live/

To be noted: 2 meetings each day on L’Echappée Belle Facebook page, from Thursday to Sunday, with video summaries on races.

Key figures:

• 2163 runners overall, including 305 women.
• 204 foreigners / 21 nationalities (Belgium strongly represented with 96 runners), 9,5% foreigners.
• 650 volunteers.

The 8th edition of the Echappée Belle featured an exceptional field of runners. Best trail runners offered us an exciting battle of the titans. Cédric Chavet wins the race in 27h23, followed by Renaud Rouanet (27:35:26) and Stéphane Evêque-Mourroux (27:52:26) . Among female athletes, Juliette Blanchet was the first to pass the finish-line after 35:05:01 of the race. This year, face masks could not hide smiles of finishers when they were crossing the finish-line. Very special context gave a flavour of uncertainty about the maintenance of the race till the very last moment before the start. But it did not spoil the joy at the end of the event. Quite the contrary !

Cédric Chavet crossed the finish-line arch full of emotions at 7.26 am on the 22nd August. “I do barely believe it. I feel so proud. It is an extreme pleasure to win the race such as the Echappée Belle. Winning the race after “François the Great” seems just unbelievable!”, he declared just after he rang the much expected finisher bell. In the “top five” as of the beginning, the winner of this Echappée Belle edition nailed the race, keeping calm in front of competitors who started too fast. Familiar with this kind of challenging landscape, resistant to the heat, he finally won the Echappée Belle after the second-place finish in 2016. Few minutes after him, his friend Renaud Rouanet, arrived 2nd after he took advantage during the final part of the race. In the “top ten” till Gleyzin, Renaud kept his own pace, keeping away from the euphoria of race leaders. “I knew that there is no need to get mad before Pleynet”. One step away from giving up midway, Stéphane Eveque-Mourroux finally climbed to the 3rd step of the podium. “Unbelievable!” he says while crossing the line. “Sunsets… Lakes… It is as gorgeous, as difficult and technical”. The difficulty he talks about is the reason for the high number of withdrawals: 53% of runners finished the race. Leading the race from the beginning till Val Pelous, Jean-Marie Thevenard gave up a few kilometers after. Regardless of a very nice start, the patron of the 2020 edition, Sébastien Chaigneau, was hit by a pain at the level of the solar plexus. Medical care provided at Pleynet helped Sébastien to restart, but he eventually gave up the race shortly after Pleynet.

The women’s race witnessed the victory of Juliette Blanchet who won the Intégrale race with a time of 35:05:01. Following her own pace from the beginning, she catched up leaders and did not give up her position anymore, regardless blister. With a big smile, Céline Finas takes second place (35:36:59), followed by Daphné Alglave Guibert (36:18:57).

Duo of Camille Minard and Florian Becker took first place in the Intégrale in 32:33:13 in their category.

As for the North Crossing 87km race, Edouard Laudier is the first to cross the finish-line with a time of 13:16:09. He already won the Ridge Track 62 km in 2019. Sébastien Gérard (13:46:48), winner of the Intégrale in 2016, and Jean-Adrien Michel (13:59:08), finished in second and third place accordingly. American runner  Hilary Allen wins the women’s North Crossing race after a 26h15 effort. She is followed by Estelle Patou (16:25:23) and Pauline Gaidet (17:33:46). Mimmi Kotka (Sweden), after leading the women’s race, and at the 10th position from
scratch, gave up at Pontet.

The youngers runner, Benjamin Roubiol and Louison Coiffet (21 years old) took the 1st and the 2 nd place scratch on the Ridge Track with a time of respectively 06:49:51 and 07:11:41. Sylvain Court, winnerof the Integrale in 2017 finshed 3rd.
Julie won the women’s race with the new route of 57k and 3900m of elevation with a time of 08:09:34. Anna Comet Dynafit’s runner finished 2 nd (08:20:53) and Marine Quintard was 3rd (08:30:32).

An amazing edition due to the context, the weather and elite runners

“That’s trail running!” The 1017 finishers were unanimous when crossing the finishline: the route is beautiful but it’s probably one of the most difficult that they ran. Everything was in place to make this 8th edition so great: more elite runners than usual, a beautiful weather and volunteers ready even with the sanitory situation. All the imposed process have been respected, without spoiling the pleasure of the runners, who have appreciated the organization and the commitment of the volunteers.
The latter competed for creativity to welcome runners on the different pit stop: musique, nice messages written for runners, fun decoration of the pit stop…and still with a strictness to follow the sanitory rules. Many thanks to the volunteers who are the DNA of the Echappee Belle: friendship, empathy, availability…they give of their time during 1 day, 1 week, 1 month or 1 year to help make this race an authentic and warm event.

Interview of the first of 149k: https://youtu.be/fXp7iDM6BkM
Finish line of the last finisher in Aiguebelle: https://youtu.be/spPqNfAbrA0
—————

RESULTS

Échappée Belle intégrale
Men
1.      Cédric Chavet 27:23:39
2.      Renaud Rouanet 27:35:26
3.      Stéphane Eveque-Mourroux 27:52:26
Women
1.      Juliette Blanchet 35:05:01
2.      Céline Finas 35:36:59
3.      Daphné Alglave Guibert 36:18:57
North Crossing
Men
1.      Edouard Laudier 13:16:09
2.      Sébastien Gérard 13:46:48
3.      Jean-Adrien Michel 13:59:08
Women
1.      Hilary Allen 15:39:09
2.      Estelle Patou 16:25:23
3.      Pauline Gaidet 17:33:46
Ridge Track
Men
1.      Benjamin Roubiol 06:49:51
2.      Louison Coiffet 07:11:41
3.      Sylvain Court 07:22:31
Women
1.      Julie Roux 08:09:34
2.      Anna Comet 08:20:53
3.      Marine Quintard 08:30:32
Intégrale duo
1.      Camille Minard et Florian Becker 32:33:13
2.      Antoine Biard et Florian Monnereau 35:02:38
3.      Stéphane Baumhauer et Xavier Heitz 39:43:32

Résults full: https://echappeebelle.livetrail.run/classement.php

Photos podiums: www.facebook.com/lechapeebelledonne/posts/3427521827287411
—————-

STATISTICS edition 2020

1489 runners included 40 duo and 180 women
Intégrale
– 53% of finisher
– 520 runners included 29 women
– 40 duos, 42% of finisher
North Crossing
– 67% of finishers
– 455 partants included 63 women
Ridde Track
– 88% of finishers
– 474 runners included 86 women

Hello to our dear trail runners,

While we of course can’t predict the final decision the competent local authorities will make this summer regarding l’Echappée Belle, all lights are green concerning the items we have control on : masses of volunteers, great support from city councils and territorial organizations, partners by our side whatever happens, and authorization request files under evaluation by prefectures of Isere and Savoie departments.

So we made the decision to continue preparing for the 2020 edition.

What are the next steps ?

– If you are France residents you have until June 30 to freely and unconditionally cancel your participation at reduced cost (20% withholding on registration fees). If you are unsure about feeling able to manage the still pending uncertainty, it is possible then to cancel without having to provide any justification. Therefore, just write your request to contact.belledonne@gmail.com by June 30. Beyond that date the usual cancellation terms will apply.

– As for runners coming from abroad, given the additional uncertainty occurred by some of the border regulations, you are entitled to cancel your participation under these same terms until August 8.

On Wednesday July 1st everyone will receive practical details on new processes for retrieving your bib, available accommodations, and reception conditions for the public and accompanying persons.

Can you tell me more about the trail course ?

• The 149Km (solo and duo) and 87km routes are almost identical. The show is guaranteed;)
• The pacers are still allowed.
• The start of the 62km ‘Route des crêtes’ will happen from the Collet station, and not from the Allevard village.
• Please note the 62km trail will require significant personal autonomy (1st aid station at km 30).

In the event of weather forecast uncertainty, we reserve the right as usual to modify the course.

What happens in the event the authorities actually don’t give their go ahead for the race to happen ?

If we don’t get the required authorizations 15 days before the race starts, i.e. by August 8, we will have no other choice than to cancel. You would then get refund for 80% of your registration (excluding donations), and all optional items will be totally refunded.

Why keep 20% of your registration ?

The Echappée Belle requires 10 tons of equipment, storage areas to be rented, one salaried employee since January, plus some related costs (registration platform, communication, amongst others). So we computed the relevant rate to enable the Echappée Belle organization to survive until the next edition. Such rate is only possible thanks to the unfailing support from our partners who we are thankful to.

What does an ‘adapted’ event mean ?

It is an event organized as respectful as possible of the current health rules. Here is a short summary :

For runners :

—> Increase your personal food autonomy. Some aid stations won’t be supplied as much as usually ; that will make the adventure even more intense. Don’t worry though, there will be everywhere enough to drink and something to eat ! Spare bags for the 87 and the 149km are still possible.

—> Hands disinfection (as usual now since 3 years) will be mandatory at the entrance of each aid station and a few other sites (start and finish lines).

—> Access to an aid station will follow a strict but simple distanciation protocole. We will tell you more about it this summer.

—> Start for each race will happen over several waves and according to ITRA rankings. Highest-ranking ITRA bibs first, and so on. The start for the last wave will happen at the usual times from previous Echappée Belle editions. Such protocol should ensure no bottleneck at aid stations and facilitate physical distanciation. 

—> Wearing a mask will be mandatory in each significant gathering area and/or where physical distanciation is not possible. And when running, you obviously don’t need to wear a mask …

—> Podiums will be held along with runners arrival. There will be no closing ceremonies.

—> Rest area, dormitories and camp beds will be maintained. The maximum rest times are identical to previous years (see regulations) except that for once they must be respected!

—> A shuttle service to take you to the start lines will still be provided. However as of today we don’t yet know the shuttle access conditions.

—> The pasta and arrival meal options are maintained

For the runner assistance/accompanying persons and the public :

—> Each runner is entitled to only one accompanying person. A bracelet will therefore be provided with each bib. The accompanying persons won’t be authorized to get access to all aid stations and will be required to wear masks. 

—> Other family members will be welcome to stay nearby but not to enter the runners areas. 

—> The public will only be allowed in areas where physical distanciation can be enforced (i.e. at major aid stations and at the finish line site).

—> Animation activities aimed to the public and children will be significantly reduced. There will still be animation activities aimed to volunteers and runners.

—> A new live-tracking system is being evaluated to enable families and public to follow the event and races remotely.

I am Belgian and I worry :

– There will be beer « Echappee Belle » ! Still for moderate consumption of course …

And for myself as a runner, how do I make it all work ?

• I respect the instructions and rules.
• I ask questions if anything is not clear enough.
• I keep smiling. The volunteers and the whole staff did an extra-ordinary job to enable you to come and have a chance to recharge and empty your batteries in Belledonne.
• I train and adapt my pace and goal to my training level and capacity even more so than usual.
• I plan on a larger food reserve.
• I plan to bring a mask, decorated and beautiful if possible.
• I plan to carry a small bottle of hydroalcoholic gel with me just in case.
• I plan on bringing my own trash bag with straps as spare bag (149km duo and solo and 87km), where I will store my belongings, to bring to the start line.
• If I give up ob the race, I signal myself to one of the event organization representatives, and then try to organize my return with my loved ones. A return service will be provided, but your active participation will be very welcome.

Please be aware that we will do our best to adapt to any potential new directives and that our priority remains everyone’s safety.

Let’s not be afraid, let’s be careful and smile !

Enjoy your preparation !