Cinema evening, university championship… The program for the 2024 edition of the Cité de Pierres trail in South Aveyron is revealed

Fleury Roux a couru l'an passé et le film réalisé avec son frère sera diffusé à Millau. Midi libre – Maxime Cohen

The Cité de pierre trail is preparing for a new colorful edition (March 23-24), in La Roque-Sainte-Marguerite.

Nestled on the Causse Noir, it overlooks the gently meandering Dourbie. The City of Stones, or Montpellier-le-Vieux, reminds us that more than 200 years ago, Edouard-Alfred Martel explored this rocky chaos to give it a name and classify these blocks massifs which today delight walkers who are not stingy with photos during their visit. This place has added a string to its bow. Last year, it was the scene of the French trail championships, short and long where the French elite of the full race nature has fought a great battle. Clémentine Geoffray laid the first bricks of the solid foundation that she built towards her world title on the court a few months later. The same goes for Benjamin Roubiol, 2nd on the Caussenard trails after the long event and crowned world champion on the slopes of Innsbruck (Austria), in the long event.

Three races on the program

For this year, it will be completely different. Exit the long test which started from Aven Armand, to arrive at the City of Stones. The organization focused on the distances of 31 km, 16 km and 10 km. All will start and finish on the Causse Noir. On the sporting side, "it won't be the same as last year, we will be two weeks away from the French championships", assures Guilhem Prax, the initiator of this race which took root in 2021. Among the headliners, Canadian international Mélodie Gilbert will be lined up at the start. However, it will support the French university championship over the distance of 16 km with 800 m of positive altitude difference. "This will be in partnership with the French University Sports Federation", announces the organizer. To do this, future participants will need to register directly through their university.

A movie evening on the crossing of Norway

Alongside the races, trail runners arriving on Friday in South Aveyron have the opportunity to spend an evening dedicated to trail running at the Millau cinema. Last year, not without difficulty, it was the film What counts, shot on the GR& ;copy;20 and the record broken by Anne-Lise Rousset-Séguret and this time, it will be Across Norway, by Fleury Roux and his brother Corentin. The first, a mountain guide, notably finished on the podium of the MCC, UTMB race and took 22nd place during the French championships (31 km format), last year in the City of Stones. The second is part of the French orienteering team. The two brothers took on the challenge of completing "the largest orienteering race in the world by linking the southern end of Norway, at its northern end essentially in orientation", they describe. An adventure of more than 83 days and 2700 km that they tell in this film. "Basically, it's me who had the idea, presents Corentin. We had the choice between Finland and Norway, the only two countries mapped in their entirety by orienteering maps."

The adventure took place semi-autonomously. "It's our sister and her friend, both physiotherapists who provided us with supplies, every three to six days and we left with a bag that weighed between 8 and 15 kg", takes the & #39;orienteer. Although the physical condition of the brothers did not require specific preparation, they still completed a crossing of the Jura and the Auvergne volcanoes in five days. "It allowed us to test the equipment and the power supply", adds Corentin Roux. Places are still available on the Cité de Pierres trail website.  

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