More than 1,000 registered for the 2024 edition of the Cité de Pierres trail in South Aveyron

L’an dernier, Clémentine Geoffray avait remporté le titre de championne de France sur le 31 km. Midi libre – Maxime Cohen

Trois courses sont organisées au départ de Montpellier-le-Vieux, les 23 et 24 mars.

The lair of Edouard-Alfred Martel had made it a habit to welcome the French trail running elite, at the end of March, with the highlight , the French championships last year. For this new vintage, the calendar decided otherwise. The French trail championships, short and long, take place in Buis-les-Baronnies, in Drôme, in 15 days.

1 100 runners registered for the three races

Despite everything, over the two days of racing in Montpellier-le-Vieux, 1 100 runners have already taken their bib to take part in one of the three races organized (10&nbsp ;km, 16 km or 31 km). "We were aiming between 1,000 and 1,300 so we're quite happy&amp ;quot;, underlines Guilhem Prax, who created the test.

This year, the 16km race will support the French university championships. The opportunity for the public to discover the faces of those who will monopolize the podiums in a few years. "These are runners who don't have too much trail references, note the organizer. I know that the Reunion team is quite homogeneous and has its chances for the team ranking." There will be 316 for this competition, "which is a record", according to him. Sylvain Cachard and even Clémentine Geoffray, crowned French champion last year here before winning the title of world champion in Innsbruck (Austria), have gone through this course.

Antoine Lainé favorite of 31 km

In addition to the faces of the juvenile students, Antoine Lainé 8th in the Ventoux trail survey on March 10, will be present alongside Anthony Boucard 2nd in the MCC (UTMB race, Editor's note) in 2021 , or even the local Yohann Raja, recent winner of the Trois chateaux trail. All three will be engaged on the 31 km.

The event is part of the calendar of local runners who will form the bulk of the peloton on March 23 and 24. The main event will start on Sunday at 9 a.m. from Montpellier-le-Vieux, on the Causse Noir to reach Saint-Véran and Notre-Dame-des-Treilles before returning to La Roque-Sainte- Marguerite, cross the Dourbie to go up to Pierrefiche-du-Larzac, go down to the level of the trout floor and make a final ascent towards the Cité de Pierres, which had served as justice of the peace last year.< /p>

A Friday movie night

For the second year, the Trail de la cité de Pierres launches with the broadcast of a film, at the Millau cinema, Friday evening (8 p.m.). Last year, Anne-Lise Rousset-Séguret came to the dark room to tell about her record set on the GR20. This time, Corentin Roux will be present to present Accross Norway, a crossing of Norway carried out in orientation, with his brother, Fleury . A journey of 2,700 km completed in semi-autonomy, from which they brought back beautiful images. Reservations still possible online, on the trail de la Cité of stones.

The day before, the support event for the French championships will leave at 11 a.m., on a course which will remain on the trails of the Causse Noir, with 850 m of positive altitude difference on the’ entire route. As with the long event, the last ascent risks being decisive in determining the winners. Saturday will end with the smallest of the weekend's three races. Departure is scheduled for 4:15 p.m.