Red Bull X-Alps 2015: Athletes revealed

Leading the pack … The Red Bull X-Alps 2015 athletes

The line up for the Red Bull X-Alps 2015 has been announced.

Thirty-one athlete names were revealed on 29 October, with one wildcard place held in reserve.

Leading the pack is three-times Red Bull X-Alps winner Chrigel Maurer, who will again compete with race supporter Thomas Theurillat. One of the last names to be revealed he is definitely the one to beat and has to be the race favourite.

Podium finishers from the last race France’s Clement Latour and Antoine Girard have also been given a place.

Meanwhile old hands Paul Guschlbauer, Tom de Dorlodot, Michael Gebert, Aaron Durogati, Ferdy van Schelven, Pawel Faron, Toma Coconea, and Cross Country magazine’s in-house meteorologist Honza Rejmanek have also got slots.

But 19 new names have also been given places in this ultimate adventure race.

They include: Gerald Gold, Stephan Gruber, Pascal Purin, Alex Villa, Stanislav Mayer, Ivan Colas, Gasper Petiot, Yvonne Dathe, Sebastian Huber, Manuel Nubel, Chi-Kyong Ha, Nick Neynens, Stephan Kruger, Samuel Vurpillot, Michael Witschl, Eric Rehnfeldt, Dawn Westrum and Gavin McClurg.

Nelson de Freyman, who was a supporter for Antoine Girard in the 2013 race, will also be racing in 2015. At 22 he is also the youngest athlete in the race.

Britain’s Steve Nash is the only Brit in the race and is a surprise re-entry. A pilot in the 2011 race, at 52 he is also one of the oldest athletes in the competition.

Yvonne Dathe (DE) and Dawn Westrum (US) are the first women to be given a place in the Red Bull X-Alps since the 2005 race when Kari Castle and Nikki Hamilton competed.

Notable by his apparent absence is Swiss athlete Martin Muller. The Swiss clockmaker has competed four times and made the raft in Monaco twice. However, he is there – but this time as race supporter for Switzerland’s Samuel Vurpillot.

Cross Country magazine columnist Jon Chambers will also not be taking part. As he explains in the Nov/Dec issue of the magazine, “Having had an amazing time in the last two editions of this epic race it is now time for me to focus on other priorities. Besides, how could I beat my experience in 2013 of nine days of incredible flying, and finishing on the raft in Monaco?”

Cross Country’s Hugh Miller, who is also the official X-Alps reporter for Red Bull during the race, said the line-up looked “More proper than ever”.

“You’ve got hardened finishers like Guschlbauer, Letour, Girard, van Schelven, Durogati and, of course Coconea – yes, we can nearly hear the cheers from Romania already – up against a hungry pack of newcomers, which includes USA vol-bivouac adventurer Gavin McClurg.

“Even as recently as St Hilaire, Gavin was openly questioning the sanity of his application – and all those chosen will no doubt be feeling a mix of emotions as they face the enormity of the training and racing that lies ahead.”

He said that the new field wipes away any doubts about the quality of the field from previous years.

“With no disrespect to previous contestants, a few pilots were repeatedly selected without ever properly proving themselves, leading some to scratch their heads about the quality of the entry field. Those concerns have been firmly wiped by the publication of the 2015 list.

“Respect to the selectors for also including Yvonne Dathe and Dawn Westrum. Since Kari Castle and Nikki Hamilton contested the event in 2005, the event has always seemed a bit too, well, male-only.”

The only question now is who will fill the final place? Many pilots have money on USA pilot Dave Turner, who completed a double traverse of the Alps over summer, first by solo paraglider and then back again on tandem with his girlfriend.

The Red Bull X-Alps is an adventure race that sees 30 athletes race east-to-west through the Alps using only a paraglider and a pair of running shoes to make distance. The 1,000km route takes them around famous alpine mountains as turn points before they have to land on a raft in the Mediterranean. The quickest athlete to complete the race was Chrigel Maurer in 2013 who raced from Salzburg to Monaco in almost exactly seven days.

Organisers say full route details will be announced in the spring.

The 2015 lineup in full is:

1. Paul Guschlbauer (AUT1)
2. Gerald Gold (AUT2)
3. Stephan Gruber (AUT3)
4. Pascal Purin (AUT4)
5. Thomas de Dorlodot (BEL)
6. Alex Villa (COL)
7. Stanislav Mayer (CZE)
8. Ivan Colás (ESP)
9. Clément Latour (FRA1)
10. Antoine Girard (FRA2)
11. Nelson de Freyman (FRA3)
12. Gaspard Petiot (FRA4)
13. Steve Nash (GBR)
14. Michael Gebert (GER1)
15. Yvonne Dathe (GER2)
16. Sebastian Huber (GER3)
17. Manuel Nübel (GER4)
18. Aaron Durogati (ITA)
19. Chi-Kyong Ha (KOR)
20. Ferdinand van Schelven (NED)
21. Nick Neynens (NZL)
22. Pawel Faron (POL)
23. Toma Coconea (ROU)
24. Stephan Kruger (RSA)
25. Christian Maurer (SUI1)
26. Samuel Vurpillot (SUI2)
27. Michael Witschi (SUI3)
28. Erik Rehnfeldt (SWE)
29. Honza Rejmanek (USA1)
30. Gavin McClurg (USA2)
31. Dawn Westrum (USA3)
32. Wildcard